medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
Thanks to Father Bill East for further explication of the Sacrament of the
Sick. Because of the use of ringing of the church bell to indicate that some
one was dying (and to call for prayers for the person), the blessing of a
church bell included the anointing of the bell with Oleum Infirmorum. (An
altar, on the other hand, is blessed by anointing it with Oil of Chrism.)
I'm flattered that Fr. East "promoted" me to bishop, however I'm but a
broken-down parish priest, in Fairbanks, Alaska. Bishops put the cross in
front of their signature, e.g. " + Edward, Alyeska." Priests put the cross
in back of their signature. So far, I have successfully escaped from being
called to the purple. With any kind of "luck," I won't be thus inflicted.
;) A fate I would not wish on anybody.
Terrill Heaps (Hooray! The snow is almost all melted!)
------------------------
Bill East wrote:
> medieval-religion: Scholarly discussions of medieval religion and culture
>
> > It should be noted that even when Unction was being (in practice)
> > done
> > as a Commendation for death, the prayers were still for recovery, and
> > the anointing was with oil for the anointing of the sick, Oleum
> > Infirmorum, and the anointing was and is accompanied by the Laying on
> > of
> > Hands, which is the _res_ of the Sacrament of the sick.
> >
> > Bill: Did I forget to mention anything?
> >
> > Terrill +
>
> Dear Bishop Terrill:
>
> You have explained the matter very well. There is, as you rightly
> observe, a good deal of misunderstanding of the issue. It is a little
> quaint to see in the discussion mentions of "the last rites" and
> "extreme unction" which are not in fact used in modern Catholic
> practice.
>
> The rite for the sacrament of anointing of the sick contains a number
> of different prayers and readings, depending on how ill the person is,
> whether there is reasonable hope of recovery, whether the illness is
> chronic or acute, how old the person is, etc. Last year a woman in my
> parish fell ill with cancer, and I anointed her using the prayers for
> someone who is seriously ill, but whose probable demise is remote. A
> few weeks ago she asked to be anointed again, using the prayers for the
> dying (this is permitted under paragraph 1515 of the Catechism: "If
> during the same illness the person's condition becomes more serious,
> the sacrament may be repeated.") A few days after the second anointing,
> the woman died.
>
> At whatever stage in the illness the sacrament is administered, the
> basic structure remains the same, and as you say includes the laying on
> of hands. The structre is described at paragraph 1519 of the Catechism:
>
> "The celebration of the sacrament includes the following principal
> elements: the 'priests of the Church' - in silence - lay hands on the
> sick; they pray over them in the faith of the Church - this is the
> epiclesis proper to this sacrament; they then anoint them with oil
> blessed, if possible, by the bishop."
>
> The Catechism of the Catholic Church is available online, and can often
> settle these matters quite simply.
>
> Bill.
>
> =====
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