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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