Lesson 29
When Is The Best Time To Anoint The Sick?
Welcome back to the Lenten Lessons on the Sacraments. Today we continue learning about the Anointing of the Sick.
The Minister for the Anointing of the Sick is the Priest or the Bishop, but not a deacon or a lay person. The matter is the actual anointing – called unction – of the sick person with the Oil of the Sick, made from Olive Oil and consecrated for such purpose by the local Bishop every year on Holy Thursday morning at the Chrism Mass. The form for this sacrament is this prayer that the priest prays while anointing the forehead and then the palms of the hands of the sick person:
“Through this holy anointing, may the Lord in his love and mercy help you with the grace of the Holy Spirit. May the Lord who frees you from sin save you and raise you up.”
As for who can receive this sacrament, the person must be baptized, but does not have to be conscious, although it is always much better if the person were conscious. From the Catechism of the Catholic Church we read:
“The Anointing of the Sick is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death. Hence, as soon as anyone of the faithful begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age, the fitting time for him to receive this sacrament has certainly already arrived” (CCC 1514).
If the person who is to be anointed is aware, the Priest should take his time and follow the appropriate ritual in the Pocket Size Green Book called “Pastoral Care for the Sick.” I carry it in my car at all times as I never know when I might be called to visit the sick or dying. This Booklet is available from Catholic Book Publishing Company and on their website we read:
“All the features of the large edition are here, including Communion of the Sick, Anointing of the Sick under various circumstances, and Pastoral Care of the Dying (Viaticum within and outside Mass, Commendation of the Dying, Prayers for the Dead, and Rites for Exceptional Circumstances). The Pocket Edition of Pastoral Care of the Sick from Catholic Book Publishing also features a handy edge-marking index and is bound in an imitation leather green paper cover. An indispensable resource for chaplains and other ministers who care for the sick.”
(I have to give that company credit otherwise it would be plagiarism.)
So tune in every day of Lent to learn more about your Catholic faith, because if you Learn it, then you can Live it; and if you Live it, you will Love it; and if you Love it, you will never Leave it!
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