244 ANOINTING OF THE SICK

YOUCAT Lesson 244

YOUCAT the catechism for Catholic youth

244  How is the Anointing of the Sick administered?

The essential ritual by which the sacrament of the anointing of the Sick is administered consists of an anointing of the forehead and hands with holy oil, accompanied by prayers.  [1517-1519, 1531]

Photo: …..Father Randy Knauf of Nativity of Our Lord Parish, Rhinelander, brought the sacrament of Anointing of the Sick to my hospital bedside just three weeks ago when acute COPD and pneumonia laid me low. -- Don L. Bragg …..244

“Is any among you sick?  Let him call for the elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord.”  James 5:14

HOW IS THIS SACRAMENT CELEBRATED?

…….1517   Like all the sacraments the Anointing of the Sick is a liturgical and communal celebration,(Compare Sacrosanctum Concilium 27.)¹³²   whether it takes place in the family home, a hospital or church, for a single sick person or a whole group of sick persons. It is very fitting to celebrate it within the Eucharist, the memorial of the Lord's Passover. If circumstances suggest it, the celebration of the sacrament can be preceded by the sacrament of Penance and followed by the sacrament of the Eucharist. As the sacrament of Christ's Passover the Eucharist should always be the last sacrament of the earthly journey, the "viaticum" for "passing over" to eternal life. –Catechism of the Catholic Church, Second Edition

…….1518   Word and sacrament form an indivisible whole. The Liturgy of the Word, preceded by an act of repentance, opens the celebration. The words of Christ, the witness of the apostles, awaken the faith of the sick person and of the community to ask the Lord for the strength of his Spirit. –CCC

…….1519   The celebration of the sacrament includes the following principal elements: the "priests of the Church"(James 5:14.)¹³³  - in silence - lay hands on the sick; they pray over them in the faith of the Church(Compare James 5:15.)¹³⁴   - this is the epiclesis proper to this sacrament; they then anoint them with oil blessed, if possible, by the bishop.

These liturgical actions indicate what grace this sacrament confers upon the sick. --CCC

IN BRIEF

…….1531   The celebration of the Anointing of the Sick consists essentially in the anointing of the forehead and hands of the sick person (in the Roman Rite) or of other parts of the body (in the Eastern rite), the anointing being accompanied by the liturgical prayer of the celebrant asking for the special grace of this sacrament. --CCC