Sacraments

Anointing of the Sick

The Anointing of the Sick is one of the Church’s seven sacraments, which, along with the Sacrament of Reconciliation, are known as sacraments of healing. The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is for the living. We celebrate it at moments in our lives when we need healing in body, mind, and spirit, though sometimes that healing is also at the moment of death.

Like all Sacraments, the Anointing of the Sick brings one into an encounter with Jesus Christ. The Sacrament enables sick persons to find solace and comfort during their illness and allows them to live out their call of discipleship in their illness. The beginning pages of the Praenotanda of the Ritual for the Anointing of the Sick says, “By their witness, the sick show that our mortal life must be redeemed through the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection” (Pastoral Care for the Sick, 3). We see that the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus have touched everything that happens in this life.

The celebration of the Anointing of the Sick is personal and communal, that is, something that belongs to the individual and the Church community. It is personal because the individual receives the grace of the Holy Spirit. It is communal because the church community unites in prayer for the ill person. Those who are seriously ill, people about to undergo surgery, older people who struggle with declining health, people with chronic illnesses, and those who have a mental illness can be anointed at any point in their life. This means that the Sacrament can also be celebrated repeatedly; it is not a Sacrament that can only be celebrated once, like Baptism or Confirmation.

The Sacrament of the Sick may also be known as Last Rites, as it is administered when someone is actively dying. Anointing of the Sick and Last Rites are the same Sacrament. The common misunderstanding comes from the incorrect belief that the Last Rites “get someone to heaven.” The Catechism teaches us that “the proper time for receiving this holy anointing has certainly arrived when the believer begins to be in danger of death because of illness or old age” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1528). The faithful should immediately have themselves or their loved ones anointed when ill or dying. If death is probable and imminent, do not wait to call the priest. However, we cannot guarantee that a priest will come precisely when one calls. We will schedule a visit with a priest as soon as possible. Please get in touch with the Cathedral Rectory at (312) 787-8040 or work directly with the hospital chaplain.