Anointing of the Sick circumstances

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FrDavid96 said:
The Sacrament is administered because of some health reason, some illness. Surgery is not an illness.
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I agree with you on this. But I also think you can see the polarization on this. This is not confined to the lay community. My fear is that I would get different responses from different priests. Can I focus on the article that I posted (post 12 I believe). Is the sacrament administered differently when the illness is life threatening but maybe not IMMEDIATELY life threatening as in my case? The article mentioned an apostolic blessing that distinguishes last rites.
 
To those of you who have posted with very serious illnesses, my heart goes out to you and your families and may the Lord heal you both mentally and physically.
 
The Apostolic Blessing is a plenary indulgence given at the hour of death. It is not a sacrament, and does not occasionally effect physical healing (as Anointing can), and it can be gained by an individual if they should happen to die without the presence of a priest. Given this, there would be no reason to confer it early in an illness.
 
I understand what you are saying a person has to be " circling the drain" before you anoint them. I find this very disheartening especially when I see other denominations ie. Pentecostal, Hmong priest, American Indian etc praying over their sick lived ones but never see Catholics praying over anyone.
Didn’t Jesus tell his disciples to lay hands on one another when tyhey are sick and pray for them?
Granted “laying on of habds” is not the same but hit a not practiced in our faith all we have is “Extreme Unction” only if you need it.
See my point
And it’s funny you should mention convicts because I am a prison nurse (no lie) and my patients are mostly “lifers”. It’s too bad they can’t get final sacrament because they are definitely sick in their mind.
we’ve exhausted this subject
God bless you
 
If you are sick in the Catholic Church, but not with something life-threatening, the priest can and will pray with you and over you for your healing. There are entire healing masses devoted to this. But those people don’t necessarily get Anointing of the Sick. Example would be somebody who breaks their leg or has some disability but is otherwise in good health and not a senior citizen. They get prayed over and prayed for, but not anointed.

One can easily see why it’s limited a bit, because there are folks who would be asking for anointing every time they had a headache or hangnail.

The people I usually see getting anointing are either senior citizens who are in danger of death simply due to age, or else people with cancer, heart attack/stroke, or some other serious illness or chronic condition. I’m sure if a priest decided you didn’t qualify for the sacrament, he could still bless you, pray for your healing and strength, and do a regular confession with you.

My dad used to get anointed from time to time because he’d had 2 heart attacks and a stroke which left him partly paralyzed. The priest told him he qualified and to come and get the Sacrament when it was offered regularly at our church.
 
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The priest said he “qualified” maybe we should start filling out applications
 
He and my mom asked. Dad was sick but he wasn’t at death’s door yet. He lived about a dozen more years.

I don’t know why you’re being grumpy about this when I just said that there are healing Masses and priests to pray for you. Oh well.
 
Arkansan said:
1514 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."130

1515 If a sick person who received this anointing recovers his health, he can in the case of another grave illness receive this sacrament again. If during the same illness the person’s condition becomes more serious, the sacrament may be repeated. It is fitting to receive the Anointing of the Sick just prior to a serious operation. The same holds for the elderly whose frailty becomes more pronounced.
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Thank You …
 
I had the Anointing of the Sick before surgery to remove kidney stones. I went to my parish for it. Father could have come to me. But it was important to me that I go to our parish.

There are several readings Father can choose from. He does this by assessing the person’s condition. Many people want to give their Confession beforehand. In my case, Father could see that I really didn’t have the energy to do that even though I wanted to. My voice was barely above a whisper at that time. I had focused all my energy just on getting there. So the readings he chose took care of that.

Father then asked me if I would like to receive the Eucharist. I whispered and nodded, “Yes.” My mother wasn’t a Catholic then and said, “I thought she had to give her Confession first.” Father and I looked at her, me about to go through the floor with embarrassment because she had said that to Father, and at each other and at the same time, said, (referring to the readings he’d just given) “This takes care of it.”

I have also been to healing Masses. The difference between a healing Mass and the Anointing of the Sick is that anyone can be prayed over. Father strongly encourages it. I go up every time even though Satan tries his darndest to keep me from it.
 
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Just so everyone knows, the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick (called Holy Unction) does not only have to be used in cases of serious illness or death all the time no matter what.

In Eastern Christianity, it is routinely given to the entire congregation at the Forgiveness Vespers during Holy Week.

It is given so as to facilitate the forgiveness of sins as well as healing of soul and body.
 
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CCEO 737 - 1. By the sacramental anointing of the sick with prayers of a priest, the Christian faithful who are gravely ill and sincerely contrite receive grace, by which, strengthened by the hope of eternal reward and absolved from sins, they are disposed to correct their lives and are helped in patiently enduring their infirmity and suffering.
 
Yes it is appropriate! I have even received it when admitted to the hospital psychiatrically
and obviously I was at “NO RISK” of death.
 
ajcstr said:
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FrDavid96:
The Sacrament is administered because of some health reason, some illness. Surgery is not an illness.
Click to expand...
I agree with you on this. But I also think you can see the polarization on this. This is not confined to the lay community. My fear is that I would get different responses from different priests. Can I focus on the article that I posted (post 12 I believe). Is the sacrament administered differently when the illness is life threatening but maybe not IMMEDIATELY life threatening as in my case? The article mentioned an apostolic blessing that distinguishes last rites.
Click to expand...
The illness need NOT be immediately life-threatening.

It does have to be a “serious” illness though. The exact translation of Bl Paul VI’s words when he promulgated the new rite for Anointing has been a topic of much debate (and yes, controversy) ever since it was promulgated in the 70s. While the exact translation is imprecise (they are not words that translate directly from Latin to English) there’s no doubt that they mean at least “serious” and not less than that, such as “minor.”

Yes, there is an Apostolic Blessing at the Hour of Death. This is one of the Last Rites (note the plural).

If death is imminent, the priest administers the Last Rites: Confession, Anointing, Communion, and the Apostolic Blessing/Pardon.

The Last Rites always includes Anointing; however Anointing is NOT always a last rite. (Please read that sentence carefully).
 
mbmulkern said:
I understand what you are saying a person has to be " circling the drain" before you anoint them.
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No one here has said that. So I do not know to whom you’re addressing those words.
I find this very disheartening especially when I see other denominations ie. Pentecostal, Hmong priest, American Indian etc praying over their sick lived ones but never see Catholics praying over anyone.
Didn’t Jesus tell his disciples to lay hands on one another when tyhey are sick and pray for them?
Granted “laying on of habds” is not the same but hit a not practiced in our faith all we have is “Extreme Unction” only if you need it.
See my point
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No. I don’t.
And it’s funny you should mention convicts because I am a prison nurse (no lie) and my patients are mostly “lifers”. It’s too bad they can’t get final sacrament because they are definitely sick in their mind.
we’ve exhausted this subject
God bless you
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I am a prison Chaplain. When an inmate becomes seriously ill he is transferred to a hospital unit and the administration calls a priest.
 
mbmulkern said:
The priest said he “qualified” maybe we should start filling out applications
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It is the responsibility of the priest to discern who is a candidate for the Anointing.

Have you ever read the General Instruction for the Rite of Anointing?
 
My understanding is that the ‘extreme’ in Extreme Unction doesn’t mean extreme as we think in modern English. It means the last or final. That might still sound like it means something just before death, but it means the last, or final, after the other anointings of Baptism and Confirmation.
 
TheHolyTrinity said:
@Arkansan, post:36, topic:464576, The Sacrament of Anointing for the Sick is one of seven Sacraments, it is a Sacrament of Healing. Nor is it just for physical illness, nor is it Indiscriminate. Those who feel they need the Sacrament should ask for the Sacrament, otherwise what is the point of the Sacrament?
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The point of the Sacrament is exactly as some of us are trying to explain it here. It is for the seriously ill.

It is not for “those who feel the need” because that can mean anything to anyone.
 
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