Anointing of the Sick

[kmcbridehp]

Hi everyone, I have recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. With this chronic condition can I receive anointing of the sick, or is that reserved for those who are elderly or those who are in danger of dying because of a sickness? Thank you and God Bless <3

 

[Richard_White]

Yes, you may receive the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick! It is meant for anyone with ailments that they may receive the blessing and healing touch of God.

May God bless you and grant you peace and comfort!

 

[kmcbridehp]

Yes, you may receive the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick! It is meant for anyone with ailments that they may receive the blessing and healing touch of God.

May God bless you and grant you peace and comfort!

Thank you so much, God bless!

 

[Don_Ruggero]

Hi everyone, I have recently been diagnosed with fibromyalgia. With this chronic condition can I receive anointing of the sick, or is that reserved for those who are elderly or those who are in danger of dying because of a sickness? Thank you and God Bless <3

I am sorry for your diagnosis and I will remember you in my prayers.

The Code of Canon Law stipulates:
*Can. 1004 §1. The anointing of the sick can be administered to a member of the faithful who, having reached the use of reason, begins to be in danger due to sickness or old age.

§2. This sacrament can be repeated if the sick person, having recovered, again becomes gravely ill or if the condition becomes more grave during the same illness.

Can. 1005 This sacrament is to be administered in a case of doubt whether the sick person has attained the use of reason, is dangerously ill, or is dead.*
When I taught liturgy and sacraments, I reminded my students that the canon is to be interpreted strictly as written. The term is “begins to be in danger due to sickness” and, if the minister is in doubt about the extent of the danger, is to confer the sacrament.

Thus, “begins to be in danger” is interpreted differently than would be “is in danger of death.” A chronic condition that has a debilitating aspect means you have begun to be in “danger.” On the other hand, having a cold or virus or some other “lesser” illness or condition that is transitory would result in a different judgment…unless there was some other condition in which the cold or virus is exposing the patient to a greater danger.

As a priest, particularly when I was a hospital chaplain, I occasionally had patients pass away during routine procedures because there was underlying condition, so if a patient was undergoing a procedure with anesthesia, as an example, I deemed that they met the criteria of Canon 1004.

 

[ComplineSanFran]

I

The Code of Canon Law stipulates:
*

Can. 1005 This sacrament is to be administered in a case of doubt whether the sick person has attained the use of reason, is dangerously ill, or is dead.*

Am I understanding that you are allowed to anoint a person who has died? I have run into various opinions and practices on this within my own communion. Does one give sacraments to the dead, really meaning the ‘just dead?’ I have been present at both before death and after death.

Which leads to another question - do you (RCs) use anointing oil to prepare the body for dressing and casketing? Again, I have seen both. Since more family-based and individualized death practices are emerging these days, many in the home as opposed to the funeral parlors, I see more initiatives in these old traditions.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

Am I understanding that you are allowed to anoint a person who has died? I have run into various opinions and practices on this within my own communion. Does one give sacraments to the dead, really meaning the ‘just dead?’ I have been present at both before death and after death.

Which leads to another question - do you (RCs) use anointing oil to prepare the body for dressing and casketing? Again, I have seen both. Since more family-based and individualized death practices are emerging these days, many in the home as opposed to the funeral parlors, I see more initiatives in these old traditions.

Technically, no; if the person is dead, they are not a candidate for any sacrament since they are now beyond this realm. The theological definition of death, however, is the separation of the soul from the body. The decay of the physical body is the outward manifestation that the soul – the life principle – no longer abides within the body.

This definition is distinct from a contemporary clinical definition of death…that brain activity has ceased, that cardiac arrest has occurred, that there is a cessation of respiratory function and so forth.

If I arrive at the hospital and the patient has been declared dead but I have doubt of the condition of the patient from the perspective of theology, then the canon directs me to anoint.

There are three oils related to the sacraments: the sacred chrism, the oil of catechumens (also called the oil of salvation), and the oil of the sick. None of these oils would be used in actually preparing a body for burial. The oil of the sick is meant to evoke its ancient medicinal use and not as an embalming agent.

The amount of the oil of the sick used for the anointing of the sick is a very tiny quantity that is, today, applied to the forehead and hands…or the forehead alone, if need be – or, if it is not possible to access the head, as near to the forehead as one can get with decorum.

There are oils that are blessed and are sacramentals even if they are not used in the conferring of sacraments. I do not know of any occasion in the developed world in which such blessed oils would be used in the manner you propose. Perhaps in Africa or in the East, there may still be some custom where preparation of the body happens in a manner more after past centuries but I am not acquainted with it; it is not a topic, as a contemporary practice, that I have researched, actually.

 

[ComplineSanFran]

There are oils that are blessed and are sacramentals even if they are not used in the conferring of sacraments. I do not know of any occasion in the developed world in which such blessed oils would be used in the manner you propose. Perhaps in Africa or in the East, there may still be some custom where preparation of the body happens in a manner more after past centuries but I am not acquainted with it; it is not a topic, as a contemporary practice, that I have researched, actually.

Perhaps the anointing of the dead comes from the ancient Jewish (and Biblical) tradition. I have seen it happen more often with home funerals as the body is being prepared, or if not home funerals, at least with those who prepare the body rather than sending if off immediately after death.

Holy oil is always used.