Holy Unction on Holy Wednesday

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My local Byzantine parish has, until this year, been offering Holy Unction on Holy Wednesday. This year, though, it isn’t being offered on Holy Wednesday. Instead, it appears it was offered on the Friday before Holy Week…and it was only called a Holy Anointing Service. Is that normal?

I have also always been told that when my Byzantine parish offers an anointing service it would not be Holy Unction unless they specifically mention it as such since it’s one of the sacraments…otherwise it is just blessed oil and a sacramental. Is this accurate?
 
BusterMartin said:
My local Byzantine parish has, until this year, been offering Holy Unction on Holy Wednesday. This year, though, it isn’t being offered on Holy Wednesday. Instead, it appears it was offered on the Friday before Holy Week…and it was only called a Holy Anointing Service. Is that normal?

I have also always been told that when my Byzantine parish offers an anointing service it would not be Holy Unction unless they specifically mention it as such since it’s one of the sacraments…otherwise it is just blessed oil and a sacramental. Is this accurate?
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Have you asked the priest there?

Holy Unction, in the Orthodox Church, is a specific liturgical service to be celebrated in a prescribed way, according to rubrics, and is a Sacrament. In addition to that the priest may bless anyone anytime with blessed oil. That may serve as a sacramental but is not a Sacrament. To the best of my knowledge the practice is the same in the Byzantine Catholic Church.
 
Hmmm . . . Originally, even the anointing with Chrism at the end of the Divine Liturgy was seen as a form of Holy Unction.

I would love it if my parish offered it on Holy Wednesday (next week) and also if we had the foot-washing service on Holy Thursday . . . 😦

Alex
 
We have Holy Anointing in the evening on our parish calendar 4/11 as does the OCA parish I often go to. The Holy Virgin Cathedral ROCOR has 4PM Confessions, 4:30 Matins & Unction.

I am guessing that since confessions isn’t listed before the OCA service nor ours that we are not having Holy Unction but a “sacramental” (a Latin way of describing it) anointing not the Holy Mystery. The Holy Mystery of Unction should be closely associated with confession.

I had a long phone call with the OCA priest last year about the whole anointing thing when there was a thread here or elsewhere about babies and very young children receiving Unction, another topic… Just to say he suggested the book The Anointing of the Sick by Paul Meyendorff which is quite good for anyone wanting to read more about the Holy Mystery.
 
5Loaves said:
I am guessing that since confessions isn’t listed before the OCA service nor ours that we are not having Holy Unction but a “sacramental” (a Latin way of describing it) anointing not the Holy Mystery. The Holy Mystery of Unction should be closely associated with confession.
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I can’t speak for your parish but I would assume that the OCA service you mention is indeed the mystery of Holy Unction if it is being served on the evening preceding Hoy Thursday. The parishioners will have had many occasions for confession during Great Lent. Just because confessions aren’t specifically mentioned doen’t mean the priest won’t hear them.

If your Russian Catholic parish follows the tradition, I would also assume that your parish is serving what it considers a Mystery, not a “sacramental.” Why not ask your priest?

In the Russian tradition I don’t think that there’s any anointing that could be considered “sacramental” (to use the terminology) except for at the litya for a great feast - and clearly that is not what’s happening in the OCA parish or at yours.
 
Matt_V said:
I can’t speak for your parish but I would assume that the OCA service you mention is indeed the mystery of Holy Unction if it is being served on the evening preceding Hoy Thursday. The parishioners will have had many occasions for confession during Great Lent. Just because confessions aren’t specifically mentioned doen’t mean the priest won’t hear them.

If your Russian Catholic parish follows the tradition, I would also assume that your parish is serving what it considers a Mystery, not a “sacramental.” Why not ask your priest?

In the Russian tradition I don’t think that there’s any anointing that could be considered “sacramental” (to use the terminology) except for at the litya for a great feast - and clearly that is not what’s happening in the OCA parish or at yours.
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If I can remember to do so I will ask Father when I’m at the OCA on Friday for Vespers. He never tires of my questions, LOL. Our parish calendar has called it Unction in other years. I will have been to confession tonight so it won’t make any difference to me. 😉 I’ll be breathing with the other lung tonight – the Latin Deanery where I live will have about 8 priests available for confessions for several hours, so after I finish Great Compline with the Greek Orthodox I will go to the Latins in my neighborhood for Confession. This has been a good combination for me in past years. Heading to Compline in a few minutes…
 
MrPip said:
Have you asked the priest there?
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No, I haven’t. Outside of DL and services I don’t really see him much. He also doesn’t greet the congregation post DL or service.
 
Matt_V said:
I can’t speak for your parish but I would assume that the OCA service you mention is indeed the mystery of Holy Unction if it is being served on the evening preceding Hoy Thursday. The parishioners will have had many occasions for confession during Great Lent. Just because confessions aren’t specifically mentioned doen’t mean the priest won’t hear them.

If your Russian Catholic parish follows the tradition, I would also assume that your parish is serving what it considers a Mystery, not a “sacramental.” Why not ask your priest?

In the Russian tradition I don’t think that there’s any anointing that could be considered “sacramental” (to use the terminology) except for at the litya for a great feast - and clearly that is not what’s happening in the OCA parish or at yours.
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I was as the OCA today for a work day and having talked with Father on this topic in the past I asked him what will be the “anointing” listed on the calendar for next Wed. He said “You’re the 4th person asking me about this” and no sooner did we start to talk that a Russian immigrant came in unaware of our conversation and asked him about whatever the word is in Russian, that her mother had been asking her about the practice in Russia now.

Anyway, the upshot was this will not be the Holy Mystery of Unction. He said what he has said before “what does the text of the prayers say?” then went and got his binder and showed me what he will be saying/praying. It’s a couple of paragraphs he worked out, changing what another friend was using.

I have been there for this service in his parish and I did not go up since I’m not Orthodox but he indicated that there is a non-orthodox in the parish who will likely come up and he would anoint her.

It will not be the anointing we get for festal anointing.

BTW the The Anointing of the Sick by Paul Meyendorff I mentioned before includes “a new translation of the Rite… as well as an abbreviated version intended for emergency use in a hospital or home setting”. The Rite is 62 pages. The “emergency” Rite is 10 pages.
 
My own priest (OCA) recently celebrated Hoy Unction at another parish with six other priests from the area. I was disappointed that I was unable to go as I have never been to the complete service for this Mystery with seven priests celebrating. When we do it at our church on Holy Wednesday, it is only our own priest, but he will not allow non-Orthodox to be anointed. Perhaps he is using the abbreviated service you mention; I’ve never seen the service book.

Whatever that priest is doing, may it bring you God’s grace!
 
Holy Annointing of Healing (sacramental) is customarily administered to all during the Liturgy of the Presanctified Gifts on Holy Wednesday, in the Byzantine-Ruthenian tradition. Not sure why it might have been moved to the previous Friday, unless perhaps if a Liturgy of Presanctified Gifts was not scheduled for Holy Wednesday. Best to ask the priest, but it should have been on Holy Wednesday as per normal custom.
 
How long is this service? I want to attend at the Russian Orthodox parish tomorrow night, but I have to be up early the next morning.
 
5Loaves said:
I was as the OCA today for a work day and having talked with Father on this topic in the past I asked him what will be the “anointing” listed on the calendar for next Wed. He said “You’re the 4th person asking me about this” and no sooner did we start to talk that a Russian immigrant came in unaware of our conversation and asked him about whatever the word is in Russian, that her mother had been asking her about the practice in Russia now.

… He said what he has said before “what does the text of the prayers say?” …
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Following up on this quote from Father at the OCA which I’d discussed with my “pious son” he said tonight we must have had the Holy Mystery/Sacrament because the prayer the presiding priest prayed over us as we all were crouched under the book of the Gospels after anointing is the Prayer of Absolution. 🙂
Symeon said:
At my Russian Greek-Catholic parish, it’s about 2 - 2 1/2 hours.
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Ours lasted about 2 hours I think, maybe a little less. Sadly there were not many of us there to be anointed so that part didn’t take very long.
 
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