It's no longer called 'Last Rites'?

[Alex1]

I was told by a Dominican Nun that the sacrament traditionally known as Last Rites is now called Anointing of the Sick. Is this an official name change, or just a change in common speech?

 

[porthos11]

It was not from “Last Rites” to “Anointing of the Sick” but rather, “Extreme Unction” to “Anointing of the Sick.” The name change is official, as the Anointing of the Sick is to be administered when a patient becomes dangerously ill. If the patient gets better then relapses, the Sacrament can be administered again. The Church emphasizes that we should not wait till the patient is at death’s door before the Sacrament is administered.

The Last Rites are not the Anointing of the Sick, rather, the Sacrament is only part of the Last Rites. The Last Rites still take place: last Confession, Anointing of the Sick, and Viaticum.

 

[Alex1]

Thank you, that was a good answer.

So Last Rites still exists, but it’s the collective term for the last sacraments administered; Confession, Communion, And Anointing of the Sick.

 

[Gorgias]

So Last Rites still exists, but it’s the collective term for the last sacraments administered; Confession, Communion, And Anointing of the Sick.

Well, yes and no.

No, there’s nothing by the official name ‘Last Rites’. IIRC, that was never the official name of any Catholic liturgical or sacramental expression. But…

Yes, the tradition of offering the sacraments to the dying has always been part of the Catholic tradition; this would include the opportunity for Reconciliation, the administration of Viaticum (communion for those who are dying), Anointing of the Sick, and the Apostolic Pardon. This remains part of the Catholic tradition. These are detailed in a ritual book that goes by the name of “The Pastoral Care of the Sick.”

 

[Alex1]

Thank you for the clarification. I’m glad to learn about the book Pastoral Care of the Sick, and wish I could get it in kindle format.

 

[Micosil]

If the patient gets better then relapses, the Sacrament can be administered again. The Church emphasizes that we should not wait till the patient is at death’s door before the Sacrament is administered.

(Emphasis mine)

I did not know that. Thank you.

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Thank you for the clarification. I’m glad to learn about the book Pastoral Care of the Sick, and wish I could get it in kindle format.

The text is included in the iBreviary app, though unless you’re a priest who is administering the sacrament it would be useful only to satisfy curiosity.

 

[eightydeuce82]

I was told by a Dominican Nun that the sacrament traditionally known as Last Rites is now called Anointing of the Sick. Is this an official name change, or just a change in common speech?

You should see how much Baptism of infants has changed!

 

[FrDavid96]

I was told by a Dominican Nun that the sacrament traditionally known as Last Rites is now called Anointing of the Sick. Is this an official name change, or just a change in common speech?

She’s wrong from the start because there never was any Sacrament called “Last Rites.”

The “Last Rites” were and are (yes, still):

1. Confession
2. Anointing of the Sick or Unction of the Sick (both words are identical)
3. Communion (as Viaticum, or "food for the journey)
4. The Apostolic Pardon

1-3 are Sacraments. The 4th is a special indulgence.

Note the plural in “Last Rites” it is not a single rite, but 4 rites (that form a whole, naturally) one after the other.

If indeed the person is about to die, then the term “Last Rites” is entirely appropriate.

If the person is not actually dying, but is still seriously ill, then the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is appropriate. In this case, the adjective “last” would not be used.

The term “Anointing of the Sick” is not some new term for “Last Rites.” That’s a utter falsehood.

Anointing is one of the Last Rites. If Anointing is done all by itself, then it’s not called Last Rites (nor was it ever called that in the singular).

The English words “Anointing” and “Unction” mean exactly the same thing (exactly). They are both English versions of the Latin word “Unction” which never changed. The Sacrament has always been called “Unction” in Latin (I will spare the grammatical variations like “unctionem.”

The difference comes in what adjectives are added to the word “Unction.”

If the situation is extreme, then the adjective might be added: hence the term “extreme Unction.”

If it is the last time a person is anointed, then it might be called “last Anointing.”

It’s all about the adjectives. If they apply, we might use them. If they don’t apply, we don’t use them.

**Don’t let anyone tell you that there is no longer “Last Rites.” ** While that term does not always apply, it most certainly applies sometimes.

 

[Alex1]

Thanks Father. I’m assuming you’re a priest by your username. This is the first I’ve heard of the Apostolic Pardon, and I’m a decently-informed Catholic.

I sure hope my dying relatives got it,and that priests administer it without being asked.

 

[FrDavid96]

Well, yes and no.

No, there’s nothing by the official name ‘Last Rites’. IIRC, that was never the official name of any Catholic liturgical or sacramental expression. But…

…

I am reading from my 1954 Collectio Rituum published for the United States.

Chapter 4 is called “The Last Rites as Given Without Interruption.”

 

[FrDavid96]

Thanks Father. I’m assuming you’re a priest by your username. This is the first I’ve heard of the Apostolic Pardon, and I’m a decently-informed Catholic.

I sure hope my dying relatives got it,and that priests administer it without being asked.

Here’s a link
sanctamissa.org/en/resources/books-1962/rituale-romanum/36-the-sacrament-of-the-anointing-of-sick-apostolic-blessing-plenary-indulgence-at-the-hour-of-death.html

 

[SuscipeMeDomine]

Thanks Father. I’m assuming you’re a priest by your username. This is the first I’ve heard of the Apostolic Pardon, and I’m a decently-informed Catholic.

I think many people don’t know about it.

A few years ago when I made out my will I also prepared a proxy for health care. I made sure I included in it that if possible, at the end of my life, I wanted Confession, Anoinitng of the Sick, Viaticum, and the Apostolic Pardon. I hope my proxy would think of these things anyway, but at least this way it will be right in front of him to jog his memory.

 

[Alex1]

…when I made out my will I also prepared a proxy for health care. I made sure I included in it that if possible, at the end of my life, I wanted Confession, Anointing of the Sick, Viaticum, and the Apostolic Pardon…

Let me suggest one more thing; that some trusted person make sure to have Gregorian Masses said for you. So many Catholics die without any, or just a couple, Masses said for them.

marian.org/mass/gregorian.php

 

[John_Lilburne]

The 1963 document of Vatican II, Sacrosanctum Concilium, at vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_const_19631204_sacrosanctum-concilium_en.html has:

"73. “Extreme unction,” which may also and more fittingly be called “anointing of the sick,” is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death. Hence, as soon as any one 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.

1. In addition to the separate rites for anointing of the sick and for viaticum, a continuous rite shall be prepared according to which the sick man is anointed after he has made his confession and before he receives viaticum.
2. The number of the anointings is to be adapted to the occasion, and the prayers which belong to the rite of anointing are to be revised so as to correspond with the varying conditions of the sick who receive the sacrament."

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church (vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c2a5.htm ):
"1523 A preparation for the final journey. If the sacrament of anointing of the sick is given to all who suffer from serious illness and infirmity, even more rightly is it given to those at the point of departing this life; so it is also called sacramentum exeuntium (the sacrament of those departing).139 The Anointing of the Sick completes our conformity to the death and Resurrection of Christ, just as Baptism began it. It completes the holy anointings that mark the whole Christian life: that of Baptism which sealed the new life in us, and that of Confirmation which strengthened us for the combat of this life. This last anointing fortifies the end of our earthly life like a solid rampart for the final struggles before entering the Father’s house.140

V. VIATICUM, THE LAST SACRAMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN

1524 In addition to the Anointing of the Sick, the Church offers those who are about to leave this life the Eucharist as viaticum. Communion in the body and blood of Christ, received at this moment of “passing over” to the Father, has a particular significance and importance. It is the seed of eternal life and the power of resurrection, according to the words of the Lord: "He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day."141 The sacrament of Christ once dead and now risen, the Eucharist is here the sacrament of passing over from death to life, from this world to the Father.142

1525 Thus, just as the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation, and the Eucharist form a unity called “the sacraments of Christian initiation,” so too it can be said that Penance, the Anointing of the Sick and the Eucharist as viaticum constitute at the end of Christian life “the sacraments that prepare for our heavenly homeland” or the sacraments that complete the earthly pilgrimage."