Renew anointing of the sick?

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eNomine

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I was anointed earlier this year. I’m Schizoaffective and have PTSD - I was permitted this sacrament because of this.

Is there a prayer that would renew the sacrament since I can only receive it once?
 
I was under the impression that one could only be Anointed for Sickness one time because it’s technically for the dying or in danger of.

Am I wrong?
 
No, it may be repeated, especially in cases of chronic conditions or even old age. It may also be repeated as a condition worsens. Ask your priest.

-Fr ACEGC
 
I had the Anointing of the sick three times last year for a medical problem. My priest said I could ask for it at the beginning of each step of treatment. I think you are thinking of Last Rites which is for those in danger of dying. Even then, if someone pulls through, they can receive it again when they are again close to death.
 
eNomine said:
I was under the impression that one could only be Anointed for Sickness one time because it’s technically for the dying or in danger of.

Am I wrong?
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A priest may, in his pastoral judgment, administer it multiple times in the case of someone who either has a serious chronic illness or is elderly.

My dad for example had a serious heart condition and was in his 60s. He received it multiple times before he finally passed. Our parish used to have a regular time every month or two for all those who were elderly or chronically ill to come and receive the anointing.

I would suggest that you ask your priest if you should receive it again and if so with what frequency.
 
The Anointing of the Sick is not only for those in danger of death. I recently asked my priest for the Anointing due to a problem with bacteria in my lungs. He was happy to perform the sacrament for me.

Several years ago I needed surgery in a couple of days, and asked my priest after weekday Mass to give me a blessing. Instead of just a blessing he took me to the little chapel and gave me the Anointing of the Sick.
 
eNomine said:
I was anointed earlier this year. I’m Schizoaffective and have PTSD - I was permitted this sacrament because of this.

Is there a prayer that would renew the sacrament since I can only receive it once?
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We have Anointing Masses every few months. Several Priests and sometimes Bishops will go through the Congregation and anoint those who ask.
I have an incurable physical illness and get anointed at each Mass. It is left up to us to discern being anointed or not. Although a Priest will discuss this with us if asked.

I lost a sibling recently, after an accident. The Priest anointed her before each operation and every time she was admitted to ICU. Sometimes that was weekly, if she had been out of a coma and then back in one.
 
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Dorothy said:
The Anointing of the Sick is not only for those in danger of death.
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Except that… it really is.

However, what the phrase “in periculo mortis” (i.e., “in danger of death”) means isn’t what we’d think it might mean, in everyday English.

A soldier, stepping onto a jet on his way to the front, is “in danger of death”, even though he’s perfectly healthy.

A person, getting ready to go into the hospital for an operation, may be “in danger of death”, even if he’s walking into the hospital on his own power and isn’t facing a necessarily life-threatening procedure.

We tend to think that “in danger of death” means “mortally ill”… but it doesn’t.

Your bacterial infection, and your preparation for surgery, qualify… even if they didn’t mean that you were on your last legs.
 
edward_george1 said:
No, it may be repeated, especially in cases of chronic conditions or even old age. It may also be repeated as a condition worsens. Ask your priest.
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In the East, the entire congregation received this Sacrament every week during Holy Week. It is quite repeatable.
 
I have been anointed each time I have had major surgery.

There is a reason anesthesiologists malpractice insurance is as high as it is. 😜 😜 😜
 
Yep! I’m glad this is the case, I will definitely inquire as to the frequency of which I can have this sacrament. It feels like my illness has been getting worse, I have been deteriorating in health even after the anointing. Thank you all for you help!
 
Keep in mind that if the Lord says “no” to healing, then He is giving you the grace to put up with the illness.
 
Amen. In my husband’s last three years of life, I cannot count the number of times he was anointed.
 
eNomine said:
It feels like my illness has been getting worse, I have been deteriorating in health even after the anointing.
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Dorothy said:
Keep in mind that if the Lord says “no” to healing
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Let’s talk about this notion, for a minute.

The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick is about healing, but that doesn’t imply that it’s necessarily about physical healing. In other words, it’s not the case that, if you don’t get healed physically, then the sacrament didn’t “take” or it needs to be repeated.

It’s a sacrament. Therefore, we believe that it really is efficacious. It really does do something. The form that the healing takes might be spiritual, or it might be emotional. It might help you heal something in your relationships with others, or with God.

In any case, we’d say that we believe that it always conveys grace in the measure that the recipient can receive it.
 
eNomine said:
Am I wrong?
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Yes, I am afraid you are. This sacrament used to be called ‘Extreme Unction’ and was mainly reserved to those in danger of death. But, even back then I do not believe it could only be received once. For example, if a doctor said you were likely to die, you were anointed but made a recovery I am sure it could be given again if you found yourself dying say five years later. I am certain no priest would come into your room and say, ‘oh no, not you, you’ve had this once, never again!’.

Since Vatican II the name ‘Anointing the Sick’ has been the name by which the sacrament is known. It can and is given more widely than was once the case. It has to be for something serious though not necessarily fatal. You could not be anointed because you woke up one morning with the sniffles. But, yes, this sacrament can be given more than once.
 
Not true that you can only have it once. You can be anointed more than once.

If you are about to have surgery, for instance, and all surgeries are risky and there may be a chance, however remote, that you might die on the table, you can be anointed for that, even if you pull through.

If, after that, you find yourself in some other life-threatening situation, you are seriously sick again, or are seriously injured, and the outcome is iffy, you can be anointed again.

Anointing of the sick, or of people in other life threatening situations, is a sacrament that is entirely repeatable, because one doesn’t know what the final outcome will be. Not everyone who gets the sacrament dies, but that certainly doesn’t preclude one’s getting it again if there’s a risk again of them dying.

It wouldn’t be right to deny anyone being anointed who is in danger of dying simply because they were in danger once before and needed the sacrament. I know of no priest who would refuse that, even if he knew about the previous incident.
 
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