M
Madaglan
Guest
I go to school in PA. About a month and an half ago, at the suggestion of a priest I know from online and who lives in New Jersey, I went to a local priest near my college. I didn’t really know this priest as well as I did the one on campus (a different priest from the one in NJ), but because I did not feel comfortable making my college priest think I was ill or a hypocondriac, I decided to go to another local priest. To avoid confusion, there were three priests: 1) The one from New Jersey who advised me to get annointed, 2) The one who pastors for the college students 3) The one who pastors near where I go to college, but who is not involved with college students at my school.
So, I went to this church and went to the priest (priest #3). I told him that I was having really bad depression problems among other things. He just looked at me with a weird smile and said, “No, I cannot give you the sacrament. Please get out of this church.” I thought he was being facetious, so I asked him, “Are you serious?” And he was like, “Yes, I am serious. You are not sick. Again, I must ask you to leave this church.” He then explicitly mentioned that he does not annoint those with depression. So, I left the church disheartened and prayed that I would get cancer and die. I also was very angry at the priest and began to understand why the Reformers may have reacted as they did to heartless and malicious clergy. Anyhow, when I told the priest from NJ this, he was infuriated. He thought that he should have given me the sacrament. Later on, another priest (priest #4) from NJ whom I know also told me the same thing–that the priest should have given me the sacrament, since I was honestly in dire need of Christ’s help.
In any case, I ended up contacting another priest who pastors in my home parish (priest #5)–about 40 minutes away from where I go to college. He pretty much said, “No problem!” And then he annointed me. When I asked him why the other priest refused me the sacrament, he said something to the effect that annointing was originally thought of as extreme unction–for people who were in the process of dying. I later read the Catechism on the sacrament of Annointing of the Sick, and it seems to suggest that one should receive it whenever there is the slightest possibility of death, which seems to suggest this. However, the priest mentioned that in the early Church annnointing was done for those other than the dying; but that it become a sacrament for the dying alone during the time of Charlamagne–and had remained so until the 1960’s.
Many websites online (in addition to my priests) say that it can be applied to people who are seriously ill (though not mortally ill). In fact, many websites seemed to suggest that anyone who is undergoing some difficulty is eligible for annointing.
Could some people clear me up on what is official Church teaching? Does severe depression merit annointing? How about non-fatal but harrowing diseases, such as post traumatic stress syndrome, shell shock, frequent panic attacks, etc. ??? (I don’t have any of these other diseases. I’m just curious.)
When the one priest did anoint me, he mentioned that there was another set of prayers that he was not going to do for me, since I was not dying. Am I to understand that the Sacrament of Annointing is now split into two different sets of prayers and procedures???
Ok, that’s enough questions for now. Hope someone can help me. Thanks!
So, I went to this church and went to the priest (priest #3). I told him that I was having really bad depression problems among other things. He just looked at me with a weird smile and said, “No, I cannot give you the sacrament. Please get out of this church.” I thought he was being facetious, so I asked him, “Are you serious?” And he was like, “Yes, I am serious. You are not sick. Again, I must ask you to leave this church.” He then explicitly mentioned that he does not annoint those with depression. So, I left the church disheartened and prayed that I would get cancer and die. I also was very angry at the priest and began to understand why the Reformers may have reacted as they did to heartless and malicious clergy. Anyhow, when I told the priest from NJ this, he was infuriated. He thought that he should have given me the sacrament. Later on, another priest (priest #4) from NJ whom I know also told me the same thing–that the priest should have given me the sacrament, since I was honestly in dire need of Christ’s help.
In any case, I ended up contacting another priest who pastors in my home parish (priest #5)–about 40 minutes away from where I go to college. He pretty much said, “No problem!” And then he annointed me. When I asked him why the other priest refused me the sacrament, he said something to the effect that annointing was originally thought of as extreme unction–for people who were in the process of dying. I later read the Catechism on the sacrament of Annointing of the Sick, and it seems to suggest that one should receive it whenever there is the slightest possibility of death, which seems to suggest this. However, the priest mentioned that in the early Church annnointing was done for those other than the dying; but that it become a sacrament for the dying alone during the time of Charlamagne–and had remained so until the 1960’s.
Many websites online (in addition to my priests) say that it can be applied to people who are seriously ill (though not mortally ill). In fact, many websites seemed to suggest that anyone who is undergoing some difficulty is eligible for annointing.
Could some people clear me up on what is official Church teaching? Does severe depression merit annointing? How about non-fatal but harrowing diseases, such as post traumatic stress syndrome, shell shock, frequent panic attacks, etc. ??? (I don’t have any of these other diseases. I’m just curious.)
When the one priest did anoint me, he mentioned that there was another set of prayers that he was not going to do for me, since I was not dying. Am I to understand that the Sacrament of Annointing is now split into two different sets of prayers and procedures???
Ok, that’s enough questions for now. Hope someone can help me. Thanks!
