In all thy works, the
Scriptures teach, remember thy last end, and thou shalt never sin, 1 words which
convey to the pastor a silent admonition to omit no opportunity of exhorting
the faithful to constant meditation on death.
The Sacrament of Extreme Unction, because inseparably associated with
recollection of the day of death, should, it is obvious, form a subject of
frequent instruction, not only because it is right to explain the mysteries of
salvation, but also because death, the inevitable doom of all men, when
recalled to the minds of the faithful, represses depraved passion. Thus shall they be less disturbed by the
approach of death, and will pour forth their gratitude in endless praises to
God, who has not only opened to us the way to true life in the Sacrament of
Baptism, but has also instituted that of Extreme Unction, to afford us, when
departing this mortal life, an easier way to heaven.
In explaining what is more
necessary on this subject we shall follow almost the same order observed in the
exposition of the other Sacraments.
Hence we shall first show that this Sacrament is called Extreme
Unction, because among all the unctions prescribed by our Lord to His
Church, this is the last to be administered.
For this reason it was also
called by our predecessors in the faith, the Sacrament of the anointing of
the sick, and also the Sacrament of the dying, names which easily
turn the minds of the faithful to the remembrance of that last hour.
Extreme Unction
Is a True Sacrament
That Extreme Unction is strictly
speaking a Sacrament, is first to be explained; and this the words of St. James
the Apostle, promulgating the law of this Sacrament, clearly establish. Is
any man, he says, sick amongst you? Let him bring in the priests of the Church,
and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: and
the prayer of faith shall save the sick man; and the Lord shall raise him up;
and if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him. 2 When the Apostle says that sins are
forgiven, the ascribes to Extreme Unction the nature and efficacy of a
Sacrament.
That such has been at all times
the doctrine of the Catholic Church on Extreme Unction, many Councils testify,
and the Council of Trent denounces anathema against all who presume to teach or
think otherwise. 3 Innocent I also recommends this Sacrament with great earnestness
to the attention of the faithful. 4
Pastors, therefore, should teach
that Extreme Unction is a true Sacrament, and that, although administered with
many anointings, each given with a peculiar prayer, and under a peculiar form,
it constitutes not many, but one Sacrament.
It is one, however, not in the sense that it is composed of inseparable
parts, but because each of the parts contributes to its perfection, as is the
case with every object composed of many parts.
As a house which consists of a great variety of parts derives its
perfection from unity of plan, so is this Sacrament, although composed of many
and different things and words, but one sign, and it affects only that one
thing of which it is the sign. {a}
Pastors should also teach what
are the component parts of this Sacrament, its matter and form. These St. James does not omit, and each is
replete with its own peculiar mysteries. 5
Its element, then, or matter, as
defined by Councils, particularly by the Council of Trent, consist of oil
consecrated by the Bishop. Not any kind
of oil extracted from fatty or greasy substances, but olive oil alone (can be
the matter of this Sacrament).
Thus its matter is most
significant of what is inwardly effected in the soul by the Sacrament. Oil is very efficacious in soothing bodily
pain, and the power of this Sacrament lessens the pain and anguish of the
soul. Oil also restores health, brings
joy, feeds light, and is very efficacious in refreshing bodily fatigue. All these effects signify what the divine
power accomplishes in the sick man through the administration of this Sacrament. So much will suffice in explanation of the
matter.
The form of this Sacrament is the
word and solemn prayer which the priest uses at each anointing: By this Holy
Unction may God pardon thee whatever sins thou hast committed by the evil use
of sight, smell or touch.
That this is the true form of this Sacrament we
learn from these words of St. James: Let them pray over him... and the prayer of faith shall save the sick
man. 6
Hence we can see that the form is to be applied by way of prayer. The Apostle does not say of what particular
words that prayer is to consist; but this form has been handed down to us by
the faithful tradition of the Fathers, so that all the Churches retain the form
observed by the Church of Rome, the mother and mistress of all Churches. Some, it is true, alter a few words, as when
for God pardon thee, they say (God) remit, or (God)
spare, and sometimes, May (God) remedy all the evil
thou hast committed. But as there
is no change of meaning, it is clear that all religiously observe the same
form.
It should not excite surprise
that, while the form of each of the other Sacraments either absolutely
signifies what it expresses, such as I baptize thee, or I sign thee with the
sign of the cross, or is pronounced, as it were, by way of command, as in
administering Holy Orders, Receive power, the form of Extreme Unction
alone is expressed by way of prayer.
Wisely has it been so appointed.
For since this Sacrament is administered not only for the spiritual
grace which it bestows, but also for the recovery of health, which, however, is
not always obtained, we therefore use a deprecative form, in order to implore
of God's mercy what the virtue of the Sacrament does not always and uniformly
effect.
The Ceremonies Of Extreme
Unction
In the administration of this
Sacrament special rites are also used, consisting principally of prayers
offered by the priest for the recovery of the sick person. There is no Sacrament, the administration of
which is accompanied with more numerous prayers; and with good reason, for at
the moment more than ever the faithful require the assistance of pious prayers. All who may be present, and especially the
pastor, should pour out their fervent aspirations to God, and earnestly,
commend to His mercy the life and salvation of the sufferer. {b}
Having thus proved that Extreme
Unction is truly and properly to be numbered among the Sacraments, we rightly
infer that it owes its institution to Christ our Lord. It was subsequently made known and
promulgated to the faithful by the Apostle St. James.
Our Savior Himself, however,
seems to have given some indication of it, when He sent His disciples two and
two before Him; for the Evangelist informs us that going forth, they
preached that all should do penance; and they cast out many devils, and
anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them. 7
This anointing cannot be supposed
to have been invented by the Apostles, but was commanded by our Lord. Nor did its power arise from any natural
virtue. It's efficacy, we must believe,
was mystical, having been instituted to heal the maladies of the soul, rather
than to cure the diseases of the body.
This is the doctrine taught by St. Denis, St. Ambrose, St. Chrysostom and St. Gregory the Great; so
that it cannot be at all doubted that Extreme Unction is to be recognized and
venerated as one of the seven Sacraments of the Catholic Church. {c}
The Subject of Extreme
Unction
But although instituted for the
use of all, Extreme Unction is not to be administered indiscriminately to all.
In the first place, it is not to
be administered to persons in sound health, according to these words of St.
James: Is anyone sick amongst you? 8 This is also proved by the fact that
Extreme Unction was instituted as a remedy not only for the diseases of the
soul, but also for those of the body.
Now only the sick need a remedy, and therefore this Sacrament is to be
administered to those only whose malady is such as to excite apprehensions of
approaching death.
It is, however, a very grievous sin to defer the Holy Unction
until, all hope of recovery being lost, life begins to ebb, and the sick person
is fast verging into a state of insensibility.
It is obvious that if the Sacrament is administered while consciousness
and reason are yet unimpaired, and the mind is capable of eliciting acts of
faith and of directing the will to sentiments of piety, a more abundant
participation of its graces must be received.
Though this heavenly medicine is in itself always salutary, pastors
should be careful to apply it when it's efficacy can be aided by the piety and
devotion of the sick person.
Extreme Unction, then, can be
administered to no one who is not dangerously sick; not even to those who are
in danger of death, as when they undertake a perilous voyage, or enter into
battle with the sure prospect of death, or have been condemned to death and are
on the way to execution.
Furthermore, all those who have
not the use of reason are not fit subjects for this Sacrament; and likewise
children who, having committed no sins, do not need the Sacrament as a remedy
against the remains of sin. The same is
true of idiots and insane persons, unless they give indications in their lucid
intervals of a disposition to piety, and express a desire to be anointed. To persons who from their birth of never
enjoyed the use of reason this Sacrament is not to be administered; but if a
sick person, while in the possession of his faculties, expresses a wish to
receive Extreme Unction and afterwards becomes delirious he is to be anointed.
{d}
The Sacred Unction is to be
applied not to the entire body, but to the organs of sense only,- to the eyes,
on account of sight; to the ears, on account of hearing; to the nostrils, on
account of smell; to the mouth, on account of taste and speech; to the hands,
on account of touch. The Sense of
touch, it is true, is diffused throughout the entire body, yet it is more
developed in the hands.
This manner of administering Extreme Unction is observed
throughout the universal Church, and is in keeping with the medical nature of
the Sacrament. As in corporal disease, although
the malady affects the entire body, yet the cure is applied to that part only
which is the seat and origin of the disease; so likewise this Sacrament is
applied not to the entire body, but to those members in which the power of
sensation is most conspicuous, and also to the loins, which are, as it were,
the seat of concupiscence, and to the feet, by which we move from one place to
another.
Here it is to be observed that,
during the same illness, and while the danger of dying continues the same, the
sick person is to be anointed but once.
Should he, however, recover after he has been anointed, he may receive
the aid of this Sacrament as often as he shall have relapsed into the same
danger of death. This Sacrament,
therefore, is evidently to be numbered among those which may be repeated. {e}
As all care should be taken that
nothing impede the grace of the Sacrament, and as nothing is more opposed to it
than the consciousness of mortal guilt, the constant practice of the Catholic Church
must be observed of administering the Sacrament of Penance and the Eucharist
before Extreme Unction.
And next, let parish priests
strive to persuade the sick person to receive this Sacrament from the priest
with the same faith with which those of old who were to be healed by the
Apostles used to present themselves.
But the salvation of his soul is to be the first object of the sick
man's wishes, and after that the health of the body, with this qualification, if
it be for the good of his soul.
Nor should the faithful doubt
that those holy and solemn prayers which are used by the priest, not in his own
person, but in that of the Church and of our Lord Jesus Christ, are heard by
God; and they are most particularly to be exhorted on this one point, to take
care that the Sacrament of this most salutary oil be administered to them
holily and religiously, when the sharper conflict seems at hand, and the
energies of the mind as well as of the body appear to be failing.
Who the minister of Extreme
Unction is we learn from the same Apostle that promulgated the law of the Lord;
for he says: Let him bring in the priests 9
{f}
(presbyters). By which name, as
the Council of Trent has well explained, 10 he does not mean persons advanced in years,
or of chief authority among the people, but priests who have been duly ordained
by Bishops with the imposition of hands. 11
To the priest, therefore, has
been committed the administration of this Sacrament; not, however, to every
priest, as holy Church has decreed, but to the proper pastor who has
jurisdiction, or to another authorized by him to discharge this office.
In this, however, as also in the
administration of the other Sacraments, it is to be most distinctly remembered
that the priest is the representative of Christ our Lord, and of His spouse,
holy Church. {g}
The advantages we receive from
this Sacrament are also to be accurately explained, so that if nothing else can
allure the faithful to its reception, they may be induced at least by its
utility; for we are naturally disposed to measure almost all things by our
interests.
Pastors, therefore, should teach that by this Sacrament is
imparted grace that remits sins, and especially lighter, or as they are
commonly called, venial sins; for mortal sins are removed by the Sacrament of
Penance. Extreme Unction was not
instituted primarily for the remission of grave offenses; only Baptism and
Penance accomplish this directly.
Another advantage of the Sacred
Unction is that it liberates the soul from the langour and infirmity which it
contracted from sins, and from all the other remains of sin. The time most opportune for this cure is when
we are afflicted with severe illness and danger to life impends, for it has
been implanted in man by nature to dread no human visitation so much as
death. This dread is greatly augmented
by the recollection of our past sins, especially if our conscience accuses us
of grave offenses; for it is written: They shall come with fear at the
thought of their sins, and their iniquities shall stand against them to convict
them. 12
Another source of vehement anguish is the anxious thought that we must
soon afterwards stand before the judgment seat of God, who will pass on us a
sentence of strictest justice according to our deserts. It often happens that, struck with this
terror, the faithful feel themselves deeply agitated; and nothing conduces more
to a tranquil death than to banish sadness, await with a joyous mind the coming
of our Lord, and be ready willingly to surrender the deposit entrusted whenever
it shall be His will to demand it back.
To free the minds of the faithful from this solicitude, and fill the
soul with pious and holy joy is, then, an effect of the Sacrament of Extreme
Unction.
From it, moreover, we derive another advantage, which may justly
be deemed the greatest of all. For
although the enemy of the human race never ceases, while we live, to meditate
our ruin and destruction, yet at no time does he more violently use every
effort utterly to destroy us, and, if possible, deprive us of all hope of the
divine mercy, then when he sees the last day of life approach. Therefore arms and strength are supplied to
the faithful in this Sacrament to enable them to break the violence and
impetuosity of the adversary, and to fight bravely against him; for the soul of
the sick is relieved and encouraged by the hope of the divine goodness,
strengthened by which it bears more lightly all the burdens of sickness, and
eludes with greater ease the artifice and cunning of the devil who lies in wait
for it.
Finally the recovery of health,
if indeed advantageous, is another effect of this Sacrament. And if in our days the sick obtain this
effect less frequently, this is to be attributed, not to any defect of the
Sacrament, but rather to the weaker faith of a great part of those who are
anointed with the sacred oil, or by whom it is administered; for the Evangelist
bears witness that the Lord wrought not many miracles among His own, because
of their unbelief. 13
It may also be truly said that the Christian religion, since it
has struck its roots more deeply in the minds of men, stands now less in need
of the aids of such miracles than it did formerly, at the commencement of the
rising Church. Nevertheless faith
should be strongly excited in this respect, and whatever it may please God in
His wisdom to do with regard to the health of the body, the faithful ought to
rely on a sure hope of attaining, by virtue of this sacred oil, health of the
soul, and of experiencing, should the hour of their departure from life be at
hand, the fruit of that glorious assurance; Blessed are the dead who die in
the Lord. 14 {h}
Admonition
We have thus explained briefly
the Sacrament of Extreme Unction. But
if these points are developed by the pastor at greater length and with the care
the subject demands, it is not to be doubted that the faithful will derive very
great fruit of piety from his instruction.
Endnotes
– Extreme Unction
1.>
Eccles.
vii. 40
2.>
James
v. 14.
3.>
Sess.xiv.
De Extrem. Unc. c. 1.
4.>
Ep.
1. ad Eugubin. c. 8.
5.>
James
v. 14.
6.>
James
v. 14, 15.
7.>
Mark
vi. 12, 13.
8.>
James
v. 14.
9.>
James
v. 14.
10.> Sess. xic. c. 3.
11.> Tim. i. 6.
12.> Wis. iv. 20.
13.> Matt. xiii. 58.
14.> Apoc. xiv. 13.
{a} That
Extreme Unction is a true Sacrament and but one Sacrament is explained in Summa
Theol. Suppl. xxix. 1, 2.
{b} On the
matter and form of Extreme Unction see Summa Theol. Suppl. xxix. 4-9; St.
Alphonsus, Theol. Mor. vi. 706 ff.; Code of Canon Law, canons 945 ff.
{c} On the
institution of Extreme Unction see Summa Theol. Suppl. xxix. 3.
{d} On the
recipient of Extreme Unction see Summa Theol. Suppl. xxxii. 1-4; St Alphonsus, Theol. Mor. vi. 712-721; 752,
753; Code of Canon Law, canons 940 ff
{e} On the
administration and repetition of Extreme Unction see Summa Theol. Suppl. xxxii.
5-7 ; xxxiii ; St. Alphonsus, Theol.
Mor. vi. 726-730. Anointing of loins is
now omitted; of feet, may be omitted (Canon 947).
{f} The
word presbyter literally means “elder,”
but according to New Testament usage, and that of the early Church, it
clearly refers to Christian priests.
{g} On the
minister of this Sacrament see Summa Theol. Suppl. xxxi; St. Alphonsus, Theol. Mor. vi. 722-725; Code of Canon Law, canons 938, 939.
{h} On the
effects of Extreme Unction see Summa Theol. Suppl. xxx; St. Alphonsus, Theol. Mor. vi. 751.