Jesus came to heal the whole person, body and soul
In the Church’s Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, through the ministry of the priest, it is Jesus who touches the sick to heal them from sin – and sometimes even from physical ailment. His cures were signs of the arrival of the Kingdom of God. The core message of his healing tells us of his plan to conquer sin and death by his dying and rising.
The Anointing of the Sick “is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death. Hence, as soon as anyone 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.”
When the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given, the hoped-for effect is that, if it be God’s will, the person be physically healed of illness. But even if there is no physical healing, the primary effect of the Sacrament is a spiritual healing by which the sick person receives the Holy Spirit’s gift of peace and courage to deal with the difficulties that accompany serious illness or the frailty of old age.
A priest alone validly administers the anointing of the sick.
THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK:
- Can be administered to a member of the faithful who, having reached the use of reason, begins to be in danger due to sickness or old age.
- Can be repeated if the sick person, having recovered, again becomes gravely ill or if the condition becomes more grave during the same illness.
- Can be administered in a case of doubt whether the sick person has attained the use of reason, is dangerously ill, or is dead.
- Can be conferred on the sick (anyone of the faithful in danger of death from sickness or old age) who at least implicitly requested it when they were in control of their faculties.
- Is NOT to be conferred upon those who persevere obstinately in manifest grave sin.