- 74 - 8. 18 The meaning of Anointing the Sick (Last Rites) e. In the Catholic Church you have a sacrament that you call ‘last rites’, known today as ‘Anointing of the Sick’. The early Christians also had the practice of anointing the sick with oil, but its significance was quite different from that which you now attach to the ‘last rites’.. You anoint the sick only in cases of life-threatening illness and do so primarily to secure forgiveness of the patient’s sins – and, only incidentally, an alleviation of his sickness. • Among the early Christians, however, the anointing of the sick was for physical healing. Its effectiveness was dependent upon the patient’s eradication of sin from his heart. In the Epistle of the Apostle James, you read: James 5: 14- 16: ‘If one of you is sick, let him send for the elders of the congregation; let them pray over him, after anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. Their prayers, offered in faith, will bring aid to the sick person, and the Lord will help him up. If he has committed sins, they will be forgiven. Confess to one another the wrongs that you have done and pray for one another, that you may be healed. A righteous person’s fervent prayer has great power.’ The ‘elders’, as they were called, of the early Christian congregations were men who stood high in God’s favour and were endowed with the power of healing, as their visits to the sick were among their most important duties. By anointing the patients with oil, they transmitted their healing power to them in prayer. Through prayer, one comes into closer communion with God, who is the source of all healing, and the more sincere the communion, the greater is the power derived from this source by the supplicant. From the healings performed by Christ you know that certain sicknesses are punishment for sins, particularly for sins against the love of one’s fellowman. Thus, Christ repeatedly warned those whom he had healed: ‘Sin no more, lest a worse thing befall you.’ It was necessary first of all to remove the sin that was the cause of the disease. This was done by the patient’s confessing the faults he had committed to those against whom he had committed them. He would, therefore, where possible, ask any person whom he had wronged to come to his sickbed, where a reconciliation would take place. It is for this reason that the Apostle James admonishes: ‘Confess therefore your sins to one another, that you may be healed.’ • They were not directed to confess their sins to anyone indiscriminately, or to a priest, but to those against whom they had sinned. After the reconciliation with the injured party had taken place, God forgave the sin and the patient’s sickness left him by virtue of the elder’s healing power, transmitted to the patient, as has been said, through anointment and prayer. The words of the Apostle describe the noblest form of healing offered to man. It was a healing of the patient’s body and soul. What has become of this anointment and healing of the sick today? According to your doctrine, the oil used must be consecrated by a bishop and may be applied only by a priest ordained by a bishop, who must recite a prescribed prayer while administering the last rites. This, you believe, will bring about forgiveness of the sick person’s sins. You go so far as to
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