Anointing in the East

The three anointings she had received at the hands of Spotlight Father Richards over the course of several years punctuated a process of spiritual maturing and growth that steadily pre- pared Catherine for her final destiny with the Lord in heaven. Anointing in the East At their last meeting in the hospice, when he gave her Communion as Viaticum, Father Richards said these words Because the Church’s use of oil to pray for the healing of the sick stems just after she took the tiny piece of the Consecrated Host and from apostolic times, it is not surprising to nd a well-developed tradition of swallowed it: “May the Lord Jesus protect you and lead you this sacrament in the churches of the East, just as in the West. As is the case to eternal life.” She whispered her response: “Amen.” And with other sacramental rituals, there are both similar and distinctive elements then Father added a final prayer from the ritual, just before in the way the Orthodox communities and Eastern Catholic churches cele- giving her a last blessing. It was a prayer that seemed to both brate anointing. of them to sum up much of Catherine’s spiritual journey. In both traditions there has been an association between anointing and Lord God, merciful Father, comforter of the afflicted, look forgiveness of sin from the very beginning. More in the East, perhaps, than in kindly on your servant Catherine, who trusts in you. the West, the reconciliation of sinners developed in ways that often involved Quick Check Though now weighed down with grievous distress, may the use of oil. This association has tended to reinforce the notion that the she find relief through this holy anointing; and may the Anointing of the Sick is a primarily penitential liturgy. One cannot always dis- 1. What is meant by the phrase body and blood of your Son, Jesus Christ, refresh and tinguish in the prayers that survive from the early centuries whether the heal- “the difficulties that go with the ing associated with a particular use of oil is directed at physical recovery or condition of serious illness”? strengthen her for her journey to life. forgiveness of sins. 2. How does the “problem of evil” Pastoral Care of the Sick: Rites of Anointing and Viaticum, 270 relate to the Sacrament of One similarity between East and West is the distinction between the Anointing? In this section, we have looked at the connections between blessing of oil and its application. In both traditions, there is a solemn bless- 3. How did Catherine experience Catherine’s experience of the Sacrament of Anointing and her healing as a result of being ing of oil by the bishop or Patriarch generally associated with Holy Week. search for the meaning of her illness in her everyday life. In anointed? However, in the East from ancient times, and in the West since Vatican II, the 4. How did Catherine through her the next section, we will explore how these kinds of experi- tradition has allowed priests also to bless the oil whenever there was a need. experiences participate in the ences have helped the Church to formulate her teachings Regardless of who blesses or when the blessing takes place, in both East found in the Catechism about the effects of the Sacrament Paschal Mystery? and West there is a fairly sharp distinction between the act of blessing oil of Anointing. and its use in anointing for healing. Perhaps the most striking difference between East and West is the very elaborate manner in which the ritual of anointing has developed over the centuries in the East. Whereas the West seems to have developed ritual forms that were more practical and aimed at use in the homes of the sick, the East has maintained a ritual structure more suited to lengthy, grand cele- brations in cathedral and monastic churches. There was always provision for a more simpli ed rite when necessity permitted it, but the primary focus of the ritual evolution was toward an elaborate ceremony in large churches. Some Eastern rituals generally call for seven priests to be involved, each one responsible for one of seven anointings. In some traditions, the rite opens with prayers of some length for consola- tion and healing. Then the oil is blessed, again with extensive readings and prayers. Finally, each of the seven anointings is done in the context of its own Liturgy of the Word and with its own distinctive prayers. The rite concludes with the imposition of the Book of the Gospels on the head of the sick and numerous prayers to the saints for their intercession on behalf of the sick.

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