St. John Henry Cardinal Newman (1801-1890) was indeed a grand preacher as well as great writer. Along with his profound theological utterances and writings, a few private prayers of the English convert are still around. His Prayer for a Happy Death reveals a tender appreciation for the last rites of the Church as appreciated before the Second Vatican Council.
Such popular notions of the Church’s last rites still endure today in spite of St. Pope Paul VI’s emphasis on the Church’s anointings being intended not only for the dying, but also those who are in danger of death due to sickness or old age. The English Cardinal wrote: “Oh, my Lord and Saviour, support me in that hour in the strong arms of Your Sacraments, and by the fresh fragrance of Your consolations. Let the absolving words be said over me, and the holy oil sign and seal me, and Your own Body be my food…”
Indeed the dying deserve a final absolution through the sacrament of Penance and the healthy spiritual nourishment of the Holy Eucharist.
The Church has long had a worthy practice of bringing these final sacraments just before one’s last moments, happily conferring on them the title “Viaticum,” Latin for “with you on the way.”
The signing and sealing with the holy oil however, referenced by Cardinal Newman, is properly a separate sacramental celebration offering a healing balm for the restoration of health in this life rather than a final blessing hoping for favor in the next life.
In 1972, Pope Paul VI, heeded the directive of the Vatican Council II and revised the understanding and the administration of the seventh sacrament. The pontiff wrote: “The Second Vatican Council adds the following: “’Extreme Unction,’ which may also and more fittingly be called ‘Anointing of the Sick,’ is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death. Hence, as soon as any one of the faithful begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age, the appropriate time for him to receive this sacrament has certainly already arrived.”
The fact that the use of this sacrament concerns the whole Church is shown by these words: “By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of her priests, the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, asking that he may lighten their suffering and save them. She exhorts them, moreover, to contribute to the welfare of the whole People of God by associating themselves freely with the passion and death of Christ.”
The sacred Anointing the Sick, as the sacrament is properly titled, is intended to invoke healing for the infirm but also to give meaning to their illness by having the ailing join their sufferings to the sufferings of Christ. Their indispositions are not in vain, but, with Jesus, can effectively bring down God’s blessings on this world. The sick and their loved ones should eagerly request this sacrament which lends deeper meaning to human suffering while the illness endures. Cardinal Newman’s signing and sealing with “the holy oil” is best employed well before facing death and not as an afterthought to illness.
Catholic parishes in America today are generally staffed by one priest. And resident chaplains even in Catholic hospitals and nursing homes are rare. While deacons and lay parishioners quite often bring Holy Communion to the homes and to the hospital beds of the sick, ordained priests are the sole celebrants of the Sacred Anointing of the Sick. Wisely do parishes sometimes offer public, communal celebrations of the Sacrament of the Sick in which the elderly and the seriously ill should indeed participate before any emergency arises.
Parishioners experiencing serious illnesses and facing lengthy hospitalization might personally request the sacrament from their pastors at a mutually convenient time. And of course, in one’s last moments, the baptized are always entitled to sacramental absolution and, ideally, Holy Communion, the true “Last Rites.”
In this Sunday’s Gospel passage St. John celebrates the wonderful gift of the Eucharist with its promise of eternal life: “…so that one may eat it and not die.” The Eucharist is indeed “Viaticum,” fortifying a soul on the way to eternal life. The sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, in the meantime, graciously prays both for physical healing in this life and for spiritual remedy in preparation for the next life.
