Anointing of the

Sick
HISTORY | SYMBOLS | SIGNIFICANCE

MHEL FRED JESS G. MACEDA

JOHN ROGER R. AVILA
CONTENTS:
• HISTORY OF ANOINTING OF THE SICK
• Biblical History
• Old Testament
• New Testament
• Fathers of the Church
• Apostolic Fathers
• Latin Fathers
• Western Fathers
• Medieval Period
• Scholastic
• Council of Trent
• Vatican II to Post Vatican
• ANOINTING OF THE SICK: SYMBOLS AND THEIR SIGNIFICANCE
Historical Development of
Anointing of the Sick
 HISTORY OF THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK
• In the early Church, the three Sacraments of
Initiation (Baptism, Confirmation and
Communion) were celebrated together
regardless of the person’s age – from
infancy to old age. However, by the fifth
century, these sacraments were separated in
the Latin Rite, where Baptism was normally
given to infants, Confirmation was
bestowed around the age of 7, and first Holy
Communion was reserved for teenagers. By
1910, Pope Saint Pius X decided that the
age of discretion or reason – a requirement
needed to receive First Communion –
should be lowered to 7 years old as well.
 HISTORY: BIBLICAL (OLD TESTAMENT)
• In primitive and ancient societies people asked the
same questions that we ask today about sickness and
misfortune, suffering and death. The answers they
found meaningful were often expressed in religious
rituals and myths— rituals through which they
enacted their response to the mystery they could not
fully comprehend, and myths in which they embodied
in story form the little that they did comprehend.
Generally speaking the religious response to sickness
and death has been to assert that they should not be,
they are not normal, they are violations of the sacred
order in which health and life are preserved. And
myths in many religions contrast the way things
should be with the way things are, sometimes by
narrating how the present disordered state of affairs
came about.
 HISTORY: BIBLICAL (OLD TESTAMENT)
• The biblical story of the Fall in the book of
Genesis is but one example of this idea which can
also be found in myths of the Middle East, Africa,
and Asia. The Genesis myth also illustrates two
features of the ancient attitude toward life and
health, sickness and death. The first is that it was
holistic, for it was part of a holistic view of reality.
Life was not physical or spiritual but both, for
people were not bodies or souls but living beings.
Likewise health and sickness were not just
physical: it was the whole person that was sick.
And the world in which people lived was both a
physical and a moral universe: happened or
behaved in certain ways because they were
supposed to, they were obeying a sacred order.
 HISTORY: BIBLICAL (OLD TESTAMENT)
• As is clear from Genesis and its other scriptures, ancient Israel had a
holistic attitude toward life and health, disease and death. A long life,
many children, and prosperity were seen as signs of moral goodness and
God’s favor; an early or painful death, barrenness, and misfortune were
evils that either afflicted the wicked or showed up the hidden sins of the
just.
 HISTORY: BIBLICAL (OLD TESTAMENT)
• Death itself was seen as the unavoidable result of human sinfulness, and
what happened after death was unknown or at best uncertain. Sickness
could be treated with herbal medicines and wounds could be washed with
wine or oil, but the most reliable treatment was prayer and repentance
since all healing was in the hand (Psalms 32, 38, 88, 91).
• In the messianic age God would show his power over evil and the forces
of sin by eliminating hunger and disease and the other plagues of the
innocent. Some religious thinkers even speculated that in the final days
the just would be raised from their graves to share in the glory of God. It
was partly as a result of expectations like these that some Jews hailed
Jesus of Nazareth as the Christ, and proclaimed that the kingdom of God
was at hand.
 HISTORY: BIBLICAL (NEW TESTAMENT)
• The New Testament is filled with accounts of Jesus’ miracles: of how he cured the lame and the blind,
cleansed lepers, cast out demons, and even raised the dead. In later ages Christians used these accounts
to prove that Jesus was God, but for those who first believed in him they were signs that he was the
messiah sent from God and that the messianic age had begun (Matthew 4:23-25; 12:28; Luke 7:18-23)
• The disciples of Jesus shared in his ministry of healing, and the gospels recount that he sent them out
into the countryside to cure the sick and preach the good news of the kingdom (Luke 9:1-6; 10:1-10).
One text even mentions that they “anointed many sick people with oil and cured them” (Mark 6:13),
indicating that they used oil as a sacramental substance in their healing ministry.
 HISTORY: BIBLICAL (NEW TESTAMENT)
• PETER AND PAUL HEALINGS
• There are indications in the other New Testament books that physical healing continued to be a
sign through which people came to believe in Jesus as the messiah. Peter and Paul are both
credited with effecting cures while preaching the good news of Christ (Acts 3:1-10; 14:8-18).
Among the believers themselves, charismatic healing seems to have been a sign that the
kingdom of God had begun in the church, and Paul mentions healing and miracles as spiritual
gifts which God gave individuals for the benefit of the community (I Corinthians 12:9-10)
 HISTORY: BIBLICAL (NEW TESTAMENT)
• JAMES
• Apparently in Jerusalem Christians used prayer and oil in their healing ministry, for the apostle
James recommended practice other communities in one of his letters: “If one of you is ill, he
should send for the presbyters of the church, and they must anoint him with oil in the name of the
Lord and pray over him. The prayer of faith will save the sick man and the Lord will raise him up
again; and if he has committed any sins, he will be forgiven” (James 5:14-15). Evidently, too,
James and other Jewish Christians continued to see a connection between sin and suffering, just as
the Israelites had.
 HISTORY: BIBLICAL
• The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick has also changed dramatically
over the centuries. In the Gospels, we read of Jesus’ many encounters with
the sick and of his mercy in healing them from illnesses of the spirit and of
the body. Jesus sends his disciples to perform the same work and gives
them the power to heal: “They drove out many demons, and they anointed
with oil many who were sick and cured them.” (Mark 6:13).
 HISTORY: BIBLICAL
• Later, St. James instructed: “Is anyone among
you sick? He should summon the presbyters
of the church, and they should pray over him
and anoint him with oil in the name of the
Lord, the prayer of faith will save the sick
person, and the Lord will raise him up. If he
has committed any sins, he will be forgiven”
(James 5:14-16). It is significant that the first
major event following Pentecost was a
dramatic healing when in the name of Jesus,
Peter healed a crippled man at the gate of the
temple (Acts 3:1-8).
 HISTORY: APOSTOLIC FATHERS
• HIPPOLYTUS
• After the time of the apostles, Christian healing
was usually associated with oil, and the main
evidence that we have for it comes liturgical texts
for the blessing of oil. The Apostolic Tradition,
written by Hippolytus of Rome around 215,
contains a prayer over oil that was brought to be
blessed during the Eucharistic liturgy. The
presiding bishop prayed that “it may give strength
to all who taste it and strength to all who use it”
(V, 2), and after the liturgy it was taken home by
the faithful to be used as an internal or external
medicine. Olive oil in the ancient world was
commonly used for medicinal purposes, but
Christians regarded their blessed oil as an
especially effective remedy.
 HISTORY: APOSTOLIC FATHERS
• TERRULLIAN
• Tertullian mentions that he knew of a
Christian who even cured a pagan with oil.
There are no other surviving texts from the
third century, but some liturgical
documents of the fourth century imply that
the oil that was blessed for anointing
catechumens might also have been used in
other exorcisms for spiritual and physical
sickness.
 HISTORY: APOSTOLIC FATHERS
• Serapion-
• Around the middle of the century era
Serapion bishop of Thmuis in Egypt,
composed a prayer for the blessing of oil,
bread, and water that they might through
the power of God become “a means of
removing every sickness and disease, of
warding off every demon, of routing every
unclean spirit, of keeping away every evil
spirit, of banishing every fever, chill and
fatigue, . . . a medicine of life and salvation
bringing health and soundness of soul and
body and spirit, leading to perfect well
being” (Prayer Book 29).
 HISTORY: APOSTOLIC FATHERS
• John Chrysostom
• Only two early writers are known to have commented
on the passage from the epistle of James which refers
to the anointing of the sick: Origen in the third century
and John Chrysostom in the fourth century. Both of
them, however, apparently took it as a reference not to
physical sickness but to spiritual sickness because they
both spoke of it in conjunction with ecclesiastical
reconciliation. In their day penitents were often
anointed when they were given exorcisms, and since
the passage ends with a statement about forgiveness of
sins, they interpreted it as referring to the process of
public Penitence. That they did not see it as a reference
to a priestly anointing of the sick is indirect evidence
that at least in Alexandria and Antioch there was no
established ecclesiastical rite connected with physical
illness.
 HISTORY: APOSTOLIC FATHERS
• Innocent I
• The earliest clear patristic reference to oil being used by
priests to anoint the sick comes from the fifth century. In
416 Pope Innocent I wrote to a nearby bishop, Decent of
Gubbio, who wanted to know whether the passage in James
are ab0Ut the Physically sick, and if so, how the anointing
should be practiced. Apparently the church in Rome had
such a custom: for Innocent’s reply straightforward and
detailed: “There is no doubt that the passage speaks about
the faithful who are sick and who can be anointed with the
oil of chrism that is prepared by the bishop. Not only priests
but all Christians may use this oil for anointing, when either
they or members of their household have need of it” (Letters
25, 8). He cautioned, however, that the oil should not be
given to those who were doing public penance since it was
“a kind of sacrament” and penitents were not allowed to
receive the other sacraments.
 HISTORY: APOSTOLIC FATHERS
• CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA
• By the fifth century Alexandria and Antioch had definitely
adopted the practice of anointing the sick. Around 428 Cyril
of Alexandria berated Christians who resorted to pagan
magicians and sorcerers when they were sick, and advised
them t0 Cal1 in the priests of the church instead. In the
middle of the Century Victor of Antioch also cited the
epistle of James in support of praying ovr and anointing the
sick, but in his opinion the prayers were the effective
element in the practice; the oil was just a symbol of the
healing that God would bring about in response to prayer.
Eventually, however, in the Christian east most churches
developed an ecclesiastical ritual of psalms and hymns, the
blessing of oil and anointing to be performed by up to seven
priests for those who sought release from physical and
spiritual illness.
 HISTORY: CHURCH FATHERS
• Caesarius of Arles preached a number of sermons
exhorting those in his diocese to make use of it.
Like Innocent he believed that lay people should
use the consecrated oil themselves. And like Cyril
he found of himself fighting against the religious
practices which had existed in his region before
the coming of Christianity, for he tells how the
people went to magic fountains and trees, used
amulets and mystical marks, and asked fortune
tellers and sorcerers for help when they were sick.
“How much better and more helpful it would be if
they ran to the church and received the body and
blood of Christ, and reverently anointed
themselves and their family with holy oil ;
According to the words of the Apostle James they
would receive not only health of body but also
pardon of sins” (Sermons 279).
 HISTORY: CHURCH FATHERS
• During the patristic period, therefore, oil was indeed a
sacrament of physical and spiritual health, at least in some
parts of the Roman empire and perhaps in others. It was a
sacrament in the broad sense, for it symbolized the healing
power of the Holy Spirit, whose activity was often described
as a spiritual anointing. It was also considered to be an
effective sign by those who believed that in virtue of its
consecration it contained the spiritual power that it signified,
and in this sense Innocent referred to it as a sacramentum
similar to the sacramenta of the Eucharistic bread and wine.
But it was also believed to be effective because it sometimes
did what it was supposed to do, and stories written by
contemporaries about holy people during that period tell of
miraculous cures brought about by anointing with oil. Some
of them seem a bit exaggerated but others seem quite
credible, in light of modern faith healing and charismatic
practices.
 HISTORY: CHURCH FATHERS
• Caesarius of Arles preached a number of sermons
exhorting those in his diocese to make use of it.
Like Innocent he believed that lay people should
use the consecrated oil themselves. And like Cyril
he found of himself fighting against the religious
practices which had existed in his region before
the coming of Christianity, for he tells how the
people went to magic fountains and trees, used
amulets and mystical marks, and asked fortune
tellers and sorcerers for help when they were sick.
“How much better and more helpful it would be if
they ran to the church and received the body and
blood of Christ, and reverently anointed
themselves and their family with holy oil ;
According to the words of the Apostle James they
would receive not only health of body but also
pardon of sins” (Sermons 279).
 HISTORY: CHURCH FATHERS
• Caesarius of Arles preached a number of sermons
exhorting those in his diocese to make use of it.
Like Innocent he believed that lay people should
use the consecrated oil themselves. And like Cyril
he found of himself fighting against the religious
practices which had existed in his region before
the coming of Christianity, for he tells how the
people went to magic fountains and trees, used
amulets and mystical marks, and asked fortune
tellers and sorcerers for help when they were sick.
“How much better and more helpful it would be if
they ran to the church and received the body and
blood of Christ, and reverently anointed
themselves and their family with holy oil ;
According to the words of the Apostle James they
would receive not only health of body but also
pardon of sins” (Sermons 279).
 HISTORY: CHURCH FATHERS
• Caesarius of Arles preached a number of sermons
exhorting those in his diocese to make use of it.
Like Innocent he believed that lay people should
use the consecrated oil themselves. And like Cyril
he found of himself fighting against the religious
practices which had existed in his region before
the coming of Christianity, for he tells how the
people went to magic fountains and trees, used
amulets and mystical marks, and asked fortune
tellers and sorcerers for help when they were sick.
“How much better and more helpful it would be if
they ran to the church and received the body and
blood of Christ, and reverently anointed
themselves and their family with holy oil ;
According to the words of the Apostle James they
would receive not only health of body but also
pardon of sins” (Sermons 279).
 HISTORY: CHURCH FATHERS
• In the Latin Rite, it is usually during the
Easter Vigil that all three Sacraments are
given at the same time to people entering
the Catholic Church after a period of
preparation. However, in a life-and-death
emergency at the hospital, a priest may
administer Baptism, Confirmation, and
first Holy Communion (if appropriate) at
the same time. Interestingly, in the
Byzantine Catholic rite, all three
Sacraments of Initiation are still
administered at the same time, regardless
of age, as it was done in the early Church.
• In the centuries that followed,
references to the power of anointing
toward physical healing can be found in
the writings of St. Irenaeus in the year
150 AD, St. Ephrem in 350 AD, St.
Caesar in 502 AD, and St. Bede in 753
AD. In fact, all known documents from
the early Church show that the rite of
anointing was meant to prepare the sick
for healing and not necessarily for
death. However, by the time of the
Middle Ages, this Sacrament began to
be viewed more as preparation for
death, rather than being primarily a
means of healing.
 HISTORY: COUNCIL OF TRENT
• The Council of Trent (1545-1563) reinforced the
fact that this sacrament was instituted by Christ,
should be administered to those who are close to
death, and can only be done by a priest. It stated
that the significance of the sacrament is “the grace
of the Holy Ghost; whose anointing cleanses away
sins, if there be any still to be expiated, as also the
remains of sins; and raises up and strengthens the
soul of the sick person, by exciting in him a great
confidence in the divine mercy; whereby the sick
being supported, bears more easily the
inconveniences and pains of his sickness; and
more readily resists the temptations of the devil
who lies in wait for his heel; and at times obtains
bodily health, when expedient for the welfare of
the soul.”
 VATICAN II - PRESENT
• Several centuries later, in 1963, the
Second Vatican Council restored the
sacrament to its earliest purpose and
renamed it “Anointing of the Sick.”
Vatican II made changes to the Rite,
establishing that Viaticum (final
Eucharist) should be regarded as the true
sacrament of the dying whereas Anointing
of the Sick was to be seen as an
expression of God’s presence in the midst
of human illness, and Christ’s healing
power and concern for all those who are
seriously sick. Hence, the sacrament of
Anointing was restored to its original
purpose of healing the seriously ill, asking
the Lord to lighten their sufferings and to
heal them.
 HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT
2nd - 7th Century
12th Century
prayer of healing seen as part of
overall ministry of Church Extreme unction: “last anointing” -
insurance against hell

Sacrament associated with

Council of Florence declares
death, could only be offered
sacrament only for dying
by priest
1439
Middle Ages