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§ 171. The concept of the sacrament and its establishment Divine establishment of the sacrament of anointing. Christ the Savior did not leave without His grace-filled help through the church in the sacraments those possessed by bodily illnesses. According to His establishment and commandment, in the church there is a special sacrament to meet the needs of the sick - the Blessing of Oil. In this sacrament, when anointing the body with sacred oil, the grace of God is invoked on the sick person, healing illnesses of the body and infirmities of the soul (Katih. About the Holy Oil. Pr. 119). A foreshadowing of the sacrament of consecration of oil can be seen in the power to heal every ailment and every disease, which (the power) I. Christ granted to the apostles during their embassy to preach, saying to them: heal the sick (Matthew 10:18). The apostles, having gone out two by two (i.e., two by two), preached that they would repent... and anointed many sick people with oil, and healed them (Mark 6:7, 12-13). This anointing of the sick with oil was a prefiguration and forerunner of what was soon, at the command of the Savior, introduced by the apostles into general use among believers and is performed to this day under the name of the sacrament of consecration of oil. The establishment of this sacrament by the Lord is more directly indicated in the following words of St. James: If anyone is in pain among you, let him call for the elders. Church members, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick one, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him (5:14-15). In these words, the apostle does not command Christians to do anything new and unknown to them; on the contrary, he only reminds and inspires to fulfill what was known to everyone as a divine and saving institution, and speaks of it as necessary in the church for all times. § 172. The visible side of the sacrament. The gracious actions of the sacrament The substance of the sacrament. – Anointing with consecrated oil, accompanied by a prayer of faith. - The gracious actions of the sacrament. – Replenishment of remission of sins in the sacrament of repentance, associated with the infirmity of the sick to use this saving remedy. I. The visible side of the sacrament of consecration of oil is briefly but fully indicated in the words of St. Jacob: let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. Consequently, the visible side of it essentially includes: the use of the substance for anointing, the anointing itself and the prayer of faith. The substance for anointing the sick, which the apostles used and commanded to use, is oil (έλαιον, oleum). According to the continuous general tradition and practice of the church, it is a vegetable oil extracted from the fruits or olives of the olive tree, and not any other of the vegetable oils, especially not the mineral or animal kingdom. This substance was in widespread use in the Old Testament church. It was used there as a symbol of the gifts of the Spirit of God during the anointing of kings and high priests, was among the offerings to God and served to kindle the fire in the seven-branched candlestick of the tabernacle and church. Various beneficial, healing effects have long been assimilated by the natural power of oil. Such properties of oil correspond to the actions of the grace of consecration of oil, healing, comforting and strengthening the sick, and explain why it was chosen to serve as a substance for the sacrament. The anointing of the sick in the sacrament of the Blessing of Oil is performed with oil, not only hierarchically blessed with prayer, with which oil is anointed, for example, those being baptized, and at all-night vigils all believers, but especially blessed. In the prayers of this sacrament, the sending down from the Lord Jesus and God the Father on the oil of the Holy Spirit is requested, so that the oil, sanctified “by the power of the influx of the Holy Spirit,” would be “anointed from it for healing,” “for the complete remission of sins,” and, finally, “for the inheritance of the kingdom of heaven.” The anointing of the sick person with consecrated oil is performed not once, but seven times during the ritual. Each time, the main parts of the patient’s body are anointed in a cross shape (forehead, nostrils, cheeks, mouth, chest and arms - arms on both sides). Since the number seven is a sacred and deeply significant number, this probably prompted from ancient times to repeat the anointing of the sore body seven times. Anointing with consecrated oil is accompanied by a prayer of faith, which constitutes the final words of the sacrament. Prayer is a necessary accessory of all sacraments, and in this sacrament, prayer primarily forms part of the sacrament, according to the commandment of the Apostle: let them pray by anointing... The power of the sacrament is essential and is expressed in the prayers offered during the consecration of oil, and, in particular, in the prayer that the priest says each time when he anoints the sick with oil. It reads like this: “Holy Father, Physician of souls and bodies, having sent Thy only begotten Son, our Lord I. Christ, who heals every ailment and delivers from death, heal Thy servant (name) from the bodily infirmities that beset him, and revive him by the grace of Thy Christ and the prayers of our most holy Lady,” etc. II. The beneficial effects of the sacrament of consecration of oil extend to the body and soul of the sick: about the effects on the body of St. Jacob says: and the prayer of faith will save the sick (κάμνοντα - one who suffers grievously, oppressed by infirmity), and the Lord will raise him up, and about the actions on the soul - and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. The essential and first thing that a sick person should desire from sacred rites and for which he should pray to the Lord is the restoration of the patient’s bodily and spiritual strength, and, in particular, the healing of bodily illness. The Lord will save - σώσει, raise up - έγερεί - the sick, says the apostle. The word σώζειν - to save - in relation to a sick person usually means to give health (for example, Luke 17:19; John 11:12; Mark 6:56, etc.), in relation to those in danger of losing life - saving life (for example, Matthew 8:25; 14, 30, etc.), in relation to a soul - saving the soul (Eph. 2:8 ; Matthew 19, etc.). Ἐγείρειν – to raise – is often used in relation to a sick person in the meaning: to restore the sick, to heal (Matthew 8:15; Acts 3:6), in other cases - to denote the rising or resurrection from the dead bodily (Matthew 10:8; 11, 5; Rom 4:25, etc.), as well as rising from spiritual sleep, spiritual wakefulness, animation, reinforcement (Eph.5:14; Rom.13, etc.). This meaning of the indicated words in the language of the New Testament, used by the Apostle in his speech about anointing, leads to the conclusion that the first grace-filled effect of this sacrament is the healing of the body, the general restoration of the sick person’s strength, physical and spiritual, the stimulation of their activity, otherwise the grace of the sacrament extends to the entire being of a person. In the midst of illnesses, the body and spirit become exhausted. The grace of God, through the sacrament of the Blessing of Anointing, also grants remission of sins to the sick: if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him. Forgiveness of sins is a great and desirable gift from God to a sinful person, and a sick one at that. But the conditional form of the promise, when no one is sinless, raises the questions: 1) for what sins is the promise of remission given in this sacrament and 2) since a special sacrament is established for the remission of sins - repentance, then how does the remission of sins in the Blessing of Oil differ from the remission of sins in repentance? The apostle did not use the conventional image of expression because he considered anyone sinless, for he himself taught that we sin many times (3:2). It is more correct to think that the apostle here means those sins from which the illness occurred. There is no doubt that diseases can be born from sins: a disorder of a person’s spiritual nature is necessarily accompanied by harmful consequences for bodily health. And in general, sin is the cause of illness and death. Therefore, the apostle says that not only will the Lord raise him up, but if the illness arose from sins, He will forgive them for him. It is true that all sins, and therefore those from which the disease arose, can be cleansed by the sacrament of repentance. But the fact is that not all moral causes of illness are clear to the patient; on the contrary, many are hiding from the judgment of his conscience. There are sins that don't seem like sins. There may be other infirmities in the soul of a suffering person, the healing of which requires the power of this sacrament. In a state of illness, repentance is not always thorough and can easily be brought, and even less often can be accompanied by worthy fruits for the reason that in illness a person no longer acts as calmly and freely as in a state of health. Both of these can greatly disturb his conscience. The Church in the sacrament of the Blessing of Anointing offers the sick a living source for his spiritual healing. From here it is already revealed how the consecration of oil differs from the sacrament of repentance. In repentance, those sins that the penitent himself confesses are abandoned; those who are sanctified with oil are also absolved of those sinful actions and states of the soul that, perhaps, were never cleansed by confession, out of oblivion, of course, or ignorance, and not out of a desire to conceal them, as well as those sinful cases that, tired by the severity of a bodily illness, could not well explain to the confessor. Therefore, we can say that the remission of sins through the sacrament of consecration of oil is nothing more than the replenishment of the remission of sins in the sacrament of repentance, the replenishment not because of the insufficiency of the sacrament of repentance itself for remission of all sins, but because of the weakness of the sick to take advantage of this saving medicine in its entirety. That is why the Orthodox Church has established that the sacrament of repentance generally precedes the consecration of oil. § 173 Peculiarities of heterodox confessions in the teaching of the sacrament of unction The Roman Catholic Church's teaching on the final anointing. – Rejection of the sacrament of anointing by Protestants. I. In the Roman Church, the sacrament of unction is called the last anointing (extrema unctio) on the grounds that it is the last thing performed on the believer during life, as well as the anointing for the departure of the soul (unctio exeuntium - anointing of those who depart, or infirmorum - those who are weakened), since it is performed in the Roman Church only when the patient is in danger of death. Accordingly, the purpose of this sacrament is to serve only as an encouraging and calming farewell for those departing for another life in the fight against the horrors of death, and not at all as a grace-filled cure for bodily ailments. The power to consecrate oil for the sacrament in the Roman Church is assigned exclusively to bishops, and priests can only anoint the sick with this oil. The consecration of this oil takes place once a year, on Maundy Thursday (Conc. Trid. Sess. XIV; Cat. rom. p. II, c. VI). Thus, the Roman Church changed the internal meaning and grace-filled meaning of the sacrament and retreated from the ancient church institutions regarding the persons both receiving the sacrament and the performers of the sacrament. All these features appeared in it no earlier than the 12th century. and do not have sufficient justifications for themselves. So, with regard to the understanding of the essence of the sacrament of consecration of oil, as the preparation of believers for a peaceful and painless death, such an understanding contradicts the direct and literal meaning of the words of St. James about the sacrament. Explanation of the instructions of the apostle by the Catholics. James about the purpose of this sacrament in the sense of only parting words for those departing to another world, and not healing, is closely connected with the inaccuracy of the translation in the Vulgate Greek. έγερεί – will erect with the word allevabit or alleviabit in the sense of making it easier; understanding alleviabit of the sick in the sense of giving health (i.e. to the sick) is more consistent with the meaning of έγερεί than in the sense of merely relieving the soul of suffering. To ease the soul in suffering, the apostle offers another remedy: if anyone suffers (κακοπαθει) in you, let him pray (5:13). And the word σοσαει, in the Vulgate - salvabit - will save the sick, also means not only spiritual salvation, but also physical recovery. And in Latin, salus means both salvation and recovery. In ancient times, both in the East and in the West, bodily recovery was essentially attributed to the grace-filled actions of the sacrament. The idea that the blessing of oil should be performed on such sick people who are already at death’s door also does not have sufficient grounds. Expressions ap. Jacob: is anyone in pain - άσ᾿θενει τις, ... sick - κάμνοντα, mean those who have fallen into a difficult, severe illness, but not only those who are dying, therefore, those who have hope of recovery. Therefore, the sacrament must be performed primarily when a person’s vital forces have not yet become completely disordered. And difficult diseases have their own degrees. "Oh, madness!" - says Simeon of Thessalonica, referring to the Roman teaching on the consecration of oil. “The Brother of God says: the prayer of faith will save the sick man and the Lord will raise him up, but the Latins say that he will die; that oil should be taught not to those who might rebel, but to those who are dying. Human! You do not know the meaning of the sacraments and, to your own detriment, you are mistaken. This oil is given to the sick so that they, having received forgiveness of sins through the anointing, will arise (Talk about the sacred and sacramental Church. Ch. 250). In the ancient church, communion was considered a more instructive sacrament for life beyond the grave (I Vs. Sob. 13 Ave.). The Orthodox Church does not deny that the Blessing of Anointing can be taught to the hopelessly ill, but does not allow it to be taught only to them. That is why the sacrament itself in the Orthodox Church is recognized as a repeatable sacrament, since a person can be repeatedly exposed to illnesses, even serious ones, throughout his life. Finally, the division of the single sacred rite of blessing of oil into two, with the right to perform the blessing of oil only for bishops, and for presbyters only for anointing, is also an arbitrary legalization. At ap. James speaks of elders as performers of the sacrament. In ancient monuments the oil for the sacrament is called “blessed,” but nowhere is it mentioned that the right to bless belongs only to the bishop. Both bishops and presbyters blessed him”: “let the bishop bless with oil,” says the “Postan. apostle." (VIII, 29), “and in his absence let the presbyter bless in the presence of the deacon.” And the ancient Western Church did not deprive the elders of the right to bless the oil (Grigor. Β. On the sacraments). In the 5th century in the Western Church, due to the name of St. Jacob performed the sacrament by presbyters, even doubt arose: “can a bishop, just like a presbyter, perform anointing of the sick?” One of the Western bishops (Decentius) addressed Pope Innocent I with such bewilderment. The Pope replied: “There is no reason to doubt the possibility of a bishop doing what a presbyter can undoubtedly do. The apostle says about elders because bishops, being held back by other occupations, cannot go to all the sick. If the bishop either can, or considers someone worthy of his visit, then he can, without hesitation, bless and anoint him with holy oil.” To the indicated features regarding the consecration of oil, the Roman Church added one more abuse, which is currently widespread throughout the Roman Catholic world. It consists of joining to the sacrament of consecration of oil a plenary indulgence, known under the name of death (in articulo mortis). This indulgence is recognized as a completion of the sacrament and is valued above the sacrament itself, for it acquires higher actions than the actions of consecration of oil. II. Protestantism completely rejected the sacrament of anointing, arguing that it is a simple rite, not commanded by God and not established for all times (Apol. conf. art. XIII). In Protestant societies, the blessing of oil has also been abolished as a ritual 73 . This rite, they argue, in the apostolic age was the vehicle of one of the miraculous gifts, namely the gift of healing, with which the primal church abounded, but when the manifestations of the Spirit for the benefit of the church ceased, the rite itself lost its meaning. True, ap. James also commanded the elders to anoint the sick, but only because in the East oil was recognized as a healing remedy for many diseases. The unfoundedness of such a view is revealed by the fact that the gift of healings communicated during the time of the apostles was not necessarily associated with the use of any substance and anointing, nor was it the distinctive property of elders and, in general, the property of people of one or another gender, rank and condition (1 Cor. 12: 7-10). As for the indications of the healing properties of oil, from the words of St. Jacob can see that it is the Lord who saves a sick person from illness and raises him from his sick bed, and not the healing power of oil. Protestants also point out that if the consecration of oil were a sacrament, then it would always provide the promise of grace associated with it - healing from illness, which, however, in reality does not always happen. But healing from illness, the return to life of a dying person cannot yet be called a necessary consequence of the sacrament of anointing. The law of bodily death is the common lot of all people. Nowhere in Scripture is there a promise connected with the sacrament of anointing similar to that connected with the tree of life. The recovery of the patient is not an unconditional consequence, which certainly follows the performance of this sacrament, but is subject to certain conditions. These conditions are indicated in the words of the apostle himself. James: The prayer of faith will save the sick. The fulfillment of these conditions (faith and prayer), before others, is required of the person receiving the sacrament. Blessing of oil will not bring benefit to a sick person with little faith, unbelief and general unworthiness, just as someone who eats and drinks the body and blood of Christ is unworthy to eat and drink. At the same time, it is necessary that the spirit of faith and prayer animate the elders called to perform the consecration of oil. The apostles themselves were once unable to cast out a demon from a demon-possessed young man, due to their unbelief (Matthew 17:19–20). With all this, we must remember that it depends on the will of God how to live the dying or even the dead, and how to kill those who are destined to no longer live. From here, however, it does not follow that the consecration of oil is not a sacrament. Grace, in any case, acts through consecrated oil on a sick body, but this effect is revealed, according to God’s vision, not in everyone in the same way: in one anointed oil it is accompanied by a gradual and complete deliverance from the disease; the other is given only temporary relief from it, or even just the stimulation of strength to endure it complacently. The only exception is the Anglo-American Church, in which there is a special liturgical rite of “visiting the sick.” It consists of reading several prayers “for the sick.” The sick person is invited to make a private confession and begin the sacrament of communion, but this is not considered obligatory for him. Anointing the sick with oil is completely excluded from the rite. In general, this rite does not have a sacramental character. You might be interested in: