Saints Light
The Sacraments · Lesson 6 of 9

Is Anointing Only for the Dying?

Anointing of the Sick is for anyone facing serious illness, surgery or the weakness of old age. A priest anoints them to give strength, peace and forgiveness, so call him early.

This is a summary of Lesson 6 of The Seven Sacraments. The full lesson takes about 3 minutes in the Saints Light app.

The Seven Sacraments Altarpiece, a painting by Rogier van der Weyden
The Seven Sacraments Altarpiece, Rogier van der Weyden, c. 1440-1450

What this lesson teaches

  • Anointing of the Sick is for anyone seriously ill or weakened by age, not only the dying.
  • It comes from Scripture: the apostles anointed the sick, and St James tells the sick to call the priests.
  • Only a priest can anoint; the sacrament gives strength, peace, union with Christ's suffering, and forgiveness of sins.
  • The last rites are Confession, Anointing and Viaticum, so call a priest early, not at the last minute.

Catechism paragraphs this lesson cites

  • CCC 1499
  • CCC 1514-1516
  • CCC 1520-1523
  • CCC 1525
  • CCC 1532

CCC means the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Saints Light teaches it in its own words and never quotes it. Look up any paragraph in a printed copy or at vatican.va. See every lesson by paragraph in the Catechism index.

Scripture read in this lesson: James 5:14-15; Mark 6:13.

A sample question from this lesson

Who may receive the Anointing of the Sick?

  1. Only a person who has hours left to live
  2. Anyone seriously ill, facing major surgery, or weakened by old age
  3. Anyone with a mild cold who wants to feel better
  4. Only priests and religious sisters
Show the answer

Anyone seriously ill, facing major surgery, or weakened by old age. The lesson explains it is for anyone whose health is seriously threatened by illness or age, not only the dying (CCC 1514).

The lesson in the app has three questions, each with an explanation.

Words to know

Viaticum
Holy Communion given to a dying person, as food for the journey to God.
Oil of the sick
Olive oil blessed by the bishop in Holy Week for the Anointing of the Sick.

More terms in the Catholic glossary. More passages in the Scripture index.

Read the full lesson in the app

"Is Anointing Only for the Dying?" is lesson 6 of The Seven Sacraments. In Saints Light you get the whole teaching, the Scripture quoted in full, all three questions and a step to live it this week.

Download on theApp StoreGet it onGoogle Play

Every course is open free for your first 14 days. After that, one payment of $14.99 unlocks every course. There is no subscription.

Related lessons