What is Anointing of the Sick?

Jesus came to heal the whole person, body and soul.

In the Church's Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, through the ministry of the

priest, it is Jesus who touches the sick to heal them from sin – and sometimes

even from physical ailment. His cures were signs of the arrival of the Kingdom

of God. The core message of his healing tells us of his plan to conquer sin and

death by his dying and rising.

The Rite of Anointing tells us there is no need to wait until a person is at the

point of death to receive the Sacrament. A careful judgment about the serious

nature of the illness is sufficient.

When the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given, the hoped-for effect is

that, if it be God's will, the person be physically healed of illness. But even if

there is no physical healing, the primary effect of the Sacrament is a spiritual

healing by which the sick person receives the Holy Spirit's gift of peace and

courage to deal with the difficulties that accompany serious illness or the

frailty of old age.

-from the United States Catholic Catechism for Adults