Oil of the Sick

by Paul Turner

The sick were anointed even at the time of Christ. In Mark 6:13, Jesus sent the disciples out to anoint the sick. James 5:14 urges the sick to send for the elders of the church for an anointing. The custom of anointing the sick continued, but for several hundred years only the dying were anointed. The priest prayed for their forgiveness and anointed them on seven different parts of the body.

The custom of blessing oil is ancient. One such prayer dates to fourth-century Egypt. In the Roman rite the oil came to be blessed at a Mass with the bishop. That Mass, established for the consecration of chrism before the initiation rites at the Easter Vigil, attracted the blessing of the oil of catechumens and the oil of the sick. Today, a bishop blesses all three oils at the chrism Mass, held shortly before Easter each year in every diocese.

The priest anoints the forehead and the palms of the sick, while praying that God will save and raise them up. The anointing accompanies a prayer for physical and spiritual healing.

The oil of the sick is sometimes kept in a container marked OI for oleum infirmorum, the oil of the sick. Almost every priest carries this oil in his car.
 

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Paul Turner, pastor of St. Munchin Parish in Cameron, MO, holds a doctorate in sacramental theology from Sant' Anselmo University in Rome.