74 — EXTREME UNCTION

Presence of God. — May Your grace, O Lord, purify me from every fault, so that I may present myself immaculate before Your countenance.

Meditation

1 — In a very expressive way, extreme unction is defined as “sacramentum exeuntium” (Council of Trent), that is, the sacrament of those who are about to depart from this world and enter eternity. Christian life, begun with baptism, perfected with confirmation, restored by penance, closes and, as it were, is crowned with extreme unction which, completing the work of purification of the soul and strengthening it against the difficulties of the last hour, prepares it to appear before God. In fact, the particular effect of this sacrament, as the Council of Trent teaches, is “the grace of the Holy Spirit whose anointing removes the remnants of sin, raises up and comforts the soul of the sick person, arousing in him great trust in divine mercy, so that he bears more easily the sufferings of illness and resists more readily the temptations of the devil.” Without doubt extreme unction also has power to “erase venial and mortal sins that the sick person, with imperfect contrition, could not confess” (Catechism of Pius X), but its particular grace does not consist in this, which is instead the proper effect of the sacrament of penance, but in destroying the last consequences of sin by healing the soul from every languor and weakness produced in it by sins committed during life and already forgiven in confession. As confirmation confirms and perfects the grace received in baptism, so extreme unction perfects the purification of the soul already accomplished by penance. “O our Redeemer,” the Church prays when administering extreme unction, “by the grace of the Holy Spirit, heal all this sick person’s languors, heal his wounds, forgive his sins, make all pains of his soul and body cease; restore to him perfect spiritual and bodily health.” Perfect health of soul, that is, total remission not only of sins but of all their consequences, is the effect of extreme unction, so that the dying person, relieved of every burden of committed faults, can serenely go forth to the final passage.

2 — Extreme unction, teaches St. Thomas, is the last sacrament and, in a certain way, the “consummation” of the whole purifying work of the soul, by which man is prepared for participation in glory.

The dying person who receives this sacrament with due dispositions obtains plenary remission of all his sins and of all punishment due to them, so that from earthly exile he can pass directly to eternal glory, without having to remain in Purgatory. But, though this is the normal effect of extreme unction, in practice few attain it fully, and this happens for lack of adequate dispositions. Is there perhaps any sacrament for adults that is rushed, received in haste, often suddenly, wholly or almost unconsciously, as much as extreme unction, with the consequence of largely nullifying its precious fruits? How necessary it would be instead to strive, within what is possible, that the sick be prepared to receive it in time, with full consciousness and deep piety, so as to profit fully from the great grace it offers. Fear of impressing the sick person or family should not dissuade us from fulfilling, with charity and delicacy, this pious office, an office all of us will one day need, and fortunate are we if we find one who knows how to fulfill it at the opportune moment. Besides, to dispel the prejudices people often have toward this sacrament, it is enough to recall that it is ordered not only to health of soul but also to health of body, when this enters into God’s designs and can benefit the spirit’s good. But what should matter most to us is to assure the dying perfect tranquility of conscience, divine comfort and support in the painful sufferings and hard struggles of agony, so that, courageously facing the enemy’s final assaults, accepting death resignedly from God’s hand, and abandoning themselves trustingly to His divine mercy, they may finally reach the heavenly homeland. Then for them will be fulfilled the Church’s moving prayer: “Go forth, O Christian soul, from this world, in the name of God the Father who created you, in the name of Jesus Christ who died for you, in the name of the Holy Spirit who was given to you” (Rit. Rom.).

Colloquy

“You have softened for us the terror of death, Lord; You have made the end of our life the beginning of true life. You make our bodies rest for a little while, only for a little while; then You will awaken them with the final trumpet. You entrust our mortal remains to the earth fashioned by Your hands, that she may keep them; You will reclaim them to change them into immortal beauty.

“To save us from the curse of sin, You became for us curse and sin. You prepared the Resurrection for us when You broke the gates of hell and by Your death annihilated him who had empire over death.

“To those who are afraid You gave the sign of the Cross to annihilate the adversary and assure us life, O eternal God, to whom I was offered from my mother’s womb, O God whom I have loved with all my strength.

“Place at my side an angel of light to lead me to the place of refreshment where springs forth the fountain that gives drink, near the holy Fathers, O Master.

“You restored paradise to the man crucified with You who had implored pardon. Remember me too in Your kingdom, because with You I am crucified, because I have afflicted my flesh with Your fear and trembled before Your judgment. Let not the abyss separate me from Your elect! Remember my sins no more. If I have failed, in the weakness of my nature, in word, deed, or thought, forgive me, for You have power to remit sins on earth. When I lay down the garment of the body, may my soul be found without fault. Indeed more: deign to receive into Your hands my soul without blame and without stain as a pleasing offering” (St. Macrina).