Extreme Unction Expounded.
Q. WHAT is the fifth Sacrament?
A. Extreme unction.*
A. Extreme unction.*
*Unction is twofold, exterior and interior; by the former is the body anointed, and the latter the soul: there is an instance of the former in James v. 14, and of the latter in the parable of the ten virgins, Matt. xxv. The exterior anointing of the body is expressive of the interior unction or invisible grace produced in the soul.Under the Old Law were the priests, prophets and kings anointed: 1 Kings ix. 16; 2 Kings ii. 4; and 3 Kings xix. 15.Our Blessed Redeemer is called the Anointed, from the Greek verb Krio which signifies to anoint, because God anointed hem with the Holy Ghost: Acts x. 38. And we are called Christians because we profess the law and doctrine of God, the Anointed; and because we are anointed with holy oil and chrism. The child is anointed at baptism, the priest in receiving Holy Orders, the king and queen at their coronation. That the Apostles anointed the sick is clear from Mark vi. 13, and that they taught the practice is clear from James v. 14. Would they teach or practise the rite if they had not commission from their Divine Master so to do? It is indeed extremely astonishing that the Protestants who pretend to be enamoured with the Bible would discard a rite so sanctioned in both Testaments and the usage of all antiquity. See Canons. Lib. i. cit. 15.
Q. When did Christ institute it?
A. The time is uncertain: some think it was instituted at his last supper; others that it was done between his resurrection and ascension.
A. The time is uncertain: some think it was instituted at his last supper; others that it was done between his resurrection and ascension.
Q. By whom was this sacrament promulgated?
A. By James, v. 13, 14, 15. "Is any man sick among you, let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil, in the name of our Lord, and the prayer of faith shall save the sick man, and our Lord will lift him up, and if he be in sin his sins shall be forgiven him."
A. By James, v. 13, 14, 15. "Is any man sick among you, let him bring in the priests of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil, in the name of our Lord, and the prayer of faith shall save the sick man, and our Lord will lift him up, and if he be in sin his sins shall be forgiven him."
Q. Who is capable of this sacrament?
A. Every true and faithful Christian who is in mortal danger of death by sickness, excepting infants, fools, and such as are always mad.
A. Every true and faithful Christian who is in mortal danger of death by sickness, excepting infants, fools, and such as are always mad.
Q. What is the matter of it?
A. Oil blessed by a bishop.
A. Oil blessed by a bishop.
Q. What is the form of it?
A. "By his own anointing, and his own most pious mercy, our Lord pardon thee, whatsoever thou hast sinned by thy seeing," &c. And so of the other senses, repeating the same words.
A. "By his own anointing, and his own most pious mercy, our Lord pardon thee, whatsoever thou hast sinned by thy seeing," &c. And so of the other senses, repeating the same words.
Q. What are the effects of extreme unction?
A. It comforts the soul in her last agony against despair, it remits venial sins and removes the relics of sin and restores corporal health, if it be expedient.
A. It comforts the soul in her last agony against despair, it remits venial sins and removes the relics of sin and restores corporal health, if it be expedient.
Q. How prove you that?
A. Out of Mark vi. 13, where we read, That the apostles anointed with oil many sick, and healed them. Which anointing is understood by many to have been a previous sign of extreme unction, and consequently of its effects.
A. Out of Mark vi. 13, where we read, That the apostles anointed with oil many sick, and healed them. Which anointing is understood by many to have been a previous sign of extreme unction, and consequently of its effects.
Q. Why then do so few recover after it?
A. Either because the recovery of the body is not expedient for the soul, or because the sick deferred the sacrament too long, as too many do, or for the other indispositions in the receiver of it
A. Either because the recovery of the body is not expedient for the soul, or because the sick deferred the sacrament too long, as too many do, or for the other indispositions in the receiver of it
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