Anointing of the sick

Categories: uncategorized

Date: 05 April 2007 01:39:35

Last nights service was the service of Anointing the Sick or Holy Unction.

In the Orthodox church sin is seen as a sickness and Jesus comes to bring medicine and healing.
Anointing with oil is for everyone, because to what ever degree everyone is sick physically, mentally, spiritually, or with the disease of sin.

Throughout the service are prayers for forgiveness and healing of soul and body.
The Orthodox believe that God can be present in material things, so in praying for the oil, the priest is asking God's power to come into the oil to heal. Prayers, and much better explainations are here

Oil was used to heal wounds, like the Good samaritian did, and I am told by the bishop soldiers did in the war. So in using Holy oil, along with the prayers of Jesus followers, as seen in the passage below, here is God's healing in a physical material 'something', the oil, combined with the spiritual unseen work of God. Although I'd have a guess that it's not like a solution, and you can separate out the spiritual and the physical, the physical and spiritual atoms are joined into a new molecule (if I remember high school chemistry right!)

James 5:14-16:
Is any among you sick, let him call for the presbyters of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

Every reading of all these passages below, especially the Luke and Matthew ones, shed a little big of light or took me to a deeper understanding of something in my life. Unfortunately I can't remember any of them right now. Too many insights to retain in my mind. Hopefully they're retained in me somewhere.

If you get a chance have a read of some of them.

James 5:10-16; Luke: 10:25-37
Romans 15:1-7; Luke 19:1-10
I Corinthians 12:27-31;13:1-8; Matthew 10:1,5-8
II Corinthians 6:16-18, 7:1; Matthew 8:14-23
II Corinthians 1:8-11; Matthew 25:1-13
Galatians 5:22-6:2; Matthew 15:21-28
I Thessalonians 5:14-23; Matthew 9:9-13

After the bible readings, a candle is lit as each gospel is read, everyone goes forward to the priest who uses the oil to make a cross on forehead, chin (I'm guessing for mouth) cheeks (ears?) and both sides of hands.

The Bishop was there. He was lovely. He seems to have no expectations. He always throws all the plans into confusion though. He skips bits, and does bits twice, and tells people to slow down. People who have a job to do in the service seem to have to pause a bit before doing it to make sure the Bishop isn't going to do something else. Do you think Jesus would have that effect if he were standing there? I think so.