The mystery of Holy Unction
“Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord: And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him” (James 5:14–15).
The mysteries of the Church serve the cause of man's salvation. Holy Scripture reveals the deep theological content and living power of the Church's mysteries (Greek mysterion); and of the clergy who perform these mysteries it tells us: “Let a man so account of us, as of the ministers of Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God” (1 Cor. 4:1).
Through the performing of the mystery of Unction, a person is given by the prayer of the Church a grace that sanctifies and heals from sicknesses of soul and body; it strengthens the believer in the life of the Church. If at confession a person cannot confess his sins fully and sincerely, the passions gain the upper hand over him, and together with the soul his body too is harmed. Sometimes a person even forgets the sins he has committed, and so the roots of sin grow stronger still in him. It is precisely for overcoming this strengthened sin that the mystery of Unction has been established in the Church.
It is interesting that in the early Christian Church the same prayers were read for the blessing of oil and of water. Water was blessed in the same way as oil, as a substance with healing properties that heals every sickness.
The order for blessing the oil directs that wine or water be mixed with the oil when it is blessed.
According to the tradition of the Monastery of Sinai, together with oil they would pour into the lamps agiasma blessed on the feast of Theophany, and wine. In the local Church of Constantinople it was customary, when blessing the oil, to mix water with it instead of wine.
As for the sevenfold anointing of the sick, it comes from the traditions of the first Christians. When a priest visited a sick person, he would read prayers over him and anoint him with oil for 7 days in a row. It is because of this tradition that the sevenfold anointing later became established.
The mystery of Unction may be performed on the sick at any time of year, if the sick person's condition requires it.
The Book of Needs says that this service should be performed by seven priests. However, the mystery may also be performed by one priest, for a clergyman represents the Church, and any priest is able to perform this mystery in its full form.
The mystery of Unction is not performed only on the sick. In early Christian churches, as St Symeon of Thessalonica confirms, anointing with oil was performed after confession and signified the forgiveness of sins.
St John of Damascus advised clergy that, before performing the sevenfold anointing, they should first themselves receive the sevenfold anointing with oil, and only after that perform this service.
The Jerusalem Typikon tells us that from the most ancient times anointing with oil was given alike to the sick and to the healthy.
The old Books of Needs say that the time appointed for the general performance of the sevenfold anointing was the period of Great Lent, namely Great Thursday or Great Saturday of Holy Week.
