Anointing of the Sick:

To request anointing of the sick, please contact the rectory office. If the sick person is in the hospital, please contact the hospital’s chaplain.

The Last Rites is the anointing at the time of death, but since the Second Vatican Council, the sacrament is now referred to as the Anointing of the Sick and has been broadened to offer healing and comfort in times of illness that may not lead to immediate death. Examples would include: before a surgery, before receiving treatments, or after a major diagnosis. Speaking about a wider implementation of this sacrament, Pope Paul VI advocated for “a wider availability of the sacrament and to extend it - within reasonable limits - even beyond cases of mortal illness."


When the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick is given, the hoped-for effect is that, if it be God's will, the person be physically healed of illness. But even if there is no physical healing, the primary effect of the Sacrament is a spiritual healing by which the sick person receives the Holy Spirit's gift of peace and courage to deal with the difficulties that accompany serious illness or the frailty of old age.