No. Holy Unction isn’t “Last Rites.”
It’s for healing. Physical healing, spiritual healing, the healing of your whole person when you’re sick or struggling. The confusion comes from mixing up Orthodox practice with Catholic tradition, where anointing became associated mainly with preparing someone for death. We don’t do that. We anoint the sick so they’ll get better.
St. James tells us exactly what this sacrament is for: “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.” That’s James 5:14-15, and it’s the foundation for this mystery. Notice what James says, call the priests when you’re sick, not when you’re dying. The expectation is healing.
Can you receive Holy Unction if you’re dying? Of course. But you can also receive it if you’ve got cancer, if you’re heading into surgery, if you’re dealing with chronic pain, if you’re battling depression. The Church has always understood body and soul as inseparable. When we’re sick, it affects everything. This sacrament addresses the whole person.
Here in Southeast Texas, we’re used to thinking about anointing oil from Pentecostal or charismatic contexts, or we’ve heard Catholic friends talk about Last Rites for Grandma in the hospital. Orthodox Holy Unction is different from both. It’s deeply liturgical, communal, and it’s meant to be repeated whenever you need it. There’s no limit. You can receive it multiple times for the same illness or different ones.
The service itself is beautiful and long. Ideally seven priests serve it together, though one priest can do it when necessary. There are seven Gospel readings about healing, seven Epistle readings, seven prayers. The oil, olive oil mixed with wine, gets blessed with prayers asking the Holy Spirit to make it an instrument of healing. Then the priest anoints you seven times: forehead, eyes, ears, nostrils, lips, chest, hands. Each time he makes the sign of the cross with the oil and says something like, “Holy Father, physician of souls and bodies, heal your servant.”
Most Orthodox parishes offer Holy Unction on Holy Wednesday during Holy Week. Everyone comes. It’s not just for the obviously sick. We all need healing from something, physical ailments, yes, but also the wounds sin leaves on our souls, the weariness of fighting the same temptations year after year, the spiritual exhaustion that comes from living in a fallen world. The sacrament addresses all of it.
But you don’t have to wait for Holy Wednesday. If you’re seriously ill, call your priest. He’ll come to your home or the hospital. If several priests are available, they’ll gather together, because this sacrament is meant to be communal, the whole Church praying for your healing through her presbyters. That’s what “sobornal” means, and it’s why James says to call for the elders (plural) of the church.
Does everyone who receives Holy Unction get physically healed? No. We’re not prosperity gospel people. Sometimes God heals the body. Sometimes He heals the soul and gives strength to bear the illness. Sometimes He prepares us for death, which is itself a kind of healing, a passage into the fullness of life with Him. The sacrament doesn’t manipulate God or guarantee a specific outcome. It places us in His hands and asks for His mercy according to His will.
What it does guarantee is grace. Real grace, the actual presence and power of the Holy Spirit, working in you for healing and forgiveness. The prayer of faith will save the sick man, James promises. And if he’s committed sins, he’ll be forgiven. There’s something about suffering that makes us aware of our mortality and our need for God. Holy Unction meets us in that awareness and offers us Christ, who took on our flesh and sanctified suffering by His own Passion.
So if you’re sick, don’t wait until you’re on your deathbed. Talk to Fr. [your priest’s name, adjust as needed]. Come to the Holy Unction service on Holy Wednesday if you can. Bring your pain, your fear, your exhaustion to the Church, and let her pray over you with the oil of gladness and healing.
