Holy Unction is the Church’s sacrament of healing. We anoint the sick with blessed oil while praying for God to heal both body and soul and to forgive sins.
It’s not what many people think it is. If you grew up Protestant, you might not have heard of it at all. If you grew up Catholic, you might know it as “Last Rites” or “Extreme Unction”, something done only when someone’s dying. But that’s not how we understand it in Orthodoxy. Holy Unction isn’t reserved for deathbeds. It’s for anyone who’s sick or struggling and needs God’s healing touch.
What the Bible Says
The Apostle James gives us the clearest instruction: “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” (James 5:14-15). That’s exactly what we’re doing in this sacrament. The early Church took James seriously, and we still do.
The oil itself isn’t magic. It’s a means of grace, like the water in baptism or the bread and wine in communion. God works through physical things because we’re physical beings. He created matter and called it good, so he uses it to heal us.
When It Happens
Most Antiochian parishes celebrate Holy Unction communally on Holy Wednesday during Great Lent. The whole parish gathers, and anyone who wants healing, physical, spiritual, or both, can receive the anointing. Some years you’ll see the church packed with people dealing with cancer, diabetes, depression, broken relationships, besetting sins they can’t shake. Other years you’ll see folks who just know they need God’s mercy and healing in ways they can’t quite name.
But the sacrament isn’t limited to Holy Wednesday. If you’re in the hospital or homebound, call the priest. He can bring the service to you. The Church has always done this, met people where they are when they’re too sick to come to church.
What Happens During the Service
The full service is substantial. Traditionally seven priests serve it together, representing the fullness of the apostolic Church, though it can be done with fewer. There are seven Gospel readings, seven Epistle readings, seven prayers. The number seven shows up because it means completeness in biblical language.
The priest blesses olive oil during the service with specific prayers asking God to make it an instrument of healing. Then he anoints each person, usually on the forehead, cheeks, hands, and chest, while praying that Christ the Physician would heal them. Some parishes give you a small cotton ball with oil to take home.
The prayers are beautiful and direct. They ask for forgiveness of sins and healing of both soul and body. The Church doesn’t separate these things the way we sometimes do. We’re not souls trapped in bodies or bodies with souls attached. We’re unified persons, and what hurts the body affects the soul and vice versa.
Who Can Receive It
Any Orthodox Christian in good standing can receive Holy Unction. You should go to confession beforehand if you haven’t recently, not because you’re earning the healing, but because repentance and honesty before God open us up to receive what he wants to give.
If you’re not Orthodox yet, you can’t receive it. That’s not meant to be harsh. The sacraments are for members of the Body, and they presuppose baptism and chrismation. But if you’re a catechumen watching the service, pay attention. This is part of what you’re preparing to enter.
What It’s For
Here’s where Orthodox theology might surprise you if you’re coming from a Protestant background. We believe Holy Unction actually does something. It’s not just a nice ritual or a way to feel supported by your church family, though it’s those things too. It’s a mystery, a sacrament, where God’s grace is truly at work.
Does everyone who receives anointing get physically healed? No. We’re all going to die eventually. But many people do experience physical healing. Others experience spiritual healing, freedom from a sin they’ve struggled with for years, peace about a situation that’s been tormenting them, reconciliation in a broken relationship. Still others receive strength to endure their illness with faith and patience. God knows what we need better than we do.
The Church has never taught that if you have enough faith, you’ll definitely be healed physically. That’s not how it works. We pray in hope, we anoint in faith, and we trust God with the outcome. Sometimes the healing we receive isn’t the healing we asked for, but it’s the healing we needed.
A Word About Preparation
Come to Holy Unction having confessed your sins. Come fasting if the service is at a time when you’d normally fast. Come with an open heart, ready to receive whatever God wants to give you. And come expecting something to happen, because God is faithful even when we’re not.
If you’ve never been to a Holy Unction service before, come this year on Holy Wednesday. Bring your mom who’s been dealing with that autoimmune thing the doctors can’t figure out. Bring your coworker from the plant who threw his back out and won’t go to the doctor. Bring yourself and whatever you’re carrying that you can’t fix on your own.
Christ is the Physician of our souls and bodies. He wants to heal you.
