www.byzcath.org Forums Mysteries: The Life of Worship The Other Sacramental Mysteries Holy Unction and children

I thought someone else would have posted this here by now... but since no one has I will.

On another forum in the Eastern Catholicism section is currently running a thread in response to this blog [newtheologicalmovement.blogspot.com] "Why can't young children receive Anointing of the Sick?".

It has been my, granted limited, experience that in Orthodox and EC Churches children of any age are anointed during Holy Unction services, and perhaps at other times when I haven't been present to witness it. I've spoken with two of our EC priests (one was formerly Greek Orthodox clergy) who have confirmed this is the practice. The Russian Orthodox priest I would normally go to with such a question is unavailable.

A lot has been written back and forth on this thread. I have largely stayed out of the thread but have made a couple of posts. This was part of the reply to my last post:


(Bolding is mine just to highlight the crux of his point.)

He is responding to this quote I gave from Fr. Alexander Schmemann For the Life of the World: Sacraments and Orthodoxy and indeed it is not "explicit evidence", although I suggested it because I thought it shows the eastern mind set and supported the anointing of all:


Lest this seem in any way like an aggressive Latin I would say he is not. He has simply presented his statements with support from various sources that both illness and reason are required for one to present themselves for this Holy Mystery. He doesn't see anything that as been presented as substantively contradicting this. He didn't bring this topic into the EC section, another EC did. He simply was advised it was going on and chose to come and participate. If anything I think some of our ECs there have been uncharitable,

As he mentions it is now fairly common at least where I live in the US for Latin Churches to routinely have anointing for the sick in a Holy Mass. This can be seen to contradict both Canon Law of the Latin Church and their tradition. It is my understanding that contrary to that tradition it has been the tradition in the East for all, including children who cannot have sinned, and children and adults with no physical illness, to present themselves for this Holy Mystery, that this is not a recent innovation for our Churches of the East.

I hope for some useful feedback here. I don't know that I will post again in that thread because I think we may have a nary the twains shall meet at this point. I do see this priest as sincere. Perhaps he is right and this is a recent innovation for the East as well as for the West. That is not my understanding so I look to you for more on this.

I'm confused. Is he saying that children cannot participate in this sacrament in the East? They are full members of the church... the question to him is, why couldn't they?

The Latin Church withholds this (and other) sacraments from those that it does not deem to have "reached the age of reason". (Canon 1004).

Since there is no such restriction in the East... there you go.

EDIT: Or, to put it another way... You'll see that children are permitted to receive Holy Unction right next to the section where it says that people with red hair are allowed to receive it.

I don't know where this person gets his authority to make these statements. First of all, my parish has held Anointing of the Sick during a Mass for Healing many times over the past 28 years we've been members and priest from other parishes have come to assit so that the anointing would not take an undue length of time. Secondly, it has been taught, announced, and published that this anointing is both for physical and spiritual healing. So it is entirley apporpriate for those who experience spiritual struggles of any sort--something that may not be physically apparent but entirely real to the one asking to be anointed. There are also instances of young children being anointed when they experience life-altering illnesses such as leukemia or cancer so I would have to ask why this is "contrary to our tradition, our theology, and our Canon Law."

It seems to me that this person has been reading too many pre-Vatican II sources in relation to this sacrament/mystery. In the last 45 years, the Latin Church has expanded hr understanding of this sacrament/mystery to the earlier understanding. At one point, the Latin teaching was that one could receive this sacrament only once and that at the point fo death. So I'd have to question what this person thinks is "our tradition, our theology, and our Canon Law."

A friend of mine, an Orthodox priest, recently wrote and asked for prayer for a very young girl who was being anointed in his parish because she is suffering from a life-threatening disease. I've witnessed young children being anointed at the Holy Unction Service on Holy Wednesday. So where does this guy find his reason to challenge?

I think the real issue here is the difference in approach. My experince of the East is that liturgical practice is the Faith in action, the yardstick. It does not begin with an academic argument and proceed to being introduced into liturgical books. It begins with the liturgical practice and then is later explained. The West seems to begin in the classroom and then try to put things dreamt there into practice. So the norm is practice, not book citations.

Bob

http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p2s2c2a5.htm

Catechism of the Catholic Church
CHAPTER TWO
THE SACRAMENTS OF HEALING

ARTICLE 5
THE ANOINTING OF THE SICK

The Byzantine praxis regarding the Sacramental Mystery of Anointing is rooted in James 5:13-15. It is firstly a Sacrament of Healing. The forgiveness of sins is an extra, a bonus:

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? 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 will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. (James 5:13-15)

Trent treated the Sacrament of the Anointing as "Extreme Unction" and it unfortunately codified the administration of this Sacrament to those who were near death ("Last Rites"). I know RC priests who now routinely administer the Sacrament to those about to undergo surgery - including children. This is proper and right. One can see in the (new) Catechism a better definition of Anointing. Yet it still has about it an idea that suggests that it only be administered rarely (as if the power of the Lord to heal must be used sparingly!). I recommend judging the current explanation on how much it has grown from Trent, and to keep asking the Church that it improve on the definition. Meanwhile, we in the Christian East will keep our ancient customs.

And now I know the reason why my daughter (then aged 4) was denied Anointing before she went to the same-day surgery center to have a foreign object removed from her ear canal under general anesthesia. I asked, even begged for an explanation as to why the priest would not anoint her but he only repeated that it was not necessary and therefore he wouldn't do it.

A priest at our parish, not Our priest, announced to the church, to not ask to be annointed after the Divine Liturgy for sickness or surgery, or anything else. He said we had received Jesus in the Eucharist and he would refuse to anoint us.

Go figure! It didn't set well with the parish to say the least.

Pani Rose: Yes, there are those who suggest that the Sacrament of Anointing is unnecessary for anyone who has just received the Eucharist. I know places where, during Holy Week, the traditional Service of Holy Anointing on Holy Wednesday was replaced with just the Anointing part inserted in the Presanctified Liturgy, and the people told that the Anointing was not really valid until the Eucharist was received. There is certainly a relationship among the Sacramental Mysteries, but those who teach such things that the Sacrament given in James 5 is unnecessary miss the mark.

Raises the interesting question of whether there is any place in the Latin Church for the mentally handicapped--the retarded, the insane, the senile--to say nothing of small children. Denied the Eucharist and other sacraments because "they lack the capacity to rationally understand" them, does it not condemn them to perdition through denial of the Eucharist? What, precisely, does he who does not eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man has no life in him mean?

Slava Isusu Khrestu

A terrible thought crossed my mind.
If these innocent babies are denied Holy Anointing, then by the same logic, should they be likewise denied the prayers of a Christian burial? No! Anointing is one Sacred Mystery and the rites of Christian Burial are another. But this must indeed create such stress for a family with far reaching consequences!.


Unworthy
Kolya

For a perspective from the separated bretheren of the West:

In my Lutheran parish we offer the anointing at the time of the distribution of the Eucharist at least one Sunday each month, plus at every midweek Wednesday liturgy.

This can only be done when our distribution is by groups standing a the chancel rail--when each group is dismissed those desiring the anointing go to a prie deu at the center an kneel if able.

Some folks almost always seek the anointing, some occasionally, some rarely--there are some who have never participated.

Ages range from young children through 90+.

The priest (Russian Orthodox) I wanted to ask about this was unavailable while this discussion was going on. We spoke for about an hour on this a few days ago.

For me the single most important thing he said, which indeed the first thing he said was: read the text of the service. What are the prayers the priest prays? What do we say? That tells you the teaching. (We always say in the East "The Liturgy is the catechesis. )

I brought up the quote from Fr. Alexander Schmemann I had used here and what I had in mind when using it. He used the word "spiritualizing" to describe my interpretation of this quote.

He recommended the book The Anointing of the Sick by Dr. Paul Meyendorff from SVS press [svspress.com].

When I asked about the anointing on Holy Wed. he said it is not Holy Unction in his diocese but rather another Holy Mystery. I am unfamiliar with the texts of Holy Unction but he said they are unrelated to the Holy Week. I brought up that we are, as I characterized it in an earlier post, strengthened by this Sacrament, in Holy Week, as we prepare to enter into the Passion of our Lord Christ God. He was content with the idea of this but again, in his diocese he said this is not Holy Unction but a separate Sacrament. My notes from our conversation say there is "a prohibition to serve Unction over the well."

This leads to the whole topic of Sacraments/Holy Mysteries which were defined in the West as seven, which is different from the East I believe.

I ordered the Meyendorff book and it arrived yesterday. I brought it to church today and our Reader, Deacon and Priests all said variations of "I have that", "We have that in the bookstore". LOL! (Not in the bookstore, someone must have bought it. I dust in there often enough to have known if we had it ). I hope to start reading it this week.

I was so engrossed in the Festal Vigil this past Friday for Transfiguration in this Orthodox parish I failed to notice if the toddlers and crawling babies received this festal anointing. I, known to be Catholic, did receive the festal anointing and blessing with the added "S Prazdnikom, Marylouise!".