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Summary
- Any Catholic who has reached the use of reason and “begins to be in danger due to sickness or old age” may receive the Anointing of the Sick (canon 1004); the Catechism says it “is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death” (Catechism 1514).
- Only a priest can anoint (canon 1003), and Church law asks “those close to the sick” as well as pastors to see that it is given at the appropriate time (canon 1001).
- The anointing can be repeated if the person falls gravely ill again or the same illness grows worse (canon 1004), and the Catechism calls it fitting before a serious operation (Catechism 1515).
- For the dying, the Church gives Communion as Viaticum (Catechism 1524), and the priest may give the apostolic blessing, called the Apostolic Pardon, with a plenary indulgence, which a family can ask for; if no priest can come, the Church grants that indulgence at the point of death to anyone properly disposed who prayed in life (Indulgentiarum Doctrina, norm 18).
- Anyone thinking about suicide, or praying for someone who is, can call or text 988 in the United States or call Samaritans free on 116 123 in the United Kingdom and Ireland, day or night.
- Short prayers for the night of a diagnosis, a scan, intensive care and the last hours stand beside the Hail Mary and Psalm 23, followed by ten longer prayers, among them prayers to Saint Jude, Saint Raphael, Our Lady of Lourdes, Padre Pio and Saint Peregrine.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture: King James Version, James 5:14–15; Psalm 23; Psalm 31:5; Psalm 41:3; Matthew 26:39; Luke 6:16; Luke 23:46; Romans 8:38–39, BibleGateway. Douay-Rheims Bible (1899 American edition), Tobit 12:15, BibleGateway.
- Code of Canon Law (1983), canons 1001–1006, The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, Holy See.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, 1514–1515, Who Receives and Who Administers This Sacrament?; 1517–1519, How Is This Sacrament Celebrated?; 1520, The Effects of the Celebration of This Sacrament; 1524–1525, Viaticum, the Last Sacrament of the Christian; 1531, In Brief; 1472, Indulgences; 956, The Communion of Saints, Holy See.
- Pope Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution Indulgentiarum Doctrina, 1 January 1967, Norms 1, 2 and 18, Holy See.
- Edward McNamara, LC, “Indulgences at the Point of Death”, Zenit, 15 October 2013, on the apostolic pardon in the rite for the pastoral care of the sick, EWTN.
- Compendium of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2005), Appendix A, Common Prayers: The Hail Mary, Holy See.
- NHS, “What end of life care involves”, last reviewed 6 May 2026, nhs.uk.
- 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, checked 18 October 2026, 988lifeline.org.
- Samaritans, “Contact a Samaritan”, and Samaritans Ireland, checked 18 October 2026, samaritans.org and Samaritans Ireland.
- The Augsburg Confession (1530), Article XXI, Of the Worship of the Saints, Triglot Concordia translation (1921), BookOfConcord.org.
- “Who Is St. Jude?”, National Shrine of St. Jude, Claretian Missionaries, Chicago, shrineofstjude.org.
- James F. Driscoll, “St. Raphael”, The Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 12 (New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911), New Advent.
- “On 11th February, Lourdes celebrates the World Day of the Sick”, Sanctuary of Our Lady of Lourdes, 3 February 2026, lourdes-france.com.
- “Padre Pio da Pietrelcina (1887–1968)”, biography for the canonization of 16 June 2002, Holy See.
- “St. Peregrine Ministry”, Servants of Mary (Servite Sisters), Omaha, Nebraska, osms.org.
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