By Gretchen Keiser

ATLANTA—When Father Ray Cadran, MS, speaks of this sacrament, he becomes poetic, almost lyrical.

A sacrament of presence, a sacrament of solidarity, a sacrament of touch and a sacrament of hope, he says, speaking of the simple ritual made richly available to Catholic laity since the Second Vatican Council.

To older Catholics, the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick was formerly known as “Extreme Unction,” referring to the anointing given by a priest to a Catholic in danger of death. It was received once, just before, or sometimes just after, the moment of death.

Since Vatican II, the sacrament has been renamed and opened to the needs of those who are sick, as well as those who are dying. It is offered at times of serious illness, to those facing surgery or other hospital procedures, those who are suffering with an extended illness, those who suffer from mental illness, and those of advancing years. People may receive it more than once. It is an opportunity to receive prayers for greater health, even miraculous healing, spiritual as well as physical. It incorporates reconciliation, which is why it can only be offered by a priest.

“It is a sacrament not just of anointing, but a sacrament of what the church proclaims itself to be,” Father Cadran said, “a community of acceptance, a community that fosters the value and dignity of each person.”

As the priest sacramentally anoints a sick person with the oil of the sick and prays for him, “we proclaim that this person is valuable,” he said.

As a sacrament of solidarity, it expresses to the one who is sick, “You are not alone, not abandoned in this moment of suffering, of pain, of fear.”

Not only is the priest there, but the whole community of the church, past, present and future, is there, Father Cadran commented, “a community of intercession, of prayer.”

He often thinks of the Gospel story of the woman with the hemorrhage who was healed when she touched the hem of Jesus’ garment. In this “sacrament of touch,” in which the priest anoints the forehead and the palms of the person with the sacramental oil, “I always feel there is a power that goes out,” the priest from St. Ann Church, Marietta, said.

“It is a touch that goes straight to the heart. It is a power that is not always possible in other instances ... a sacrament of real presence.”

The scriptural basis for the sacrament is in the Letter of James, which says: “Is any 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 sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” (Jm 5:14-15).

Father Cadran hopes to be present to the sick person and their family and friends in a personal way because this is a profoundly human moment, yet he knows he represents Christ.

He also considers it a “sacrament of hope ... a hope for God’s healing, whether it be spiritual or physical, a hope that God’s grace, and God’s will, will touch the person and the family with peace and an acceptance of the future.”

In his 23 years as a priest, he responds to each call for this sacrament to be administered with a human fear, because illness is a time of great vulnerability for people, but also with a priestly calm. “There is always fear—what am I facing?—but it is not just you who are there. It is God. You don’t have to have it scripted. Somehow the presence of God always guides the action.”

He emerges from the time of prayer and presence “with a sense ... I haven’t been alone in doing it.”

Father Cadran frequently brings this sacrament to those with HIV/AIDS, who have made their desire to receive the sacrament known through someone in the parish AIDS ministry. Some calls come from a confidential parish hotline.

Some want to receive the sacrament “to handle the pain and the confusion and the fear” of being told they are HIV positive. Some “wait until the last minute,” when they are dying, to ask for the anointing of the sick, he said. “They are less afraid of the disease than this vision of God.”

The person may be alone or surrounded by family members. It is “a very human moment. You have the whole gamut of emotions from anger to resignation.”

“It is so important for one to look at it as a very human encounter, not just a ritual of the church.”

For those with HIV/AIDS, often “they thought the church would reject them,” Father Cadran said.

“It is their first encounter with the church in a long time. If it is done sensitively, it opens up to them a church they didn’t even know existed.”

Sixteen years ago, he received his first call to offer the sacrament to a man dying of AIDS at home. As five or six family members stood nearby closely watching him, Father Cadran approached the man, who was showing great physical deterioration and had open sores from the illness.

“I remember just looking at this young man’s eyes and there was such a hunger for someone to be there,” Father Cadran said. The look set the priest free to act spontaneously, taking the young man’s hand, stroking his hair and his head, and talking to him.

“The more I talked with him, the more his eyes became soft, less pleading. I had no fear. I had just lost it completely. It was at that moment I recognized that it was all about someone being there, the sacrament of touch and presence—that someone would actually care enough to be there.”

He has brought this memory with him and drawn wisdom from it. “I have found when you can hold their hands, stroke their foreheads, they feel their body is somehow valued, although decaying. There is a healing—that people don’t recoil at what they see.”

From the sacrament he has seen many graces flow.

“People have waited for that moment and then died in peace. It allows them to let go. It allows the family to let them go, and that is a grace.”

“You never make promises as to what the sacrament can do. There are a number of messages God wants to give.”

He encourages Catholics with HIV/AIDS to receive the sacrament periodically, for example, “when a real bad period of confusion or stress starts, whenever profound change is taking place physically, psychologically or spiritually.”

As signs of the healing power of the sacrament, he has seen “peace happen almost immediately.”

“I’ve seen people recover for long periods of time after the anointing. I have seen symptoms lessen-not go away.”

While the use of new medications for HIV/AIDS is prolonging the lives of many patients, those who receive the sacrament often attribute their physical improvement “to the prayers of the church for them,” he said.

Father Steve Yander remembers the opportunities he had to bring the sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick to men with AIDS during the time when he was serving at Sacred Heart Church in Atlanta.

“So many of the men had been separated from the church because they didn’t feel wanted,” Father Yander said.

“When I was invited in to visit someone, I found inside the homes of the AIDS patients a community that was so supportive and accepting—I found church.”

“ I remember how much it meant to these men to be ministered to by a priest from the church of their childhood.”

Father Yander is now a chaplain at Saint Joseph’s Hospital and in that environment he offers the sacrament to Catholic patients he visits, who may be in the hospital for surgery or an illness. “To be offered the sacrament of the sick is to let them know that Christ is with them in this and that the church is praying for them,” Father Yander said. For those who are facing surgery or hospitalized the sacrament “brings an affirmation. They frequently say how much better they feel” following the anointing.

Regardless of whether or not an illness is life threatening, “a person is naturally filled with anxiety” while under hospital care, undergoing unfamiliar procedures and waiting for improvement, Father Yander said.

“Some people receive the sacrament in their own parish” at healing services and are familiar with it when they come into the hospital. “It is taking root for those who are active in the church. It takes several generations for something like this to take root.”

Asked if people want to talk about the meaning of their suffering, Father Yander said, “generally people say they are not afraid of dying, but they are apprehensive about suffering.” Often they are concerned for others, for their family and friends.

“If you listen to people, very often too they answer their own questions. They have to find their own answer in their own belief system ... They have to wrestle with God.”

He sees another benefit to receiving the sacrament more than once, for those who are progressively deteriorating from a long illness. “I think it helps the family grow in their understanding of the seriousness of the illness and grow in their awareness of the presence of God.”

Father Yander likes to celebrate the sacrament with the family there, inviting family members to place their hands upon the person also as he prays.

“It really opens up the tear ducts,” he said, “but that is good. It is a very intimate moment. It is a very sacred time ... The family is suffering too. It is an emotional time in their lives and a spiritual opening as they come to terms with their own mortality. The gift of family to be with you when you die is a wonderful gift.”