Dr. Augustine Sokolovski
In the Orthodox Tradition, the sacrament of Holy Unction is administered in three ways. It is the final blessing for those departing this life. This is the blessing of Great Lent, which is bestowed upon the faithful each year in preparation for the commemoration of Christ’s Passion. Finally, it is the constantly renewed sacrament of anointing with holy oil, for the healing of soul and body, for all people are sinful and all are unwell.
It is very important for Orthodox Christians to understand that sins are forgiven in the sacrament of Holy Unction. These are not the sins that people—whether consciously, out of deceit, or with malicious intent—seek to conceal but rather sins that themselves suffer from remaining unspoken. These are transgressions that, for physical, psychological, or biological reasons, cannot be recalled; they are forgotten once and for all for one reason or another. They have been committed and thus become the cause of illnesses, ailments, sufferings, desires, addictions, and all manner of evil. “My suffering existence cries out for redemption,” as Til Lindemann sang in one of his early songs. In the sacrament, the Lord forgives such sins through intercessory prayers, the invocation of the saints, and, most importantly, the anointing with holy oil and the prayer of absolution.
The Church prays for healing. Healing may occur, but it may not. Not because the sacrament is ineffective, but because God has His own plan regarding health and sickness. The latter finds its redemptive power in the sacrament of anointing. Grace is communication. Grace is the Lord’s saving Passion, communicated to the faithful. In the anointing, the believer’s illness is united with the Lord’s Passion. The illness touches His Passion and acquires salvific power for the person afflicted by it. The illness acquires meaning because it takes on the characteristics of compassion with the Lord Jesus, or, better yet, is clothed in the garments of compassion with which the Lord Himself personally sympathizes with the person.
The fruits of Christ’s saving Passion are poured out upon those who participate in the sacrament. The sacrament becomes a source of redemption and a place where forgiveness is granted, as eternal salvation begins in the history of the world and in the personal life of the believer. This is the blessing of the Holy Cross, His life-giving side, the blessing of the Holy Eucharist, the Body and Blood upon which the mysterious, that is, sacramental reality of the Church and all spiritual and liturgical life is built.