“The Anointing of the Sick imparts consolation, peace, and strength and unites the sick person, in his precarious situation and his sufferings, with Christ in a profound way. For the Lord experienced our fears and bore our pains in his body.”
-YouCat 245

Unless you or a loved one has been ill, you may not have experienced the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. Catholics receive the Sacrament of the Sick to receive God’s grace in times of illness, disease, or surgery.

The ill person is anointed with holy oil on the forehead and the hands and prayers are offered asking God to be with that person in his or her illness. In some cases, the result of this anointing may include a partial or whole healing; in all cases it represents the strength of God’s presence in a difficult moment. Regardless of the immediate, temporal result, it is a moment of encounter with Christ Himself.