St. Nektarios the Wonderworker
Posted on 10/24/2005 8:02:08 PM PDT by NYer
VATICAN CITY, OCT. 24, 2005 (Zenit.org).- The Vatican has reiterated that that only a priest -- that is, bishops and presbyters -- may administer the sacrament of the anointing of the sick.
The Congregation on the Doctrine of the Faith emphasized that point in a Note published in response to several questions it had received in recent years.
"Neither deacons nor lay persons therefore may exercise such ministry and any action in this connection is a simulation of the sacrament" and would be "invalid," said the dicastery. Canon law provides sanctions for such an action, it added.
The congregation's "Note on the Ministry of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick" was published Friday in the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano.
It had been issued by the congregation last Feb. 11, World Day of the Sick, with the signature of its then prefect, Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger (now Benedict XVI).
The Note, also signed by the dicastery's secretary Archbishop Angelo Amato, is addressed to the dicasteries of the Roman Curia, bishops' conferences and Eastern synods.
In an accompanying letter, the then prefect said he was attaching a brief note on the history of the doctrine in this regard prepared by an expert.
Trent's teachings
The "brief note" is a commentary, also published in the Vatican newspaper, which explains that "in these last decades theological tendencies have been manifested that cast doubt on the Doctrine of the Church, according to which the minister of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick 'est omnis et solus sacerdos,'" in keeping with the formulation of the Council of Trent (1542-1563).
"The topic," it continued, "is addressed with preference from the pastoral point of view, especially taking into account those areas in which the scarcity of priests makes the timely administration of the Sacrament difficult, while such difficulty might be resolved if the Permanent Deacons and also qualified lay persons could be delegated ministers of the Sacrament.
"The Note of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith intends to call attention to these tendencies, to avoid the danger of the existence of attempts to put them into practice, in detriment of the faith and with grave spiritual harm of the sick whom one wants to help."
The commentary continued: "Catholic theology has seen in the Letter of James (5,14-15) the biblical basis for the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. The author, after giving several counsels relative to Christian life, also offers a norm for the sick: '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.'"
"In this text, the Church, under the action of the Holy Spirit, has identified in the course of the centuries the essential elements of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick," the commentary stated.
Definitive
The Vatican Note describes as "definitive tenenda" -- to be considered in a definitive manner -- the doctrine that makes the priest the only minister of the sacrament.
The Greek words of the Letter of James, which the Vulgate translates as "presbyteros Ecclesiae," "cannot refer to the elders of the community, but to the particular category of faithful to whom, by the imposition of hands, the Holy Spirit had placed to lead the Church of God," the commentary explained.
Following a brief review of Church history, the commentary arrives at the Council of Trent, which spells out the form of the sacrament. Trent anathematized "those who deny that the Anointing of the Sick is one of the seven Sacraments and that the minister of that Sacrament is solely the priest."
The doctrine of Trent was codified in the Code of Canon Law promulgated in 1917, repeated almost verbatim in the existing Code of Canon Law (see Canon 1003.1) of 1983 and in the Code of the Canons of the Eastern Churches of 1990 (Cf. Canon 739.1).
The commentary reminds about "the particular dignity and efficacy" of the sacrament, underlining that the priest, being its minister, "makes present in an altogether particular way the Lord Jesus Christ, Head of the Church," because "He who acts in this Sacrament is Jesus Christ," while the priest is the "visible" instrument.
Recently, my pastor drove to Boston to administer the Sacramenent of Anointing of the Sick to a dieing child. Upon his arrival, he was met by a nun who runs the Chaplaincy program at Boston Children's Hospital. She was surprised that he had driven 4 hours to administer this Sacrament, and commented ...
"We don't wait for the priests to come. Normally, we administer this Sacrament ourselves".
If you ever find yourself or a loved one in this situation, insist on a priest.
"The "brief note" is a commentary, also published in the Vatican newspaper, which explains that "in these last decades theological tendencies have been manifested that cast doubt on the Doctrine of the Church, according to which the minister of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick 'est omnis et solus sacerdos,'" in keeping with the formulation of the Council of Trent (1542-1563)."
in keeping with the formulation of the Council of Trent (1542-1563)... insist on Extreme Unction.
Here in Los Angeles, more and more parishes are without a resident pastor,
thanks to the sterling vocations efforts of our Cardinal Mahony.
But Sister is always available, seven days a week, to tend to the spiritual needs of the parishioners. My question is, If there is no priest there during the week, and a sick call (and Anointing) is required, who's doing the anointing?
Inquiring minds would like to know.
EXCERPT:
Working six days a week, and always on Sunday, Sister Slater balances administrative and pastoral duties such as bereavement counseling, marriage preparation and visiting the sick. "I do whatever the pastor would have done," said Sister Slater.
http://the-tidings.com/2005/1021/layleader.htm
The LORD has made us all priests and kings. We are a royal priesthood. It seems the CC makes doctrines that cause people to believe that they are dependent on it rather than Christ Himself thus causing people to fear for being apart from it. I am a member of the body of Christ through the Spirit of God by the blood of Jesus the Christ not through membership into any particular denomination. All the promises are mine. I have been healed miraculously apart from any Catholic priest and I am sure I will be again. It has been through the prayers of myself, other saints and at a different time elders from another church that the LORD has healed me. It has always been by the power of The LORD that I have been healed whether miraculously or otherwise.
If it seems as such to you, then you are ill-informed on matters of Catholic doctrine. Why, in any event as a non-Catholic, are you expressing concern on the subject of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction?
Because The LORD has put a fire in my heart to oppose false doctrine from any source. False doctrine is an enemy to the truth which I love. It allows the people of God to live outside of God's glorious truth thereby not living their lives to their fullest for The LORD. It also inhibits the lost from coming to a saving knowledge of Christ. The LORD seeks those who will worship Him in Spirit and Truth. Many people have not truly sought after the shear truth but rather have excepted the indoctrination of their various denominations as Christians and their various false religions as the lost. It is up to each one of us to boldly seek out the truth. The Bible says when you seek after The LORD with all of your heart then you will find Him.
I like to be liked as well as the next person. It would be much easier to not to speak the truth. I do not wish to not be friends with Catholic people but must for The LORD's sake, their sake and the sake of my own heart speak out against false doctrine.
Not according to Scripture!
St. Paul states that the Church, NOT Scripture is "THE pillar and ground of the truth." (1 Timothy 3:15) Since the Church alone is mentioned as THE pillar of truth, then It alone has the right to discern the truth and interpret Scripture. For if individuals could correctly interpret Scripture, then all interpretations would be EXACTLY THE SAME as there can only be ONE spiritual truth for the plural of the word "truth" NEVER appears in Scripture. The Church is Christ's bride (Ephesians 5:29) and has no spot, wrinkle or blemish (Ephesians 5:27).
Is the Church to be a loose conglomerate of believers or is it to be organized and structured? Scripture CLEARLY established "offices" and a "hierarchy" among Christians. The offices of "bishop, priest (presbyter) and deacon" are mentioned in Scripture (1 Timothy 3:1,8; Titus 1:7). What else is this but "organization?" Or should we believe that any believer can "claim" to be a bishop, priest, deacon or even "apostle?" The word "office" is specifically used in Scripture (1 Timothy 3:1) to describe these positions. Webster defines "office" as "A special duty, trust, charge, or position, conferred by authority or God and for a public purpose; a position of trust or authority." And the office of "apostle" is to be continued (Acts 1:20-26) to the present day. Not all believers are "equal" nor have the same gifts (1 Corinthians 12:8-10; Ephesians 4:11).
If you read The Acts Of The Apostles, it is clear that St. Peter leads the Apostles. Therefore, since the Apostles are to be replaced as they die (Acts 1:20-26), then it follows that whoever succeed(s) St. Peter is leader of the Church. There is only to be one shepherd of the Church (John 10:16). For the Apostles did not argue amongst themselves whether there was a "greatest" at all, but who amongst them was THE greatest (Mark 9:34; Luke 9:46).
I don't doubt your sincerity or integrity - and I certainly intended no disrespect. But the subject matter addresses a Sacrament of the Catholic Church. Since you reject the Catholic faith and therefore, by extension, the validity of the Sacrament what difference can it possibly make to you?
My family has been blessed with a miracle from holy oil and an annointing. Our youngest had a tumor growing in his left ear which had virtually destroyed his hearing. He had an operation to remove the tumor, but after the operation, his ear canal healed completely shut. We took him to a specialist in Boston who said that he believed further surgery would be needed but that his hearing was probably gone in that ear. He said to come back in six weeks and they would schedule the surgery. We were devastated of course. Previous to going down to the specialist, I had mentioned to the priest's wife that I wished someone had some holy oil from the lamp over the tomb of +Nektarios of Aegina in Greece because of the great miracles attributed to that oil. She looked at me stunned and said she had been cleaning out some boxes that day and had found a vial of that oil which they had brought with them from their former parish along with a small icon of the saint. That evening the priest came over and annointed our son and told us to annoit him ourselves with the oil everyday. We did. Six weeks later it was back to the specialist. He looked in our son's ear, turned to us and asked. "What have you been doing?" I told him about the annointing and +Nektarios. "Well" he said "his ear is open! We think we have a miracle here!" He knew what he was talking about since he had on several occasions served as an investigator of "ear" miracles for the Vatican. The doc wanted all the details of +Nektarios. Tests of the boy's hearing later that day showed that it was actually better, by far, than before the tumor!
Kontakion, 4th Tone
You lived your life in a holy way, O St. Nektarios; being a Bishop rich in wisdom, you have glorified the Lord with your life of virtue; being strengthened by the power of the Holy Spirit, you drive out evil spirits and heal the sick. Intercede for those who come to you in faith!
Good! One of the very reasons that there is a vocations shortage is that the laity - and nuns - are permitted and encouraged to do so many things that were once the priest's job alone that there is no longer much of anything to be called to. The theory seems to be that the job of the pastor now is to handle the bills and fundraising, and the laity or the nuns will do all the liturgical and spiritual "stuff," from distributing the Sacraments to running retreats, etc. This is an inversion of the way things should be, and I think it is one of the things that accounts for the drop-off in vocations.
In places like LA, where the good Cardinal has insured that there will be no priestly vocations, in order to further his project to laicize and feminize (and "gayicize") the Church, so many things have already been assigned to lay people and the ever-eager nuns (who see the priesthood as just a heartbeat away) that it's going to be difficult to reverse this. But it has to be done; perhaps the way to do it is to form some sort of relationship with a good order priest or even a holy retired diocesan priest who could probably get permission to visit you in the hospital. We have a wonderful, devoted retired priest here who is ceaseless in hospital visits, confessions, etc.
Of course, Phony Mahony probably goes out of his way to prevent any of these from sneaking into his diocese. But if we quietly accept the system he has set up - run by nuns and lay people - then that's all we're going to get.
>>I do not wish to not be friends with Catholic people but must for The LORD's sake, their sake and the sake of my own heart speak out against false doctrine.<<
Look at this sentance....
"I do not wish to not be friends with Jewish people but must for The LORD's sake, their sake and the sake of my own heart speak out against THEIR doctrines."
FRiend, when I see you on the Jewish sites "ministering" to them, I'll look at your post here.
Otherwise, you are just showing your bigotry.
I don't doubt that you have fire in your heart, but if causes you to oppose The One True Church on earth, the Church that Christ established, that "fire" ain't from the Lord.
St. Nektarios the Wonderworker
Why should we listen to you instead of to St. James?
Until then...prepare for purgatory (you'll be there a while).
I am a bit conflicted on this one. If a Priest can not be found but a Deacon is available should the sick go without the Anointing?
We need more priests. And taking away the priests' priestly functions and giving them to little old ladies and radical sisters ain't the way to encourage vocations.
Maybe it's because I live in a major metro area, but priests are not hard to find around here. In fact, I run into a couple of them almost every week, just around town. Sometimes our parish priests, sometimes just at random.
But then again we have had a VERY orthodox archbishop and he has stayed on as Archbishop Emeritus to keep an eye on the new Abp (who came to us from the USCCB but seems to have realized that he had better not go all squishy on us.)
A deacon cannot hear your confession or give absolution. Get a priest.
As an Evangelical Christian I have noted how knowledgeable most RC posters are about their faith. It's impressive to me and speaks well for our future in our common struggle against secular humanism. I do want to point out to you that this is a religion forum, not a Catholic forum. You have criticized Bellflower for not seeing him on Jewish sites, but how do you know that he doesn't post the same there? I would suggest a word of caution on the use of the term bigotry. We are all to quick to use terms like this.May God bless you.
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