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The Sacrament of "Anointing the Sick" is also known as "Extreme Unction" or "The Last Rites."

This sacrament is traditionally administered to a Catholic who is in immediate danger of death or who is actually dying. In the case of terminally ill people, it is encouraged to ask for the sacrament while the person is still lucid so that they might take comfort and strength from the sacrament and have a chance to confess their sins; too often people wait until a person is comatose or even dead before calling a priest, thus depriving the person of choice graces. The sacrament can be administered multiple times, even for the same illness as circumstances change, so you do not need to wait until the last minute to call a priest. If a person has died, still call a priest; the exact moment the soul leaves the body is not a precise science and so a priest may conditionally administer the sacrament to one already declared legally dead (within a reasonable time elapse from the time of death). Among the graces the sacrament gives for preparing the soul for death, it may also give the grace of a recovery, that sometimes is extremely sudden or miraculous.

A priest may only administer this sacrament to a Catholic, if a person in danger of death who is not a Catholic suddenly wishes to receive this sacrament, they must first be baptized and then they may receive the Anointing.

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17y ago

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