Sunday School: On Extreme Unction and Holy Orders

Our discussion of the sacraments is drawing to a close, and in Lesson Twenty-Fifth of the Baltimore Catechism No. 2, we look at two of the less familiar sacraments. The first, Extreme Unction (more commonly known today as the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick), is one that we should all receive, when necessary; the second, Holy Orders, is one that few people (and then only men) will ever receive.

Unction is the act of anointing someone with oil; extreme refers to the circumstances in which the sacrament performed. Extreme Unction prepares our soul for death, by giving us the strength to face the end of our life in faith and hope, but it also offers healing to the body. We should receive the sacrament whenever there is the danger of death—for instance, when we are gravely ill or when we are about to undergo major surgery.

In recent decades, the Church has broadened the use of the sacrament, in recognition of its healing powers, both physically and spiritually. Those with chronic illnesses which may not be life-threatening can now more easily receive the sacrament, which can help them to bear their illness with fortitude and grace.

Holy Orders is the sacrament through which deacons, priests, and bishops are ordained to God's service. The minister of the sacrament is the bishop, who receives his authority through apostolic succession. Like Baptism and Confirmation, Holy Orders indelibly marks the soul of a man who receives the sacrament. While a priest may ask to be laicized (to no longer practice his ministry), he remains a priest forever, just as we cannot be "unbaptized" or "unconfirmed."

Lesson Twenty-Fifth from the Confirmation Catechism has 11 questions. Note that the lesson begins with Question 271, continuing with the numbering from Lesson Twenty-Fourth.

The parallel lesson this week in the First Communion Catechism is Lesson Twenty-First. It includes 3 questions drawn from Lesson Twenty-Fifth of the Confirmation Catechism.

Check out this week's lesson, and if you have any questions, please leave them in the comments or ask them in the Catholicism Forum!

• Welcome to Sunday School!
• On God and His Perfections
• On the Unity and Trinity of God
• On Creation
• On Our First Parents and the Fall
• On Sin and Its Kinds
• On the Incarnation and Redemption
• On Our Lord's Passion, Death, Resurrection, and Ascension
• On the Holy Ghost and His Descent Upon the Apostles
• On the Effects of the Redemption
• On the Church
• On the Attributes and Marks of the Church
• On the Sacraments in General
• On Baptism
• On Confirmation
• On the Gifts and Fruits of the Holy Ghost
• On the Sacrament of Penance
• On Contrition
• On Confession
• On the Manner of Making a Good Confession
• On Indulgences
• On the Holy Eucharist
• On the Ends for Which the Holy Eucharist Was Instituted
• On the Sacrifice of the Mass