The History and Sacrament of Anointing

The history of anointing can sound challenging, but it is not as difficult as you might think. Anointing has been used for centuries whenever a monarch or a person of royal line has assumed his duties. Therefore, anointing has always been a critical part of society in various civilizations. However, it is most prevalently seen throughout the histories of various religions, in particular Catholicism and Judaism. In the Old Testament the Israelites asked God to send them a king to rule over them. Consequently, God obliged by giving Samuel the authority to anoint the next king of Israel. Today, we can see this idea of anointing as an initiation within the Church. Whenever we were baptized, we had holy water poured on us, and oil to anoint us and signify the washing away of our sins. Also, there is an entire sacrament devoted to the anointing of people: the Anointing of the Sick. This is very interesting, because instead of marking the beginning of something, the Anointing of the Sick marks the end of someone’s life on earth. This sacrament is normally administered during a case of extreme danger, such as a serious surgery, or when there is a very high chance that someone may die, such as a cancer patient. Extreme Unction means the Anointing of the Sick, as this was the old term for the sacrament. In conclusion, anointing has been used for a variety of different reasons. The separation between state and religion has always been significant in the evolution of civilization. However, anointing is one of the few things that has managed to represent the mark of a beginning in both a religious perspective, as well in from a secular society.
-Timmy Mashinski