The Last Anointing

For many people, the process of dying is beset with fear, and today, death is excluded from daily life. Few die at home surrounded by their family. Many people reach adulthood without ever having seen someone who has died.
When we die, we leave behind everything that has no eternal value, even though these things may have supported and anchored us in life.
What should we consider when approaching death, and what is the meaning of the services surrounding dying in The Christian Community?

Why hold Rituals around Dying?

Just as a person’s birth is a sacred moment requiring human assistance, so, too, is a person’s death. For this assistance to be meaningful, it requires special knowledge and skill.

A midwife, who accompanies a birth, must understand what lies within the human body. She must also comprehend the challenges that the newborn will face in the vastly different conditions after birth.

Similarly, accompanying someone who is dying requires knowledge of the soul’s inner state. It also requires understanding the soul’s path beyond the body and the challenges it will face in its new, completely altered conditions after death.

The sacramental activities for the dying are more than mere customs. They provide real assistance, much like midwifery, by relating directly to the ongoing transition. They are performed by the priest, who is empowered for such activities through ordination.

The Services Accompanying Dying

The care of The Christian Community as death approaches can include:

The Sacramental Consultation, or the new confession (for more information, follow this link).
The Communion (read more here).
The Last Anointing

After death:

The Departing Blessing, to mark the closing of the coffin after the wake.
The Funeral service
The Act of Consecration of Man for the deceased

Confession and Communion – Affirming and Letting Go in One

Renouncing our life can be especially challenging if we feel that it is in some way incomplete, or if we haven’t experienced its full value, or if there are unresolved matters. There may still be emotional knots to loosen or gratitude to express.
In such situations, the Sacramental Consultation—confession in its new form—can be a decisive help. The goal is not for others to weigh or assess our life, nor to have our decisions taken away. Rather, this sacrament helps us to find the strength to gain a clearer picture of our life. What remains unfinished can be affirmed and released more easily when we begin to discern the hidden work of art in our life.
The Communion that follows can deepen this connection. What we have acknowledged and released is transformed within bread and wine, becoming ‘healing medicin’ that strengthens us. This complete service is not typically celebrated at the bedside. Instead, the priest brings communion from the morning’s Act of Consecration of Man and offers it to those praying in attendance.

The Last Anointing as Help in Deciding

There is an art to farewells. When we are about to be parted from someone for a long time, it often helps to embrace them. Letting go becomes easier when we have been allowed to reconnect.
All sacraments serve to connect us with the body and with the earth. Even the celebration of the Last Anointing does not symbolize sending a person away. It helps the dying person reconnect with their body, making it easier for them to let go. This ‘embrace’ can also help in making a clearer decision: Do I want to go, or do I want to reconnect with earthly life? It is possible for the condition of the dying person to improve after the Last Anointing.
If recovery occurs, the Anointing can be celebrated again.

Performing the Last Anointing

At the deathbed, the priest speaks the High Priestly Prayer, the great prayer of Christ for humanity (John 17). At the end, the priest anoints the dying person with consecrated oil. This oil, which has been blessed with the power to encourage love, is used to inscribe a cross, a doorway into the heavenly world, over each eye and on the forehead. As the healing oil gently enters the body, the strengthening life of Christ enters the soul, becoming the companion for the passage through death.
As we approach death, our strength often fades. The Sacrament of Anointing is brief—taking only a few minutes—but its concentrated form can be a powerful source of strength. A server accompanies the service.

A Blessing for the Dead – A Signpost After the First Life Review

People who have returned to life after being clinically dead and who report their experiences often describe a review of their life. Before death, the Sacramental Consultation can be a helpful preparation for this review, which typically lasts for the first three days after death.

During these three days, family and friends can accompany the deceased with a vigil, which may include reading the Gospels. This vigil is not only a help for the deceased; it also helps those left behind find a new relationship with the departed as they let them go.

After these three days, the great life review begins to fade from the deceased’s awareness. At this point, the first part of the funeral rite—the Departing Blessing—can take place. This is the first stage of ‘midwifery’ in the other world: in a short liturgical service at the coffin, the soul is shown that its path now leads further into the world of ‘Soul-Being.’ Those present – typically the closest circle of those connected to the person–accompany this transition.

The Funeral – Giving the Body Over to the Elements

After the Departing Blessing, the coffin is closed, and the body is entrusted to the elements. The second part of the funeral rite begins. If burial is chosen, this part is typically celebrated at the grave. If cremation is chosen, the service is held at the crematorium, wherever possible.

The deceased, whose soul has now freed itself from the body, is invited to review their life through the priest, to once again be present before the consciousness of the funeral congregation. Now, as their outer visible presence must finally be released, the attention of those left behind is drawn to the invisible but spiritually perceptible presence of the deceased.

The Act of Consecration of Man for One Who Has Died

Every Act of Consecration of Man includes those who have died. When someone first enters the world of the dead, they are particularly drawn to this service on one special occasion. On a Saturday after the funeral, an Act of Consecration of Man for one who has died is celebrated, bringing the path of the departed into connection with the congregation’s prayers. This service provides further support for a new orientation after death. The one who has died can fully entrust themselves to the post-death world, while still maintaining their connection with the living.

Written by Claudio Holland. Edited by Tom Ravetz

Further Reading