James 5:14Meaning & Commentary from the Church Fathers

As the Gospel says, the apostles also did this. Even now in the Church there is a custom for presbyters to anoint the sick person with consecrated oil and pray for his healing.

Not only presbyters may use such oil for anointing, but, as Pope Innocent writes, all the faithful may do so. Yet it must be consecrated by a bishop.

James's words, "to anoint with oil in the name of the Lord," mean that the oil must be consecrated in the name of the Lord.

They also mean, of course, that the name of the Lord must be invoked when the sick person is anointed.

Third, the anointing with oil must be performed in the name of the Lord, ε̉ν τω ο̉νόματι Κυρίου. This must indicate a special command and authority given to the apostles and their successors for performing the mystery. Compare Acts 3:6; 1 Cor 5:4.

Fourth, the fruit of this anointing is not only the healing of the sick person but also forgiveness of sins. Anointing with oil, even if performed with prayer, certainly does not give this by itself.

The apostle adds this last circumstance as though intentionally, to show that in the mystery of Holy Unction one should seek not so much recovery as forgiveness of sins, the principal cause of bodily illness.

The apostle's statement that after Holy Unction the Lord will raise up the sick person directly refutes the Catholic view of this mystery as preparation for burial, and the necessity of performing it only over the dying, ultima unctio.

If the apostle viewed Holy Unction as Catholics teach, then, while promising forgiveness of sins to the sick person, he would have said nothing about raising him from his bed of illness.

On the other hand, it would be wrong to expect the sick person to be healed every time Holy Unction is performed over him.

This would be an unlawful demand for miraculous healing where the Lord may have judged to set a limit to the sick person's life.

The word used here, "will raise up," ε̉γερεΐ, as our Church teaches, means a simple awakening or strengthening of the powers of soul and body.

That is, it means a temporary relief from illness, which gives the sufferer inner peace and the possibility of making necessary final arrangements.

It also enables him to meet without fear the approach of the dread hour of his repose.

Because the discourse here concerns a sick person lying on a bed and unable to leave it.

Therefore it is said further, "let them offer prayer over him," as over one lying down. And, "the Lord will raise him up," as one lying down, cast upon the bed of illness.

In this there is an indirect indication of when prayer or a mystery should be performed at home and not in the church.

It is when, despite every desire, the believer cannot stand before the face of God in the church.

Prayer can be pleasing to God and effective even when offered at home, but only when it is offered there not from negligence about attending church, but from necessity.

The psalmist asked the Lord, "When will You come to me?" Yet while hoping for this, he also says, "My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord" (Ps 100:2; 83:3).

"Draw near to God, and He will draw near to you," says the Apostle James. See Jas 4:8. Strive toward His temple, and then He Himself will come to you.

Moreover, the coming of the presbyters of the Church, accompanied by holy icons, or by the Cross and Gospel of Christ, makes even a private dwelling into something like a part of the church.

This is partly the property of icons in general. They are first placed in the church and consecrated there by prayer.

When they are later brought into a home and left there, they unite that home with the church and make it like a part of the church.

"And let them offer prayer over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord." In these words the mystery of Holy Unction is clearly indicated.

You will say: is every anointing with oil mystical? But here it is said, "in the name of the Lord."

These words must be set alongside Christ's command: "teach, baptizing in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit" (Mt 28:19).

Baptism is unquestionably a mystery. It is performed in the name of the Holy Trinity, that is, according to the command that proceeded from Her Divine Persons and with the mystical action of those who commanded it.

So too Holy Unction is performed according to the command of Christ God and with the mystical action of this Physician of souls and bodies.

For the body He gives health, and for the soul forgiveness of sins: "the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him."

A Stundist will say that God can grant healing even without anointing with oil.

If he said this to the glory of God's omnipotence, for what can God not do, and to the glory of God's goodness, for where is the limit of His mercy, he would not err.

But he says this in order to justify his negligence toward that means of healing which has been revealed and established by God's own goodness.

After this, let him judge for himself whether he deserves that goodness.

This shows that the discourse is not about the ordinary prayer of believers while anointing with oil, but about a special action performed by special persons.

This feature, and the following ones as well, indicate that the discourse concerns a mystical action, or mystery, in the strict and proper sense of the word.

The tone and connection of the discourse show that the apostle is not giving a new prescription or establishing a new mystery previously unknown. He only points to it as something already known in the Church.

Without doubt this mystery was established in the Church by the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, as were all the other mysteries. Yet the exact time is unknown, since not everything the Lord taught and did was written in the Gospels. See Jn 21:25.

"And let them pray over him." Not merely for him, but precisely over him, in his presence, and not in absence, as one may pray for anyone.

This is one of the external actions in the performance of the Mystery of Anointing. The other is the anointing of the sick person with oil in the name of the Lord.

That is, it is done from the name, or from the person, of the Lord Jesus Christ. The anointing is performed precisely by the presbyters, and not by anyone else, as the context shows.

This feature clearly indicates that a simple healing effect of oil is not in view here. See Mk 6:13; Lk 10:34.

Rather, the anointing is taken only as a symbolic action, the outward side of the mystery. Anyone can use oil as a simple medical remedy in certain illnesses.

Moreover, oil as a healing remedy cannot be used in all illnesses. Here, however, the discourse concerns its use in illnesses generally.

This again indicates only its symbolic meaning in the action prescribed for the presbyters over the sick person.

Finally, the healing action is later ascribed not to the oil, but to the prayer of faith of the presbyters.

Fourth, it would be strange to command one and the same substance, oil, for the healing of every illness if the apostle spoke only of simple healing with oil by the hands of certain elders, or even presbyters.

It is evident that for the apostle, oil is taken only as the visible substance for the mystery of Holy Unction.

Therefore he says that it is not the oil, but the prayer of faith, that will save the sick person, and the Lord will raise him up.

Finally, fifth, according to the apostle, the visit of the presbyters of the Church and their healing prayer bring not only the healing of the sick person.

They also bring this: "if he has committed sins, they will be forgiven him."

These words of the Apostle James leave no place for any doubt. He speaks of nothing other than the mystery of Holy Unction and its gracious fruits, not only for the body but also for the soul of the sick who have recourse to its healing.

How is it clear that the apostle commands the mystery of Holy Unction to be performed not only over those dangerously or mortally ill, but over the sick in general?

This question is raised by the unjust teaching of the Roman Church about the mystery of Holy Unction. It calls it "last anointing," extrema unctio, and performs it only over the dying, as though sending them to the other world.

Meanwhile the Holy Apostle James directly indicates the purpose of performing anointing with oil over the sick person: "that the prayer of faith may save the sick, and that the Lord may raise him up."

Consequently, the Holy Apostle James commands that the presbyters of the Church be called not merely to dispel fear of death in the soul of the dying or gravely ill, but precisely for recovery.

The apostle does not have dying sick people in mind at all. On the contrary, he has in mind those sick people who seek recovery: "Is anyone among you sick? Let him call the presbyters of the Church!"

The very word "let him call" suggests not someone hopelessly ill or unconscious. On the contrary, it suggests one who has preserved all the strength of his will, faith in the healing action of the anointing, and the desire to regain health.

If presbyters had to be invited only in mortal danger, to accompany someone into the world beyond, this would only inspire the sick with terror of death.

It would turn them away from the mystery itself, which, of course, happens in the Roman Church, contrary to the rule of the Holy Apostle James.

Since the apostle commands the Mystery of Holy Unction to be performed for healing from illness, it is clear that it should not be performed only over the sick who are very near death and offer no hope of recovery.

On the contrary, according to the exact meaning of the original text, this mystery should be performed over the sick who may have strength to call the presbyters of the Church.

The apostle does not indicate the number of presbyters. "But custom has handed down," says Symeon of Thessalonica, "that seven be called, corresponding to the sevenfold number of the Gifts of the Spirit listed by the prophet Isaiah.

Others call three, for the power of the Trinity. In case of necessity, even fewer than three may be called. Yet everything must be pronounced that has been handed down to be pronounced."

Even the apostles anointed many sick people with oil and healed them. See Mk 6:13.

This is why the Apostle James speaks of the Mystery of Holy Unction as something known and as concerning all places and times.

Besides prayer and anointing with oil, there is also the laying on of hands. Jesus Christ spoke of this to the apostles, and through them to their successors: "They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover" (Mk 16:18).

Thus one must think that this mystery was established by Jesus Christ Himself.

For the performance of the mystery to be effective, the apostle requires prayer filled with living faith, both from the one performing the mystery and from the one over whom it is performed.

By mentioning presbyters, he shows that the Christians of the dispersion then formed separate church communities governed by several presbyters.

As pastors of the Church, these presbyters possessed, by succession from the apostles, the right to forgive sins. See Jn 20:23.