On 19 March the Sacrament of Holy Unction was celebrated in our church for the first time this Great Lent.

The Sacrament was celebrated by the rector of the cathedral, Priest Igor Babakov.

What is Holy Unction?

The history of the Sacrament goes back to the apostles, who, having received from Jesus Christ the power “to heal sicknesses”, “anointed with oil many who were sick, and healed them” (Mark 6:13).

The Sacrament of the Blessing of Oil is more often called Soborovanie in Russian, because it is usually celebrated by several priests together, that is, in council (sobor). What is its essence?

First, the prayers of this Sacrament can heal the sick person, if such is God’s will. Second, and no less important, in the Sacrament of Holy Unction a person receives forgiveness of sins.

But which sins? Not those that must be confessed in the Sacrament of Repentance, which we are aware of and try to overcome.

Each of us has many sins that escape our awareness because of our spiritual slackness and coarseness of feeling. Either we sin and immediately forget it, or we do not regard it as a sin at all and do not notice it. Yet unrecognised sins are still sins; they weigh down the soul and we need to be cleansed of them, which is what happens in the Sacrament of the Blessing of Oil.

Moreover, in the case of seriously ill people, it happens that because of their general state of illness they simply cannot notice in themselves the sins of which they would otherwise certainly repent at confession.

So, if we offer sincere repentance, in the Sacrament of Holy Unction we receive forgiveness of such sins that went unmentioned at confession through no will of our own.

As for bodily recovery, it may happen; we pray for it during the Sacrament, and such miraculous healings do indeed often occur after Holy Unction. However, one cannot count on this, nor regard the Sacrament as some kind of magical procedure guaranteeing healing from all illnesses.

Before or after Holy Unction, Orthodox Christians usually try to go to confession and receive Holy Communion.