By the sacred anointing of the sick and the prayer of the priests the whole Church commends those who are ill to the suffering and glorified Lord, that he may raise them up and save them and indeed she exhorts them to contribute to the good of the People of God by freely uniting themselves to the Passion and death of Christ.
There is quite a bit of confusion and mystery surrounding the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. In many cases, this was once called “extreme unction” or “last rites.” In recent years, the Church has moved away from this language, because it suggested that the Sacrament could be recieved only once and that it was to be recieved only in the last moments of life. Neither of these suggestions are true.
The Cathechism puts it this way: “The Anointing of the Sick ‘is not a sacrament for those only who are at the point of death. Hence, as soon as anyone of the faithful begins to be in danger of death from sickness or old age, the fitting time for him to receive this sacrament has certainly already arrived.'”
The Anointing of the Sick should be celebrated with the priest prior to surgery or during an extended illness. The Sacrament may be celebrated at various stages of an illness. The Sacrament can also be administered to those who are advanced in age.