The Seven Sacraments
Part Three
The Sacrament of Penance and Unction of the Sick
Dear Children of God! how are you? How was the season of the “Fast of the Assumption of Mary?” The fast that children from elderly fast has ended and we believe you have been attending the Divine Liturgy in your local churches. Our Fathers Saint Apostle’s prayer was heard by Holy Mother Saint Mary for her intercession of Lord and Savior Jesus Christs and be blessed by her resurrection and ascension.
Children! We have consequently present you lessons on “The seven Sacraments” and if you remember, last time we have seen about “The Sacraments of Baptism, Myron and Holy Communion.” Now, we will see about “The Sacrament of Penance and Unction of the Sick.” Be with us!
The Sacrament of Penance (Repentance)
The Sacrament of Penance (Repentance) and Confession is a holy sacrament by which the sinner returns to God, confessing his sins before the priest to be absolved by the priest through the authority granted to him by God. By this absolution, the confessing person is granted the forgiveness of the sins he confessed.
Confession means admitting and declaring a certain matter. The Sacrament of Confession means verbal confession before the priest of sins and mistakes committed by a person and confessing and humbly repenting in order to be granted absolution and forgiveness.
Instituting the Sacrament of Confession
Our Lord Jesus Christ founded the Sacrament of Repentance and Confession when He said to His disciples, the pure apostles: “Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth, will be loosed in heaven” (Matthew 18:18).
Also, after the Resurrection, the Lord said: “‘As the Father sent me, I also send you.’ And when He said this, He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you retain the sins of any, they are retained” (John 20:21-23).
By this, He gave them the authority of binding sins or losing them through the authority given to them by the Holy Spirit and according to the contriteness of the confessing person.
Conditions of Repentance
True repentance has five conditions:
• Contrite heart and remorse for previous sins.
• Steadfast intention to improve.
• Strong faith in Christ and hope in His love to forgive.
• Verbal confession of sins before the priest.
• Right Age for Confession
Dear Children of God! this is the reason why your parents must teach you, their children about the Sacrament of Confession from an early age, about twelve years old, so they may be familiar from childhood with the Sacrament, for as the proverb says: “Teaching in childhood is like engraving on rocks”.
The Sacrament of the Unction of the Sick
The Sacrament of the Unction of the Sick is one of the holy Seven Sacraments of the church, through which the sick, who are faithful, are healed from psychological and physical diseases. The priest anoints the person with the holy oil from which they obtain the grace of remedy from God.
It is called the ‘Sacrament of Lamps’, for the early Christians used to place oil in a lamp, from which hung seven other lamps. Each lamp was lit at the beginning of every prayer. This rite still exists. However, the seven lamps were replaced by seven wicks made from cotton wool, which sit in a plate of oil. The number seven signifies the seven spirits of God, which are mentioned in the Book of Revelation (Revelation 3:1). The Spirit of God dwells and sanctifies the oil in order to heal those anointed by it. It is advisable that the wicks be placed in the sign of the cross, in the plate of oil.
Our Lord Jesus Christ instituted this Sacrament when He said to His disciples: “Heal the sick, cleanse the leper” (Matthew 10:8), and, “Whatever city you enter, and they receive you, heal the sick who are there, and say to them, ‘The Kingdom of God has come near to you’” (Luke 10: 8-9). For the Lord Jesus came that we may have life and that we have it more abundantly (John 10:10), so He healed the sick, raised the invalid, opened the eyes of the blind, purified the lepers and the lame, after having saved them and forgiven them their main cause of sickness, which is sin. “Jesus went about doing good and healing all those who the devil oppressed” (Acts 1:38), as Malachi prophesied about Him saying, “But to you who fear My Name, the Son of Righteousness shall rise with healing in His wings” (Malachi 4:2). Our fathers the Apostles practiced it according to the orders of their Master, as the Bible says, “So they went out and preached that people should repent. And they cast out many demons, and anointed with oil many who were sick and healed them” (Mark 6:12,13).
Saint James advised the believers to practice this Sacrament when they are sick and to ask for healing from God, who says, “I am the Lord who heals you” (Exodus 15: 26). Also, David the Psalmist Thanks God for saying, “Bless the Lord, O my soul…. Who heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from destruction” (Psalm 103: 1-4), and, “O Lord my God, I cried out to You, and You have healed me” (Psalm 29:20), and also the prayer of Jeremiah the prophet: “Heal me O Lord, and I shall be healed” (Jeremiah 17:4). For this reason, Saint James advises us, “Is anyone among you is sick, let him call for the elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven” (James 5:13,14).
Dear Children of God, we have seen as far as this about “The Sacrament of Penance and Unction of the Sick.” But this is only few from the wide mysterious of the Church. We will continue our following lesson on this. So we will leave you with good wish of meeting you for next time.
May God be with you, Amen!