HOLY UNCTION

Again I quote from our Liturgy:

The purposes of the Sacrament of Holy Unction are: (a) to aid in the restoration of bodily health, (b) to prepare the man for death, (c) to which may be added remission of sin, since it also involves a form of absolution. Notwithstanding the trend of custom in the Latin Church, which has been to limit the administration of this rite to those in grave danger of death, it is desirable that the rite should be more generally employed as an aid to recovery from any serious sickness. For this reason it is among us called "Holy Unction" rather than "Extreme Unction," though the latter name is sometimes said to originate from the idea that it is the last of the unctions given to the ordinary Christian, those of Baptism and Confirmation preceding it.

Holy Unction is not to be regarded as having in ordinary circumstances any quasi-miraculous effect. It is intended simply to aid the normal processes of nature by freeing the body from lower influences and opening it to spiritual influence.

And

There is little reliable information to be had as to this Sacrament. It is often supposed to originate from the instruction given by St. James: "Is any sick among you? 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. the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him. Pray for one another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." But there is, of course, no evidence that the idea was the writer's own; it is quite possible that, as many believe, the plan was suggested by the Christ, and that St.

James was merely repeating for the benefit of his followers what he had heard from the Master. This healing aspect of the Sacrament seems to have been overlooked in later years, and it has come to be regarded merely as a final preparation for death. There is probably some confusion here with the old custom of sealing all the force-centres in the body of a dying man, lest objectionable entities should seize upon that body as the owner left it, and employ it for purposes of evil magic. This was no doubt in process of time changed into the present Roman method of anointing the organs of the senses, and asking God to forgive the patient the various sins that he had committed by their means. But down to the twelfth century the practice in the Western Church undoubtedly was to give the unction freely to all who were suffering from serious illness, without considering whether there was imminent danger of death. Various reasons conspired to limit its use to the dying; the Catholic Encyclopedia suggests the rapacity of the priests, who demanded an unconscionable price for its administration, and the arising of certain popular superstitions that if the anointed person recovered he was for the rest of his life precluded from exercising the rights of marriage, eating flesh, making a will, or walking with bare feet.

It seems not improbable that in the near future we may see a considerable revival of the use of this Sacrament for healing purposes, as well as for the helping of those at the point of death. For the latter the reception of the Holy Communion has always been regarded as most desirable when it is

at all possible, and this final administration is called the viaticum, or provision for the journey.

Unction may well be employed in curing etheric disease. Most diseases are complicated by nervous affections, and it is probable that such could be helped by the anointing with consecrated oil. The Sacrament is calculated to help and heal the man if possible, but if he must leave his physical body it makes the parting easy and simple for him. When a man is obviously dying, it is well that the Church should dismiss him with her blessing, giving him a final impulse towards good by the viaticum, and then sealing up the centres so that no undesirable use can be made of the corpse, either by the man himself or by others. For there have been cases in which ill-instructed and terrified men have made frantic efforts to re-enter their bodies after death; and success in such an attempt would lead to conditions so unnatural and harmful that it is wise to make it impossible. There is a vast and most interesting literature on the subject of the life after death; but this is not the place to consider it.

CHAPTER VI

THE CHURCH BUILDING

In the early days of Christianity the churches were invariably erected in the basilica form, in imitation of the public buildings of the period. The basilica was not unlike the average church of to-day, for it consisted of an oblong hall corresponding to our nave, and aisles with galleries, separated from the nave by rows of pillars. At the east end was a small semi-circular apse, in which the magistrates sat when the building was used as a court of justice. This was divided from the body of the hall by a screen of lattice-work, the progenitor of our modern rood-screen. In the Greek Church this has developed into a lofty wooden wall, gorgeously painted, which entirely prevents the congregation from seeing the altar, except when the chancel doors are thrown open at certain parts of the service. In some of our English cathedrals the barrier is just as formidable, but in most modern churches it has dwindled to the chancel-rail at which the congregation kneel to receive Holy Communion. In mediæval times the idea of the cruciform church arose, and large numbers are still built in that shape for the sake of the symbolism. It is not a good plan for practical purposes, for if the church be of any size, the people at the lower end of the nave are too far from the altar, and most of those in the transepts can neither see nor hear. An at

advantages of this plan are that the altar can be seen from all parts of the church; that the celebrant is near the people; that the choir is in the east facing and therefore leading the people in singing; that the aisles are conveniently arranged, symbolically laid out, and allow processions to pass effectively among the people; and that a square church aids in forming a pleasing eucharistic edifice.

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