It is the final right of passage as a Catholic faces days where life ends. It is a comfort. A spiritual comfort. As some of us might view it as a small miracle for a final resting place of a life well lived.
The sacrament provides God's grace to resist temptation in the face of death and the grace to prepare for it. At their weakest, the recipient is placed in union with the Passion of Christ, thus making their suffering holy. If they cannot receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation then Anointing also provides for the forgiveness of sins. The nature of this wonderful sacrament is to turn the recipient away from fear toward hope. Hope in God's mercy and salvation, in His restorative power for the soul and for the body as well.
