enerate us, but they have also power to forgive sins committed
afterward; for he says: 'Is any man sick among you; let him call in the
Priests of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil
in the name of the Lord.' "(485)

Pope Innocent I. (fifth century), in a letter to a Bishop named Decentius,
after quoting the words of St. James, proceeds: "These words, there is no
doubt, ought to be understood of the faithful who are sick, who can be
anointed with the holy oil, which, having been prepared by a Bishop, may
be used, not only for Priests, but for all Christians."(486)

The Sacramentary, or ancient Roman Ritual, revised by Pope St. Gregory in
the sixth century, prescribes the blessing of oil by the Bishop, and the
prayers to be recited in the anointing of the sick.

The venerable Bede of England, who lived in the eighth century, referring
to the words of St. James, writes: "The custom of the Church requires that
the sick be anointed by the Priests with consecrated oil and be sanctified
by the prayer which accompanies it."(487)

The Greek Church, which separated from the Roman Catholic Church in the
ninth century, says in its profession of faith: "The seventh Sacrament is
Extreme Unction, prescribed by Christ; for, after He had begun to send His
disciples two and two (Mark vi. 7-13), they anointed and healed many,
which unction the Church has since maintained by pious usage, as we learn
from the Epistle of St. James: 'Is any man sick among you,'_ etc._ The
fruits proper to this Sacrament, as St. James declares, are the remission
of sins, health of soul, strength--in fine, of body. But though it does not
always produce this last result, it always, at least, restores the soul to
a better state by the forgiveness of sins." This is precisely the Catholic
teaching on this subject. All the other Oriental churches, some of which
separated from Rome in the fifth century, likewise enumerate Extreme
Unction among their Sacraments.

Such identity of doctrine proclaimed during so many ages by churches so
wide apart can have no other than an Apostolic origin.

The eminent Protestant Leibnitz makes this candid admission: "There is no
room for much discussion regarding the unction of the sick. It is
supported by the words of Scripture, the interpretation of the Church, in
which pious and Catholic men safely confide. Nor do I see what any one can
find reprehensible in that practice which the Church accepts."(488