Oil of the Sick

"Are any among you sick? They should call for the priests of the Church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick" (James 5:14-15).

In the ancient world, oil was poured into wounds to prevent infection (cf. Luke 10:34). Oil was also thought to endow someone with strength. The Church uses the Oil of the Sick in the celebration of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, continuing the Gospel ministry of Jesus Christ who "showed great concern for the bodily and spiritual welfare of the sick and commanded his disciples to do likewise" (Pastoral Care of the Sick, 5). The celebration of this Sacrament is a prayer of faith in the presence of the healing and forgiving Lord with us in our suffering. The priest, after laying his hands silently on the head of the sick, anoints the sick on their forehead and hands.

The letters O.I. on the glass container are an abbreviation of the Latin title for this oil: oleum infirmorum - oil of the sick.