Case LXXXI: Anointing the Feet

Case.—James, a workman, is seriously injured in a subway accident. He is taken to a hospital where one foot is found to be crushed and the other also injured, but not severely. His lower limbs are then put in splints and copiously bandaged. When the priest comes to administer the Sacrament of Extreme Unction he asks to have the dressings removed. Under protest the nurse removes the bandages and the patient’s feet are anointed.

Question.—Was the priest right in insisting on the removal of the splints, or should he have omitted the unction of the feet?

Solution.—The Church, in harmony with the dicta of theologians, teaches that the five senses are to be anointed except in case of necessity. She commands, likewise, the anointing of the feet and loins, though the theologians hold that this is not necessary for the validity of the Sacrament. The reason for their position is found in the fact that while the eyes, ears, etc., are representative of particular senses, the feet and loins are not, and hence the need of placing the holy oils on these parts cannot be urged from the viewpoint of validity or invalidity of this Sacrament. But since the rubrics of the Church demand that these sections of the human body have the holy oil applied to them, the priest is not at liberty to omit the required unction unless grave reason or an admitted custom sanction the omission. Such a custom would naturally depend upon the open or tacit approval of the Bishops of the country, or of the diocese. In England, for instance, custom permits the priest to pass over the anointing of the feet of any woman who is a patient in a public hospital. In this country no such concession is granted universally, though some bishops may tolerate it within their local jurisdiction. The one thing that could be urged in justification of the omission in question would be the impossibility of carrying out the rubrics in full, arising from physical conditions, such as an absence of the foot, or the presence of some serious risk or inconvenience to the dying person. This last condition, to our mind, is present in the case of James and it is serious enough to warrant the suspension of the rubric which demands the unction of the feet. The priest should not have called for the removal of the dressings which bound the injured feet. It was sufficient for the validity of the Sacrament to anoint the five senses. He has put himself, the nurse, and the patient, to needless trouble.