Case XXII: Does the Effect of Extreme Unction Revive?

If Extreme Unction fails to produce its effect at the moment of reception, owing to the lack of the proper dispositions in the recipient, does it revive later on, when the sick person supplies the necessary dispositions? The case is this: Titius was injured and rendered unconscious by an explosion in a trench where he was working. While unconscious he was annointed. When he recovered consciousness, he confessed that he was in mortal sin at the time of the accident, but was hit so suddenly that he had no time to think of anything and had not made an act of contrition. If he makes an act of contrition now, will he receive the grace of Extreme Unction, or must he be annointed again?

Answer. Catholic theology teaches that the Sacraments, when validly administered, give grace to the recipient, unless the recipient places an obstacle in the way of grace. Non ponenti obicem sacramenta dant gratiam. The obex or obstacle which may impede the conferring of grace, is the lack of disposition in the recipient. It is the sacramental rite that is the cause of the grace. And the sacramental rite, when valid, will produce grace in the soul, unless the soul's lack of disposition prevents it. The soul's disposition is a conditio sine qua non. When the recipient of a Sacrament is not rightly disposed to receive it, he is said to place an obstacle, an obex, in the way of the Sacrament. The lack of disposition can never prevent the Sacrament from impressing its indelible character on the soul. The lack of disposition does, however, prevent the Sacraments from conferring grace. When it is said that the Sacraments revive, sacramenta reviviscere, it is meant that the Sacraments, later on, when the necessary dispositions are present, confer the same grace, which they would have conferred at the moment of their reception, had the recipient been rightly disposed. To remove the obstacle to a Sacrament is nothing else than to arouse the necessary dispositions, the absence of which prevented the Sacrament, when it was conferred, from producing its grace in the soul. It is evident that the necessary dispositions for the licit reception of a Sacrament may be lacking either through the fault of the recipient, or without his fault. For instance, a penitent may not have attrition for his sins at the moment when the priest absolves him, and this may happen either known or unknown to himself. In either case the Sacrament does not remit his sins, owing to the obstacle, i. e., lack of attrition, which he himself, either knowingly or unknowingly, places in its way.

There is no intrinsic difficulty, arising from the nature of the Sacraments, why they should not revive, once the obstacle in their way is removed. Every Sacrament, validly conferred, gives grace, or at least gives the right to grace, for every Sacrament, validly conferred, produces its own peculiar effect, unless it is prevented from doing so by the recipient's lack of disposition.

The difficulty about the reviviscence of the Sacraments arises from the difficulty of knowing positively whether Christ instituted the Sacraments so that they would revive. And concerning this question there is a great variety of opinion among the theologians. Some theologians maintain that only Baptism, if received with an obex, revives when the obstacle is removed. Other writers maintain that all the Sacraments revive. And finally, others hold that some of the Sacraments revive, while others do not. It is theologically certain that Baptism does revive, when the obstacle is removed. If this were not so, then many persons who receive Baptism without the proper dispositions, would be deprived, through the course of their lives, of the graces necessary to salvation.

It is very probable that the Sacraments of Confirmation and Holy Orders also revive. For, like Baptism, they also imprint a character on the soul, and it is forbidden to repeat them, once they have been validly conferred. If they did not revive, remoto obice, many persons would have to go through life lacking the special graces altogether necessary for their state.

As regards the Holy Eucharist and Penance, there cannot be urged the same reasons as for the other Sacraments, and therefore it is very doubtful whether, if received with an obstacle, they revive when the obstacle is removed. As they may be received or repeated every day, it is more than probable that they do not revive. However, it is not certain. The Sacrament of Marriage probably revives, because it may not be repeated or renewed during the lifetime of either party to it. There remains now only Extreme Unction. It is only probable that Extreme Unction revives once the obex to its effect is removed. The reason why theologians think that it may revive is this: Extreme Unction produces very special effects; it confers very special graces, very necessary to the sick person; it may not be repeated during the same sickness. Now if it did not revive when the obex is removed and the necessary dispositions are present, the sick person, who through his own fault or without any fault of his own, had received Extreme Unction without the right dispositions, would be deprived all through his sickness of the graces of Extreme Unction, nor would there be any way of supplying them. As it is difficult to defend such a position, theologians are inclined to think that Extreme Unction, if received by the indisposed, revives or gives grace later on whenever the sick person becomes rightly disposed. This, however, is not certain, but only probable.

Now it may be asked, if the Sacraments do not actually confer grace, owing to the lack of disposition on the part of the recipient, what must the recipient do to induce the right dispositions? Must he go to Confession and receive Absolution, or must he make an act of perfect contrition or will attrition suffice? To answer this question, it is necessary to distinguish between the Sacraments of the living and the Sacraments of the dead. If a person received the Sacraments of the living without being rightly disposed, that is, without being in the state of grace, then later on the state of grace can only be acquired by perfect contrition or by attrition and sacramental absolution. As soon as the state of grace is thus acquired, the obstacle is removed, which was the lack of grace, and the Sacrament produces its effect. This is true of all the Sacraments of the living, except Extreme Unction. In this matter, Extreme Unction is classed with the Sacraments of the dead.

In the case of the Sacraments of the dead, all that is required to remove the obex, and to induce the right disposition so that the Sacrament may produce its grace in the soul, is an act of attrition or imperfect contrition, unless a sacrilege was committed in the reception of the Sacrament, or a mortal sin after its reception; in this latter case, perfect contrition is necessary to induce the state of grace and thus remove the obex, or at least attrition with sacramental absolution. That is to say, sacramental confession and absolution are necessary, if possible, in the latter case, but perfect contrition, which includes a votum sacramenti, will suffice, where it is impossible to go to Confession.

The case. When Titius received Extreme Unction he was in the state of mortal sin. That state was the obex to the Sacrament. It had to be removed before the Extreme Unction could produce its own peculiar graces in his soul. As Titius' reception of Extreme Unction was not sacrilegious and as he committed no mortal sin after its reception, then as soon as Titius makes an act of attrition, the Extreme Unction which he received while unconscious will produce its grace in his soul, even to the remission of his mortal sins committed before the reception of Extreme Unction, in case Titius cannot go to Confession to be absolved, and in case he does not make an act of perfect contrition. For this is peculiar to the Sacrament of Extreme Unction, that it has been instituted togive per se the primam gratiam to those who make an act of attrition, if in mortal sin, and who cannot make a Sacramental Confession. If Titius had only venial sins on his soul when annointed and had no attrition for them, then they would not be remitted by the Extreme Unction until such time as Titius elicited an act of imperfect contrition or attrition. Under no circumstances is it lawful to re-annoint Titius at this time.