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Greek Orthodox Catechism
Constantine Callinicos, London, 1926
Part I. Dogmatical, 15. Priesthood, Marriage and Holy Unction
What is the Sacrament of Priesthood?
The Sacrament of Priesthood is the Sacrament in which, when the Bishop lays his hand on the candidate for ordination, the divine grace descends on the latter, and raises him to be a shepherd of the flock of Christ, in order to teach them the Word of God, administer the Sacraments for them, and guide them to salvation. Jesus Christ is again the founder of this Sacrament. For He, as the Supreme High Priest and Head Shepherd, called down the Holy Ghost upon the disciples and sent them forth to be shepherds of His Church, which He purchased with His own blood. His words were:—“As the Father hath sent me, even so send I you.” (John xx. 21; Acts xx. 28.) He and no other gave the evangelists, the pastors, and the teachers “for the perfecting of the saints, unto the work of ministering, unto the building up of the body of Christ.” (Eph. iv. 11.) And, as the officers who command an army are of different ranks, so the clergy of the Church are not all of equal dignity, but some of them are Deacons, some Priests and some Bishops. The activities of the Deacons in the Church are not many, as they cannot administer the Sacraments. They simply serve in the Church Services as helpers of the Bishops and Priests, and preach the Word of God when licensed by the Bishop. The Priests, called also Presbyters, occupy a higher grade than the Deacons; and although not authorised to govern in the Church, they administer nearly all the Sacraments (except those of Ordination and the blessing of Holy Myron) and preach the Word of God. The Bishops, in whose hands the control of the whole of the Priesthood resides, preach the Word of God, administer all the Sacraments without exception, and exercise supreme supervision over all souls.
What is the Sacrament of Marriage?
The Sacrament of Marriage is the Sacrament in which, while the celebrating Priest joins the hands of those two who wish to get united by the bonds of matrimony, and while he invokes the divine blessing upon them, the grace of God really descends upon them to unite them in an indissoluble union for mutual help and the procreation of children in Christ. Such is Marriage, which was established originally by God, Who joined Adam and Eve in Paradise as husband and wife; it was blessed by the presence of our Lord at Cana; and it was explicitly spoken of by St. Paul as a “great mystery.” (Eph. v. 23.) The same St. Paul, by comparing the relations of the married couple to the relations existing between Christ and His Church, exalts the sanctity of Wedlock, and declares that, by its nature, it is indissoluble, since our Lord Himself shall be in a state of unity with His beloved Church throughout all the ages.
What is the seventh and last Sacrament?
That of the Holy Unction, i.e., the Sacrament in which, by anointing the sick person with oil, the Priest invokes on his behalf the divine grace, in order to heal his bodily sickness, and along with it his sickness of soul, from which bodily sickness often arises. This Sacrament, too, finds its basis in the first sources of our faith. The Apostle James exhorts the brethren in the following way:—“Is any among you sick? Let. him call for the elders of the Church; and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith shall save him that is sick; and the Lord shall raise him up; and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him.” (v. 14—15.) St. Mark also mentions in his Gospel (vi. 13) that the twelve disciples, sent by the Saviour “anointed with oil many that were sick and healed them.” Unction, then, does not aim at the same object as that of Penance; because Penance asks for the exemption of the soul from sin, while Unction asks for the healing of bodily sickness, if it be the will of the Almighty. As, however, the ailments of the body are often the results of spiritual delinquencies, therefore, together with the healing of the body, the restoration of a sinful soul is also in the Sacrament of Unction demanded as a preliminary to the body’s recovery. From the words of St. Mark, “they healed,” and from the declaration of St. James, “the Lord shall raise him,” it becomes evident that Unction is in its place at every period of the sickness, and always attended by the probability of the healing and raising of the sick person from his bed. The actual practice, therefore, of the Roman Church in using this Sacrament as a Last-Unction solely for the dying person on his departure from life, is a clear distortion of the very purpose, for which it was ordained.