Chapter 57

The Officevof Holy Unction

After the Prayer, the Priest taketh one of the wands, and dippeth it in the holy Oil, and anointeth the sick person, in cross-form ; on the brow, the nostrils, the cheeks, the lips, the breast, and on both sides of the hands, repeating the while this Prayer :

O holy Father, Physician of souls and bodies, who didst send thine Only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, which healeth every infirmity and delivereth from death : Heal thou, also, thy servant, N., from the ills of body and soul which do hinder him (her), and quicken him (her) f by the grace of thy Christ ; through the prayers of our most holy Lady, the Birth-giver of God and ever-virgin Mary ; through the intercession of the holy Bodiless Powers of Heaven ; through the might of the precious and life-giving Cross ; through the protection of the honourable, glorious Prophet, Forerunner and Baptist, John ; of the holy, glorious and all-laudable Apostles ; of the hbly, glorious and right-victorious Martyrs ; of our reverend and God-bearing fathers ; of the holy and healing Unmercenaries, Cosmas and Damian, Cyrus and John, Panteleimon and Hermolaus, Samson and Diomedes, Photius and Anicetas ; of the holy and righteous Ancestors of God, Joachim and Anna; and of all the Saints.

For thou art the Fountain of healing, O our God, and unto thee do we ascribe glory, together with thine Only-begotten Son, and thy Spirit, one in essence, now, and ever, and unto ages of ages. Amen.

This Prayer is said by each of the Priests, after he accompanying Prayer^ while he anointeth the pet

hath read the Gospel and the erson with the Oil.

Deacon. Let us attend.

Second Priest. Peace be with you all

Choir. And with thy spirit.

Deacon. Wisdom ! Let us attend.

Reader. The Gradual (Prokimen), in the Second Tone. The Lord is my fortress and my song, and shall be my salvation.

Verse (Stikh) : In chastening hast thou chastened me, O Lord ; yet give me not over unto death.

Deacon. Wisdom !

Reader. The Lesson from the Epistle of the holy Apostle Paul to the Romans.

Priest. Let us attend.

Deacon. (Romans xv. 1-8.) Brethren, we then that are strong ought to bear the infirmities of the weak, and not to please ourselves. Let every one of us please his neighbour for his good to edification. For even Christ pleased not himself; but, as it is written, The reproaches of them that reproached thee fell on me. For whatsoever things were written aforetime, were written for our learning, that we through patience and comfort of the scriptures might have hope. Now the God of patience and consolation grant you to be like-minded one toward another according to Christ Jesus: that ye may with one mind and