SERVICE OF HOLY UNCTION
A vessel containing olive oil and a handcross are placed on the tetrapod. The priest goes to the tetrapod for the first blessing of oil.
Priest: O Lord, through Your abundant mercy and goodness, You heal our spiritual and bodily ills. Therefore, O Master, sanctify this oil that those who are anointed with it be healed and released from every suffering and defilement of flesh and spirit, and from all evil. In this way, may Your most holy Name, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, be glorified, now and ever, and forever.
People: Amen.
Priest: Wisdom!
Lector: A Reading from the Epistle of St. James.
Priest: Let us be attentive!
The Lector then reads the Epistle.
Lector: "Is any among you suffering? Let him pray. Is any cheerful? Let him sing praise. 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, it shall be forgiven him. Confess therefore your sins one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The supplication of a righteous man availeth much in its working. Elijah was a man of like passions with us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain; and it rained not on the earth for three years and six months. And he prayed again; and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. My brethren, if any among you err from the truth, and one convert him; let him know, that he who converteth a sinner from the error of his way shall save a soul from death, and shall cover a multitude of sins." (James 5:13-20)
Priest: Peace be with you. Wisdom! Be attentive.
Between the Epistle and Gospel, a chorus of Alleluia is usually sung.
Priest: Wisdom, let us stand and listen to a reading of the Holy Gospel. Peace be with all.
People: And with your spirit.
Priest: The reading of the Holy Gospel according to Saint Matthew.
People: Glory be to You, O Lord, glory be to You.
Priest: Let us be attentive.
The Priest reads the Gospel.
Priest: "Now when Jesus was in Bethany, in the house of Simon the leper, there came unto him a woman having an alabaster cruse of exceeding precious ointment, and she poured it upon his head, as he sat at meat. But when the disciples saw it, they had indignation, saying, To what purpose is this waste? For this (ointment) might have been sold for much, and given to the poor. But Jesus perceiving it said unto them, Why trouble ye the woman? for she hath wrought a good work upon me. For ye have the poor always with you; but me ye have not always. For in that she poured this ointment upon my body, she did it to prepare me for burial. Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, that also which this woman hath done shall be spoken of for a memorial of her. Then one of the twelve, who was called Judas Iscariot, went unto the chief priests and said, What are ye willing to give me, and I will deliver him unto you? And they weighed unto him thirty pieces of silver. And from that time he sought opportunity to deliver him unto them." (Matthew 26:6-16)
After the reading of the Gospel, the priest kisses the closed Gospel Book and places it in the middle of the Altar. The people say:
People: Glory be to You, O Lord, glory be to You.
After the Litany of Supplication, the priest goes to the tetrapod for the second prayer of the blessing of oil is taken.
Priest: Let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Priest: O uncreated and eternal One, Holy of Holies, You sent Your only-begotten Son to heal every infirmity and every wound of our souls and bodies. Send down Your Holy Spirit and sanctify this oil, making it for your servants, about to be anointed, a perfect deliverance from their sins and an inheritance of the kingdom of heaven.
For it is You, our God, Who show us Your mercy and save us; and we give glory to You, together with Your only-begotten Son, and Your most Holy, gracious and life-giving Spirit, now and ever, and forever.
People: Amen.
Priest: Let us pray to the Lord.
People: Lord, have mercy.
Priest: Holy Father, physician of souls and bodies, You sent Your only-begotten Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to heal every infirmity and to deliver us from death. By this anointing, heal Your servants of the spiritual and bodily ills which afflict them and restore them by the grace of Your Christ, throught the prayers of our most holy Lady, the Mother of God and ever-virgin Mary, and through the prayers of all Your Saints.
For You, our God, are the fountain of healing; and to You we give Glory, together with Your only-begotten Son, and Your consubstantial Spirit, now and ever and forever.
People: Amen.
The faithful now come forward to be anointed. The priest anoints the faithful saying the following:
Priest: The servant of God, Name, is anointed for the forgiveness of sins and for life everlansting. Amen.
During the anointing the cantor sings:
Tone 4
Through the prayers of Your holy Apostles, You have shown us You favor, O Lord, for YOu are easily swayed and love all people in this holy anointing for the healing of the wounds and illnesses of all humanity. Have mercy now upon those who approach in faith the anointing with this holy oil. Sanctify them and show them Your mercy, for You are full of compassion. Purge from them every illness of soul and body, and grant them Your incorruptible blessing, O Lord.
Spiritually blind, I come to You, O Christ, as did the man blind from birth. In repentance I cry to You, "have mercy on me, for You enlightne those in darkness with Your exceedingly bright light."
By Your divine visitation, O Lord, raise up my soul, cruelly paralyzed by all kinds of sin and unworthy deeds. Raise me as once You healed the paralytic man, that receiving salvation, I may cry to You, grant me healing, O Compassionate Christ.
O faithful healers who worked for the community without pay, you were fountains of healing, for you were deemed worthy of mighty gifts from the Savior, the everlasting fountain. As to the zealous workers, the Lord said to you, "Look, I have given you power over unclean spirits, to cast them out and to heal every sickness and disease." You were as zealous as the Apostles. As you lived uprightly according to the commandments, you received freely and gave freely, and healed the ills of sould and body.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, now and ever, and forever. Amen.
O all-pure Lady, hear the prayers of your servants, scatter the fierce attacks made against us and give us freedom froum our enemies, for we have you alone as a firm and certian support,a nd we have been given your protection, that all who call upon you will not be put to confusion. quickly hear the prayers of those who cry to you, "Hail, O Lady! Hail, help of humanity! Hail, joy and refuge and salvation of our souls!"