Unction is one of the seven Orthodox sacraments that a believer is recommended to begin to heal soul and body. Despite the great benefits of blessing of oil, there are superstitions among the people that distort the idea of the very essence of the sacrament.
The Orthodox Church tradition, which draws the truth from Holy Scripture, defines unction (blessing) as a sacrament during which a person receives divine grace, healing mental and physical ailments. In addition, forgotten sins are forgiven in the holy sacrament. Believers believe that in the sacrament of unction, a Christian can receive healing from physical illnesses; in church practice, cases of miraculous healings from various ailments are known. Often the sacrament is performed on sick people. From this practice, many mistakenly conclude about the very essence of the sacred rite, believing that unction must be performed before death.
The main superstition concerning the blessing of the holy oil is that the sacrament must be performed before bodily death. Many people mistakenly believe that death itself follows this sacred rite. Therefore, some people in a relatively healthy state are afraid to start unction. This interpretation of the sacrament has nothing to do with the Orthodox faith. In the church, there are no sacraments performed for an imminent death or carrying in themselves any harm to a person. On the contrary, all sacraments are a means of helping a person during his life. Therefore, unction is performed not only before death, but at any time with the aim of asking God for grace to heal the body and soul. The sanctification of oil is not performed for death, but for life. Of course, unction can be performed on a dying person as well, but this is done so that the person receives help, weakening in his serious illness.
In modern times, it is difficult to find a completely healthy person. Therefore, one can speak of absolute health only in terms of relativity. From this it follows that any Christian believer has the right to start a priestly service. In addition, we must not forget about the spiritual component - forgiveness in the sacrament of forgotten sins. They mean those sins that a person has forgotten in his life or committed in ignorance, but not those actions that were hidden in confession.
There are other superstitions about unction. So, it is mistakenly believed that after this sacrament it is imperative to preserve virginity. There is no prohibition on marriage after this sacrament in the Orthodox Church.
Another superstition is the prohibition on eating meat after unction for the rest of your life. But even this statement has no Orthodox justification. Believers observe fasting on the days established by the Church, which in no way directly depends on the blessing of oil. A derivative of this superstition can be called the obligatory keeping of the fast not only on Wednesday and Friday, but also on Monday.
Sometimes you can hear that after the unction is absolutely impossible to wash, moreover, as long as possible. In the church there is a practice not to take a shower or a bath on the day of unction, but in no way for a longer period. Orthodoxy does not induce a person to bodily impurity.
Thus, a believer needs to understand the very essence of the sacrament of unction and not adhere to false superstitions that harm the spiritual state of the individual, because some of the errors completely deprive a person of the opportunity, if necessary, to proceed to the holy rite.
