Euchelaion

Euchelaion

the oil of prayer, a ceremony in the Greek Church answering to extreme unction in the Latin. To such penitents as are conscious of the guilt of any "mortal sin," as adultery, fornication, or pride, this sacrament is administered by the bishop or archbishop, assisted by seven priests, who commences with this prayer: "Lord, who with the oil of thy mercies hast healed the wounds of our souls, do thou sanctify this oil, that they who are anointed therewith may be freed from their infirmities, and from all corporeal and spiritual evils." The oil of prayer is pure and unmixed, having in it no other ingredient. A quantity sufficient to serve for the whole year is consecrated on Wednesday in the Holy Week by the archbishop or bishop. In the administration, the priest dips some cotton at the end of a stick, and thereby anoints the penitent in the form of a cross on the forehead, on the chin, on each cheek, and on the backs and palms of the hands; after which he repeats this prayer: "Holy Father, physician of souls and bodies, who hast sent thine only Son Jesus Christ, healing infirmities and sins, to free us from death, heal this thy servant of corporeal and spiritual infirmities, and give him salvation and the grace of thy Christ, through the prayers of our more than holy lady, the mother of God, the eternal virgin, through the assistance of the glorious, celestial, and incorporeal persons, through the virtue of thy life-giving and holy cross, of the holy and glorious prophet, the forerunner, John the Baptist, and the holy and glorious apostles." — Farrar, Ecclesiastes Dictionary, s.v.; Pinkerton, Present State of the Greek Church, 193.