Pictures from Holy Unction Service held on Thursday April 10 at Saints Peter and Paul Church in Manville.

Description of the Holy Unction service and its Mysteries provided by Orthodoxwiki.org

The mystery of holy unction provides both physical and spiritual healing with holy oil blessed by the Holy Spirit. It is most commonly celebrated during Holy Week on Holy Wednesday evening, but private services are also common. Everyone in the parish in good ecclesiastical standing may be anointed with the holy oil for the healing of spiritual and bodily ills. As this is one of the sacraments of the Orthodox Church, it may be administered only to Orthodox Christians.

The oil carries God's grace both to renew the body and to cleanse the spirit. The service follows the apostolic tradition mentioned in theNew Testament: "...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 will save the sick man, and the Lord will raise him up; and if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven" (James5:14-15).

Holy unction is a mystery of great comfort to the faithful. It provides uplifting and asks for patience to accept the will of God whatever the physical outcome.