The Roman Catholic Church teaches that sacraments are outward signs of inward grace, instituted by Christ for our sanctification. While God gives grace to man without outward symbols (sacraments), He has also chosen to give grace to man through visible symbols. "Last Rites" refers to the sacrament that Catholics receive at the end of their lives, specifically Confession, Holy Communion, and the Anointing of the Sick, and the prayers accompanying each.
The phrase is less common today that it was in past centuries. While last rites is sometimes used to refer to only one of the seven sacraments, the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick, that application is technically incorrect. The Anointing of the Sick is technically part of last rites rather than last rites itself.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church describes Holy Viaticum as “The Last Sacrament of the Christian.” As such it constitutes “the seed of eternal life and the power of resurrection” as revealed by the Lord Jesus in the words: “He who eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.” (Jn 6:54). For this reason, it is important for a Catholic who is about to leave this world to receive the Eucharist as Viaticum.
As a person draws closer to the doors of death, there is one blessing in particular that the Church reserves for this most sacred moment: the Apostolic Pardon, which is a part of the last rites. It is a pardon that can be given by any priest and has the special power of removing all temporal punishment due to sin. The Apostolic Pardon is blessing with an indulgence that happens at the conclusion of the anointing of the sick if the recipient is in danger of death. It is a beautiful prayer and is meant to speed the penitent soul to the gates of Heaven, removing the punishment due to sin that they have already confessed, or at the very least, have fully repented from in their hearts. It does not guarantee someone will go straight to Heaven, but it clears everything off the road, so to speak, so that the soul can freely choose to run toward the arms of Jesus.
The prayer is a supreme act of mercy and has great power, drawing on the authority given to Saint Peter to “bind and loose” (Matthew 16:19). It is a gift to a soul on their deathbed and has the added benefit of giving peace to family and friends, assuring them that they have done all they could do to bring a soul closer to the gates of Paradise.
In the face of death, the Church confidently proclaims that God has created each person for eternal life and that Jesus, the Son of God, by his death and resurrection, has broken the chains of sin and death that bound humanity. Christ “achieved his task of redeeming humanity and giving perfect glory to God, principally by the paschal mystery of his blessed passion, resurrection from the dead, and glorious ascension.”
The proclamation of Jesus Christ ‘who was put to death for our sins and raised to life to justify us’ (Romans 4:25) is at the centre of the Church’s life.The mystery of the Lord’s death and resurrection gives power to all of the Church’s activity. “For it was from the side of Christ as he slept the sleep of death upon the cross that there came forth the sublime sacrament of the whole Church.”
The Church’s liturgical and sacramental life and proclamation of the Gospel make this mystery present in the life of the faithful. Through the sacraments of baptism, confirmation, and eucharist, men and women are initiated into this mystery. “You have been taught that when we were baptized in Christ Jesus we were baptized into his death; in other words when we were baptized we went into the tomb with him and joined him in death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead by the Father’s glory, we too might live a new life. If in union with Christ we have imitated his death, we shall also imitate him in his resurrection” (Romans 6:3-5).
In the eucharistic sacrifice, the Church’s celebration of Christ’s Passover from death to life, the faith of the baptized in the paschal mystery is renewed and nourished. Their union with Christ and with each other is strengthened: “Because there is one bread, we who are many, are one body, for we all partake of the one bread” (1 Corinthians 10:17).
At the death of a Christian, whose life of faith was begun in the waters of baptism and strengthened at the eucharistic table, the Church intercedes on behalf of the deceased because of its confident belief that death is not the end nor does it break the bonds forged in life. The Church also ministers to the sorrowing and consoles them in the funeral rites with the comforting word of God and the Sacrament of the Eucharist.
Christians celebrate the funeral rites to offer worship, praise, and thanksgiving to God for the gift of a life which has now been returned to God, the author of life and the hope of the just. The Mass, the memorial of Christ’s death and resurrection, is the principal celebration of the Christian funeral.
The Church through its funeral rites commends the dead to God’s merciful love and pleads for the forgiveness of their sins. At the funeral rites, especially at the celebration of the eucharistic sacrifice, the Christian community affirms and expresses the union of the Church on earth with the Church in heaven in the one great communion of saints. Though separated from the living, the dead are still at one with the community of believers on earth and benefit from their prayers and intercession. At the rite of final commendation and farewell, the community acknowledges the reality of separation and commends the deceased to God. In this way it recognizes the spiritual bond that still exists between the living and the dead and proclaims its belief that all the faithful will be raised up and reunited in the new heavens and a new earth, where death will be no more.
The celebration of the Christian funeral brings hope and consolation to the living. While proclaiming the Gospel of Jesus Christ and witnessing to Christian hope in the resurrection, the funeral rites also recall to all who take part in them God’s mercy and judgment and meet the human need to turn always to God in times of crisis.