all times: such is the teaching of the Church of England, as
part of that Church, and as authoritatively laid down in the Book of
Common Prayer.

God alone can forgive sins. Absolution is the conveyance of God's
pardon to the penitent sinner by God's ordained Minister, through the
ordained Ministry of Reconciliation.

{157}

Lamb of God, the world's transgression
Thou alone canst take away;
Hear! oh! hear our heart's confession,
And Thy pardoning grace convey.
Thine availing intercession
We but echo when we pray.

[1] Cf. Rubric in the Baptismal Office.

[2] Rubric in the Order for the Visitation of the Sick.

[3] Rubric in the Order for the Visitation of the Sick.

[4] See the First Exhortation in the Order of the Administration of the
Holy Communion.

[5] St. Peter's at Rome was largely built out of funds gained by the
sale of indulgences.

[6] The Council of Trent orders that Indulgences must be granted by
Pope and Prelate _gratis_.

{158}

CHAPTER XII.

UNCTION.

The second Sacrament of Recovery is _Unction_, or, in more familiar
language, "the Anointing of the Sick". It is called by Origen "the
complement of Penance".

The meaning of the Sacrament is found in St. James v. 14-17. "Is any
sick among you? 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 the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up;
and if he have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him."

Here the Bible states that the "Prayer of Faith" with Unction is more
effective than the "Prayer of Faith" without Unction. What can it do?

It can do two things. It can (1) recover the body, and (2) restore the
soul. Its primary {159} object seems to be to recover the body; but it
also, according to the teaching of St. James, restores the soul.
First, he says, Anointing with the Prayer of Faith heals the body; and
then, because of the inseparable union between body and soul, it
cleanses the soul.

Thus, as the object of Penance is primarily to heal the soul, and
indirectly to heal the body; so the object of Unction is primarily to
heal the body, and indirectly to heal the soul.

The story of Unction may be summarized very shortly. It was instituted
in Apostolic days, when the Apostles "anointed with oil many that were
sick and healed them" (St. Mark vi. 13). It was continued in the Early
Church, and