Last Rites (trope): Difference between revisions

The '''Last Rites''' are the final ministrations to the dying in various Christian churches. In Eastern churches -- particularly the Eastern Orthodox Church and Byzantine-Rite Catholic Churches -- there are two parts to the Last Rites, the Sacred Mysteries of Confession and the reception of Holy Communion. In general, Protestant churches do not have a distinct, separate set of rites for the dying.

 

 

When the Last Rites appear in fiction (if they appear at all), they are almost always and only depicted as the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick from Catholicism, to the point that the Anointing is frequently mistaken outside of fiction as being the entirety of the Last Rites, and sometimes mistaken for [[Christianity Is Catholic|a ''universally'' Christian ritual]]. It's also mistakenly presented as being used ''only'' for those in immediate danger of death, but it may actually be performed (upon request) on any Catholic suffering from severe illness or injury, even if their condition is not immediately life-threatening, and may be repeated. Anointing can be performed separately from the other sacraments in Last Rites situations, but this normally happens because the patient is either medically unable to participate in the other sacraments, or is a young child who has not yet participated in the other sacraments for the first time.

 

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* [[Averted Trope|Averted]] ''and'' [[Discussed Trope|discussed]] in the [[The Teraverse|"Teraverse"]] story ''[http://www.tthfanfic.org/Story-31699-1/CaptainBoulanger+It+s+Just+A+Habit.htm It's Just A Habit]'' by "Captain Boulanger". At the start of the story [[Narrator|POV character]] Marie O'Neill is a Catholic Eucharistic minister -- a variety of Catholic lay-clergy with a very limited remit -- and in one chapter (the source of the page quote above), she remarks on the difference between the movies and reality when it comes to the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick.

* ''[[Astral Journey: It's Complicated]]'': [[Spice Girls|Emma]] sees her body being given this, despite getting better later on. She considers it as "back-up".

 

* In ''[[On the Waterfront]]'', local parish priest Father Barry performs the Anointing as the "last rites" on Joey's body.

* Deliberately invoked in ''[[La Dolce Vita]]'', which uses explicit parodies of various sacraments including the Last Rites as devices to reveal the fundamental hypocrisy of the modern world.

{{quote|'''Charley:''' ''Dominus vobiscum nabisco. Espiritu sanctum. De gustibus. Me gustibus. You gustibus. We missed the bus. They missed the bus. When's the next bus? Summa cum laude. Magna cum laude. The radio's too laude. Adeste fidelis. Centra fidelis. High fidelis. Post meridian. Ante meridian. Uncle meridian. All of the little meridians. Magna carta. Master charga. Dum procellas. Lotsa Vitalis.'' }}

 

* Father Mulcahy is frequently seen administering the Last Rites in ''[[M*A*S*H (television)|M*A*S*H]]''. We rarely get to see him do more than begin the process, though, but it's clear that it's the Anointing that he intends, not the full Last Rites, because he's usually performing it on an unconscious soldier.

 

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