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.