In the Catholic Code of Canon Law, Canon 1004 states who may receive the sacrament: "The anointing of the sick can be administered to a member of the faithful who, having reached the use of reason, begins to be in danger due to sickness or old age. '' When new illness develops or first illness relapses or worsens, the patient may receive the sacrament a further time. Anointing of the Sick may also be given numerous times in the case of old age or chronic illness based on the pastoral judgment of the priest. The sacrament, as any sacrament, can only be given to someone who is alive; however, as the moment when the soul is entirely separated from the body (the traditional definition of death) is not known with precision, people can also be anointed conditionally (the sacramental formula preceded by "if thou art alive '') during a brief time after already considered dead in the medicinal sense.
when is the sacrament of anointing of the sick administered
to a member of the faithful who, having reached the use of reason, begins to be in danger due to sickness or old age