Praying for the sick and, more importantly, praying over the sick especially in association with anointing, is an ancient and venerable practice of the Church, as attested by the Letter of St James. The exact relationship between the sacrament of anointing and the recommendation given by St James is not completely clear, but that does not in any way lessen the value of the Church's ancient tradition of anointing the sick and believing in its sacramental healing and reconciliation powers, according to the spirit of the Gospel and Jesus' own practice of anointing and his command to his disciples on mission. Though the New Testament does not specifically refer to the seven Sacraments and so does not call the anointing of the sick a "sacrament", there is reasonably abundant biblical evidence for the Church's belief in this anointing as a source of the graces which a sick person needs.

After Vatican II, the church enhanced the sacramental value of Anointing the Sick, or Extreme Unction in our old terminology. It was extended from its context of the "Last Rites" to be a general sacrament of the Sick as part of the overall pastoral ministry of the Church.