By an ancient tradition, only two Sacraments may be celebrated on Good Friday and Holy Saturday (with the exception of Baptism and Confirmation for those in danger of death). These two are the Sacraments of Healing - Confession and the Anointing of the Sick.
I personally think it interesting to note that these are the two Sacraments which the Church never suspends Her public celebration of. While they are not integral for salvation in the manner in which Baptism is, those of us who have at some point fell into mortal sin after Baptism would certainly call it important. St. Augustine called it, "the last plank of salvation for us after the shipwreck of sin."
Now, we often think of these two as the Sacraments of the Lenten season. While it's true that they are certainly most commonly celebrated and emphasized during Lent and Advent, it would be a mistake to diminish them to those two seasons. I would hold that they bear a special importance as well during the Easter season. The very Sunday after Easter is Divine Mercy Sunday!
The Church wants us to recall the Sacrament of Confession during the Easter season. Those who had fallen away from it were called back during Lent, and we were called to renew our devotion to it, but Easter is the season in which we are able to perfect that renewal. Lent was a time of sorrow for our sin, but Easter is a time for celebration in our forgiveness. Christ has conquered death and sin!
Let us not fall away from the renewal we underwent in Lent. Let every Confession be a new experience of God's mercy, the Divine Mercy, the Blood and Water which flowed from Christ's sacred side.
But the Anointing of the Sick has a special place in this season as well. One might call this the forgotten Sacrament, as it is hardly ever considered until it is needed. It is rare that one ever attends a public celebration of it when it is not needed, but it is such a beautiful Sacrament and so intimately connected to Easter.
Christ has triumphed over sin and death! And is this not what the Anointing does for us? It helps us to triumph over our sins and prepares us for our eventual death. While the administration of the Sacrament does not mean that death is imminent, it always has death as its final end.
But this is not some morbid view. Rather this view of death contains within it the joy of the Easter season. It is through death that we are united to the Risen Christ. It is only through death that we may pass into new life. "It is appointed for men to die and after this comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27)." Even Jesus did not hesitate to suffer death.
"Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, to have you follow in his footsteps (1 Peter 2:21)." Jesus died, so that He might rise from the dead. He gives meaning to our death. We must pay the penalty of our sins, but this is so that we may share in the reward, i.e. eternal life with Christ.
This, then, is the joy of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick. It gives us not only strength for the battle, but imparts to us the joy of Easter. It helps us to triumph over our sins and reminds us of our final end. Death is not the end, rather our end is to sing the eternal Alleluia in Heaven. Through the Sacrament, if it be God's will, we may be healed physically, but we will always be healed spiritually if we are open to it. And this spiritual healing give us the ability to continue our song of Alleluia!
"Let us sing Alleluia here on earth, while we are still anxious and worrying, so that we may one day be able to sing it there in Heaven, without any worry or care." - St. Augustine
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