276 Q. How should we receive the Sacrament of Extreme Unction?  A. We should receive the Sacrament of Extreme Unction in a state of grace and with lively faith and resignation to the will of God.

277 Q. Who is the minister of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction?  A. The priest is the minister of the Sacrament of Extreme Unction.

The Sacraments that the priest administers in the house are the Sacraments for the sick; namely, Penance, Viaticum, or Holy Communion, and Extreme Unction.  The other Sacraments may be administered there in special cases of necessity.  You should know what things are to be prepared when the priest comes to administer the Sacraments in your house.  They are as follows:  A small table covered with a clean white cloth, and on it a crucifix and one or two lighted candles in candlesticks; some holy water in a small vessel, with a sprinkler which you can make by tying together a few leaves or small pieces of palm; a glass of clean water, a tablespoon, and a napkin for the sick person to hold under the chin while receiving; also a piece of white cotton wadding, if the priest should ask for it.

Then you may have ready in another place near at hand some water, a towel, and a piece of bread or lemon for purifying the priest’s fingers; but these things are not always necessary:  still, it would be better to have them ready in case the priest should require them, so as not to keep him waiting.  Every good Catholic family should have all these things put away carefully in the house.  It would be well, though it is not necessary, to keep a special spoon, napkin, etc., for that purpose alone.  Sometimes persons are taken ill very suddenly in the night, and when the priest comes they have none of the things they should have; and if their neighbors are as careless as themselves, they will not have them either:  so the priest is delayed in giving the Sacraments, or is obliged to administer them in a way that is always disrespectful to Our Lord.  If we would make such preparations for the coming of a friend to our house, why should we be so careless when Our Lord comes?  If a friend comes when we are not prepared to receive him, we feel very much ashamed, and make a thousand excuses for our want of thought.  Therefore provide the things necessary for the administration of these Sacraments in your house, and keep them though they may be seldom if ever required in your family.

When Our Lord comes to visit your house receive Him with all possible respect and reverence.  Some good Catholics have the very praiseworthy practice of meeting the priest at the door with a lighted candle when he carries the Blessed Sacrament, and of going before him to the sickroom.  This can be done where there is only one family living in the house, or at least in the apartment.  All who can do this should do it, because it is in keeping with the wish of the Church.  In olden times, and even now in Catholic countries, the priest brings the Blessed