Abstract
The COVID-19 pandemic has raised questions about access to the Sacraments, particularly the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick. To stop the transmission of infectious diseases by the minister, it has been suggested that the priest could use a nurse to apply the sacred oils to the patient or recipient while he remains in the vicinity but a medically safe distance from the bedside, using a phone to communicate with the patient. Whether or not such a protocol would invalidate the Sacrament requires an investigation of some foundational principles of Sacramental theology, including the use of instruments in the execution of Sacraments, how the form of a Sacrament must be conveyed, and the requisite proximity of the minister to the recipient. A careful analysis of these principles, in light to the suggested protocol, leads to the surprising (although tentative) conclusion that the Sacrament would be valid if executed in this manner.
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