This sacrament was called Extreme Unction (last anointing), not because it was the last sacrament you received before passing on from this life but because it was the last anointing a person received. Baptism and Confirmation were the first two times a person would've been anointed. It was commonly called Last Rights, because before antibiotics and penicillin, more people died than recovered from disease and injury.

When the sick and injured weren't expected to survive, Extreme Unction was the sign that no more could be done, so the sick and injured were spiritually preparing for death. That's why even today, many of the elderly get upset when the Catholic hospital chaplain brings his purple stole and oils. They presume the worst and only see the sacrament as the begriming of the end.

In reality, the Anointing of the Sick is to offer prayers for possible recovery, but the more important intention is to give strength to the soul of the sick person. The Church believes that the sacrament offers a special grace to calm the spirit. The Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick also remits (absolves) all sins the person is sorry for but did not previously confess in the Sacrament of Penance.

The Anointing of the Sick involves using Oil of the Sick - olive oil blessed by the bishop during Holy Week. Anointing with oil is not a magical or good-luck gesture but a sincere sign of supernatural assistance to coincide with the physical medicine and treatment already been given.