SZYMON DRZYŻDŻYK of the Pope‘s edict explicitly stated the need for renewal of the Church, which would aim to ensure that, „the Church be made more able to solve contemporary problems.“2 The Pope expressed the hope that the Council would show the Church as an organism that closely follows all human events and that by participating in the world over the years the Church is continually reshaped The text of the Papal bull clearly showed that the council was not to have a dogmatic character but a pastoral one During four sessions the council adopted sixteen documents, among which four carry the highest importance: Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy – Sacrosanctum Concilium, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church – Lumen Gentium, Dogmatic Constitution on Divine Revelation – Dei Verbum, and Pastoral Constitution On the Church In the Modern World – Gaudium et Spes There were also nine decrees and three declarations On December 8, 1965, Pope Paul VI brought the council to a close in a ceremony held at St Peter‘s Square The Council was preceded by a series of preparations The first organizational step was the creation on 17 May 1959 of the Ante-preparatory Commission under the direction of Cardinal Secretary of State, Cardinal D Tardini († 1961) The first step of the Commission was to send out a questionnaire to all the bishops, Superiors of religious orders, and Catholic academic centers in the world asking them to send requests, suggestions, tips, or propose issues that could be discussed by the council „These suggestions were to enjoy unfettered freedom and flow out of the spirit of true pastoral care.“3 An enormous amount of propositiones flowed to the council, 9,348 to be exact.4 Of the numerous proposals 1,855 were liturgical and among those 46 concerned the Sacrament of the Sick The demands for liturgical renewal with regard to the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick The Twentieth Century in the history of the Church was a time to return ad fontes It was no different for the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick A return to the original understanding of the essence of the sacrament was only possible due to the development of doctrinal research in the field of liturgy5 and by the liturgical movement 12 Cytat przytoczony za: K WENZEL, Mała , s. 14 J STEFAŃSKI, Sakrament chorych w reformie Soboru Watykańskiego II, Poznań 1988, s. 31 cf J STEFAŃSKI, Sakrament , s. 31 Particular value was brought by historians of the liturgy, such as: A Chavasse, B Botte, J Didier, M Fraeyman, who pointed to the original meaning of the Sacrament of Anointing as “alleviating disease.”