Case XLIII: Is the Invocation of the Holy Name Indispensably Required for Gaining the Indulgence for the Dying?

In a dejected mood the priest Caius comes to a confrater and relates that he has just been made aware that the invocation of the holy Name of Jesus on part of the patient is a conditio sine qua non for granting the indulgence for the dying: he has heretofore neglected to make the sick aware of this, and he asks if at least those persons may have gained the indulgence who, though not ad hoc, but by chance, for instance, in saying the Hail Mary, had pronounced the name of Jesus. What answer is to be given?

We have to consider here three points: (1) Whether the invocation of the name of Jesus is an indispensable condition for gaining this indulgence. (2) Whether it is sufficient if the patient, not specially to gain the indulgence, yet otherwise, pronounces the name of Jesus? And (3) if even such casual invocation has not taken place, is all hope excluded that the sick person may have gained the indulgence?

(1) As is well known the granting of the indulgence for the dying, the benedictio apostolica in articulo mortis, is based upon the Bull Pia Mater of Benedict XIV., issued in the year 1747. With truly motherly love the Church wishes to come to the assistance of her dying children. The benedictio may be administered to all the seriously sick, but the indulgence is only gained in vero mortis articulo, at the moment of death itself. Surely every priest regards it as his sacred duty, in accordance with the intention of the Church, to apply this indulgence to the dying, and to take care that all conditions are fulfilled, so that there may not happen what the pious and learned Martinus Aspilcueta states in the words It often happens that someone confesses and dies full of Bulls but empty of indulgences. The conditions for gaining this indulgence for the dying are the following: (1) The intention (habitual at least) of gaining the indulgence. (2) Confession and Communion, where possible. (3) The state of grace, if not at the moment when the benedicto is given, yet at the moment of death: for just at that moment the indulgence is gained. Hence, the Ritual says: Si confessionem non petat, excitet illum ad eliciendum actum contritionis. (4) Acts of contrition and charity, and, particularly, the willing acceptance of death from the hand of God. Upon this condition Benedict XIV. lays most particular stress and in the bull Pia Mater there is specially provided: that the priests strive by every means to rouse the dying faithful to elicit new acts of sorrow for the sins committed and to conceive most fervent affections of charity toward God, but especially to accept death itself from the hand of God with an even and willing mind. For we chiefly impose and enjoin this work upon those placed at such a moment, so that they may prepare and dispose themselves to obtain the fruit of the plenary indulgence. The priest must draw the attention of the dying to this condition, and it is best done in Confession, or when otherwise alone with the patient. (5) The priest must strictly adhere to the formula a Bene-dicto XIV. praescripta, as found in the Ritual. Is there not time enough for the priest to say the whole formula, he may make use of the abbreviated formula extracted from Benedict’s formula and worded: I grant you a plenary indulgence and the remission of all sins. In the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. This brief formula, although not found in the Rituale Rom., is, nevertheless, approved by Rome, and is contained in the appendix of breviaries approved by Rome. Finally (6), the invocation of the holy Name of Jesus. This last condition we will examine here more closely.

It would appear at first sight that the invocation of the holy name is not required as conditio sine qua non, because this condition is mentioned neither by the bull Pia Mater nor in the rubrics of the Rituale Rom. However, this condition is mentioned in the rescripts to individual bishops, through which the faculty is given them to grant this indulgence, and to subdelegate for it. Decisive is the answer of the Congregation of Indulgences of September 20, 1775, to the question: Is the invocation, at least mental, which is mentioned in the Briefs sent to bishops concerning this blessing, prescribed, for as long as the sick person is in possession of his mind, as an indispensable condition for gaining the indulgence by virtue of this blessing? The answer given was: Yes. This answer received in recent times a positive confirmation, even in sensu extensivo. The Archbishop of Dublin submitted to the Holy See the question as to whether the invocation of the holy name of Jesus was required also in missionary territories. For such districts permission to grant this indulgence is not given in briefs, in which the invocation of the holy name of Jesus is prescribed, but. by reason of a constitution of Clement XIV., in which the invocation of the holy Name is not mentioned. Moreover, this constitution was issued three years before the decision of the Congregation of Indulgences of September 20, 1775. Is it required, the archbishop asked, as an indispensable condition for gaining the aforesaid indulgence, that a sick person situated in mission territories, while he is in possession of his mind, invoke the name of Jesus orally if he can, but if not, in his heart? The answer of the Congregation of Indulgences on September 22, 1892, was: Yes: i. e., the invocation, at least mental, of the most holy name of Jesus is an indispensable condition for all the Christian faithful who, being placed at the point of death, wish to obtain a plenary indulgence by virtue of this blessing, according to what this Sacred Congregation decreed in a case from Vienna on September 20, 1775.

It is evident from this decision of the Congregation that, for the gaining of the indulgences, it is absolutely necessary for the patient, provided he be conscious, to invoke the name of Jesus, with the lips if possible, otherwise in spirit.

(2) The second point is whether the patient must expressly and ad hoc, that is, with the intention of gaining the indulgence, invoke the holy Name, or whether it suffices if the patient pronounce the name of Jesus casually, for instance, in saying the Hail Mary, or in some ejaculatory prayer. We reply that, for gaining the indulgence, it suffices if the patient pronounces the name of Jesus in any manner, and has, at least in general, the intention of gaining the indulgence, even though he does not know that the invocation of the holy Name is a condition. We must conclude this from an analogous case. According to the general teaching of theologians an indulgence is gained by performing the prescribed act, if one has in general the intention of gaining all possible indulgences, though one may not know that an indulgence is joined to this particular act. What is to be said, we might further ask, if the patient pronounces the name of Jesus only in a prayer which he is obliged to say, for instance, a prayer imposed as a penance? In this case we also may suppose with certainty, that the patient gains the indulgence. P. Schneider (Indulgences 8, p. 79) expressly remarks that this is the view held in Rome, and that confessors with preference impose as penance prayers to which are joined indulgences: it may be supposed therefore that this custom has the silent approval of the Popes.

It is required that the patient must, if possible, pronounce the name of Jesus with the lips. Is it necessary that others, the priest, for instance, should hear it? We reply: this is not necessary. This is a matter analogous to the prescribed recitation of the Breviary. The Breviary is oratio verbalis, a verbal prayer. It suffices if the words are formed with the articulating organs, it is not necessary to say them so that others hear them; indeed, the priest need not even hear them himself. If the pronouncation or forming of the word Jesus is no longer possible, it suffices for the patient to do it in the spirit ut invocet nomen Jesu saltem corde.

When must this invocation of the holy Name take place? Must it be done when the benedictio apostolica is given, or is it sufficient if the patient fulfils this condition later, directly before death for instance? We reply, the latter suffices. We conclude this from analogous cases. If, for instance, some one received the benedictio apostolica in the state of grievous sin, but later attains the state of grace, the benedictio apostolica could not be repeated. Once the benedictio has been given to the patient, he gains the indulgence, even if he only fulfils the conditions in the moment of death; i. e., if he enters the state of grace at the moment of death. As with the state of grace, so with the other conditions, it suffices if they are complied with in articulo mortis, for at that very moment the indulgence is gained. Therefore, it is sufficient if the invocation of the holy Name of Jesus, if not at the moment of receiving the benedictio from the priest, takes place later on, even at the moment of death.

(3) Let us now pass to the third question. If the patient does not at all invoke the name of Jesus, is there no hope that he may yet have gained the indulgence?

In general, an indulgence cannot be gained when an essential condition is not fulfilled, this applies even if this happens as a consequence of inability or ignorance. “If anyone,” the Raccolta says, “omits the work prescribed altogether, or a considerable part of it, either from ignorance or neglect, or even from inability, he will not gain the indulgence.”

As regards the indulgence for the dying, it should be observed that the Church herself dispenses in the case of the patient’s inability from the condition of the Invocatio nominis Jesu; for, according to the Ritual, the benedictio apostolica may, and should, be given, even to persons deprived of their senses, whether unconscious or insane. In case of the unconscious sick the invocation is entirely dispensed with; it is required only of sick who are conscious, and these latter, if possible, must pronounce the holy name of Jesus, or at least invoke it mentally. The condition is such an easy one that with the conscious sick there can be no inability: the question is: What will be the consequence if, on account of ignorance, this condition were not complied with? We reply: Ignorance would be no excuse of itself; for the invocatio is conditio sine qua non. If, therefore, a conscious patient neither invokes the holy Name with the lips, or, this being impossible, in spirit, he will not gain the indulgence. Yet it is to be observed how unlikely this would be in the case of an otherwise well-disposed Catholic, and for this reason our Father Caius probably need not worry with regard to the patients whom he failed to remind of this invocation.

While discussing details we may cite a few other cases: A sick man while receiving the benedictio apostolica omitted to pronounce the name of Jesus with the lips, although quite able to do so. Later, though retaining consciousness, he grows so weak that he can no longer pronounce the holy Name with the lips; he, however, invokes it in spirit. Does he gain the indulgence? We answer, Yes. For he in fact fulfils all conditions immediately before death. Our answer would be the same even if he, while capable, intentionally and in malice omitted to pronounce the holy Name with the lips; but later on, seized by remorse, and no longer able to invoke the holy Name with his lips, does so in spirit, for he, too, has fulfilled the conditions.

A man, to his last conscious and capable of pronouncing the holy Name with his lips, invokes it only in spirit. Does he gain the indulgence? We think we have to answer: No, at least it seems very doubtful. For even if the answers of the Congregation of Indulgences of the years 1775 and 1892 only say that the Invocatio saltem mentalis Ssi nominis is conditio sine qua non, yet they provide: the invocation of which mention is made in the Briefs given to the bishops. I have been unable to inspect such a brief, but I think I may conclude from the words of P. Schneider (Indulgences 8, p. 679), and also from the inquiry of the Archbishop of Dublin that these briefs probably read: that the sick person, so long as he is in possession of his mind, invoke the Name of Jesus with his lips if he can; if not, in his heart.

Therefore, the words Invocatio saltem mentalis de qua, etc., of the decision of the Congregation, must be taken in this sense. In our case, however, the man could have pronounced the holy Name with his lips, but did not do so, ergo.

One more case. The patient at the time when the benedictio is given him, omits to pronounce the name of Jesus; later he becomes unconscious and dies. Did he gain the indulgence? If he culpably neglected the invocatio, because he did not care for the indulgence, then he has not gained it, there was lacking the intentio lucrandi indulgentiam. If, however, the invocation was omitted without fault (from ignorance), and the patient had the good will to gain the indulgence, then the matter is doubtful. From the decision of the Congregation of Indulgences a negative answer seems to be in order. But cannot this case be considered analogous to the case of an unconscious person receiving the benedictio? In articulo mortis both are in the same condition, both have the habitual intention, over both the benedictio is pronounced, and while theone was at that time not yet unconscious, now, at the moment of death, he is in the same condition as the other. I would not exclude all possibility of his gaining the indulgence. But would this opinion not make the decision of the Congregation illusory? Not entirely, it would apply if the patient had not lost consciousness, and yet he neither pronounced the holy Name with his lips, nor in spirit, although he could have done so.

The priest—let us emphasize this in conclusion—should never neglect to draw the patient’s attention particularly to the two conditions, or ready acceptance of death from the hand of God, and of pronouncing the holy name of Jesus. It will be best to do this when hearing the Confession. Both conditions may be included in a short ejaculatory prayer which the patient should be asked to repeat, for example, “O God, I humbly accept thy holy will. Jesus, my Lord and Saviour, have mercy on me.” Ig. Rieder.