Question VII: Concerning the Incarcerated and Those Condemned to Death

I. Manner of acting with those condemned to death. - Until the recent war we thought, in our Belgium, that the ministry toward those condemned to death no longer pertained to our times; but harsh reality dispelled the error! Therefore, since circumstances could again bring similar cases with themselves, the confessor must know how he ought to conduct himself with those to be punished capitally. Concerning this matter it is pleasing to transcribe especially the excellent admonitions of St. Alphonsus.¹

¹ Praxis Conf., nn. 108-109. - Cf. Reuter, o. c., nn. 242-243; Aertnijs, Th. P., n. 119.

A. "With these the greatest charity and patience must be employed.

1. The first time that the confessor visits the guilty man, let him begin to signify to him that this death is a gift of God, who wills to save him. Let him say that we all are going to depart from this world, and shortly, that we may arrive at eternity, which has no end.

2. Hence let him speak to him concerning the happy life of the Blessed, and concerning the misery of the damned.

3. Then let him exhort him to give thanks to God, who has waited for him until that time, and has not permitted him to die at a time when he was in sin.

4. Finally let him induce him to accept death with a cheerful soul, joining it with the death which Christ the Lord suffered out of His love.

5. And let him comfort him by saying that he, by accepting death for his sins, is certainly saved, and saved with great merit, whence in heaven he will be rewarded with a great prize.

6. Afterward let him suggest to him that he confess, and freely manifest all his sins. Especially let him ask whether he is held by hatred against anyone, for example against the judge or the opposing party, etc.; but after he has absolved him, let him take care that he communicate several times, admonishing him also that he frequently commend himself to the Mother of God, that she may obtain for him a good death."

These things having been accomplished, if the punishment is imminent, all others having been removed, the condemned man is to be addressed only concerning those things which regard the soul; - on the night immediately preceding death he is to be persuaded to sleep, lest on the next day he be indisposed; - when the day of death dawns, he is to be animated to consecrate this day of greatest merit to God, and to intend to unite the punishment to be suffered to the Passion of Christ.

B. While the guilty man goes from prison to the scaffold, the confessor

1. "should say to him: Come, my son, follow Jesus Christ, who before you went forth to Calvary, to undergo for you a death far more bitter than yours."

2. On the way let him not press the guilty man to advance, but accommodate himself to him; let him order him to guard his eyes and, greeting no one, to keep them lowered, or fixed on the Crucifix, and he himself should pray continually with him.

3. "When they have arrived at the place of punishment, let him again reconcile him, and absolve him... and afterward say: Come, N., be of cheerful soul, now you remain in the grace of God; now the gate of Paradise is open to you; there Jesus and Mary await you. Join your death with the death of Jesus, who for love of you died bloodless among mockeries and tortures. Do you love Him? Say with me: Lord, above all things I love Thee; I wish to die, that I may do Thy will. I accept death for my sins. I hope now that Thou hast spared me; again it grieves me that I offended Thee. I desire to come quickly to heaven, to kiss Thy feet, and to love Thee in eternity.

4. While... he ascends the ladder, let him say to him: My son, invoke the Mother of God, that she may assist you. Offer your death for your faults. Protest that you do not wish to consent to any temptation of the devil.

5. While the sentence is to be committed to execution, let him say: Behold Jesus Christ, who with arms outstretched awaits you that He may embrace you; Lord, I have offended Thee, it displeases me; now I love Thee with my whole heart. God of my soul, Thou callest me; behold, now I come. Virgin Mary, help me. Lord, into Thy hands I commend my spirit. Jesus, Mary, Joseph!"

C. But if the guilty man obstinately refuses to confess, what is to be done?

1. "Let the confessor seek to help him by prayers, first of all by the Sacrifice of the Mass, and take care that he also be commended to God by others, and especially by religious communities, that they may assist him by Masses and prayers.

2. Let him announce to the condemned man that, whether he is converted or not, the sentence will be executed.

3. Let him ask whether perhaps he despairs of his salvation..., whether he pursues someone with hatred, from which his obstinacy proceeds, from pride, unbelief, hatred, despair, etc., so that he may discover the manner by which he may aptly persuade him.

4. Moreover let him advert, in the first times in which he addresses such an obstinate man, not to compel him importunately to confess at once, since he will become more obstinate. It will be better to speak with him concerning death, to which we all are bound, concerning the mercy of God, concerning the punishments of hell and the joys of paradise. Let him also narrate the example of some sinner who died impenitent; or of some person condemned to death who obtained a holy death... These things having been said, let the confessor leave the guilty man, that he may turn these things over in his own mind.

5. Afterward let him again inquire whether perhaps he has changed, and say to him: My son, now your death approaches; what do you decide? It is in your power to choose hell or heaven. Consider that if you depart, you will repent through all eternity, but no further remedy will be available for so great an evil.

6. When he still sees him hard, let him take care that those standing around pray for him; and especially recite the Litany of the Blessed Virgin; and then let him kneel before him and beg him not to wish to perish. If he does not profit even by addressing him, let him turn himself to addressing the Crucifix," namely, that He not permit a soul redeemed by His precious blood to perish.

7. Finally, if the time of punishment has now arrived... "it will also be able to profit to terrify him by saying: Depart, accursed, into hell [the printed text has: Discere maledicte in infernum], since you wish to lose yourself. But know that your punishment in hell will be more bitter by the memory of this time which God grants you, and which you abuse. But afterward let him resume gentle speech.

8. If ever the condemned man has already ascended the ladder and asks to confess, let him demand of the ministers of justice that they permit it... - This, however, runs for him who has not yet confessed; for if the guilty man has already confessed at other times, then let the confessor admonish him to elicit an act of contrition, and then question him thus: Come, my son, now do you not intend to confess to me all your sins, and especially those which you told me? And when the guilty man has assented, let him impose on him a very light satisfaction, e.g., that he invoke Jesus and Mary, and absolve him."

II. Observation. - If the person condemned to death is truly innocent, as can more easily happen among political offenders, or among those who, in a case of war, are condemned by military justice by the enemy, not on account of a crime of common law, he will rather easily be able to be brought to a holy death, indeed even a heroic one, offered and accepted for the noble cause of the fatherland, or for a just ideal cause, or even for God and the extension of His kingdom. Many noble examples of this were given by our fellow citizens during the recent war.

III. Manner of acting with the incarcerated. - Captivity is accustomed to precede condemnation. - Now, as regards the incarcerated, various cautions to be employed by the confessor are enumerated.²

² Concerning these and the following matters, see Reuter, Neo-Conf., n. 242, and Aertnijs, Th. P., nn. 117-118.

1. Let the confessor first take care that he has jurisdiction for all reserved cases, if there are any, and for the more frequent reserved censures.

2. It is not expedient, on account of the danger of insincerity, that he admit captives to confession before the judicial instruction has been brought to its conclusion, unless they have already acknowledged their offense before the judge.

3. But that they may act with him more confidently, and not falsely say that they are innocent, nor conceal their sins, let him instruct them that those things which they do with him in the forum of conscience cannot be manifested to anyone, and therefore that, whether guilty or innocent, this will neither harm nor profit them.

4. Let him also beware lest he easily give faith to their sayings which do not pertain to confession, nor rashly publish those things which he has received outside confession.

5. If they proclaim themselves innocent, complaining of injury done to them, let him not easily believe them, nor nevertheless immediately contradict them, but dispose them to patience and resignation.

6. Let him never promise or undertake to plead for them before the magistrate, but let him care for the soul alone. Nor, without certain knowledge, let him cause hope of a milder punishment to shine upon them, because if the hope falls, sadness increases more.

7. Finally, without the permission of the prison officials, it does not seem opportune either to give little gifts to captives, or to offer money providing for their necessities.

IV. The manner of acting with the guilty should be the following:

1. Let the confessor strive to conciliate their souls, both by words signifying an affection of compassion, and, if he can, by alms; then let him attempt little by little to bring them to veneration and submission toward the providence of God, to patience, and to contrition, so that they may desire to be reconciled to God in the sacrament of Penance. That he may attain these things, and that he may console them, let him go to them often, if he can.

2. Since men of this sort are for the most part rude in the business of religion, it is necessary to question them concerning the principal truths of faith and concerning the chief Christian duties, and, if there is need, to instruct them by the living voice or even by a book proportioned to their capacity, yet without prolonging the conversation too much and generating weariness.

3. In confession, let him exhort the guilty man in few words to open his sins candidly without any fear, and to trust certainly that God pardons all sins to one sincerely confessing and sorrowing. Let him not importunately urge him to confess crimes before the judge before he has been convicted in judgment. Specially let him examine whether the guilty man pursues no one with hatred, whether he is not obliged to repeat some confession of his past life or even to institute a general confession. And above all let him be attentive to obtaining true sorrow and firm purpose.

4. If the guilty man has been condemned to long imprisonment, let the confessor propose various exhortations to him that he tolerate captivity with a strong soul, that he accept the punishment from God as from a just judge, that he admit temporal affliction and thus spare his soul in eternity, that he be conformed to Christ innocently suffering. Care must also be taken that the captive always be usefully occupied, according to his capacity, by working, praying, reading, etc.

V. Observation. - At Easter time or on the occasion of spiritual exercises, when many of the detained approach the sacraments, it is not always possible to refuse the confession of those whose case is still under judgment. Then it will be especially opportune, as we already noted, n. III, 3, to insist upon the full independence which the confessor enjoys toward the judicial power, with which he is bound by no bond, and upon the strict obligation by which he is held of preserving the sacramental seal.