Section — Wouters, Manual of Moral Theology
Scholion III. On the Mode of Handling a Case of Convalidation
If the pastor or confessor detects that some marriage is certainly invalid, one should proceed thus:
I. If both are unaware of the nullity, ordinarily on account of the danger of incontinence or of some other inconvenience they should be left in good faith for a time. Meanwhile, if the impediment has ceased or is dispensable, simple convalidation or sanation in the root should be procured according to the circumstances.
II. If each party is conscious of the nullity, one should proceed thus:
If the nullity is occult to others, the spouses must immediately be separated from bed. Meanwhile, if the impediment has ceased or is dispensable, convalidation should be procured as soon as possible. If the impediment is indispensable, recourse should be had to the Ordinary, who should judge what kind of separation seems to be procured.
If the nullity is public, the spouses must at once be separated even from cohabitation. Meanwhile, recourse should be had to the Ordinary either for convalidation or for a declaration of nullity, if it is impossible or not expedient to procure convalidation. That the spouses do not wish to be separated for a time does not prevent convalidation from being able to be obtained.
III. If only one party is conscious of the nullity, the other party, if it can be done without grave inconvenience, must be warned, and the spouses must be separated at least from bed; then convalidation should be procured as soon as possible. If the other party cannot be warned without grave inconvenience, the warning can be omitted, but the rendering of the debt must be avoided until convalidation has been procured, for instance by undertaking a journey, by excusing oneself under some pretext.
But what if only the wife knows the nullity, and on the one hand convalidation cannot be obtained in time, even with canon 1045 considered, while on the other hand copula cannot be avoided without very grave inconvenience?
Response. In the case, according to several authors, by epikeia it can be judged that the ecclesiastical impediment has ceased, so that the spouse, by renewing consent either explicitly or by conduct, through copula, can convalidate the marriage and render the debt. Nevertheless, for greater caution, recourse should be had as soon as possible to the competent power (St. Alphonsus VI, 613).