Morals of the Church
Library › Wouters, Manual of Moral Theology › Volume II › Book III. On the Aids of the Christian Life, or on the Sacraments › Treatise V. On Penance › Dissertation II. On the Sacrament of Penance › Appendix. On Indulgences › Part II. On Some Indulgences in Species

Section — Wouters, Manual of Moral Theology

Section IV. On the Papal or Apostolic Blessing at the Point of Death

530.

I. Notion. The blessing of which we speak is understood as a blessing granted by the Supreme Pontiff, or in his name, to one dying. To this likewise a plenary indulgence is attached, which obtains its effect at the moment at which the soul is separated from the body; and it is applicable only to the living.1

1 Raccolta, I, p. XXII, 4 and 11, Avvertenze, 1°; cf. A.S.S. 32, p. 238.

The Papal or Apostolic Blessing

531.

II. Granting of the indulgence.

  1. Who can grant it, see n. 494.

  2. It is to be granted "to those sick persons who either asked for it while they were of sound mind and with their senses intact, or would probably have asked for it, or have given signs of contrition; it is to be imparted to them also if afterward they have been deprived of the use of the tongue and of the other senses, or have fallen into delirium or insanity. But it is altogether to be denied to the excommunicated, the impenitent, and those who die in manifest mortal sin."1 Nor are children excluded, even if they have not yet received their first Communion, provided they are capable of sinning.2 Likewise it can be granted to all those to whom death is imminent from an external cause, as to those condemned to death or to soldiers before battle.3

  3. It can be granted as soon as one is in such danger that Viaticum can be administered to him; but the custom is, and it is founded in the Roman Ritual, of granting it after the Sacraments of Penance, Holy Eucharist, and Extreme Unction have been received.

  4. It is to be granted with the formula prescribed by Benedict XIV through the Bull Pia Mater, April 5, 1747, and inserted in the Roman Ritual, title V, chapter 6, and indeed under pain of nullity both as regards the formula itself4 and as regards the Latin language5 to be used.

The practice of imparting the blessing to several sick persons at once can be tolerated, provided that the formula of blessing, "Our Lord Jesus Christ," down to the words "Holy Spirit, Amen," is pronounced individually over each one, even if all the rest has been recited in the plural.6

  1. Since the indulgence is applied at the last moment of life, a blessing once granted in the same illness cannot be granted again;7 and this holds even if it could be received under several titles,8 or if someone received it in the state of grave sin or fell back into sin after receiving it.9 Otherwise, if someone, having been delivered from grave danger, falls into it again.10

1 Roman Ritual, title V, chapter 6, n. 1. Likewise the Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, September 23, 1775 (Decreta authentica, n. 237, to V), responded that the blessing at the point of death with application of the plenary indulgence can, if there is danger in delay, be granted both validly and licitly to those who, even culpably, have not been refreshed from the beginning of the illness by the Sacraments of Penance, or Eucharist, or Extreme Unction, or by any of these, and suddenly are turning toward death.

2 Sacred Congregation of Rites, December 16, 1826 (Decreta authentica, n. 2650).

3 Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, December 18, 1885.

4 Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, February 5, 1841 (Decreta authentica, n. 286, to VIII); March 22, 1879; Decree of the Sacred Congregation of Rites, May 7, 1882; Brief of Leo XIII, July 7, 1882 (Decreta authentica, n. 444, to III, pp. 411 and 491).

5 Cf. Sacred Congregation of Rites, June 3, 1904 (A.S.S. XXXVIII, p. 340, to I).

6 Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, June 10, 1886.

7 Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, September 23, 1775, to 6 (Decreta authentica, n. 237, to VI); June 20, 1836 (Decreta authentica, n. 237, to VII); September 24, 1838 (Decreta authentica, n. 263, to II).

8 Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, March 12, 1885.

9 Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, June 20, 1836 (Decreta authentica, n. 257, to VII).

10 Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, June 10, 1886.

The Papal or Apostolic Blessing

532.

III. Acquisition of the indulgence. In order that the indulgence be acquired, the following are required for validity:

  1. That the person constituted in danger be in the state of grace, at least at the last moment of life (n. 500).

  2. That he invoke with his mouth, if he can, otherwise in his heart, the Most Holy Name of Jesus.1

  3. That he receive the pains of sickness and death itself from the hand of the Lord with a calm and willing mind, in satisfaction for sins.2

Note 1. Neither the Bull Pia Mater nor the Raccolta (p. 529) requires Confession and reception of the Holy Eucharist; hence they are not prescribed, unless the rescript by which the faculty of imparting the blessing is granted to someone requires them, which today is usually the case.3

Note 2. When Viaticum, Extreme Unction, and the papal blessing are conferred at the point of death, the Confiteor, etc., must be recited three times.4

1 Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, September 23, 1775 (Decreta authentica, n. 237, to VII); September 22, 1892 (A.S.S. XXV, p. 315).

2 The Bull Pia Mater, already cited.

3 Beringer-Steinen, I, n. 1027 (A.A.S. IX, pp. 54, 69).

4 Sacred Congregation of Indulgences, February 5, 1841 (Decreta authentica, n. 286, to VII).

The Papal or Apostolic Blessing