 Preface of The Christian Nurse and Her Mission in the Sick Room This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org The Christian Nurse and Her Mission in the Sick Room by François Saville Gaudrelet Translated by John Mason Neal Preface This little work is translated by one of the sisters of Saint Margaret's home. Should it prove acceptable to those for whom it is designed, it may be followed by others of the same kind. The title of the original is méthode pour assister les malades elle est disposée à la mort à l'usage des personnes qui, par office ou par circonstance, s'emploi au service des malades. Par le père Gaudrelet de la compagnie de Jésus Bruxelles, Wagner 1851 I am responsible for the translation itself and for the omission of some and abbreviation of other passages. These omissions and abridgments arise chiefly from the wish to be as brief as possible. And Father Gaudrelet is here and there liable to the charge of unnecessary lengthiness and needless repetitions. The prayers at the end which in the original are solely from the Roman ritual are here partly replaced by others selected from the Parisian offices. The latter are perhaps more likely to be useful to those for whom they are intended. It is earnestly hoped that the reader, should he derive any benefit from this little book, will return it by offering a prayer for the sisterhood from which it comes, its patients, and its orphans. JNN, Sacville College, East Grinstead, August 20, 1860 End of Preface Part 1 of The Christian Nurse and Her Mission in the Sick Room This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. And for more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Lola Janey The Christian Nurse and Her Mission in the Sick Room by Francois Xavier Gaudrelet Translated by John Mason Neal Chapter 1 Of the excellence of his work, of charity, and of the esteem in which it ought to be held If it be true that of all the graces which God can bestow on man, the most precious is that of a good death, since it is that which consecrates and crowns all others. If which cannot be denied of all the moments of our existence, the most critical and dangerous is that in which we pass from the world, since it is that which irrevocably determines our eternal state. It is certain that of all the services that can be rendered to our neighbor, the most excellent is that of assisting him to die well. The Church, tender and enlightened mother of the faithful, provides for the needs of all her children. There is no misery which does not find sucker in her maternal bosom. In one place, the child, abandoned by unnatural and guilty parents, finds charitable hands to tend it, while along with the temple care necessary to the body, ministrations yet more precious are lavished on the soul. In another, penitence finds a home to lament its crimes. And, under the care of sisters, the victim of sin atoned for past guilt by the tears of true repentance. Again, to solace the misery of the poor, charity disguises itself under a thousand different forms. And everywhere raises monuments which attest to the fecundity of its divine action. Can the sick man be left by her? Impossible. It is doubtless of blessed work to go to the assistance of the indigent, to wipe away the tears of the unhappy. It is a glorious task to restore to its first beauty a soul that has been soiled and disfigured by vice. But watched by the pillow of the dying, and as a vigilant sentinel, to ward off the dangers that threaten the soul while occupied in soothing the pain of the body, to sustain it in its weakness, to defend it against the enemies which assault, against the fears which agitate, against the temptations which would overwhelm, to guide with a firm and able hand into the harbor of eternity, this frail bark ever on the point of being dashed against terrible rocks. To open a passage into heaven for a spirit whose ruin has been sworn by the banded powers of hell, and thus to assure its eternal felicity, oh God, how great, how excellent, how admirable a work. We may say it boldly, there is nothing more important in the natural order, and we may as boldly add nothing more sublime in the supernatural order of things. And why? Because there is no moment when the body is wracked by greater sufferings and stands in more pressing need and comfort. Because there is no moment in which the soul encouraged so fearful a danger is exposed to so tremendous an attack, is liable to such terrible temptations. Because the business in hand is the preservation of a soul from the worst of evils, from everlasting misery, and that preservation eternal. Because the matter in hand is no less than the assurance of blessedness without limit of time, without measure in degree. Because then salvation, man's one only work, has to be dealt with in one moment and entire, and by a single action it is then forth definitively and irrecoverably lost or won. Imagine that you had saved and restored to his family a beloved father, who, but for you, must have perished. Would not the remembrance of the action be a perpetual comfort? Might not even your country assign you a reward in token of her gratitude? And yet you have done a thousand times more if you have assisted anyone to die well. Whether you consider the evils from which you preserve him or the blessings which you procure him. To introduce anyone into heaven is to give him far more than life of the body. It is even in a certain sense more than to give him life of grace, because it is to assure him an immortal and most blessed existence. If the day of death for such a person, the commencement of his happiness, his birthday as the church speaks of saints, you are more than the mother who gave him life for you have given him eternity. It is certain then that there is no ministry on earth comparable to that of which we speak. All his acts are stamped with the seal of eternity. All his consequences are infinite. Its happy results can never be violated. They have nothing to dread from an unsettled will and the inconsistency natural to man. In word no other word can be so a faciously promote the glory of God or the benefit of our neighbor. It has been well said therefore by a saint that no work of charity can be so agreeable to God as the sucker bestowed on the dying to enable them to attain a holy death. For in that moment where upon our eternal state of hands hell redoubles its efforts and the sick man is more feeble in his resistance to his attacks. It is said that Esphilabinary more than once saw an angel standing by the religious who were assisting the dying and suggesting to them the words which they were to use. You then who by office by devotion or by the effect of the circumstances are employed in insisting the sick or the dying. Learn to appreciate the greatness and excellency of your work. But you more especially should rejoice who have freely and deliberately chosen your dwellings those asylums which are open to all the suffering of humanity and where so many daily terminate their mortal career. The hospital is the vestibule of eternity. It ought through your ministrations to become the vestibule of heaven. How grand is your vocation, how noble to the eye of faith. But do not deceive yourselves, the more sublime it is in itself, the greater are the obligations which it imposes on you. Endeavor to form a just idea of those duties. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Noelle Tacoma. The Christian Nurse and her Mission in the Sick Room by François Javier Gautrelle Translated by John Mason Neal Chapter 2 of The Duty of Relations and Those Who Minister to the Sick To Assist Them to Die Well Article 1 General Principles on the Precept of Charity To understand thoroughly what is said of this duty, it must be remembered first that the charity due to our neighbor ought to extend to his body and his soul and to embrace at one and the same time his temporal and eternal welfare. This welfare we ought to desire and as far as lives and our power procure for him, for the love which we owe to our neighbor is like that which we have for ourselves, though it is not equal to it. There are therefore two kinds of needs to which our neighbor may be exposed, one regarding the body and the other the soul, they may be greater or less. These two kinds of needs may easily be united in the sick person, who, a prey to pain more or less severe and feeble by sickness, often overpowered by violent agony, is sometimes in addition, by reason of his indigence, unsupplied with the most necessary remedies, while his soul, the slave of sin, bound by the chains of criminal habits, alien from and hostile to his God, thinks not of begging the pardon of his crimes from the mercy of his judge. If we consider corporal necessity only and suppose it extreme, we are under an obligation to succor it, even though by doing so we incur serious inconvenience or subject ourselves to serious loss. But if the need be spiritual, if for example we suppose our neighbor in imminent danger of dying in a state of sin and so being lost forever, we ought not to hesitate in exposing our lives to save him, for the loss of our temporal life is far inferior in value to the spiritual life, the eternal salvation of our neighbor. The one then, if needs be, must be sacrificed to the other. If the danger be not extreme, the obligation of succoring our neighbor is less peremptory and we are not bound to such sacrifices, but it always exists proportioned in its rigor and exigency to the nature and extent of that necessity. From these principles we conclude as follows. Article 2 of the Obligation Common to All Men with Respect to the Sick The obligation of succoring the poor and sick, like that of assisting the needy, is incumbent on all men and each ought, according to the condition and the circumstances in which he is placed, to lend bodily and spiritual assistance to his brother. For all united in the bonds of charity should bear a reciprocal love to each other as having the same origin and the same end, and as members of one and the same body. Now this love cannot be sincere without inspiring in those who are animated by it the desire of relieving the unhappy. If one member suffers, St. Paul says, all the members suffer with it. So ought it to be with you who all compose but one body, of which Christ is the head. God, said the Prophet, gave every man commandment concerning his neighbor. Thus to save the temporal life of any or to extricate him from mortal danger, what sacrifices are there not made daily? Consequently, what ought we not to do to save the life of his soul and to snatch him from the fearful evil which threatens him? When laid by sickness on his bed of suffering, he finds himself face to face with eternity. Everyone, therefore, is commanded to relieve the sick with alms proportion to his means, for it is to the poorest, when the scourge of sickness is added to that of poverty, that the double evil becomes in a certain sort irremediable from the impossibility for the sick man to provide for his wants. It is also obligatory upon all, in virtue of the same precept of charity, to interest themselves in the salvation of the sick man's soul. If we ought to pray for all men, we ought especially to pray for the sick who have a special need of support in their sufferings. Let us pray, says the church, for the afflicted. The obligation of helping the sick to die well is more especially imposed on those who, from office or devotion, are employed in assisting them in their sickness. Let us remember what has just been said of the precept of charity, especially in cases of extreme necessity, and transport ourselves in thought to the midst of one of these immense halls which appear to be the assembling places of all kinds of sickness, and where are heard so often the plaintive cries of suffering and the groans of the dying. If we take account of the ignorance of some, the ill will of others, and the great difficulty many find in fitly preparing themselves to appear before God, are we not likely to meet with some cases of extreme necessity and imminent danger of damnation among those dying sinners, whereby holy and industrious zeal and the tact of ingenious charity their eyes might be opened to the misery that awaits them, and the depth of the abyss into which they are on the point of falling, where every day, and if the hospitals are large many times in the day, some one among those unfortunate is set before the tribunal of eternity and the final sentence which decides his fate goes forth from the supreme judge? What is that sentence? You who have just received his last sigh and closed his eyes know not, but at more there where you stand before you the cause has been pleaded, the tribunal prepared, the judge present, the sentence pronounced. You have assisted at the judgment of this person without thinking of it and without perceiving it. But have you been uninterested in the sentence that has just been passed? Certainly not, if you have understood your duty. Perhaps at this moment that soul released from its earthly prison has received the assurance of its eternal happiness, and it is to you and to your charity that it is owing. I ask, can there exist on this earth a more solemn position, a more sublime vocation, an employment which has more tremendous consequences? But do not deceive yourselves, the greater the utility, the importance, and the solemnity of your ministry to the sick, the more serious, the more rigorous are the obligations which it imposes on you. For since the eternal fate of the soul depends on the disposition in which the man dies, and you are able to exert so salutary and certain an influence over these dispositions, we conclude that it is you, so to speak, who decide his future destiny. Heaven and hell are in a measure put in your hands, and you are charged with the choice for the dying man of one or other of these two different eternities. I do not wish to exaggerate. I know there are some patients who will resist all the efforts of your zeal, but I would impress upon you the duty of then exercising your charity and doing all in your power to save a soul on the point of being lost. I will hear, quote, Sister Bernard's words on this subject, speaking to a priest, quorum exageris non curationum. What is required of you is not the recovery, but the treatment of the sick. The salvation of the soul indeed does not depend only on your care. It is necessary for the sick person to cooperate with you. But how large a share ought you not to have in it? How earnest should be your prayers and how fervently should your vows ascend for this unfortunate sinner? Since for his salvation you ought to be ready to sacrifice even your life if that were necessary. Alarmed at the extent of your obligations and the responsibility attached to your vocation, you will perhaps say that in entering the religious life and dedicating yourself to the service of the sick, you had not anticipated taking so heavy a burden upon yourself, that you have only looked forward in the employments that have been entrusted to you, to the happiness of serving Christ's suffering members, with the hope of hearing one day from his blessed lips that so comforting sentence which he will pronounce at the last day to those who have ministered to his sick and unhappy brethren. But I reply that neither your community nor you have any right thus to restrict your obligations. It is not so much the body as the soul that requires your care. The spiritual welfare of your patients excites your anxiety more keenly than their temporal good. I appeal to your rules, or rather I appeal to your heart and to your feelings. I do not need any other proof. You will find in yourselves the answer to your own objections. Further, I maintain that though this might have been your intention in consecrating yourselves to this painful ministry, you cannot in any way escape from the obligation it imposes upon you. Founded on the preceptive charity which is binding upon everyone and resulting in the present circumstances, from the necessity of your neighbor, whose salvation is at stake, this obligation falls upon you with all its weight. Your very position imposes it upon you. Your vocation has no other effect than that of causing you to accept this position of your own free will and thus giving another merit to the accomplishment of a duty which is in itself still freer and more voluntary. For if the thought of the responsibility attached to your vocation makes it more difficult and less attractive, I would say that he for whose love you have embraced this estate will for your love and for his own sake and for his own goodness sake grant you those particular graces which will help you to fulfill your obligations worthily. I would add that if your vocation in this view sets before you great difficulties, it also offers you great consolations. You ought to think yourself happy in being able to contribute so effectively to the salvation of souls. And remember that the more we give to God, the more we receive from him. The greater the dangers to which we expose ourselves for his glory, the more abundant are the graces which he has promised to us here and the brighter the crown which he has prepared for us in heaven. Finally, if the thought of our obligations is sufficient to inspire us with fear, the consideration of our advantages which we shall enumerate in the following chapter is well calculated to support and encourage a heart that loves God and his desirous of the salvation of its brethren. Article IV. The Particular Obligation of Relations in This Matter The obligation of assisting the sick to die holily is still more rigidly imposed on parents with regard to their children and on children with respect to their parents. The ties of blood must be very much regarded, they must be very sacred in the eyes of God, since he has given us so explicit a commandment to love our parents, and in order to ensure the fulfillment of this precept, he has sanctioned it by such great promises and such severe punishments. Would he so have acted if these ties were to be limited by uniting us only in this world? No, doubtless, but in the designs of God our relationship in this world ought to have a very great influence over our eternal destinies. Our love is given not as much to the body as to the soul, and consequently we should be much more solicitous in procuring the spiritual welfare of those whom we love than their temporal advantage of which death will so speedily deprive them. Nevertheless, judging by the conduct of the greater part of mankind, would it not be said that everything ended with this life and that death forever broke the ties which bind us to our relations and friends? That such may be the sentiments and the conduct of those unfortunate persons who deprive to the light of faith are ignorant of any other life than this passing existence I can easily believe, but that we who are blessed with the divine light of the gospel and who, according to St. Paul's expression, are not like those miserable people without hope for the future. We who believe in a happy or unhappy eternity, is it possible that we should be indifferent on a question of so much importance with regard to those who are dear to us, and that confining our cares to a body whose dissolution is inevitable, we never dream of securing the fate of the soul which is about to appear before its God? What? Fathers and mothers, you love your children. You know that in a few days, it may be in a few hours, that eternal sentence which will decide their happiness or their misery forever will be pronounced by a God infinitely just and holy, as he is infinitely merciful, and you do not seek to secure them a favorable sentence. And you who profess for the authors of your existence such a tender affection, so sincere a devotion, confined by the narrow limits of time, you do not raise the veil which hides eternity from your eyes? You do not think of snatching those whom you so tenderly love from endless and measureless evils, of procuring for them the possession of treasures infinite in themselves and in their duration, either cease to say you love them or show your love by truer and more solid proofs? To come to something more positive, I say that if parents are obliged under pain of mortal sin to provide their children with a necessary subsistence, they are still more rigorously bound to procure for them, especially in sickness, necessary support for the life of their souls. If it is a parent's duty to provide according to their ability for the temporal interests of those whom God has committed to their care by love, it is a still more sacred duty to take in hand their spiritual interests. Finally, if it is a great sin for a father and mother not to bring up their children in a Christian manner, not to keep them from vice and to abandon them to the corruptions of their heart and the contagion of bad example, how shall they be excused for allowing them to die in God's displeasure and sacrificing them as unfortunate victims to the fury of devils more greedy for their perdition than their parents are careful for their salvation? How especially applicable to these circumstances is that saying of St. Paul, but if any provide not for his own and especially for those of his own how, he has denied the faith and is worse than an infidel. In like manner, if children are compelled under pain of mortal sin to provide as far as lies in their power for the wants of their indigent parents, how much more are they bound to do so when those parents are a prey to the sufferings of sickness? And if it is their duty to suger them in that which regards their temporal welfare and their bodily health, how much more are they not bound to do for that which concerns the eternal interests of their soul? Parents, forget not then the intimate bonds which unite you to your children whom you have brought into the world. You have given them temporal life, endeavour to procure for them eternal life, and after having borne them into this veil of tears, teach them on the way to heaven. Whatever cause of displeasure they may have given you for the griefs they may have occasioned you during their life, all must be pardoned in the critical circumstances of sickness and in the presence of death. Let paternal tenderness be reawakened, that filial piety may be reanimated, in the face of eternity all should be forgotten, and the past should only be remembered in order to find new motives for lavishing your solicitude on those whose need perhaps is all the more pressing as they have made themselves unworthy of it. Fathers and mothers, listen to the dictate of your hearts, and not to your resentments, however well founded they may appear to you. Honor your parents in their sickness, you who owe to them your life, and who have been to them the object of so many cares, of so much solicitude and love. Do not forget that one day you will yourselves need the attentions which you now lavish upon them, and by the loving cares with which you surround their last moments, merit to receive one day the help which is so necessary for a holy and a happy death. Take heed you are not discouraged by the length of the illness, and by the infirmities which they have contracted, perhaps in working for you. Take heed lest you suffer yourselves to be wearied by the ill humor, the caprice, the unreasonable exactions of a father or mother whose advanced age has perhaps deprived them of freedom of action. Take heed that their failings, their crimes even, if they have any, hinder not the devotion of your service. The less worthy they appear to you of your labours, the more pressing is their need for your care, the more truly useful you may be in bringing them back to better feelings by your gentleness, your patience, your respect, and the delicate attentions of your unwarying love. Parents and children, whoever you are, all whose position calls you to succor the members of your family in their sickness, do not wait too long in giving notice to the priest who has the confidence of the sick person. In taking care of the body, care still more for the soul, and do not rest till you have assured its eternal interests, at least insofar as lies in your power. Do not suffer a false tenderness to close your lips when so many urgent reasons make it your duty to let them know the truth. Do not dissimulate, through a false discretion, a danger that is too real, and when the life of the body is so seriously threatened, do not compromise the infinitely more precious life of the soul by keeping up in the sick person false hopes which you yourselves do not entertain. This is not charity, it is cruelty. This is not loving, it is hating. This is not serving our relations, it is betraying those who are the object of this misconceived affection. Do not delay to send for a physician who by his experience and his religious principles merits your confidence. The evil taken in time and early combated may yield to the first remedies, later it may perhaps be impossible to stay at sad progress. Take heed lest the expenses occasion by a lengthened sickness and costly remedies to desire the death of the sick person. Fulfill your duty. God will fulfill his promise and you will never regret the sacrifices you have made to obey him. These sicknesses will be useful to your relations. They will be useful to yourselves. For in the designs of the Lord they may procure for you unappreciable advantages as we shall presently see more at length. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Lawrence Trask, Mount Vernon, Ohio, interfaceaudio.com The Christian Nurse and Her Mission in the Sick Room by Francois Xavier Gautre-Lay translated by John Mason Neal Chapter 3 The service of the sick is in itself so painful and repulsive. Attendance on the dying and the care of preparing them for death are things so difficult. Finally, the responsibility of attending upon this ministry is so great that nothing less than the numerous advantages accompanying this work of mercy can support the courage of those who devote themselves to this important office. We will only enumerate those precious fruits, leaving to those persons for whom we write the task of meditating upon them. For it is only from this frequent meditation that they will acquire the strength, the consolation, and devotion which they need to enable them faithfully and courageously to equip themselves of all the obligations imposed upon them. These duties, as also the fruits which we are about to point out, are common not only to religious persons but also to those who discharge these offices. If only to gain a livelihood or from stress of circumstances, provided that they perform them with suitable dispositions. All these advantages may be divided into three classes. The first belong to the sick person and to his family. The second concern, God and his glory. The third are the rewards of those who are employed in this ministry. We shall insist very little upon this article because these advantages are too evident to render it necessary for us to dwell upon them. But we ask, where is the Christian who can be insensible to the infinite happiness which his labor shall have gained for a soul? Who would not rejoice in having, I do not say, snatched a man who was in danger of perishing from temporal flames but in having preserved from eternal fire an unfortunate being awaiting irremediable evils and torments without end? If you love your neighbor, if charity really animates your heart, what a sweet consolation it will be till the end of your life. What joy for all eternity! What gratitude will you receive from that elect one who owes his happiness to you? Nevertheless, it is not the sick person alone who will benefit by your zeal. Others know less than he will gather its precious fruit. What is the joy of that disconsolate mother who learns from you that her son, whose death to grace she has so long deplored, has been reconciled to God and that his last moments have been like those of the predestined? What consolation for a wife to know that Christian trust has softened the sufferings of a cherished husband and that he has drawn from the sacraments of the church the necessary strength to enable him happily to cross the threshold of eternity? Does it not often happen that the spectacle of Christian charity, which you have thus displayed in the service of the sick, leaves religious impressions on all the family which will never be effaced, and that by the salutary thoughts joined to the eloquent lessons death gives to all, we may see those hearts return to the practice of religion which perhaps for many years had wandered far from it, especially if you take care to contribute to this happy change by the example of exemplary virtue, untiring patience, and unfailing charity, and if, skillfully suiting your words to your example, you suggest useful reflections to these poor hearts which, like precious seeds, will grow in time and bear fruits unto salvation. Article 2. The Glory of God This is another motive and it ought to be the most powerful of all in determining us generously to embrace and courageously to support. The trouble is connected with these noble offices. Do not forget, it is for the glory of God, the end of all your works and the single aim you ought to set before you in all your actions. Now you set forth this glory in a special manner in assisting the sick, in fortifying the dying against the terrors of death and disposing him to accept it with resignation and love. You set it forth by the numerous acts of virtue which you practice in this work of mercy. You set it forth by the good example you set your neighbor, whom you cause to know and appreciate religion in its true point of view. You set forth especially this glory of God your Father by contributing to the salvation of his children who, in the abode of happiness into which you will have seen the means of introducing them, will never cease to love, bless and praise him forever. By this ministry you promote the efficacy of the blood of Jesus Christ and you multiply the fruits of his bitter passion. You bring back to this good shepherd those wandering sheep that he came into the world to seek and to redeem with the price of so many sufferings and toils. You give to angels and saints, companions and brothers and others. If the blessed inhabitants of heaven rejoice over the conversion of a sinner what is the joy when this justified sinner arrived at last at the end of his exile takes his place among them in the celestial abode and mingles his songs of thankfulness to their immortal hymns. It needs not much to determine souls who love their Lord however little to neglect nothing that can secure a holy death to the sick whom they assist. But as we are often more alive to our own interests than even to those of God it will not be useless to sum up here the principal advantages which accrue to those who devote themselves to assist the dying. Article 3 of the advantages derived by those persons who attend the sick and prepare them for death. The first fruit derived from the ministry is the understanding more and more clearly the vanity of all created things. How salutary is the impression produced upon us by the sight of humanity a prey to suffering and vainly struggling in the hand of death. What illusions are dissipated by the faint glimmer of eternity and how is the soul then disenchanted that has been perhaps seduced and blinded by the deceitful pleasures of the world. There we learn to despise the body. There we understand the value of time. There we become sensible to the vanity of riches, pleasures, honors, esteem, affection of all human advantages. There finally the soul enlightened by grace shaken by a crowd of motives that battle with it and attack it in all its natural affections finally triumphs over itself determines to give itself entirely to God and cries with Francis de Bourger, Duke of Tandia in the presence of the hideous corpse of the Empress but a short time before the most beautiful person of her age. Oh my God! I promise from henceforth to serve no mortal master. 2. The second benefit is the practice of a host of virtues which are exercised in a special and often heroic manner by the care that we take of the sick. Sickness, says S. Francis de Sales is the school of humility and charity. These two graces are so precious to the soul that they would be sufficient in themselves to complete the praise which may be made of the services rendered to the sick. But we may say without fear of being deceived that sickness is the school of all graces. How many occasions, for instance, of practicing gentleness, patience, submission to the will of God, mortification, complete and absolute self-denial, sufferings of mind and body, watchings, fatigue, anxieties, the repugnances of nature which is unceasingly opposed, the sometimes capricious exactions of the sick person, his ill temper, everything in a word unites to make this work of charity and habitual exercise of the most difficult virtues. What more useful penance than this since it has charity for its principle and its object and end is the comfort of Christ's suffering members and the glory of God. Happy are those persons who know how to profit by these occasions. A week past in these laborious occupations is richer in fruits of virtue than many months of a calm and quiet life. Three. Still, this is not all. Abundant graces are connected with the ministry. These graces are secured to you through the gratitude of those souls whom you will have been the means of introducing into heaven or whom you have helped to enter there. Could they in their abode of glory, enjoying infinite happiness, forget the person to whom they owe their eternal felicity? Such a thought is repugnant to the idea that faith gives us of the charity which animates them and of the close communication which exists between the church in heaven and the church on earth. You will then have so many intercessors with God as you have saccoured sinners in their death and if some of them have not responded to your efforts if not withstanding your cares and prayers they died at enmity with God, the master infinitely good and just for whom you have laboured will not suffer your efforts to lose their reward. And the desires of your heart, ineffectual for those miserable creatures who have despised the offers of grace will not be so for you. Jesus Christ himself will reward you. For since he looks upon what is done for the least of his members as if it were done to himself, how can he be insensible to this most difficult, most heroic and most excellent of all the works of charity? 4. What will we now say of the numerous privileges which form the precious appennage of this work of charity? If giving alms to the indigent, comforting the afflicted, visiting the prisoners, our works so pleasing to God, how does he regard the services rendered to the sick and dying poor? If sowing the seeds of virtue in the hearts of the young is so meritorious a work, what will it be to secure its fruits for eternity? And if each one of the works of mercy, both corporal and spiritual, considered by itself, have so great a merit in the eyes of the Lord, who can rightly estimate the admirable work which includes them all, and which practices them all at once in a special and sublime manner. Oh, how beautiful will be your crown, you whose every moment is marked by some set of charity, and who every day spend your strength, your health, and sometimes risk your life in the service of the sick. Do not envy the fate of those courageous victims of mortification, who give up their bodies to the rigors of penitence, and voluntarily condemn themselves to the practice of a humble and austere life. If you know how to profit by the opportunities afforded to you by your vocation, you will certainly find sufficient to satisfy your thirst for mortification, and the motive of charity which animates you will only communicate a new merit to your privations and increase your own courage and devotion. Five. But if these blessings are so abundant in this life, how much more at the hour of death? Then especially you will experience the happy effects of the protection of those souls to whom you have yourself lent loving assistance. I think I see them around your bed of sickness, assisting you by their prayers, protecting you from the attacks of the devil, comforting you in your troubles as you had comforted them. It is not possible that these souls can forget or forsake you. I had almost said that it was not possible that you should not die well, having so many powerful protectors in heaven interested in your behalf. And the Divine Master, whose members you have comforted, assisted, and consoled, will he forsake you in your last hour? You have given him in the persons of his faithful servants an eternal happiness and glory, and can he cast you away in the hour of your affliction? No, say at the prophet, for blessed is he that considereth the poor and needy. The Lord shall deliver him in the time of trouble. Who is the poor beyond others? What is the extremest need but that of a sick man in a state of sin? And what is the time of trouble, the terrible day in which we need to be delivered, but the day of our death, and the moment when our eternal fate is decided? This is not enough for the Lord. He will take care of you in your sickness. He will soften its rigor by the unction of his grace and the solid consolations of hope. Of all the favors which God can grant us in the world, the greatest is that of a good death. Now there are few more infallible methods, it appears, of securing this grace than that of procuring it for others so far as we can. To assist the dying, therefore, is to work out our own salvation in the most effectual manner. It is to lay up for ourselves the most precious consolation for our last hour. It is to secure, in a manner, a blessed eternity to our own soul. Can more be said in favor of this work? 6. Remember also that the blessings of glory will be united to the blessings of grace. Everyone knows the words which the Saviour of the world will address to his elect at the day of judgment. Indeed, so great is the value of charity in the eyes of the Supreme Judge. So great is its share in the work of our salvation that, forgetting, so to speak, all other precepts, when he renders to each his due, Jesus Christ pronounces sentence with references to that only which he calls his commandment. He also appears to sum it up entirely in the love of our neighbor as the essential condition, the infallible mark, and the unequivocal token of him who is our God. I was and hungered and ye gave me meat. I was thirsty and ye gave me drink. I was a stranger and ye took me in. Naked and ye clothed me. I was sick and ye visited me. Meditate on these comforting words. You who every day fulfill these duties of Christian charity towards the sick. Meditate upon them frequently, for it is for your sakes especially that they are written. It is you whom they particularly concern. You will one day have the greatest right to hear them pronounced. If the cup of cold water given to the poor for the love of Christ will in no wise lose its reward, what will be the reward of the painful care lavished day and night on the sick poor, and that every day and during your whole life? 7. CONCLUSION On the consideration of such just and numerous advantages I am no longer astonished at the zeal which has been shown by all saints for this work of mercy. I can no longer be surprised at the preeminence they have given it before all the others. I am no longer surprised to see in the church of love so great a number of religious orders and communities dedicated exclusively to this kind of ministry. That S. Lewis, king of France, frequently visited the sick and that not content with supplying their need out of his treasures, he desired to serve them with his own hands. That S. Elizabeth of Hungary showed hospitality to lepers and yielding to the inspiration of her faith kissed their hands and feet. That St. Stephen, king of Hungary, humbled himself even to wash the feet of the poor and visiting the hospitals by night that he might not be recognized, took pleasure in waiting upon the sick himself. That S. Hedwig, a queen on her knees rendered the same service to the poor and, far from being repulsed by their sores, took delight in washing and kissing the feet of lepers. I can understand it. I admire these great and good actions but I cannot be astonished at them. These examples have been so common in the church that it is in vain that we undertake to quote them all. In the highest ranks of society we see S. Bridget occupied in serving the poor and especially the sick whose hands and feet she kissed. S. Elizabeth, queen of Portugal, S. Margaret, queen of Scotland, herself serving every day as the meanest servant, three hundred poor, whom she nourished, washing their feet with her own hands. What shall we say of S. Joseph of Callesantio carrying the dead upon his shoulders to their place of burial? Of S. Camillus de Lellis, founder of the Congregation of Clerks Regular, consecrated to the service of the sick who, retired into a hospital, made himself the servant of the patients and began by the practice of the lowest and most humiliating offices, the institution of this order. It was the same mind which animated S. Jerome Emilius and him whom France honors as her greatest glory, S. Vincent de Paul, who became, so to speak, the father of all the unfortunate and who only presents himself to our thoughts as the personification of Christian charity. This was the spirit that animated so many thousands of holy priests and religious who died in the service of the plague stricken. Has not Jesus Christ himself taught us that he looks on what is done for the meanest of his servants as done unto himself? Does not the faith tell us that member of the mystical body of our Savior, the cause of our neighbor cannot be separated from that of Jesus Christ and that by serving the members we truly serve the head? And do we not know that, in the days of his mortal life, he who was called the Son of Man, our brother and our friend, took delight in alleviating the sufferings of his brethren? That one of his most ordinary occupations, even at the time of his preaching, was visiting the sick, and it was for their benefit that he wrought the greater part of his miracles. Did he not bequeath this precious ministry, which was so dear to himself, to his disciples and apostles, destined to survive him in the divine works of his charity? Into whatsoever city ye enter, he said to them, Heal the sick that are therein. With such examples in the presence of the Son of God, who himself has vouchsafe to be our model, can we doubt the excellence of this ministry? Can we listen to the repugnance of nature? Can we be discouraged by the difficulties which it presents and not rush forward full of joy, hope, and love in the way of the saints and the steps of the Savior? It was always thus in bygone ages, the history of the church proves it. It will always be so in future ages, and till the end of the world. His Spirit gives us the pledge and assurance of it. If in all times some luxurious and timid Christians are found who blush to perform offices so noble to the eye of faith and who hesitate at recognizing in the poor and sick their own brother, their own flesh so to speak, and far more, Jesus Christ their Savior and their God. In all times there will also be found courageous and intrepid Christians who will deem it an honor to their faith and to themselves, to imitate a God-man to serve him in his members, and they will willingly sacrifice their life after the example of so many victims of charity for the consolation of their brethren and the acquisition of Heaven. End of Chapter 3 Recording by Laurence Trask, Mount Vernon, Ohio InterfaceAudio.com Chapter No. 1 of The Christian Nurse and Her Mission in the Sick Room This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Lola Janey of Northern Virginia The Nurse and Her Mission in the Sick Room by Frances Xavier Galtralet Translated by John Mason Neal Chapter No. 4 Of the dispositions with which we must discharge this office, one, our estimation of these offices, the disposition that is most essential for if it exists it will necessarily produce all the others is an exalted idea of the greatness of this ministry, of the numerous difficulties which it presents and the infinite consequences arising from the manner in which it is fulfilled. We must look upon ourselves as charged to provide for the salvation of the sick person whom we are assisting and act toward him as if God himself who is his father had confided him to our trust and to our care. It is not, however, to understand these truths. We must often meditate upon them, frequently make them a subject of prayer and imbue ourselves deeply with them. The first three chapters of this little work will furnish abundant matter for these reflections. Two, the spirit of faith. But the most efficacious of all the means for understanding and appreciating these truths is to consider them with the eye of faith. Yes, faith, only a lively and real faith is the light which should illuminate and guide those who give themselves up to this employment. The greater this faith, the easier it will be to fulfill these painful offices with devotion. This faith will open their eyes to the dignity of the sick person. It will see in him the child of God, the Inheritor of Heaven, a creature made in the image of the Holy Trinity redeemed with the price of the blood of Jesus Christ, destined to praise and glorify its Creator and Savior to all eternity. Footnote. The story is well known of the surgeon in some Parisian hospital who, in going through a ward with a brother physician, recommended some unusual operation on the patient by whose bedside they were standing. And they finished by the quotation Fiat experimentum in Corbre Vile. Let the experiment be tried on a vile body. The poor man understood Latin and replied Corpus non tam vile pro quo christus non degnazius est mori. That body is not so vile for which Christ disdained not to die. E.D. In this body, disfigured by sickness and suffering, it will discover the temple of the Holy Ghost, the member of Christ, flesh of his flesh so to speak and bone of his bone. On this hideous and repulsive form the Savior will one day cause the light of his glory to shine and will raise it up again in the likeness of his glorified body. Those dull eyes are destined to contemplate the Lord Jesus forever in the heavenly Jerusalem. That mouth, whence painful groans are wrung it by pain, will resound the shout of joy and love through all eternity. That pale and haggard face will become more shining than the sun and will reflect the rays of divine beauty. That soul withered by suffering weighed down and as it were crushed under the weight of a body which is falling unto dissolution as under the ruins of a crumbling house will soon be free and released from its fetters will soon go to the bosom of its God to taste there of joy as pure as it is lasting and to render to that God the glory and worship due to his sovereign majesty. This is the faith that will make you appreciate the misery of the soul in a state of mortal sin and will produce in your heart that feeling of compassion which the sight of the most extreme wretchedness united to the most terrible danger naturally inspires. Look attentively at that soul sealed in holy baptism with the character of the children of God. You will see there the disfigured traces of its primitive greatness and the degenerate marks of its divine origin and you will weep over its misery as Jesus Christ wept over Jerusalem. Not content with bewailing it, you will stretch out a helping hand and you will seek to heal its evils as great as they are to itself imperceptible. This is the duty of her who is charged with the care of the sick and with assisting them to die. 3. Zeal Faith also will exert a zeal by showing to her on one side heaven and on the other hell both eternal. For there is no middle state and every man is reduced to this alternative. But for the sick man the obligation of choice is imminent and the moment of fixing his faith forever has arrived. It is evident that similar thoughts may act powerfully on a Christian heart and those who place themselves under the influence of these truths must receive great encouragement from them to undertake and venture everything for the interest of the soul. From this pure and sacred source the inspiration of zeal should be derived. And what may it not accomplish when it is pure and sincere? How many sick persons are snatched from eternal misery by the zeal of those who assisted them? How many others will be doomed to eternal punishment whom charitable pains would have arrested on the brink of the abyss? Zeal enlightened, prudent, industrious, which strains every nerve to accomplish its end. Courageous, which nothing disheartens which no obstacle can disconcer. Constant, which triumphs over difficulties by the all-powerful of a persevering will which says to itself I must procure the eternal salvation of this soul it must be done at all cost. Patient, zeal which knows when it is necessary how to wait for the moments of grace and which repulsed by a hundred times always returns to the charge by choosing the favorable instant. If the devil in the last moments of man makes so many efforts to obtain his soul and consummate his misery is it not right that we should use every power to protect and save it? But mistake not this pure and sincere zeal can only be the fruit of grace. It presupposes supernatural motives and can only be inspired by faith. It cannot therefore be met with in those persons who only seek a material gain in the service of the sick and who are only actuated by worldly motives. The ties of blood and friendship however strong they may be will not suffice to produce in us this ardent thirst for the salvation of souls. The natural love, however thoughtful which we bear to our relatives and friends is of an inferior order. It must be ennobled and consecrated by divine love. It is in grace and not in nature that the Christian must seek for the principle of his action. 4. Courage It is useless to say that those who are destined to fulfill stern offices must arm themselves with courage to overcome natural repugnance and to pass through any fatigue. We all know that they have need of patients that will endure all trials and unalterable gentleness. Each day fresh occasions will offer themselves for the exercise of those virtues. So dear to the heart of Jesus and so advantageous both for those who practice and those who are the object of them. The sick person already suffers enough without adding to his pain. Had he merited it a thousand times he must be spared this addition to his suffering. 5. Prayer We must not forget another disposition quite as essential and that is prayer. One has only to know the first elements of religion to be aware that grace is absolutely necessary for the conversion and salvation of souls. That without it man would act in vain and that all good comes from above. It is no less certain that this grace is promised to prayer which is as it were its essential condition. Therefore the first thing that should be done by a person who undertakes to wait on or to assist a sick man is to recommend him to God and to pray both for the health of his body should that be for his advantage and for that more important still of his soul. For the condition of the soul is more deplorable than that of the body. However overwhelmed by the latter may be by the weight of its infirmities. Whoever would convince themselves of the importance which the church attaches to prayer in the last moments of a Christian has only to cast one glance over the long and varied formulas of prayer and supplications which she puts in the mouth of her ministers and children and which she desires them we see that in her eyes there are no circumstances more critical no moment in which is more necessary to come to the help of human weakness. We can also understand what is her confidence in this means and how much she thinks of its efficiency in repelling the devil in strengthening the sick man in obtaining for him the graces of which he has such pressing need. The person who is charged with assisting him are to enter into the feelings of the church and come with confidence to this all powerful weapon. To pray instantly for the sick man is ordinarily we repeat the most efficacious means. It is the easiest and most attainable method for everyone to comfort him in his corporal and spiritual misfortunes. It is therefore the first duty of the person who waits upon him. She must use it constantly and every day she will suffer to the Lord fervent prayers with this intention. See the prayers at the end of this book. 6. State of Grace Is it necessary to remind those persons who give themselves up to these offices not less painful than they are sublime that they can do nothing thank-worthy in the sight of God without being in a state of grace? If the sick man without this disposition cannot profit by his sickness, how can his attendant without the same condition acquire from her work of charity the numerous graces which are attached to it? For her who is living a life of grace all her steps, all her actions, all her words, all her troubles are laying upon a crown. She will receive the reward in the least act done on the principle of charity. What will then be the renumeration of the fatigues and the prolonged watchings to which she condemns herself, the multiplied privations which she accepts, the future which she overcomes, even the danger to which she exposes herself? But if she be in a state of mortal sin, all is born in vain. What a loss in the eyes of faith. What a powerful motive to return to the friendship of God for anyone who may have the unhappiness of being at enmity with him. You who are not discouraged by the many troubles attached to the sick poor or who in your own families are waiting on a sick relation, do not allow yourselves thus to lose the fruit of your fatigue and anxiety. Hasten to the fountain open for sin and uncleanniness and there acquire the pardon you need. You will thence gain an infinity of graces, your troubles will become you bestow on his children. Who can sell the consolation and the grace which you will acquire in these practices and how much in sanctifying yourselves they will be useful to the sick whom you serve and other persons in the house? For it is necessary to act in visiting the sick and in the cares bestowed upon them that we may comfort them when we may profit ourselves. End of Chapter 4 Of the faults which we must guard against in attendance upon the sick If it is important to acquire the dispensations of which we have just spoken it is not less so to avoid the faults which we are about to point out and against which we have every need to be watchful it may be easily conceived that the service of the sick is always painful into nature, it sometimes becomes excessively difficult and laborious whether on account of the sickness which repels and increases our natural repugnance and exacts further care, constant self-denial and expenditure of labour or whether on account of the sick man whose cautionness in gratitude or stupidity seem incapable sometimes of killing the most ardent sale and the most active charity very often alas his impatience his bad temper, his rudeness are apt to discourage us with the best will in the world we are tempted to reply harshly to exactions which are unjust but sometimes even ridiculous it may also happen that to all these causes of dislike may be joined another not less powerful and that the consideration of the vices of a person may inspire us with the contempt and estrangement which is difficult to reconcile with the anxious care which the condition of a sick person requires let those who have the charge of this per sick person take good hate that this feeling of contempt or compassion does not enter their heart true charity, remember inspires compassion and not disdain these are the words of a holy father should not that sick person who is inflicted with the union of several complicated illnesses excite your pity in a higher degree and should not your cares be all the more earnestly bestowed as he appears to be in danger the faults it may be vices of the sick man if they increase his misery or they not in the same proportion excite your love, take heed that your sale is not killed nor your charity extinguished by the ingratitude with which your services may be repaid the less you receive from men the more you may expect from God your devotion will be only more sincere, more supernatural and more meritorious you will be less in danger of acting from human views and natural motives and the treasure you are laying up for yourselves placed entirely in the hands of God will be better protected from that secret of complacence which like annoying worm stains and corrupts our best actions, take heed lest you lose sight of the soul in your care for the body and less restricting your cares and pretensions to corporal health and temporal life your actions are left in the deplorable condition of purely natural works and do not rise to the elevation of the grace and dignity of the Christian habit, if we do not take care will almost invincibly lead us to submit to the law of nature and hence continually to withdraw us from the dominion of faith negligence insensibly succeeds to seal, soon we shall only see the man where we ought to see the Christian and we end by beholding only a body in a state of dissolution where faith ought above all to discover an immortal soul created in the image of God and redeemed by the blood of the Saviour, take heed finally that your impatience, your el temper your hardness do not rob you of a large share of your reward at the same time that they take from you a portion of the influence which you might exercise for the good of souls if you knew how to win them by gentleness and cordial love if this charity ought to be practised towards all men with regard to the sick it should clothe itself in all its loveliness and display all its brightness and rare beauty End of Chapter 5 Recording by Chad Horner from Ballaclare in Couny-Anton, Northern Ireland situated in the northeast of the island of Ireland Chapter 6 of The Christian Nurse and Her Mission in the Sick Room This is a LibraVox recording All LibraVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibraVox.org Recording by Mary Patterson The Christian Nurse and Her Mission in the Sick Room by François Xavier Gautrely translated by John Mason Neal Of the dangers we may meet with in the service of the sick and of the precautions by which we may guard against them The dangers incurred in the service of the sick may respect the body or threaten directly the soul Article 1 Dangers which concern health and precautions against them 1 However serious the sickness however dear the person whom we tend we must not allow ourselves to be carried to excess as regards our own health to prolong indiscreetly our watching and our abstinence and by relieving the sick to become so ourselves There are persons who on these occasions listening only to the voice of their imagination and the exaggerated feelings of natural tenderness are carried to real excess without any other results than that of exhausting their strength Faith and reason must be allowed to bear sway While we trust in God we must give our own bodies necessary relief Never our substantial nourishment and sufficient rest more needed 2 If it is to be feared that the sickness is or may become contagious we should carefully learn from the physician what precautions should be taken that we may not needlessly subject ourselves or expose others to the danger of contagion 3 The sickness without being infectious may be of a nature to produce hurtful impressions on children or those of weak imaginations and delicate organisations as with epilepsy, frenzy, etc It is then necessary as much as possible to keep such persons away from the sick man 4 Those persons who attend upon the sick may injure their health by breathing an infected and unwholesome air It is important as much for him as for those who attend upon him to purify the air of the apartment and to keep up a constant circulation This may easily be done in warm weather and it is not more difficult in winter for it will be enough to leave the window open for a few moments taking precaution that the sick man is not exposed to any draft during the time The chimney too keeps up a perpetual current of air and thus promotes change of the atmosphere which is breathed in the room When the bed of a sick person is made arranged or uncovered the nurse must avoid as much as possible the breathing the exhalations which arise from the bed She must also avoid taking the corrupt breath of the sick person especially if he is afflicted with disease of the lungs 5 Those persons who attend upon the sick ought also to take care not to touch the perspiration which comes from their body It is prudent not immediately to touch the sick person that is to say touch his linen, not his skin If it is necessary to touch him when in a perspiration it will be well to wash the hands after having done so 6 It is better that the meals should be taken in another room 7 As to the linen used by him in certain sicknesses it should only be used with discretion even after it has been washed It is well to consult the physician upon this point and learn from him what precautions to take and what means to use to prevent or avert the danger Complaints of the skin and chest are easily communicated in consequence of imprudence in this matter 2 dangers concerning the soul and precautions against them Those who have charged of the sick are exposed to certain peculiar dangers with regard to the soul Besides the temptations which we have pointed out above they may easily fall into faults more or less serious and to avoid these needs of great watchfulness Thus 1 In hospitals and in attendance upon all sick persons it is necessary to exercise a strict surveillance over those who are employed to attend upon or watch by them They should be persons of a certain age of a virtue beyond the reach of all suspicion of exemplary piety and who should be taught how to assist the sick in the error of death These cases devolve upon the conscience of the superior who cannot devote too much attention and diligence to them 2 Those persons who assist the sick in their own homes have need of still more care against the still greater dangers which await them As much as possible they should not watch alone They must be on their guard against bad company dangerous conversations or reading doubtful books 3 In general those persons who attend upon the sick are exposed to neglect their spiritual exercises either by fatigue or preoccupation they do not even find time to say their prayers From this a kind of languor takes possession of the soul Motives of faith are forgotten Supernatural light is obscured and they soon act only in a natural and general manner End of chapter 6 Recording by Mary Patterson Chapter 7 The Christian Nurse and her mission in the sick room This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Chad Horner from Ballyclair County Antrim Northern Ireland situated in the northeast of the island of Ireland The Christian Nurse and her mission in the sick room by François Xavier Gaudreille Translated by John Mason Neill Chapter 7 Methods of sanctification for those persons who assist the sick One, those persons who attend upon the sick should seek in the Lord that strength and consolation which they need in this painful occupation Besides their morning and evening prayers which should never be omitted they should often have recourse to God during the day by ejaculatory prayers which at the same time will be very useful in restoring their courage and renewing their intention Two, they must often pray for the sick person and recommend to God the welfare of his soul and body Nothing is more likely to develop in them the principles of the charity which they exercise and make them endure patiently the hardships attendant on their estate Three, they must always have some good book with them such as The Little Ours of the Passion The Imitation of Christ The Paradise of the Christian Soul There is some book of the kind which may serve both for themselves and the sick person who is well enough to be read to for a few minutes without fatigue or it will be very useful to meditate from time to time on the earthly sufferings and especially the passion of our Lord Five, the principle means of sustaining and fortifying the soul is to receive Holy Communion whenever an opportunity may offer Looking upon herself as appointed to guide a soul into heaven the nurse should endeavour by the holiness of her own life to assure for herself a happy death the earnestness of a glorious eternity After having considered the dispositions in which those persons who assist the sick should endeavour to live and the graces after which they should strive in order to sanctify themselves for this employment I will now point out their duties with regard to the sick the nature of the care which they ought to bestow and the method to be followed by their sickness and to prepare them to die well End of Chapter 7 Part 2 Chapter 1 of the Christian nurse and her mission in the sick room This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Noelle Tacoma The Christian nurse and her mission in the sick room by François Javier Gautrelais translated by John Mason Neal Second part of the right method to attend upon the sick and the manner of preparing them to die well Chapter 1 of the different subjects of which we must acquire a knowledge when we take care of the sick Article 1 of the knowledge they should acquire touching the sick person This knowledge is of the greatest importance Without it we should guide everyone in the same manner We should act uncertainly in an affair of the greatest consequence We should use the same language to the pious person and the public sinner We should treat in the same manner the timid soul already too fearful of God's judgments and the presumptuous soul hardened in crime The child and the old man the poor artisan, the rich merchant the ignorant man and he who is perfectly acquainted with religion and its duties will be placed on the same footing Age, estate, condition character, disposition all will be confounded while on the contrary all should be carefully distinguished as a special guidance and separate treatment Do you wish to advance prudently and to secure the desired result to your patients? Before all things examine with whom you are engaged that is to say see who the sick person is Is it a child who has not yet made its first communion? Is he a young man a person in the flower of his age a married person an old man Is he a poor person of low estate a servant, a workman or a rich and well brought up person What is his character? Is he a person naturally calm gentle, quiet without quick passions or on the contrary quick, erasable, violent and susceptible of great and strong passion Number four What are his habitual dispositions with regard to virtue and religion? Has he any known vices or evil habits? A constant distaste of the practices of religion Negligence in acquitting himself of his religious duties and from want of instruction doubts, errors in faith or on the contrary is he a virtuous person one who frequents the sacraments well instructed in the Christian doctrine Are there any special difficulties in the present circumstances any particular troubles and temptations separation between husband and wife some occasion of sin hatred, restitution restitution etc Number six Do the exterior relations of the sick man the persons who surround him his position, his occupations oppose any obstacle to his reception of the sacrament bad companions, dangerous and evil occupations etc Number seven In what sensible way may you hope to interest the sick person what cord must you touch to move his heart and make him receive advice Is it through his children his wife, his friends that we may hope to obtain an entrance into his heart Has he known in his life periods of innocence and happiness Which of the Christian or moral virtues is most in accordance with his character and natural inclinations and which may be laid hold of to lead him further on Compassion for the poor generosity and forgiveness trust, fear the passion of our Lord etc You must sound his heart and see on what point it will echo to the touch It will be very useful also to question those who know the sick person and to obtain from them if possible the knowledge that you stand in need of What are the outward means which may most usefully be put in practice Interesting and instructive reading, edifying conversation loving advice friendly remonstrance to inspire feelings of fear or confidence interview with a Christian friend an enlightened person especially with the priest You should strive to know and strengthen the weak side of each one to put the balm which is most needed on the different wounds of the heart and suggest to the sick man those reflections which you would think most likely to awaken good feeling in your own heart if you were in his place and in his disposition All this may appear difficult to do we acknowledge, but if you cannot attain to perfection you must nevertheless cease not to strive for it You should come as near to the goal as you can, even should it be impossible for you to touch it Finally, these details will at least make you see what an important ministry this is and how much need there is to have recourse to prayer that you may not endanger such deep interests as those which are treated of here Article 2 Let them be reminded that it is a duty to have recourse to a physician and a sin to put it off so as to endanger the recovery of the sick person It is important to know the nature of the illness at first Its species, its seriousness its its its its its its its its its its its its its its its its its its its its its its its those who are accustomed to tending on the sick acquire by habit and experience a sort of knowledge of their different points others that have no other means than by asking the physician who's judgement in such matters to be depended on, because he takes notice of different symptoms which often escape the observation of persons less accustomed to this kind of ministry. You should therefore always ask him if the sickness has any immediate danger. If it is generally mortal, how long it usually lasts. You should know also whether there is any fear of the sick persons becoming delirious as it happens in most fevers. Because then you must not delay causing him to receive the blessed sacrament. If the sickness is contagious, and what precautions should be used under the circumstances. You should also learn what degree of care and attention the sick person requires, and if it is necessary to watch by him. Finally, you should have the most essential points of the treatment that is to be followed explained to you very clearly. For example, what things you must absolutely avoid and refuse the sick man, and those which are rigorously necessary. Everyone who attends the sick ought to make themselves capable as far as possible to give an account to the physician when he comes, of the things it is most important he should be informed. You must therefore observe what there is remarkable in the sick man, the circumstances in which the sick person suffers most, those in which he is better. You must tell him if he has taken the remedies prescribed, and what effect they have produced, etc. In a word, you must be ready to answer the different questions that a careful physician will not fail to ask, and observe for yourself whatever you think capable of enlightening his judgment upon the sickness. If in what has happened before or in the habitual conduct of the sick person there are any indications which you think would be useful in helping the physician to know perfectly the character of the sickness, you must not fail to tell them to him. You should never leave him alone with either the sick man or woman, but be ready to gather up all his observations, to answer all his questions, to receive his prescriptions, or to ask him to write down his prescriptions in order that you may observe them as faithfully as you can. It would be useful to remark here that you can never be authorized to take any remedies forbidden by the law of God, and the direct and immediate effect of which would be in opposition to the sacred duties of conscience. Many persons also have been urged to be careful of the custom too common in the country of using all sorts of remedies on the faith of those who advise them to use these remedies as good for the sick person, as they often are hurtful, would become dangerous from their multiplicity and the diversity of their effects. It will not be difficult to learn from the physician when he is honest and religious if it is urgent or not for the sick person to receive the last sacrament, but you must generally ask this information apart and not before the sick person. Relatives ought to avoid showing under these circumstances too great a sensibility, for it will not fail sometimes to close the lips of the physician and to cause him to simulate a truth which it is always difficult to announce. Article 3. Information which should be acquired from the relations or those persons who are about the patient. When you tend sick persons in their own house, you must not neglect equating yourself with what concerns their family or their relatives if you are not already sufficiently so. You will therefore inquire with discretion the state of their future and their wants, their religious feelings, the dispositions of those members of the family who have anything to do with the sick person. You must examine carefully whether among those who surround him there is anyone who may be dangerous or hurtful to him, either on account of the unrestrained love which unites them to the sick man or on account of the enmity which exists between them, or because of irreligious feelings which might induce them to hinder the dying man from receiving the sacraments and right preparing for death. If you discover anything of this kind, you will omit nothing that you can do prudently to keep these dangerous persons at a distance, and you should communicate for this object either with the priest or with the other members of the family, or even with the physician if he is religious. Article IV Intercourse with the Priest One of the most important points we might say, the most important of all, is to give speedy warning to the sick man's clergyman, to keep him conversant with the sickness and its progress, to acquaint him with the danger should it exist, and to tell him the judgment of the physician. Avoid giving alarm without occasion to a priest who may have many other occupations, but remember that it is still more dangerous to defer warning him too long, and thus to endanger the sick man's dying without receiving the last rites of the church, or not receiving them until after he has lost consciousness, and consequently with dispositions anything but satisfactory. Pastors of souls feel no pain so acute as that of seeing any one of their parishioners deprived by the fault or negligence of the relatives or of those who tend to him of the help of these last rites, and they will readily excuse the fear which prompts to exaggerate the sick person's danger. To obviate as far as possible both these difficulties you will consult the physician, and not satisfied with what he thinks of the present state of the sick person, you will question him on the symptoms by which the aggravation of the disease is known, and which render providing for the wants of the soul urgent. It will be useful also to acquaint the priest, according to the circumstances and necessity, of the disposition of the sick person, his moral condition and troubles, as well as the difficulties which might impede his own ministration. For example, of the hatred which may exist, of the restrictions which may have to be made, of the scandal which may have been given by a notorious sinner, and which must be repaired, of the occasion of sin which may still exist, of those persons in the house who may be hurtful to the sick person, etc. In short, whatever may assist the judgment or the conduct of the priest, whatever may be useful to him to his intercourse with the sick person or his relations, whatever may contribute to the spiritual good of either and the general edification, will be advantageously communicated to him, who in his capacity of position to the soul ought to exercise so salutary and powerful and influence over the eternal fate of the sick person, but whose conduct ought to be prudent and wise in his ministrations, since he is the dispenser of good gifts and not the master. It is not sufficient to keep the priest well informed of whatever he ought to know, and to warn him, be times, when it is necessary to administer to the sick man for the first time, but if the sickness is lingering, you must frequently send him information and make it your business to let him know as often as possible the progress of the disease and the condition of the sick person. If it is the duty of those who tend the dying to give the priest the necessary information, it is not less important that they should ask him what line of conduct they should themselves follow under the circumstances, and to learn from him what they can do for the advantage of the patient, and what they should carefully avoid. They will learn the imminence of the danger, the manner to prepare the sick man for death, and ask him if he wishes to be again sent for. This you must not fail to do when you can conveniently, and which you must never omit doing when you think it is necessary for the dying man. You must also communicate with the priest regarding any temporal help which your patients may need, and those persons to whom you may apply for it. End of Chapter 2, Chapter 1 Part 2, Chapter 2 of The Christian Nurse and Her Mission in the Sick Room. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Chad Horner from Ballet Claire in County Hunter, Northern Ireland. Set duet in the north-east of the Island of Ireland. The Christian Nurse and Her Mission in the Sick Room by François Xavier Gaudrelle, translated by John Mason Neil. Part 2, Chapter 2 of The Care Which Should Be Given to the Body. The first object of the care which should be given to the patient is the body, the relief of which it is necessary as far as possible to procure. Although the health of the soul is infinitely more precious and more important, you must begin by taking care of the body, both because suffering oppresses the soul and makes all its efforts much more difficult. And because by these means you gain the confidence of the sick person, who, generally, is more touched by the care you take to procure him any bodily relief than by what you do for the benefit of his soul. Thus, one, you must fulfill with much exactness the prescriptions of the physician and neglect nothing to procure for the sick person the appointed remedies. Take care that these remedies are well-prepared, administered at the right time, and served in such a way that he may take them without repugnance. You will take care to keep them from spoiling or not to use them if they are spoiled. Nothing more disgusts a sick person than a want of neatness, and nothing does him so much injury as the bad quality of the remedies. Two, you must take care not to exceed the prescription of the physician, especially regarding the quantity of the food which they allow the patients and the quality of the drinks appointed by them. It is necessary in this respect to use great reserve and sometimes a holy cruelty, both during the sickness and also during the time of convalescence. To yield to the desires of a poor patient, torment it with hunger, would be to expose him to great danger and perhaps to contribute to his death. You would be guilty in this weakness, not only of imprudence, but also of sin. You must also exercise a wise surveillance over those patients who are susceptible of listening to reason and also over those who come to see him and who may yield to his wishes. It is very useful also to settle with the physician the hours of his meals. Three, one of the things which most contributes to the comfort of patients is cleanliness. You must therefore as much as possible change the linen, air the room they occupy, taking care not to expose them so as to check the perspiration. Leave nothing standing in the room from the night, sweep the floor every day, leave nothing there which might taint the air, make the bed and if they are able, get them up for some time. They will rest much better afterwards. You must nevertheless use great precaution in this with respect to certain diseases and it is safer to do nothing without the advice of the physician when the illness is serious. Four, it is necessary to use great gentleness and kindness with the sick. You must know how to bear or pass over their ill temper and wait for the right time to make those remarks to them about it which ought to be made. When your patient calls you, you must not keep him wearing. If you cannot give him what he wants, you must soften the refusal. Carefully avoid, for the interest of his soul and body, everything that may make him unhappy, impatient or annoyed. Nothing more effectively increases physical disease and mental troubles. Five, you will give additional price to the services which you render to the sick by accompanying them with gentle manners and that kind attention which makes such a strong impression on their hearts. You will soften their sufferings by sitting with them and sympathising with their sorrows and seeking to draw them away from them to console and cheer them. These remarks of affection and interest will prepare the way to the spiritual good which you desire to do them and will give you an access to their hearts. Six, in general, you must avoid thwarting a sick person even though he be unreasonable or even delirious. If it be necessary to use force and constrain to hold the patient in bed, you should take precautions to do so without hurting him, for example, confining his limbs with the sheets in such a way as not to injure them and seeking to calm him by gentleness rather than repressing his efforts by violence. Seven, you should avoid speaking too loudly in the sick room. You must speak to the patient himself in a soft voice, at least unless it is necessary to do otherwise to make him here. You must also take care to keep him away from rooms that are not too noisy, that might interrupt his sleep or disturb him. Too much cheerfulness in the presence of the sick person who is suffering much will be wrong and almost cruel. The room of sorrow is not the best place for high spirits and rejoicing. Eight, you must take care that the patient does not receive too many visits, especially when he is most tired and if he is very much exhausted, he should not receive any. You must be careful that these visits are short and that they do no harm. You must be watchful that his friends do not speak about things that would disquiet or irritate him or in too loud a voice. Nine, if the patient be poor, you should endeavor to procure him necessary help. And if you cannot yourself assist him sufficiently, you should apply to those charitable persons from whom you may reasonably expect some alms. You should have recourse to those confraternities which would most easily assist you. But before all, you should inform the priest with that this advice could be given with any prospect of utility in England. Alms given to the sick per are well bestowed. How efficacious are they to obtain an entrance into their hearts and how easy it is to insinuate those feelings which ought to animate them when you have convinced them by works or more than by words that you love them and that you sincerely desire their happiness. It is then above all that one can, if one may so express it, buy souls and buy them cheaply. End of part two, chapter two.