 Part 2, Chapter 3, Articles 1-5 of The Christian Nurse and Her Mission in the Sick Room. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. The Christian Nurse and Her Mission in the Sick Room. By Francois Xavier Gautre-Laye. Translated by John Mason Neal. Part 2, Chapter 3, Of the Care of the Soul and the Means that Must be Used that the Sick Person Profit by His Sickness. Article 1. Things that you must observe relative to the patient's room. You might well place in the room and before the eyes of the patient pictures of our Savior Jesus Christ, especially in His Passion. The poor, particularly children, are wonderfully affected by such help to devotion. Nevertheless, in this, as in all things else, you must have regard to the present disposition of the patient, and not endanger the good you hope to do him by abruptly putting these pious practices before persons hitherto strangers, and perhaps opposed to them. Take out of the room all objects that may awaken any dangerous passion in the soul of the patient, such as foolish and improper pictures. You must still more carefully keep away those persons who, in whatever way, have been the occasion of sin to the sick man, or may become so. It is always right, and sometimes it is necessary, that these persons should go out of the house. You should not even allow them to visit the sick man, and this is a point of great importance in hospitals and elsewhere. You must therefore carefully watch over those persons who ask to see him, and if you suspect them, refuse them. ARTICLE II Of what should be avoided in speaking to the sick person. You should avoid recalling to the sick person those for whom he has any hatred, or, on the contrary, any unholy affection. If it is necessary to speak to him about them, you must do it with precaution, so as not to expose him to sin. You would consequently abstain from inquiring in his presence of those who have injured him in his property, his reputation, or his person, and who may have contributed to his illness. If he himself begins a conversation on this subject, you should try to turn him gently to something else. Neither must you, without necessity, talk to him about his children or his temporal affairs. The least inconvenience on such subjects would be to distract the sick man from more useful thought. They might easily reawaken slumbering passions, or at least throw him into danger. In speaking to the sick man you must avoid all that may fatigue him or disturb his mind. It is, therefore, well to use simple language and ordinary expressions. You would also do well in speaking to the lower orders to use such language as they can understand. Article III. How the patient must be taught to accept his sickness with resignation. The conduct of the patient during his illness and the benefits he may derive from it depend almost entirely on the way in which he regards it and the disposition in which he receives it. Therefore is, therefore, nothing more important than to make him understand its advantages and to dispose him to endure its severity in a spirit of faith. For this two things are principally necessary. To persuade him of the utility of the sickness and the numerous benefits he may derive from it. To disperse the different pretexts that are used to obscure thoughts of faith. And to keep up the repugnance of nature. Let us see first what should be suggested to the sick person to dispose him to accept his sickness with resignation. It is a remark that you must always remember intending the sick. It is of the highest importance, but its application is more or less difficult. Do you wish to suggest to your patients those feelings which enter into their hearts and produce upon them the effect you desire. You must know how to divine their disposition. Take them as they are. Identify yourself in some sort with them. Information of their interior condition will make you know what you may easily suggest to them in each circumstance. Their resignation or their natural repugnance, their fear or their trust will put you in the right way. And setting out from the place where you find them, you may insensibly lead them to that to which you wish to lead them. This principle of conduct is fundamental in this matter, as in many others. Here are some reflections which you may read to the sick person to bring him to resignation. 1. Sickness is the necessary consequence of our nature, and the union of the soul with the body tainted with original or natural sin. No one is exempt from the sad necessity of suffering. It would avail me nothing to give way to grief and impatience. I should thus only aggravate the sickness of the body and add to it a still more dreadful sickness that of the soul. We are all subject to this law. We are indeed for man, but at the same time very salutary. The rich and powerful of the world are not exempt from it. Kings must submit to it as well as their subjects. The saints themselves have been sick, suffered, and died. What do I say? The Saviour of the world, the Son of God, our Lord, to sanctify our sufferings and our death, has willed to taste it in all its bitterness. O my God, I will not complain with such examples before my eyes. Thou art my Master. It is not Thy servant for whom Thou desirest death, but for sin. Yes, it is sin that Thou wouldest destroy in me. Thou art my Father, and if Thou permitst me to suffer here, it is to purify me from my faults and to make me worthy of Thy kingdom, where nothing that is defiled can enter. Lord, give me patience. O my Saviour, I would unite my sufferings to those which Thou hast endured, fortify my courage, and since I belong to Thee, having been purchased with the price of Thy precious blood, do not forsake me. He who feareth God, saith the Holy Spirit, should not fear death, because it is for him a source of happiness. 2. Sickness in the designs of God ought to be efficacious in assuring our eternal happiness. O that this motive were all powerful to make us receive it in love. Upon what does our eternal fate depend, in the manner in which we die and our disposition at that decisive moment? Now what is more efficacious than sickness to help us to prepare for it? Could God give us a stronger proof of His desire that we should not be lost but saved? He is not content with warning us in His Holy Gospel to be always ready, but as if he feared to take us unawares, he generally sends sickness beforehand to announce to us the near approach of death and to prepare us for it. Yet once more how wonderful is this grace, since it is uncertainty which, more than anything else, makes death terrible, and the greatest favour that God can give us is lovingly to warn us that we may not be taken by surprise and that we may have time to prepare. Thus then my life is in thy hands. Some days of suffering may ensure me a happy eternity. I have only to will, and heaven is mine. Nothing can hinder my gaining it, since God offers it to me and gives me both the time and the means of assuring to myself its possession by asking pardon for my sins. Article 4 How to Overcome the Pretext Which Would Hinder Our Receiving Sickness with Resignation It is understood that, in what we are about to say, the habitual dispositions of the sick person must be studied. You must take him at that point where you find him, and lead him on to the desired degree of perfection. You will have recourse, sometimes with advantage, to purely human motives, to introduce little by little something more perfect. Often also you would exert yourself more effectually for the benefit of the patient by destroying the pretexts which nature does not fail to oppose in such a case to the divine will. One, if it only concerned myself, the sick man will say, I could easily divine what to do, but my family, my children, what will become of them? Reply, God is their father and yours. He will not forsake them. He takes care of the birds of the air. Will he not take care of his children? Put your trust in him, and win by your resignation his blessing on you and your children. After all, should they suffer here, provided they are saved and win heaven, what does it matter? Take heed that you ensure for yourself its possession. Who knows but that you may be able to help them there? Sin is man's only true evil, as there is no real good but love and good works. We are rich enough when we possess God, and it is often safer to live in a mediocrity bordering on indigence than in ease and the luxuries of life. Two, another will regret that he has not time to repent of his numerous sins. Remind him that the best and most perfect penitence is to do the will of God in everything, and above all to accept the sickness which he sends with all its consequences. Make him understand that this sacrifice, generously made, will alone suffice to assure him of salvation, and that the time of his sickness, if he knows how to profit by it, will furnish him the means of greatly pleasing God. Finally, let him thank God that he has not died in a time when he was guilty of mortal sin. There are those to whom death is painful, because it takes from us the possibility of doing any more for the glory of God. Here also you should make the sick person understand that there is nothing more excellent than the holy will of God who knows his desires and will recompense them. The single sincere disposition to die willingly that we may possess God will acquire for us in one moment the perfection which we desire, says St. Augustine. Besides, you wish, you say, to live that you may do good, but may not the future be dangerous for your soul. And God, who gives you now the opportunity of assuring your eternal salvation, may he not foresee that you will be lost if your life should be prolonged? 3. It often happens that sick persons complain that they can neither pray nor work, but is not suffering more excellent than prayer or work, or rather is it not when we suffer with resignation the best prayer and the most meritorious work as it is generally the most painful. 4. You have fears for the past. Remember that sentence of one of the friends of St. Augustine. If I will, from this moment I am the friend of God. CIVOLO AMICUS DE ECHE NUNC FIO. Yes, whatever may be the number of my sins, however enormous my guilt, if I will, from this moment I am the friend of God. You regret the time of which sickness seems to deprive you? Know well that you cannot employ it more usefully than in doing the holy will of God. You wish the future were in your power? Well, you will employ this future in loving and blessing God eternally. What better use can you make of it? NONDUM CREDIT QUIMMORTUM TEAMIT HE WHO FEARS DEATH, SAYS ST. AUGUSTINE, HAS NOT A LIVING AND ENTIRE FAITH. HE WHO IS PERFECT, SAYS THE SAME SAINT, SUFFERS LIFE WITH PATIENCE AND RECEIVES DEATH WITH JOY. QUI PERFECTUS EST PATIENTER VIVIT ET DELECTABILITOR MORITUR. 5. You are grieved at dying so young. But how many die still younger? What would long life profit you if for all eternity you should be separated from God and burning in the flames of hell? Aught you not, rather, to return thanks to God that He has preserved you to this day, and now gives you the opportunity of obtaining heaven? You have here relations, children whom you love, and must not they also die? Will they not soon follow you to the heaven of which you are about to take possession? You have great riches, possessions to which your heart is attached. But what are all these in comparison with the heaven offered to you by God? Would these perishable riches have followed you later to the grave? And is it not better to leave them when God rules than to possess them with the danger of one day losing them with sorrow? 5. How we must contend with the different temptations to which sickness is exposed. We cannot here enter with detail into all the temptations to which sickness may expose us, but we will speak of the most common and point out the principal methods which may be used to overcome them. 1. Temptation against faith. These temptations generally attack educated persons who have acquired the habit of submitting everything to the examination of their reason, and who lean too much upon their own judgments. If the sick person is with this kind of temptation, you must advise him as the best remedy to change the subject and to occupy himself with other acts such as contrition, hope, and charity. Let him thank God for the blessing of being born in the bosom of the Church Catholic and of dying in her communion. Let him return no other answer to the suggestions of the evil spirit than, I believe what Holy Church believes and teaches. Let him not forget that the merit of faith consists in submitting his mind to truths that he cannot understand, and that this obedience to God, the master of minds and hearts, pleases him infinitely. You may, if the temptation continues to harass the sick person, remind him that the divinity of the Christian religion is abundantly proved by its establishment throughout all the world, by numerous miracles worth in its favor, by millions of martyrs who have died in confirmation of their faith, etc. Humility and the consciousness of his ignorance and the weakness of his mind is also a very efficacious means of overcoming this temptation. What am I, oh my God, to set myself up above the whole Church and to call in question so many doctors and saints? Ignorant and blind, what can I do but humbly submit to believe firmly what thou teachest me? O nothingness, humble thyself. Corruption and misery, be silent. 2. Temptation to despair. This is the principal temptation with which the devil assaults the sick. This is why one should be very careful in speaking to them of the justice of God, the pains of the damned, in setting before them the enormity of their guilt, but we should rather seek to inspire them with trust in the mercy of God and in the passion of the Saviour and in the Divine promise. You will therefore remind the patient, one, of the infinite goodness of God, who is therefore called the father of mercies. He seeks those who fly from him. He complains of those who will not return to him. He assures us that he willeth not the death of a sinner, but rather that he should live and that he is ready to forgive a man's sins as soon as he detests them. A single act of contrition suffices to remit all the sins of life. David said to Nathan, I have sinned. Nathan answers him. The Lord hath put away thy sin. The publican cried out, God be merciful to me a sinner, and was justified. The prodigal son arose and said to his father in his sorrow, Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and immediately the embraces of his father assured him of his pardon. Two, you will speak to him of the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, who came down to earth to save sinners as he himself teaches. I am not come, he says, to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. He assures us, him that cometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out. He compares himself to the good shepherd, who, leaving the care of the faithful sheep, goes after that which is lost, and brings it back upon his shoulders rejoicing, and appears thenceforth to love it with a kind of preference, as we see in St. Magdalene, St. Margaret of Cortona, St. Augustine, and many other saints. It is on this account that whoever has a good will should never fear damnation, since our blessed Lord, that he might not condemn us to eternal death, willed himself to be condemned to death upon the cross. Three, you should dwell upon the certainty of the divine promises and the assurance that God gives us that he will grant his grace to those that ask it. Ask, and ye shall receive, he says to us. Verily I say unto you, whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in my name, he will give it to you. Which promise must not only be understood as applying to the righteous, for it is written in St. Matthew 7, 8, Everyone that asketh, receiveeth. It suffices, therefore, to pray for the grace necessary to salvation, to be assured of obtaining them. The Lord is good to the soul that seeketh him, says Jeremiah, Lamentations 3, 25. Three, temptation to vain glory. If you find that the sick person rests in a presumptuous confidence of his salvation, and leans too much upon his good works, you must remind him, in ourselves we have nothing but sin, and that all that is good in us comes from God, and does not belong to us. What hast thou that thou didst not receive? 1 Corinthians 4, 7. Let him not forget that no one on earth can have an infallible certainty of his eternal salvation. No man knoweth whether he be full of either love or hatred. Ecclesiastes 9, 1. And that we ought to keep ourselves till the end in a salutary fear, according to the advice of the apostle, Philippians 2, 12. Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling. 4. Temptation to impatience. If the sick man suffered the pains of sickness impatiently, you will represent to him the horrible torments endured by the martyrs for the name of Jesus Christ, giving themselves up to be burnt alive, cast into the fire, torn in pieces by the iron of the torturers. You will especially place before his eyes what Jesus Christ, innocence itself, suffered for love of him. It is in vain to seek to avoid the sufferings of sickness, for it is impossible. And if we do not learn to receive them with patience, we shall suffer both in this life and in the next. While if we resign ourselves to the will of God, we will not only soften the sufferings of this life, but we will increase our merit and the glory which is to be their recompense. According to that word of the Savior, your sorrow shall be turned into joy, St. John 16, 20. You will try to make the sick person understand that the sufferings which accompany the last moments of life serve to adorn his crown, since to suffer patiently is the most perfect of all works, as St. Bonaventura remarks when treating on this text, St. James 1, 4. Let patience have her perfect work. Let him not forget that it is thus that God treats his friends in this life, the cross being the most certain sign of our predestination. What more consoling for us, poor travelers in this veil of tears, than the word of the apostle, our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, II Corinthians 4, 17. The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us. Romans 8, 18. The pains of death ought not to affright the heirs of a crucified God, says St. Cyprian. Nectarian Crucifixi Herides Mortis Suplica. You must, above all, carefully instill into the sick person conformity to the will of God under whatever circumstances, whether or not the remedies are effectual, and therefore you will exhort him often to ask God for patience. It will be well also to produce in him acts of faith, hope, and love, or to repeat to him a prayer asking for the grace of patience. For the surest and easiest way of making him pray is to pray with him. Very often you obtain nothing by saying to a sick person, ask, pray. You must put in practice what you wish him to do. This remark applies equally to children in whom you wish to inspire any feeling of piety and extends to many like cases. Below you will find the forms of different acts which should be read to the sick person. V. Temptation to Hatred and Vengeance You must remind the sick person who still harbors hatred against his neighbor of the precept imposed on all Christians to love their enemies, St. Luke 6, 27, 28. It is God who commands this and we must obey. To forgive their enemies is an essential condition for those who hope to obtain it from God, and it is likewise the certain reward. That is to say, if you do not forgive, God will not forgive you. And on the contrary, if you forgive, God will forgive you. St. Luke 6, 37. Your brother has treated you unjustly, you say, but is not your conduct towards God still more guilty? If then you desire God to forget the wrong you reproach yourself with having done towards him, how much more ought you not to forgive your brother the injury you have received from him? Nothing is more pleasing to God than the forgiveness of injuries. The history of the saints furnishes us with many proofs of this truth, but the most beautiful example that can be set before a Christian is that of his savior dying upon the cross and praying for his murderers whom he even seeks to excuse before his father. It will be well to insist upon that petition in the Lord's prayer. Forgive us our sins as we forgive them that trespass against us, and to make the sick person understand what it is he asks of God, that it would be his own condemnation if he did not forgive, while if he generously sacrifices all his resentment he may in a measure be assured of heaven, since he has fulfilled the condition imposed upon him. To certain persons you may also very usefully represent that the forgiveness of injuries is the proof of a great and generous soul and said before them this act as so much more meritorious for them and to the glory of God as it is more difficult and heroic. You may read with advantage to the sick person who is in the case of which we are treating the parable contained in St. Matthew 18, 23-35. End of Part 2, Chapter 3, Articles 1-5. Part 2, Chapter 3, Articles 6-8 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 Francois Xavier Gautre-Lay translated by John Mason Neal. Part 2, Chapter 3, of the care of the soul and the means that must be used that the sick person profit by his sickness. Article 6 of several means which may be used to help the sick person to pass the time of his sickness profitably. 1. Useful distraction which may be provided for him. It is useful for the consolation of the sick to set before them is these days which sometimes appear very long, a certain variety to amuse them. Nothing is more efficacious for this purpose than to put him under a sort of rule in which you have set down the different exercises which are to fill up the day and the order in which they are to follow. You will attain this end by placing alternately and at fixed times, sometimes a short prayer, for example, morning and evening, then some interesting reading and short conversation interrupted by intervals of rest and hours fixed for dressing and tending, giving remedies or nourishment. One word of piety said from time to time will suffice to keep up in him good thoughts to encourage or console him. 2. Of reading to sick persons and books which may be read to them or that they may read with profit. When the sickness is lingering and the sufferings are not acute, it is often profitable to read aloud to the patient, to edify as well as to amuse and comfort him. But in order that this reading may be useful, it should be suitable to the necessities and disposition of the patient. In the same way that it is impossible to use the same language indifferently to all, you cannot with profit put into their hands the same books. It is well to consult the priest who visits the sick person, who may not only advise, but also may lend some good book. The lives of saints, writers and subjects of piety treated with simplicity, and in some instances books in which the truths of religion are brought forward with clearness and solidity, and in which infidel arguments are refuted. These are, in general, the books which may be most useful to sick persons. Anything that tends to excite hope, to keep up resignation and conformity to the will of God, to sustain the patience of the sufferer, to make him understand and feel the love of our Lord Jesus Christ for sinners, and the infinite mercy of God, will be made useful for his soul. And those books which bring forward these truths will make a more salutary impression upon him than those which treat of the divine justice. These may even become hurtful to certain persons. 3. Of a picture of the crucifixion It is very desirable that the sick person should have a picture of the crucifixion near to him. The contemplation of the Savior dying upon the cross for us will sustain him in the sufferings of sickness and fortify him against the terrors of death. 4. Of the prayers which should be used by the sick, and acts which should be suggested from time to time. You should neglect nothing which may lead the sick person to pray. If you cannot attain this end, you should try to make up for it by praying aloud in his presence and in his name. But nothing is more profitable under these circumstances than to produce in him acts of the principal virtues most necessary to his position. We have put together a few taken for the most part from Holy Scripture. You will choose those which are most suited to the disposition of each person and his spiritual needs as far as you can judge of them, and you will be content with suggesting one or two at a time. You will understand that they should be read to the sick person or repeated aloud with him that he may enter more and more into the feelings which they express. 1. Acts of contrition. Have mercy upon me, O God, after thy great mercy. Psalms 51.1. Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee, and am no more worthy to be called thy son. Make me as one of thy hired servants. St. Luke 15.18. God be merciful to me a sinner. St. Luke 18.13. I confess in thy presence that I have sinned exceedingly in thought, word, and deed by my fault, by my great fault. Lord, enter not into judgment with thy servant. Psalms 143.2. Turn thy face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Psalms 51.9. A broken and contrite heart, O God, thou will not despise. Psalms 51.17. Oh, Lord, rebuke me not in thine indignation. Neither chasten me in thy heavy displeasure. Psalms 38.1. Oh, remember not the sins and offenses of my youth. Psalms 25.7. Burn, Lord, cut, chasten me in this world, if only thou wilt spare me in the next. St. Augustine. Oh, thou who didst pardon Mary Magdalene. Thou who didst hear the penitent thief. Thou hast given to me also hope of pardon. 2. Acts of hope. The Lord is my light and my salvation. Whom, then, shall I fear? Psalms 27.1. Into thy hands I commend my spirit, for thou hast redeemed me, O Lord, thou God of truth. Psalms 31.6. In thee, O Lord, have I put my trust. Let me never be put to confusion. Psalms 31.1. Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. Acts 7.59. Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit. St. Luke 23.46. O good Jesus, hide me in thy holy wounds. Though an host of men were laid against me, yet shall not my heart be afraid. Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil. For thou art with me, O Lord. Psalms 27.3. And 23.4. I will have mercy and not sacrifice, for I am not come to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance. St. Matthew 9.13. He that spared not his own son, but delivered him up for us all. How shall he not with him also freely give us all things? Romans 8.32. Think, kind Jesu, my salvation cause to thy wondrous incarnation. Leave me not to reprobation. Faint and weary thou hast sought me, on the cross of suffering bought me, shall such grace be vainly brought me. 3. Acts of love to God. Whom have I in heaven but thee? And there is none upon earth that I desire in comparison with thee. Psalms 73.24. The Lord himself is the portion of mine inheritance and of my cup. Thou shalt maintain my lot. Psalm 16.6. Too late have I known thee. Too late have I loved thee. St. Augustine. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress or persecution or famine or nakedness or peril or sword? Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life nor angels nor principalities nor powers nor things present nor things to come nor height nor depth nor any other creature shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. Romans 8, 35, 37, 38, 39. My God, whose goodness is infinite, I love thee above all things. I love thee with all my heart. My God, I am not worthy to love thee because of my sins, but for the love of Jesus thy Son make me worthy. I desire that all men should love thee. I desire that thou shouldest be always loved that I could love thee more. O Jesus, let me never be separated from thee. I will love thee, O Lord, my strength. The Lord is my stony rock, my defense, and my savior. Psalms 18, 1. 4. Acts of Thanksgiving for Graces Received I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall ever be in my mouth. Psalms 34, 1. Blessed be the name of the Lord from this time forth forevermore. Psalms 113, 2. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, for he hath visited and redeemed his people. St. Luke 1, 68. 5. Acts of Humility O, look thou upon me and be merciful unto me. Psalms 119, 132. Look upon my adversity and misery, and forgive me all my sin. Psalms 25, 17. God be merciful unto me a sinner. St. Luke 18, 13. What shall I, frail man, be pleading? Who for me be interceding when the just are mercy needing? Forsake me not, O Lord my God, be not thou far from me. Psalms 38, 21. 6. Acts of Conformity to the Will of God Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven. St. Matthew 6, 10. I will bless the Lord at all times. His praise shall ever be in my mouth. Psalms 34, 1. Father, thy will, not mine, be done. O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless, not as I will, but as thou wilt. St. Matthew 26, 39. Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in thy sight. St. Matthew 11, 26. Behold me, O Lord, do with me what shall please thee. I will what thou willest. I will suffer as much as thou desirest. Into thy hands I commit my soul and my body, my life and my death. I am altogether thine, my God, I ask of thee only one thing, thy grace and thy love. I accept sickness, O God, I accept the pains which I suffer. I accept all, it shall please thy goodness to send me. I am thine, O save me. 7. Acts of desire to see God and the glory of heaven. When shall I come to appear before the presence of God? Psalms 42, 2. My soul is a thirst for God, even for the living God. Psalms 42, 2. Woe is me that I am constrained to dwell with mesek, and to have my habitation among the tents of Qadar. Psalms 124. When, O my God, shall I see thee face to face? When shall I love thee perfectly, O infinite beauty? O my Jesus, when shall I see thee as thou art, and behold thy sacred wounds? One thing have I desired of the Lord, which I will require, even that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the fair beauty of the Lord, and to visit his temple. 8. Of the sacraments It is not sufficient that the sick person should once receive the blessed sacrament. You must see that this help and consolation is procured for him, as often as will be judged expedient. You will therefore use means that the priest may frequently see him, to hear his confession, and to give him holy communion. You will seek to instill into the sick person the desire for as precious a grace, for there he will find the help and consolation that he needs, since nothing more softens the pain of sickness than the peace of souls, and hope which is obtained in the sacrament. This point is especially important when the sickness is lingering, or the sick person is in greater temptation of offending God, either on account of evil habits previously contracted, or by feelings of vengeance and hatred which may easily be reawakened through the want of patience and resignation when his sufferings are acute. This advice to receive frequently the sacrament, or at least absolution during sickness, is applicable not only to cases above described, but in all circumstances, since by these means, one, we obtain more abundant graces, two, we obtain pardon for faults into which we may have fallen since our last confession, three, we may make amends for these faults. It would also be well that the sick person should agree with the priest upon some sign to be used when he has lost the power of speech, to show him that he desires to receive absolution, or that he agrees to the propositions made to him, and that he accuses himself of each, and asks pardon for his faults. Article 7 How to Acquaint the Sick Person with His Danger if It Should Be Necessary You must not keep the sick person in a state of false confidence about his state and the seriousness of his illness, these deceitful hopes which are nourished in the heart of the sick, even when we see the certainty of their death, keeps them back from offering to God the sacrifice of their life, and may expose them to be contented with equivocal disposition and a half-will with regard to the future. It is great cruelty, said Louis XIII, dangerously wounded when, on his journey to Lyon, not to warn the sick man when you see him in danger, because, as he who is on the brink of a precipice which he does not see is inevitably lost if he is not told of it, so he who draws near his end, if he is allowed to die without being told of his peril, falls often into an abyss of woe and eternal misery. The fear of dying without knowing or preparing for it has made some persons agree amongst themselves to warn each other charitably in case of sickness when there is appearance of danger. Neither must you, in ordinary cases, speak too openly of death and its consequences. The imagination may easily revolt from the presence of a sacrifice so painful to nature, but you will warn the patient not to depend too much on what is said to him by his relatives or physicians. You will exhort him to set his affairs in order and to leave the issue of his sickness in God's hands. You will let him know the seriousness of his illness and the risk he runs, but gradually so as not to frighten him, especially when you fear to produce an unfavorable impression by speaking too openly. Thus you will not hide the truth from him, but you will acquaint him with it by degrees. Nevertheless you must not forget that the fear of displeasing the sick, of frightening them, or of grieving them by proposing that they should prepare to receive the blessed sacrament is not as well founded as is generally believed. You will find a great number who only wait for this proposal to exceed to it, and who only desire that it should be proposed to them. There are some persons to whom the thought of death is familiar, and to whom it comes as a consolation. You will speak more freely to them. You will be more reserved with those persons who shrink from the idea of death, and in whose minds the thoughts of God's judgments produce excessive trouble. The sincere desire of the spiritual welfare of the sick person, and to use the method most profitable for him, is the sovereign rule to be followed in this matter. You will obtain by prayer the guidance you need for yourself, and the grace which is necessary for the sick person. Article 8. How to act with regard to the will. It is useful, according to the condition of the sick person, to be acquainted with his temporal affairs, if his will is made and his last wishes clearly expressed, and if all is made in good order. In case the sick person has never taken this precaution, you should exhort him not to put it off any longer, at the risk of exposing his family to lawsuits and difficulties which are the ordinary consequences of so doing. Let the will be made at the beginning of the illness. This is what was decreed by the Senate of Lyon, held in 1404. Then the sick person is more at liberty to seek advice and to act upon it. The strength which is still given to him will prevent those sad consequences of a wandering and failing mind which sick persons generally experience at the approach of death and which renders them incapable, so to speak, of acting up to the light of reason and the advice of prudent persons. Besides, it is very sad that when the soul has not time enough to give to the important business of its salvation, it should be taken off by temporal interests. It will not then be justice, but the skill or the solicitation of some important air or of some person more dearly loved which will influence him frequently to the prejudice of his family and of which the sick person will have to render account at the tribunal of God. You will suggest to him, therefore, to take advantage of the time while he still enjoys the possession of all his faculties to set his affairs in order, and you will guard if it should be necessary against unjust feelings which might influence him to favor one part of his heirs to the prejudice of others, which almost always causes hatred and division in families. These preferences, besides, are generally the effect of natural affection as in opposition to reason and the requirements of justice. You may offer to call for a solicitor, but you must be careful to conceal nothing from the sick person which may prejudice a third party. In these circumstances you must use great prudence and circumspection. You must place him in the presence of eternity, of God and his soul, and leave him to his conscience unless he puts any questions to you. If, nevertheless, he has any restitution to make, you must urge him to make it. If, besides, you can dispose him to anything for the good of his soul, for example, for the church or the benefit of the poor, let him do it immediately, but avoid even the suspicion of avarice by reminding him of it. Let him be exhorted not to leave to his heirs the care of acquitting his pious legacies, and let him not forget to fulfill all his obligations and to pay his debts. What will it advantage him, if, to enrich his family, who will soon forget him, he exposes himself by his injustice to burn eternally in the flames of hell? What shall it profit a man if he gain the whole world and lose his soul? ST. MATHIEW XVI, 26 END OF PART II, CHAPTER III, ARTICLES VI-III PART II, CHAPTER IV, OF THE CHRISTIAN NURSE AND HER MISSION IN THE SICKROOM 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 SICKROOM by Francois Xavier Gautre-Lay translated by John Mason Neal. PART II, CHAPTER IV, HOW TO ASSIST THE SICK PERSON IN PREPARING FOR CONFESSION When the sick person has made up his mind to confess, you can offer to help him to prepare without fatigue and trouble. To this end you may suggest some reflections which would make him appreciate the benefit of a good confession, such as the following. I cannot lengthen my life here, but I may make it holier. I cannot ensure temporal happiness in this world, but I can gain eternal happiness. Louis XI, King of France, in his last illness, gave five hundred crowns a day to his physician to ensure his neglecting nothing that would prolong his life. Alas, time cannot be bought with money, but eternity may be obtained by good works. A single moment well employed will suffice to win eternity. A single confession well made at the hour of death may suffice to repair the past, to obtain pardon for all sins, to win heaven. O God, what thanks can I return thee, that thou hast had mercy upon me even till this day, and given me the means of being restored to thy friendship? Where should I now be if I had died in sin? Help me, Lord, to profit by the grace which thou givest us today. I desire to make a good confession. My God, I have much offended thee, but I hope in thy mercy. Thou didst institute penance for the remission of sins. Thou canst not refuse to me that pardon which thou hast so solemnly promised to those sinners who should come to thee. You will comfort the sick person and lighten the labor of preparation by reading to him such an examination of conscience as may be found in many books, and you will choose such as are appropriate to the condition of the sick person and the state of his conscience. Footnote. One will be found at the end of this work. End footnote. Finally, you must reassure him with regard to the difficulties which frighten him and tell him that the priest will supply what he is unable to find out for himself. If the person who waits upon the sick man reads to him an examination of conscience, prudence may sometimes dictate the dwelling on certain sins only in a general way. It will be sufficient then to advise the sick person to ask the priest to help him in this point and to make the necessary interrogations. If you know that the sick person has restitutions to make, hatred to get rid of, scandal to repair, or that he is actually in a state of sin, you would suggest to him prudently to prepare for absolution by the accomplishment of these essential obligations. If you have caused to fear that, through ignorance or forgetfulness, he does not know the necessary truths of salvation, you will recall them to his mind by reading slowly and at different times the abridgment given below. Of the principal truths which must be remembered when we prepare for absolution and holy communion. 1. What is God? God is a spirit infinitely perfect, the Creator and Lord of all things. 2. What is the Holy Trinity? 1. God in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, who are equal in all things. 3. Who is Jesus Christ? Jesus Christ is the Son of God, who was made man for us by taking a body and soul like ours from the Blessed Virgin Mary. 4. How and why did he die? Jesus Christ died upon the cross to redeem us from sin and hell. 5. What became of him after his death? He rose again the third day, which is Easter day. Then he ascended into heaven, body and soul, on ascension day. 6. What will become of us after death? 7. Those who die in a state of grace will go to heaven forever, and those who die in sin will go to hell for all eternity. 7. What is the condition of that man who commits mortal sin? He has lost the friendship of God and drives the Holy Spirit from his heart. He has become the abode of evil spirits. He has lost the fruits of his good works, and he will go to hell if he dies in this unhappy condition. 8. What must he do to obtain pardon for his sins? He must have true contrition for them, confess them sincerely, make restitution for the evil he has done, and receive absolution. 9. What happens when, with true repentance, we receive absolution? All our sins are forgiven through the merits of the blood of Jesus Christ. The devil is driven from our hearts. The Holy Spirit descends into them. We become again the friends of God. Our good works are restored to us, with the right of going to heaven if we continue in a state of grace till our death. 10. What do we receive in Holy Communion? We receive Jesus Christ himself, his body and blood, soul and divinity. Examination of conscience on the principal duties of a Christian, which may be read to the sick person. 1. The theological virtues. Faith. Am I sufficiently instructed in the truths of religion? Have I allowed myself voluntarily to doubt any article of faith? Have I spoken against the truth? Have I read books written against the faith? Hope. Have I yielded to despair? What was the cause of it? Have I sinned by presumption? Charity. Has human respect hindered me from fulfilling my duties? Have I not had a dislike to holy things? Have I led my neighbor into sin by my advice or example? Have I sought for occasions of sin? 2. The commandments of God. 1. Have I yielded to any superstition? 2. Have I habitually neglected prayer? 3. Have I sworn, blasphemed the name of God or violated any vow? 4. Have I worked or caused others to work on the Sunday? Have I neglected or caused others to neglect the blessed sacrament? Have I attended to it as I ought? 5. Have I nothing to reproach myself with regarding my parents, my masters, my superiors and my priests? 6. Have I given way to irreverent speaking or disobedience towards them? 7. Have I wished for their death? 8. If the person is married, have I anything wherewith to reproach myself with respect to my husband or my wife, my children, my servants? 9. Have I taken care of their education, their instruction? 9. Have I watched that they fulfilled the duties of their religion? 10. Have I never led them into sin? 11. Have I neglected to correct them, to watch over them? 6. Have I borne any hatred in my heart against my neighbor? 12. Any desire of vengeance? 13. Have I used bad language to him? 14. Have I quarreled with anyone? 15. Have I struck him, etc. 16. 7. Have I been guilty of any sin against this commandment, by thought or desire, by words of double meaning, two free conversations, by pictures, dangerous reading, improper songs, by look or action? 17. Have I led my neighbor into sin? 18. Am I not in the habit of sin, in the occasion of it? 19. 8 and 10. 19. Have I wronged my neighbor in his goods? 20. My parents, masters, workmen or servants, any other persons, government? 21. Have I repaired the wrongs I have done? 22. Have I kept anything which did not belong to me? 23. 9. Have I lied in such a way as to injure religion, justice, charity? 24. Have I spoke evil, columniated, or taken pleasure in listening to evil speaking or talimny? 25. Have I repaired the wrong I have done to my neighbor by evil speaking? 26. Have I formed rash judgments? 27. 3. Have I observed the rules laid down by the church in days of fasting, abstinence? 28. Have I communicated at least three times a year? 29. 4. Deadly sins. 30. Have I given way to excess in eating and drinking? 31. Have I been proud even to despising all men and setting myself up even against God? 32. Have I habitually neglected the business of my soul? 33. Have I given way to envy? 34. 5. Duties of condition. Married persons, masters or servants, having such or such an employment, occupation, condition, have each to find out in what their conscience reproaches them, if they would not have it brought against them in the judgment of God. We have here pointed out the most ordinary kinds of sin. It is necessary also to mention the number, at least as much as can be remembered. Those circumstances which would alter the nature of the sin must be mentioned. How to dispose the sick person to contrition for his faults? After having assisted the sick person in preparing for his confession, you will endeavor to produce in him some acts of contrition by reminding him of the principal motives which tend to excite it, and you may read aloud and slowly the following forms, which it will be proper to repeat from time to time. Above all, you will teach the sick man, one, that contrition is a grace which can only come from God, and consequently we ought to ask him for it. 2. That we are certain to obtain it if we ask sincerely. Since on one hand it is an obligation to detest the sins of which we are guilty, and on the other, since we are unable to fulfill this obligation, and produce this act by the strength of nature, God himself grants the grace necessary, for this end, to those who ask him for it, as he has promised. 3. That such is the necessity of contrition that it cannot be dispensed with, so that if the sinner dies without having abhorred his sins, he would be infallibly condemned at the judgment of God. Acts of contrition which may be read to the sick person, one of these acts at a time will suffice, read slowly and pausing at intervals. 1. O God, my Creator and my Savior, I have thought upon thy judgment, and am filled with fear. Who shall not fear thee, King of Nations? Lord, if I look back upon my life I see nothing but a long chain of sins, and how can I not be afraid? My sins are more in number than the hairs of my head. My iniquities rise up before me as a great mountain, and are like a sore burden too heavy for me to bear. If thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss, O Lord, who may abide it? Woe is me! Why have I refused to serve thee? Why have I tempted thy anger, despised thy threatenings? O God, I am thy creature and the work of thy hands. Look upon me and have mercy upon me. Forgive me, O Lord, thou knowest our weakness, thou knowest that we are but dust. I have sinned, O Lord, I confess it. I have sinned exceedingly. Remember thou thy mercy, O thou lover of souls, who didst not make us that we should be lost, but that thou mightest save us. I have merited hell, O God. I acknowledge it. I have merited it many times. But remember what thou hast taught us by the mouth of thy prophets. As I live, sayeth the Lord God, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Ezekiel 33.11. Thou knowest, O Lord, that I abhor my sins, that I have resolved no more to offend thee, and how dare I anew incur thy hatred. Lord, I hope in thee. Refuse not to forgive me, for thou art the father of mercies. My heart is made to love thee, and not to hate thee. 2. Father, I have sinned against heaven and before thee. I am not worthy to lift up mine eyes towards heaven. I no longer deserve to be called thy son. It is true I acknowledge it, O my God, and how can I deny it when my inequities cry out so loudly against me? Lord, my sin is ever before me. I cannot hide it, and off myself I cannot blot it out. How foolish have I been, O my God! Have I ever found happiness away from thee, and has not the world always deceived me? Wherefore, then, have I gone aside from thy commandments? What have I gained by offending thee, O thou who art the life of my soul, my consolation here, my hope in heaven, and my only good? How ungrateful am I? Thou hast loaded me with benefits, and I have only repaid thee with my crimes. Thou hast never ceased to protect me, and I have done nothing but outrage thee. And thou, O God, whose goodness is infinite, thou still openness to me the arms of thy mercy, thou vouchsafest still to offer me the pardon of which I have made myself so often unworthy. Consider your ways, sinners, thou sayest, return to God. It is done, O God, I am thine. Thy love has triumphed over the hardness of my heart. I have known thee, and have loved thee too late. I will love thee at least faithfully from henceforth, and nothing shall separate me from thee. Yes, whatever it costs me, I will be saved. I will escape hell. I will win heaven. I will serve, love thee, my God. I will never again offend thee. O Lord, grant me this grace, all unworthy as I am. It will be well to remind the sick person from time to time that the best sacrifice he can offer, that which is most agreeable to God, the most profitable for himself, and that which is best fitted for his condition, is patience under his sufferings and resignation to the will of God. You will make him understand that his casting himself upon God entirely is an heroic act, and you can cause him to say, from time to time, So be it, O God, since thou hast willed it. Lord, I commit myself into thy fatherly hands. Thy will not mine be done. Amen, amen. You may very profitably read to the sick person some of the psalms or some chapters in the imitation which have reference to his circumstances. Here follow short ejaculations to be said by the sick person. Behold, O most sweet Jesus, in what misery I lie here and what pain I suffer, this sickness is very tedious to me, but I will try to endure it willingly for thy love. In thy most loving heart I lay up all my griefs, and by it I offer the same to thy eternal praise. Thou knowest, O merciful Jesus, that I cannot pray much. Therefore I pray thee to supply this defect with thy love. Vouch safe, O loving Jesus, to render thanks to thy eternal father for this my sickness, as thou didst render thanks to him on the cross for all thine own pains. Vouch safe to offer to thy beloved father all my sufferings, as thou didst offer to him all thy agonies, as an oblation well pleasing to him. I desire to bear this my sickness with the same intention with which thou didst endure thy most bitter passion and death. Whatever I suffer or am to suffer, let me suffer it in thy love, and seek no other reward, but that I may please thee. If thou increasesst my pain, increase also my patience, for thou knowest my great misery. I resign myself entirely to thy most holy will, and I say in thy words and with thy intention. Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me. Nevertheless not my will, but thine be done. Another prayer in the very agony of death. O most sweet Jesus, in this my extreme need, I, thy unworthy creature, and a most grievous sinner, fly to thee with a humble and contrite heart in confidence that, as thou didst receive the dying thief at the last moment of his life, so thou wilt not cast me out who come to thee. Behold, O my Lord, on all sides is distress and misery, and the attacks of the devil. If thou castest me out, who then will receive me? If thou failest me, who will console me? Therefore I give myself entirely to thy will, for living or dying I cannot escape thy hands. Woe is me, O my Lord, that I have ever offended thee, that I have so often neglected thy inspirations and warnings, that I have loved other things more than thee, but call to mind thy precious blood shed for me, and let it not have been shed in vain. Let thy pains, thy blood, thy merits, satisfy for me, and win for me heaven. To thee, O Lord Jesus, I command my soul, my hopes, my all, and more especially the last moments of my life. O Lord, in thee have I trusted, let me never be confounded. Other ejaculations to be suggested to a dying person. O most merciful Jesus, by thy woes, by thy wounds, by thy blood, by thy death, have mercy upon me now and in the hour of my death. O most dear Jesus, set thy passion and thy death between thy judgment and my soul, now and in the hour of my death. O most tender Jesus, by that bitterness which thy most blessed soul felt, when it departed from thy most blessed body, I pray thee to have mercy on my soul in its departure and to bring it into life eternal. Jesus Christ, crucified for me, have mercy on me and forgive my sins. O most gentle Lamb of God, that takest away the sins of the world, take away from me all my sins. Yesu, salvation of the weak. Yesu, salvation of sinners. Yesu, helper of them that are in agony. Cast me not out, because I believe in thee. Repel me not, because I hope in thee. Suffer me not to be separated from thee, because I love thee with all my heart and hope to love thee forever. Remember, O good Jesus, what thou didst suffer for me. Remember by how bitter a death thou didst die for me. I believe in thee, O my Jesus. I hope in thee, O my Jesus. I love thee, O my Jesus. And because I love thee, therefore I grieve for all my sins. Because I love thee, I resolve nevermore to offend thee. Would that I had never offended thee, that I had never sinned, that I had always loved thee. I cast all my sins into the depths of thy mercy and into thy bleeding wounds. I desire to accept this, my death, in honor of thy death, and to unite it with thine. O Jesus, I would live to thee, O Jesus, and would die to thee. Jesus, be thou my Jesus, my everlasting Savior. Phiney End of Part 2, Chapter 4 End of The Christian Nurse and Her Mission in the Sick Room by François Xavier Gautrelet Translated by John Mason Neal