The focus of this volume is on ministry to the sick and dying in
the later Middle Ages, especially providing them with the
sacraments. Medieval writers linked illness to sin and its
forgiveness. The priest, as physician of souls, was expected to
heal the soul, preparing it for the hereafter. His ministry might
also effect healing of bodies, when that healing did not endanger
the soul. This book treats how a priest prepared to visit sick
persons and went to them in procession with the Eucharist and oil
of the sick. The priest was to comfort the patient and, if death
was imminent, prepare the soul for the hereafter. Canon law,
theology, and ritual sources are employed. Three sacraments,
penance, viaticum, (final communion) and extreme unction (anointing
of the sick) are treated in detail. Sickbed confession was designed
to forgive the ailing person's mortal sins. A priest could absolve
a dying person of all sins, even those reserved to a bishop or the
pope. Viaticum was to strengthen a suffering Christian for life's
last conflict, that between angels and demons for the soul of the
dying person. The deathbed thus was a spiritual battlefield.
Extreme unction was reserved for those in danger of death,
relieving the soul of venial sins or ""the remains of sin,"" even
after confession and absolution. The commendatio animae
(commendation of the soul) used with the dying was to usher the
soul into the afterlife. Many works have been written about
attitudes toward death, dying, and the afterlife in the Middle
Ages. Likewise, there is a good deal of literature about individual
sacraments. This study aims at bridging between these literatures,
with a focus on the priest and parishioner in both theory and
practice at the sickbed.
General
Imprint: |
The Catholic University of America Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Release date: |
September 2023 |
Authors: |
Thomas M. Izbicki
|
Dimensions: |
229 x 152mm (L x W) |
Pages: |
248 |
ISBN-13: |
978-0-8132-3735-0 |
Categories: |
Books
Promotions
|
LSN: |
0-8132-3735-1 |
Barcode: |
9780813237350 |
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