The Apostolic Blessing at the Point of Death

About the Author:

Fr. Matthew Hardesty is a priest of the Archdiocese of Louisville, KY. He earned Sacred Theology Bachelors and Master of Divinity degrees from St. Mary's Seminary & University in Baltimore, MD in 2011. He has held the positions of Assistant to the Vicar for Priests, founding Chaplain of the Archdiocese's Courage Chapter, and Director of the Archdiocesan Marian Committee. He is currently the Pastor of St. Athanasius Catholic Church in Louisville, KY.

Indulgences and the Dying

The history of the Apostolic Blessing (a.k.a. “Apostolic Pardon”) is not found in the history of the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick (the context in which it is usually offered), but rather in the history of the practice of Indulgences in general, which is a complicated field. If we can grasp the notion and history of Indulgences, we can better understand the Apostolic Blessing.

By way of general definition, using classical language, the 1910 Catholic Encyclopedia reminds us: “In the Sacrament of Penance the guilt of sin is removed, and with it the eternal punishment due to mortal sin; but there still remains the temporal punishment required by Divine justice, and this requirement must be fulfilled either in the present life or in the world to come, i.e., in Purgatory. An indulgence offers the penitent sinner the means of discharging this debt during his life on earth.”

The history and development of indulgences goes back to the Scriptures. We are able to spiritually purify and heal ourselves and the souls in Purgatory because of our mystical union as members of the body of Christ (see Romans 12:5); our ability to accrue merits on behalf of others (see Colossians 1:24); and our access to Christ’s infinite treasury of merits entrusted to the Church (see Matthew 16:18-19; 2 Corinthians 2:5-10; and 1 John 2:2).

During the Roman Persecutions of the first 300 years of the Church, Christians who had denied their faith in order to escape persecution essentially excommunicated themselves. In order to be re-admitted to the Church, they would visit the soon-to-be martyrs in prison and beg them to offer up their suffering to atone for their sin. The martyr would write the name of the lapsed Christian onto a piece of parchment called a “petition of peace,” and sign his own name under it. The lapsed Christian would then show this to his Bishop in order to be re-admitted. This was an early type of Indulgence.

Toward the end of the third century, official lists of penances began to be developed called “Penitentials.” These prescribed severe penances for certain crimes in order to prepare the faithful for the glory of martyrdom (for example, 7 YEARS of penance for committing robbery!) From the seventh to the twelfth century, the Bishops of Ireland and England led the way in a more pastoral approach. It became quite common during this period to favor those who were ill, and especially those who were in danger of death. Often the Bishop would respond to a request for a lighter penance than the one indicated in the Penitential; this was called an “Indulgence.”

Soon, the practice developed of the faithful being allowed to substitute for themselves certain prayers and devotions for the prescribed penances of the Penitentials. These were called “Redemptions.” For example, one could “redeem” one day’s fast by singing all of the psalms. During the First Crusade of the eleventh century, the Council of Clermont decreed a full “Redemption”: “Whoever, out of pure devotion and not for the purpose of gaining honor or money, shall go to Jerusalem to liberate the Church of God, let that journey be counted in lieu of all penance.” The Penitentials eventually fell into disuse and throughout the following history of the Church, other special occasions, pilgrimages, and good works began to have indulgences attached to them, not as substitutes for prescribed penances but as penitential goods in and of themselves, like attending the dedications of Churches and the canonizations of saints, and participating in the work of hospitals.Eventually all the prayers and pious exercises to which the popes had attached indulgences were compiled in a book called the “Raccolta” (Italian for “a collection”) in 1807. This was revised and updated throughout the years to become the Handbook of Indulgences of 1967 and finally the Manual of Indulgences of 1999. The most notable modernization since Vatican II is the moving away from indicating certain “days” or “years” of indulgence to simply indicating “partial” or “plenary” (“full”).

 

The Apostolic Blessing

Regarding the Apostolic Blessing in particular, the “Manual of Indulgences” (1999), says under Concession 12, “At the Point of Death”:

1.   A priest who administers the sacraments to someone in danger of death should not fail to impart the apostolic blessing to which a plenary indulgence is attached.

2.   If a priest is unavailable, Holy Mother Church benevolently grants to the Christian faithful, who are duly disposed, a plenary indulgence to be acquired at the point of death, provided they have been in the habit of reciting some prayers during their lifetime; in such a case, the Church supplies for the three conditions ordinarily required for a plenary indulgence [namely, sacramental confession, Eucharistic Communion, and prayer for the intention of the Sovereign Pontiff].

3.   In this latter case, the use of a crucifix or a cross in obtaining the plenary indulgence is commendable.

4.   The faithful can obtain this plenary indulgence at the hour of death, even if they have already acquired a plenary indulgence on that same day.

5.   The catechetical instruction of the faithful should ensure that they are duly aware and frequently reminded of this salutary benefaction of the Church.

The prayer of blessing itself is quite beautiful in both the older and new forms of the ritual. In the older Latin form, after the priest and the sick person pray together the Confiteor (“I confess to almighty God…”) with its conclusion, as at the older form of the Mass, the priest says:

May our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God, Who gave to Peter His Apostle the power to bind and to set free, receive, in His most loving mercy, your confession and give back to you that robe of grace which was first given to you in Baptism. And I, by the power given to me by the Apostolic See, grant you a full pardon and the remission of all your sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, ✠ and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Through the most sacred mysteries of the Redemption of the human race, may almighty God remit all the punishments due to you in this life and in the life to come; may He open to you the gates of heaven, and lead you into everlasting joy. Amen.

May almighty God, the Father, the Son, ✠ and the Holy Spirit, bless you. Amen.

If, however, there is no time for the recitation of the above prayers, the priest immediately gives the blessing beginning with “By the power given to me by the Apostolic See” and the following two statements. In a case of true necessity, it suffices for the priest to simply say the one sentence alone, “By the power given to me by the Apostolic See… Amen.”

In the newer form of the Apostolic Pardon, the second statement of the older form is given as option “A” (thus giving it priority), the first statement is given as option “B,” and the last statement of explicit blessing is omitted. Most likely, this was determined to be redundant with the blessing given in option B.

As was done before, a penitential rite is prayed using either the Confiteor or the tropes along with “Lord, have mercy,” “Christ, have mercy,” “Lord, have mercy,” and their conclusion, as at the newer form of the Mass. The priest then says one of the following:

A: Through the holy mysteries of our redemption, may almighty God release you from all punishments in this life and in the life to come. May he open to you the gates of paradise and welcome you to everlasting joy. R. Amen.

B: By the authority which the Apostolic See has given me, I grant you a full pardon and the remission of all your sins in the name of the Father, and of the Son, ✠ and of the Holy Spirit. R. Amen.

 

Some Clarifications

To be clear, the Apostolic Blessing is not a “ticket to heaven.” It is a Plenary Indulgence, meaning, all of the penance one must accomplish to “make up for” his sins is remitted.  Even when a priest is unavailable and Holy Mother Church grants the indulgence herself, supplying the three conditions ordinarily required for a plenary indulgence, it is still no “guarantee”; the recipient must be properly disposed. This means that he must be a baptized Catholic, not excommunicated, and in a state of grace. He must also have been a prayerful person in the ordinary course of life.

One might ask, “Why call the priest at all then to confer this blessing if the Church grants this herself when the faithful are at the point of death?” The priest should be called because he can help the recipient to be properly disposed to receive the indulgence if he isn’t already. The recipient can be properly disposed morally through prior Confession and properly disposed spiritually through words of encouragement and exhortation that make the ritual better understood and more edifying.

In addition to the Sacrament of Reconciliation, the priest can also provide the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick and Viaticum ("food for the journey" - one's last Communion) in the same or separate visits, as circumstances permit. It is important to remember that Viaticum is the “last sacrament,” not Anointing or the Apostolic Pardon. The ritual book for the Pastoral Care of the Sick reminds us at paragraph 175 that “The Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick should be celebrated at the beginning of a serious illness. Viaticum, celebrated when death is close, will then be better understood as the last sacrament of Christian life.” Paragraph 237, reminds us of the precept from Canon 921 of the Code of Canon Law, when it states, “If the circumstances are extreme, he should give viaticum immediately, without the anointing… Christians in danger of death are bound by the precept of receiving communion so that in their passage from this life, they may be strengthened by the body of Christ, the pledge of resurrection.”

Another clarification is also in order. What does it mean that, in the case of a priest being unavailable, the Church supplies for the condition of sacramental confession? Is she supplying the forgiveness of sins without a priest? No, she is removing the requirement of confession before the reception of an Indulgence. This calls to mind the benevolence of Canon 916 regarding requirement of confession before the reception of Holy Communion: “A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess; in this case the person is to remember the obligation to make an act of perfect contrition which includes the resolution of confessing as soon as possible.

Finally, there is no dispute over who can give this special blessing. Any priest can and must give the apostolic pardon to a Catholic who is near death. The Code of Canon Law says, at Canon 530.3, “The functions especially entrusted to the parish priest are as follows:… the administration of Viaticum and of the anointing of the sick… and the imparting of the apostolic blessing.”