CHAPTER V: RITE OF THE APOSTOLIC BLESSING WITH PLENARY INDULGENCE AT THE HOUR OF DEATH
1. The apostolic blessing with plenary indulgence at the hour of death should be imparted, following the reception of the last sacraments, to those who desire it while still rational and conscious. It may likewise be granted to anyone who has given any indication of such desire, or who has seemed contrite before becoming unconscious or irrational. But it must be denied absolutely to the excommunicated, the impenitent, or those who die in patent mortal sin.
2. The pastor or another priest who assists the sick person, vested in surplice and purple stole, on entering the room where the sick person lies, says:
P: God's peace be in this home.
All: And in all who live here.
Next he sprinkles the sick person, the room, and the bystanders with holy water, saying:
Purify me with hyssop, Lord, and I shall be clean of sin. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Have mercy on me, God, in your great kindness. Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit.
All: As it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.
P: Purify me with hyssop, Lord, and I shall be clean of sin. Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow.
3. If the sick person wishes to confess, the priest hears his confession and absolves him. If not, he bids him make an act of contrition, and if time permits, briefly instructs him on the power and efficacy of this blessing. He then exhorts him to invoke the holy name of Jesus, to bear his sufferings patiently in expiation for past sins, to resign himself fully to God's holy will, even to the extent of accepting death resignedly in satisfaction for punishment due to sin.
4. The priest consoles him, instilling confidence that by the divine bounty he will receive remission of temporal punishment and everlasting life.
5. Then he says:
P: Our help is in the name of the Lord.
All: Who made heaven and earth.
P: Do not keep in mind, O Lord, the offenses of your servant nor take vengeance on his (her) sins. Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father (the rest inaudibly until:)
P: And lead us not into temptation.
All: But deliver us from evil.
P: Save your servant.
All: Who trusts in you, my God.
P: Lord, heed my prayer.
All: And let my cry be heard by you.
P: The Lord be with you.
All: May He also be with you. Let us pray.
Merciful God, kind Father, our sole comfort, who will that no one who believes and trusts in you should perish, in your boundless love look favorably on your servant, N., whom the true faith and Christian hope commend to you. Come to him (her) with your saving power, and by the suffering and death of your only-begotten Son, be pleased to grant him (her) pardon and remission of all sins. Let his (her) soul at the hour of its departure find in you a merciful judge, and cleansed of every stain in the blood of your Son, let him (her) be found worthy of passing into everlasting life; through Christ our Lord. All: Amen.
6. After the "Confiteor" has been said by one of the assistants, the priest says May almighty God, etc. May the almighty and merciful Lord, etc. Then he continues:
May our Lord Jesus Christ, who gave to His blessed apostle Peter the power of binding and loosing, mercifully accept your confession and restore your baptismal innocence. And I, by the power given to me by the Holy See, grant you a plenary indulgence and remission of all sins; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. All: Amen.
P: By the sacred mysteries of mankind's restoration may almighty God remit for you the punishment of the present life and of the life to come, and may He open to you the gates of Paradise and admit you to everlasting happiness. All: Amen.
P: May almighty God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, bless you. All: Amen.
7. But if the dying person is so near death that time does not allow the Confiteor or the foregoing prayers, the priest imparts the blessing at once, saying:
By the authority granted me by the Holy See, I impart to you a plenary indulgence and the remission of all sins; in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. All: Amen.
P: By the sacred mysteries, etc.; may almighty God, etc., as above.
In dire urgency it suffices to say:
By the authority granted me by the Holy See, I impart to you a plenary indulgence and the remission of all your sins; and I bless you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. All: Amen.
8. If this blessing is given to more than one the above prayers arc said only once for all in common.
9. With the greatest fervor the priest should add the prayers given below in the rite for commending a departing soul: and he should exhort the bystanders to pray for the dying person.
SECTION: Rite for commending a departing soul
Spiritual assistance to the dying
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