Visitatio Infirmi.
The Providence of Suffering
The sick person is invited to recognize God's loving purpose in their affliction and to surrender their will to Him.
Do you think that nothing happens by chance or without a purpose? No illness or cross happens to anyone by chance or at random. Isn't it true that no one suffers from illness unless God's providence allows it? But why would the all-wise God allow anything to happen unless it serves a purpose? So, is it necessary for you to bear this illness or the cross that God has now laid upon you? Furthermore, God the Father is always with us in spirit. Whether the Father shows mercy or brings punishment, He is still the Father: He acts with equal love, and perhaps with even greater love in one case than the other. If God has given you good things for a long time, now He may allow you to experience bad things; but these bad things will only happen if they serve a greater good, namely, to bring you back to Him. This is grace: even though you've been rejected so many times, it still doesn't refuse to visit you again and seek you out. If so, then submit your will in this matter to the divine will, as a sacrifice pleasing to God above all else (after Christ).
Examination of Conscience
A series of questions designed to help the individual reflect on their past life, sins, and desire for true repentance.
Do you confess? Haven't you lived as well as you should have? Have you lived poorly, and often sinned gravely? Is there any sin beyond or greater than the others? Or are there any sins that weigh on your conscience, so that you need a special benefit of absolution? Is there any scruple regarding matters of faith or religion? Do you remember the years of your life that have passed by in the bitterness of your soul? Do you want to feel a deeper bitterness than what you already feel? And do you rejoice if you feel it? And does it pain you that you don't feel a greater bitterness? Do you ask to be enlightened about the things you don't know, or have you forgotten so that you can repent of them? And are you sorry for what you either don't know or have forgotten? If you live, is it your intention to judge and correct yourself for what you have done wrong? Is it your intention, if you live, to amend your life and to avoid both the means and the signs of the sins you've committed so far? Do you promise this sincerely? Are you asking to be reminded freely about this promise?
Steadfastness in Faith
An inquiry into the believer's commitment to the Christian faith and their desire for that faith to remain firm even in the face of death.
Do you believe? What are the truths of the Christian faith that were once handed down to the saints? Can you be saved if you don't believe this? Are you glad and giving thanks to God that you were born in this faith, lived in it, and now will die in it? Are you asking, and do you want us to humbly petition God in your name, that this faith may not fail you, and that it may not falter at the moment of your death? Do you also ask that the fruit of this faith, especially the death of Jesus Christ, may not perish in your life, even if it has faded away, but that it may not be lost in death? If your senses fail you, or if pain or weakness has affected you to the point that certain things slip your mind regarding your faith or its commandments, do you wish to be considered as if you never said them? And do you renounce those things as if they weren't yours?
The Ministry of Forgiveness and Restitution
A call to reconcile with others through forgiveness and to make necessary restitution for past wrongs.
Will you forgive? Do you forgive those who have wronged you in any way, just as you want God to forgive you? Are you asking God to forgive them as well? Do you forgive them the satisfaction they owe for the wrongs they’ve done to you, whether in word or deed? Do you want this to be signified to those who have sinned against you in your name; that you have forgiven them all their offenses as far as it depends on you? Would you forgive them if they had committed greater and more serious sins against you? Would you rejoice if you had many people to whom you could grant forgiveness, so that you might receive even more abundant forgiveness for your sins from God? If you've hurt someone, do you ask for their forgiveness so that they might forgive you? Have you remembered anyone in particular, and do you want to be known by them in your name? Since no forgiveness can be hoped for regarding sins against the eighth or ninth commandment of divine law, unless restitution is made. Are you prepared to make restitution to those you've wronged in their personal matters, to restore the reputation of those whose good name you've taken away, and to do so without deceit or malice? Do you remember who they are?
Read the original Latin
EXistimas ne?
Nullum morbum aut crucem casu evenire cuiquam, vel temere.
Quin immitti a Deo, citra cujus Providentia nemine morbo laborare?
Deum autem sapientissimum, ut nihil unquam permittat contingere, nisi quum expedit?
Expedire itaque tibi morbum hunc vel crucem, quem vel quam tibi nunc immisit Deus.
Porro Deum Paterno erga nos animo esse. Patrem autem, sive indulgeat sive castiget, aeque Patrem esse: nec minore, & forsan majore hoc quam illud amore facere.
Bona tibi diu dedisse, nunc mala dare; sed nec mala haec, nisi ut majoris boni causa sint, nempe ut redeas ad illum.
Gratiae esse hoc, quod toties a te repulsus, tamen nec sic deferat; quin visitet te denuo, & requirat te.
Si sic; subdes hac in re Divinae voluntati voluntatem tuam, sacrificium omnium (post Christi) Deo gratissimum.
Confiterisne?
Non tam bene vixisse te quam oportuit? imo vixisse te male, saepeque & graviter peccasse?
Estne peccatum aliquod praeter vel supra caetera? vel suntne peccata aliqua, quae gravent Conscientiam tuam, ut peculiaris Absolutionis beneficio tibi sit opus?
Estne scrupulus aliquis circa ea quae sunt Fidei, vel Religionis?
Recogitasne annos elapsos vitae tuae in amaritudine animae tuae?
Cuperesne majorem pro iis amaritudinem sentire, quam sentis? & gauderesne si sentires? & doletne quod majorem non sentias?
Petisne illuminari de iis quae ignoras, vel oblitus es, ut de iis poenitere possis? & poenitetne id etiam quod vel ignoras, vel oblitus es?
Estne propositum si vixeris judicandi …e, & vindicandi in teipsum quod deliquisti?
Estne propositum si vixeris emendandi vitam, & devitandi tum media, tum signa eorum quae hactenus peccasti?
Hoccine sancte promittis?
An petis de hoc promisso admoneri te libere?
Credisne?
Quae in Symbolo sunt Fidei Christianae semel Sanctis traditae?
Te servari non posse nisi ea credas?
Laetarisne & gratias agis Deo, quod in hac Fide natus es, vixisti, & jam morieris in ea?
Petisne ipse, & visne nos tuo nomine a Deo supplices petere, ne deficiat in te Fides haec ad ipsum, atque adeo ne in ipso mortis articulo?
Petisne etiam ut fructus Fidei hujus, & praecipue Mortis Jesu Christi, utcunque in vita tua periit, tamen ne pereat in morte?
Si te sensus defecerit, aut dolor seu debilitas eousque pertulerit, ut quaedam tibi excidant contra Religionem, seu Praecepta ejus, visne haberi pro non dictis? & renunciasne iis tanquam non tuis?
Remittisne?
Illis, qui te quocunque modo laeserint, sicut tibi vis remitti?
Petisne a Deo ut ipse quoque illis remittat?
Remittisne illis satisfactionem ad quam tenentur ratione illorum, quibus te verbo vel facto laeserunt?
Visne hoc illis, qui in te peccarunt, tuo nomine significari; Te illis quantum in te est noxas omnes remisisse?
Remissurusne esses si graviora & plura in te deliquissent?
Gauderesne si plures jam haberes quibus remittere possis, quo inde uberius tibi remissio peccatorum tuorum a Deo impertiri possit?
TU ipse si quos laesisti, petisne ab iis veniam, ut & tibi remittant?
Ecquos imprimis commeministi, & vis significari illis hoc tuo nomine?
Quum remissio nulla sperari potest peccatorum contra octavum vel nonum praeceptum Legis Divinae, nisi fiat restitutio. Paratusne es restituere illis rem, quibus in re familiari; & illis famam, quibus in fama detraxisti: idque sine dolo, & dila…ione?
Recordarisne qui tandem sint?
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