Pontifical of Anianus, Bishop of Bangor: Orders for Communicating and Anointing the Sick (Welsh) (Pontifical of Anianus, Bishop of Bangor 1268–1304)

The Order for Communicating the Sick

The Order for Communicating the Sick.

¶ First let the chapter bell be rung, and let the brethren who can, assemble in the church. Meanwhile let the priest make ready with all his priestly vestments except the chasuble; and let two brethren be vested in surplices to carry the candles, and a third for the holy water [and the cross; the scan is damaged here]. The brethren being gathered in the choir and the ministers made ready as is said, let the priest take the chalice with the paten, and reverently place in it the Body of Christ, and cover it with a very clean cloth.

¶ This done, let them go forth in this order. Let the brother who carrieth the holy water go first, and let him that carrieth the cross follow; third, those that carry the candles; [then] the priest. The other brethren follow in procession, saying plainly the psalm Have mercy upon me, O God [Psalm 51]; one of whom carrieth a cruet with wine, and another with water. And when they are come to the place where the sick man lieth, the priest entering shall say: Peace be to this house. Answer: And to all that dwell therein.

¶ Then, coming to the sick man, let him sprinkle the house in the form of a cross, saying: Thou shalt purge me [Asperges]. Have mercy. Glory be to the Father.

¶ Then immediately let [the sick man] adore and kiss the cross and say I confess [the scan is damaged here]. [Then] let the priest say this prayer by way of absolution:

The Lord Jesus Christ, who said to his disciples, Whatsoever ye shall bind on earth shall be bound also in heaven, and whatsoever ye shall loose on earth shall be loosed also in heaven, of whose number he hath willed us to be, though unworthy, himself absolve thee through our ministry from all thy sins, whatsoever thou hast negligently committed in thought, word and deed; and, loosed from the bonds of sins, vouchsafe to bring thee to the kingdom of heaven. Who with the Father [liveth and reigneth].

¶ Afterwards let the priest lift up the Body of the Lord [over] the chalice, and let the sick man say [this] thrice:

Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof; but speak the word only, and my soul shall be healed.

¶ Then let the priest give him the Eucharist, saying:

Receive, brother, the viaticum of the Body of our Lord Jesus Christ, who keep thee from the malignant enemy and bring thee to everlasting life.

¶ Then let him wash his fingers over the chalice with wine and water, and give it to the sick man to drink, saying nothing.

¶ After the communion let the priest say: The Lord be with you.

O Lord, holy Father, almighty, everlasting God, we faithfully beseech thee that to this our brother N., receiving the most holy Body and Blood of Jesus Christ thy Son our Lord, it may be health both of body and soul. Through the same. [Given by its opening words, referring to the York order; supplied from it.]

¶ These things done, let them return together to the church in the order in which they came, saying the psalm Have mercy upon me, O God.

The Order for Anointing the Sick

The Order for Anointing the Sick.

¶ First let the chapter bell be rung, and let the brethren who can, assemble in the church. When they are gathered, and the priest with the ministers made ready as above, let the priest take the holy oil, and then let them go forth in order with the psalm Have mercy upon me, O God, as is appointed in the Communion of the Sick.

¶ And when they are come to the place where the sick man lieth, the priest entering shall say: Peace be to this house. Answer: And to all that dwell therein.

¶ Then standing before the sick man let him say: Our help is in the name of the Lord. Answer: Who hath made heaven and earth. The Lord be with you. Prayer.

Let there enter this house, O Lord Jesus Christ, at the entrance of our lowliness, everlasting happiness, divine prosperity, calm gladness, fruitful charity, everlasting health: let the approach of devils flee from this place; let the angels of peace be present; and let all discord, put to flight, depart from this house. Magnify thy Name upon us, and bless our coming in; sanctify the entrance of our lowliness, who art holy and loving, and abidest with the Father and the Holy Ghost world without end. Answer. Amen.

Another prayer. Let us pray and beseech our Lord Jesus Christ that with his blessing he would bless this dwelling and all that dwell therein, and give them a good angel for their keeper; that he would make them serve him, to consider the wondrous things of his law; turn away from them all contrary powers; deliver them from all fear and from all disquiet; and that thou wouldest vouchsafe to keep them in health in this dwelling. Who with the Father and the Holy Ghost livest and reignest.

Hear us, almighty and merciful God, and vouchsafe to bestow thy visitation upon this thy servant N., whom divers sickness vexeth. Visit him, O Lord, as thou didst vouchsafe to visit Peter's wife's mother, and the centurion's servant, and Tobias and Sara by thy holy angel Raphael. Restore in him, O Lord, his former health: that he may be worthy to say in the courts of thy house, The Lord hath chastened and corrected me, but he hath not given me over unto death. [Given by its opening words, referring to the York order; supplied from it.]

¶ Then let him sprinkle the sick man with holy water in the form of a cross, and afterwards the house, saying: Thou shalt purge me. Psalm: Have mercy upon me. Glory be to the Father. And let Thou shalt purge me be repeated.

¶ Then immediately let the sick man say I confess. Which said, let all the priests standing by absolve him together; and thenceforth let the clerks standing by say, reading, the seven penitential psalms with the Litany. And the priest, while they read the psalms, having dipped his thumb in the holy oil, shall say by way of absolution:

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, let all the power of the devil be quenched in thee by the laying on of our hands, yea, by the calling upon of all the holy angels, archangels, patriarchs, prophets, apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins, and all the saints together. Amen.

¶ [Then let him make] the sign of the cross with the holy oil on the body of the sick man in the places written below, saying at each cross its proper prayer [the rubric is damaged in the scan].

At the eyes. By this holy anointing and his most loving mercy, the Lord pardon thee whatever thou hast sinned by the fault of the eyes. Answer. Amen.

¶ Here let him touch the place anointed with tow, putting it in a clean vessel, after each anointing. [Likewise at the ears, nostrils, lips, hands], at the feet and at the loins, as above [the formulas are not printed in full here].

¶ All these things done, and the psalms and litanies read by the clerks, let the priest say: Lord, have mercy. Christ, have mercy. Lord, have mercy. Our Father. And lead us not.

O Lord, save thy servant. Send him help, O Lord, from the sanctuary. Be unto him, O Lord, a tower of strength. Let the enemy have no advantage of him. O Lord, hear my prayer. The Lord be with you.

Prayer. O Lord God, who didst speak by thine apostle, Is any sick among you? let him call for the elders of the Church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with holy oil in the name of the Lord; and the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up, and if he be in sins they shall be forgiven him: cure, we beseech thee, our Redeemer, by the grace of the Holy Ghost, the sicknesses of this sick man, and heal his wounds, and forgive his sins, and drive from him all pains of heart and body, and restore to him full health within and without; that, healed by the help of thy mercy, he may be restored to the former duties of thy service. [Supplied from the York order.]

Another prayer. Look, we beseech thee, O Lord, upon thy servant N. labouring in the sickness of his body, and refresh the soul which thou hast created; that, amended by chastisements, he may feel himself forthwith saved by thy healing. [Supplied from the York order.]

Another prayer. O Lord, holy Father, almighty, everlasting God, who by pouring the grace of thy blessing upon sick bodies [the rest by reference to the Robert order, p. 185*].

Let us pray. The Lord Jesus Christ be with thee, to defend thee [the rest by reference to the Robert order, p. 186*].

¶ Afterwards let the tow be cast into the fire. These things done, let them return to the church in the order in which they came, except that the cross remaineth before the sick man.