Magdalen College Pontifical: the Visitation of the Sick (English) (an English pontifical of the 12th century (Magdalen College, Oxford, MS 226))

The Prayers for the Sick

When the seven psalms are ended, let them add: Lord, have mercy. Our Father. And lead us not. O Lord, save thy servant. Send him help. Be unto him, O Lord. O Lord, hear my prayer. The Lord be with you. Let us pray.

O God, who didst grant to thy servant Hezekiah fifteen years more of life: so also may thy power raise thy servant from the bed of sickness unto health. Through our Lord.

Let us pray. Look, O Lord, upon thy servant labouring in the weakness of his body, and refresh the soul which thou hast created; that, amended by thy chastenings, he may straightway feel himself saved by thy healing. Through Christ our Lord.

Let us pray. O God, who ever rulest thy creature with loving affection: incline thine ear to our supplications, and look graciously upon thy servant labouring in bodily sickness; visit him with thy salvation, and grant the medicine of heavenly grace. Through.

Let us pray. O God, who hast bestowed on mankind both the remedy of salvation and the gifts of eternal life: preserve in thy servant the gifts of thy powers, and grant that he may feel thy healing not in body only but also in soul. Through.

Confession and Absolution

Here let him confess, and be absolved by all; then let him be kissed by all the brethren, and meanwhile let these collects be said.

Let us pray. O Lord our God, who art not overcome by our offence but appeased by satisfaction: look, we beseech thee, upon this thy servant, who confesseth that he hath grievously sinned against thee. Thine it is to give the washing away of sins and to grant pardon to sinners, who hast said that thou desirest the repentance of sinners rather than their death. Grant therefore, O Lord, that he may keep the vigils of penitence to thee, and, his deeds amended, may rejoice that everlasting joys are bestowed on him by thee. Through our Lord.

Let us pray. Be present, O Lord, at our supplications, and graciously hear me, who first of all have need of thy mercy: that thou, who hast made me the minister of this work not by choice of merit but by the gift of thy grace, mayest give me confidence to perform thy service, and thyself work in our ministry that which belongeth to thy loving-kindness. Through Christ our Lord.

Let us pray. Grant, we beseech thee, O Lord, to this thy servant the worthy fruit of penitence: that, obtaining pardon, he may be restored without guilt of his offences to thy holy Church, from whose wholeness he had strayed by sinning. Through our Lord.

The Anointing

Here thou shalt say: The Lord be with you. Let us pray.

Almighty, everlasting God, who by thy blessed Apostle hast said, Is any sick among you? let him bring in the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with 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 [James 5:14–15]: we humbly beseech thee that this thy servant, through the ministry of our anointing and the gift of thy holy loving-kindness, may be worthy to obtain pardon of his sins and to come to everlasting life. Through our Lord.

Then thou shalt anoint him, saying thus:

By this unction and his most loving mercy, the Lord pardon thee whatever thou hast sinned by sight, by hearing, by taste and by unlawful words, by smell, by touch, by walking, by unlawful thoughts, and by the heat of lust. Amen.

When thou hast anointed him, thou shalt wash thy hands, and shalt cause the water in which thou hast washed to be thrown into the fire or carried to the sacrarium.

The Reconciliation

Then thou shalt say: The Lord be with you. Let us pray.

O merciful God, O gracious God, who according to the multitude of thy mercies blottest out the sins of the penitent, and by the pardon of remission takest away the guilt of past offences: look upon this thy servant, and graciously hear him who with full confession of heart asketh remission of all his sins. Renew in him, most loving Father, whatever hath been corrupted by earthly frailty, or whatever hath been violated by the deceit of the devil, and restore him in the unity of the body of thy Church by perfect remission of sins. Have mercy, O Lord, on his groanings, have mercy on his tears, and admit him, who hath no trust but in thy mercy, to the sacrament of reconciliation. Through our Lord.

Let us pray. We humbly entreat thy majesty, O Lord, that thou wouldest vouchsafe to grant the pardon of thy mercy to this thy servant, worn by the long squalor of penitence: that, receiving again the wedding garment, he may be worthy to enter the royal table from which he had been cast out. Through.

The Communion and Prayers after

Here let the sick man be communicated. Then follows: The Lord be with you. Let us pray.

Almighty, everlasting God, the eternal salvation of them that believe: hear us for thy servant, for whom we implore the help of thy mercy; that, health being restored to him, he may give thanks to thee in thy Church. Through our Lord.

Let us pray. O God, the singular defence of human weakness: show forth the power of thy help upon our sick brother; that, aided by thy mercy, he may be worthy to be presented again in thy holy Church. Through our Lord.

[The Commendation of the Soul follows in the manuscript (pp. 191–194); it is a separate office and is not given here.]