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Dist. 23, Art. 2, Q. 2

Book IV: On the Sacraments · Distinction 23

Textus Latinus
p. 598

Quaestio II. Cui debeat dari hoc Sacramentum.

Secundo quaeritur, cui debeat Sacramentum istud dari. Et quod solis infirmis, videtur:

1. Per illud quod dicitur Iacobi ultimo1: Infirmatur quis in vobis? inducat presbyteros: ergo illis indicitur, quod presbyteros inducant; et hoc videtur maxime per litteram sequentem: Oratio fidei salvabit infirmum etc.

2. Item, quod solis ratione utentibus, ostenditur per textum, cum dicitur2: Inducat presbyteros; et post: Si in peccatis fuerit: si ergo presbyteros petere et in peccatis esse est proprium adultorum et ratione utentium, videtur etc.

3. Item, quod solis in periculo mortis existentibus, videtur per ipsam denominationem, qua dicitur unctio extrema: ergo solum in extremis3 debet dari.

Contra: 1. Quod non solis infirmis debeat dari, videtur per ipsam Glossam4, quae dicit: «Infirmatur quis in vobis? mente et corpore scilicet, vel fide»: ergo non solum infirmantibus corporaliter, sed etiam infirmantibus spiritualiter debet dari.

2. Item, unctio haec debet dari appropinquantibus ad mortem et existentibus in periculo mortis5; sed qui ingreditur iustum bellum in periculo mortis est: ergo etc.

3. Item, quod non solis ratione utentibus, videtur: quia non soli tales infirmantur, sed etiam alii, qui indigent alleviatione, ut parvuli et stulti: ergo videtur, quod debeat eis hoc Sacramentum dari, quod est unctio infirmorum.

4. Item, hoc probatur ex textu6, in quo dicitur: Infirmatur quis in vobis? Quis tenetur infinite: ergo quicumque infirmatur, debet inungi, ergo etc.

Conclusio

Conclusio. Extrema unctio debet dari solis infirmis ratione utentibus et in periculo mortis existentibus.

Respondeo: Dicendum, quod hoc Sacramentum est principaliter ad venialia delenda, secundum quod possunt convenientem recipere effectum, et per hoc est in alleviationem animae aggravatae a corpore corruptionem habente7: et ideo illud Sacramentum debet dari solis infirmis, qui peccare potuerunt venialiter, et his, prout sunt in articulo mortis; sic enim possunt a culpa veniali liberari convenienter et sufficienter. Et hoc innuitur in ipso textu: status, inquam, infirmitatis, et hoc est quod dicitur infirmatur; periculum, in hoc quod dicitur quis, quasi discretive et notabiliter8 et graviter, ita quod deficit virtus naturae et auxilium medicinae; discretio vero rationis, in hoc quod dicitur: inducat presbyteros, et iterum in hoc quod subinfertur: si in peccatis fuerit, remittentur ei. — Concedendae igitur sunt rationes monstrantes, hoc Sacramentum dari debere solis infirmis ratione utentibus et in periculo mortis existentibus.

1. Ad illud quod obiicitur de Glossa, dicendum, quod illud vel intelligitur subdisiunctive9, nec excluditur infirmitas corporis, sed praesupponitur.

2. Ad illud quod obiicitur de his qui intrant iustum bellum, dicendum, quod etsi tales sint in periculo mortis secundum fortunam, non tamen secundum naturam; Sacramenta autem ecclesiastica non fortunam sequuntur, sed naturam respiciunt. Si tu obiicias de illo qui damnatus est per sententiam; dicendum, quod talis infamis est in facie Ecclesiae10, etiam si secundum veritatem non habeat culpam. Et sic patet ratio illa.

3. Ad illud quod obiicitur, quod alii indigent alleviatione; dicendum, quod ad hoc principaliter Sacramentum istud non ordinatur, sicut patet in ipsa forma11, sed ad peccatorum remissionem, quae per sensus exteriores perpetrata sunt; et ideo non datur infantibus nec naturaliter stultis.

4. Ad illud quod obiicitur de hoc nomine quis, dicendum, quod magis tenetur discretive quam infinite. Et si tu obiicias, quod talis modus non competit illi nomini; dicendum, quod falsum est, quia talis modus annexus est modo accipiendi interrogative12.

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English Translation

Question II. To whom this Sacrament ought to be given.

Secondly it is asked, to whom this Sacrament ought to be given. And that [it ought to be given] to the sick alone seems [to be the case]:

1. From that which is said in the last [chapter] of James1: Is any among you sick? let him bring in the priests: therefore it is enjoined upon them that they bring in priests; and this seems [clear] especially from the following text: The prayer of faith shall save the sick man, etc.

2. Likewise, that [it ought to be given] to those alone who have the use of reason is shown from the text, when it is said2: Let him bring in the priests; and afterward: If he be in sins: if therefore to seek priests and to be in sins is proper to adults and to those who have the use of reason, it seems [so], etc.

3. Likewise, that [it ought to be given] only to those existing in danger of death is seen from the very name by which it is called extreme unction: therefore it ought to be given only in the last extremities3.

On the contrary: 1. That it ought not to be given to the sick alone is seen from the Gloss itself4, which says: «Is any among you sick? in mind and body, that is, or in faith»: therefore it ought to be given not only to those ailing bodily, but also to those ailing spiritually.

2. Likewise, this unction ought to be given to those drawing near to death and existing in danger of death5; but he who enters a just war is in danger of death: therefore, etc.

3. Likewise, that [it ought] not [to be given] to those alone who have the use of reason is seen: because not only such persons are sick, but also others who need relief, such as little children and the mad: therefore it seems that this Sacrament ought to be given to them, which is the unction of the sick.

4. Likewise, this is proved from the text6, in which it is said: Is any among you sick? Anyone [quis] is understood indefinitely: therefore whoever is sick ought to be anointed, therefore etc.

Conclusion

Conclusion. Extreme unction ought to be given only to the sick who have the use of reason and who exist in danger of death.

I respond: It must be said that this Sacrament is principally for the wiping away of venial [sins], according as they can receive its fitting effect, and through this it serves for the relief of the soul weighed down by a body subject to corruption7: and therefore that Sacrament ought to be given only to the sick, who have been able to sin venially, and to these insofar as they are at the point of death; for thus can they be freed from venial fault fittingly and sufficiently. And this is intimated in the text itself: the state, I say, of infirmity — and this is what is meant by is sick; the danger — in this, that it says any [quis], as if discriminatingly and notably8 and gravely, so that the power of nature and the help of medicine fail; but the discretion of reason — in this, that it says: let him bring in the priests, and again in what is subjoined: if he be in sins, they shall be forgiven him. — Therefore the reasons showing that this Sacrament ought to be given only to the sick who have the use of reason and who exist in danger of death are to be granted.

1. To that which is objected concerning the Gloss, it must be said that it is either understood sub-disjunctively9, nor is bodily infirmity excluded, but presupposed.

2. To that which is objected concerning those who enter a just war, it must be said that although such persons are in danger of death according to fortune, yet not according to nature; but the ecclesiastical Sacraments do not follow fortune, but regard nature. If you object concerning him who has been condemned by sentence; it must be said that such a one is infamous in the face of the Church10, even if according to the truth he has no fault. And thus that argument is clear.

3. To that which is objected, that others need relief; it must be said that this Sacrament is not principally ordained to this, as is clear from its very form11, but to the remission of the sins which have been committed through the exterior senses; and therefore it is not given to infants nor to those naturally mad.

4. To that which is objected concerning this word any [quis], it must be said that it is taken rather discriminatingly than indefinitely. And if you object that such a mode does not befit that word; it must be said that this is false, because such a mode is annexed to the interrogative manner of taking it12.

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Apparatus Criticus
  1. 1
    Vers. 14. — Seq. locus est ibid. v. 15. — Post ergo illis cod. K addit debet dari, quibus.
    Verse 14 [James 5:14]. — The following passage is in the same place, v. 15. — After ergo illis ("therefore to them") codex K adds debet dari, quibus ("ought to be given, to whom").
  2. 2
    Iac. 5, 14. et subinde v. 15: Et si in peccatis sit. (Idem recurrit infra in corp.). — Voci solis cod. P addit adultis et. Inferius pro petere cod. F inducere, Vat. petere seu inducere.
    James 5:14, and thereafter v. 15: And if he be in sins. (The same recurs below in the body.) — To the word solis ("only") codex P adds adultis et ("adults and"). Below, for petere ("to seek") codex F reads inducere ("to bring in"); the Vatican edition, petere seu inducere ("to seek or to bring in").
  3. 3
    In cod. X secunda manus supplevit constitutis.
    In codex X a second hand supplied constitutis ("[when so] appointed").
  4. 4
    Beda, in Iac. 5, 14: Sicut dederat contristato, sic dat consilium et infirmanti... tristato praecipiens, ut ipse pro se oret et psallat, infirmanti autem vel corpore vel fide mandans, ut... plurimorum se adiutorio, et hoc seniorum, curare meminerit etc.
    Bede, on James 5:14: Just as he had given [counsel] to the sorrowful, so he gives counsel also to the sick man... enjoining the sorrowful one that he pray and sing psalms for himself, but bidding the sick one, [ailing] either in body or in faith, that... he be careful to seek healing by the help of many, and this of elders, etc.
  5. 5
    Cfr. supra a. 1. q. 1. ad 3. pro 1. parte.
    Cf. above, a. 1, q. 1, in the reply to 3, for the first part.
  6. 6
    Iac. 5, 14. — Priscian. XIII. Grammat. c. 6. docet, quod quis «generalem et infinitam substantiam, quae pertinet ad universarum rerum genera et species et partes demonstrat». Cfr. ibid. XVII. c. 5.
    James 5:14. — Priscian, Grammar XIII, c. 6, teaches that quis ("who / anyone") «denotes a general and indefinite substance, which pertains to the genera and species and parts of all things». Cf. ibid., XVII, c. 5.
  7. 7
    Vide supra a. 1. q. 4. — Pro convenientem cod. F convenienter.
    See above, a. 1, q. 4. — For convenientem ("fitting") codex F reads convenienter ("fittingly").
  8. 8
    Codd. BDLPQ aa incurabiliter, plures alii codd. perperam curabiliter. Mox pro deficit codd. EFGIK defecit.
    Codices B D L P Q aa read incurabiliter ("incurably"); several other codices, wrongly, curabiliter ("curably"). Soon, for deficit ("fails") codices E F G I K read defecit ("has failed").
  9. 9
    Sive copulative. Cfr. tom. II. pag. 836, nota 1. Simile habetur infra dub. 4. — Plures codd. perperam disiunctive, Vat. legit: quod illud intelligitur universaliter sub disiunctione. Inferius post sed cod. A addit principaliter.
    That is, copulatively. Cf. tom. II, p. 836, note 1. The like is found below, dub. 4. — Several codices, wrongly, disiunctive ("disjunctively"); the Vatican edition reads: quod illud intelligitur universaliter sub disiunctione ("that this is understood universally under a disjunction"). Below, after sed ("but") codex A adds principaliter ("principally").
  10. 10
    Cfr. C. Infames esse (17.), C. 6. q. 1, ubi recensentur omnes capitalibus criminibus irretiti inter infames. Vide etiam C. Infames non possunt esse (2.), C. 3. q. 7. § 2.
    Cf. the canon Infames esse (17), Causa 6, q. 1, where all who are entangled in capital crimes are reckoned among the infamous. See also the canon Infames non possunt esse (2), Causa 3, q. 7, § 2.
  11. 11
    De qua supra a. 1. q. 4.
    On which, see above, a. 1, q. 4.
  12. 12
    Cfr. Priscian., XVII. Grammat. c. 5. — Vide scholion ad praecedentem quaest.
    Cf. Priscian, Grammar XVII, c. 5. — See the scholion on the preceding question.
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