Note 1025 — Chapter III · PENITENTS IN EXTREME DANGER

Cf. Rit. Rom. l. c. Quum primum noverit, quempiam ex fidelibus curæ suæ commissis ægrotare, non expectabit, ut ad eum vocetur: sed ultro ad illum accedat, idque non semel tantum, ted sæpius, quatenus opus fuerit: horteturque Parochiales suos, ut ipsum admoneant, quum aliquem in parochia sua ægrotare contigerit, præcipue si morbus gravior fuerit. The sick person should, therefore, be visited early, the visit should be repeated, but with discretion, so that he may not be in any way inconvenienced. Various circumstances, however, cause patients or those belonging to them to conceal the illness from the priest, such as, fear of troubling him, the erroneous idea that his visit will entail expense, anxiety lest his appearance might have an injurious effect upon the patient’s condition; lack of conscientiousness on the part of the doctor, malice, unbelief. In such cases the priest must endeavor to remove these objections, and to obtain timely access to the sick person.