How to Comfort the Sick

MANUALS for the sick, containing instructions on the best way of tending and assisting the sick and dying, and of helping them to sanctify sickness and death in a truly Christian manner, are certainly not wanting. But I know of no book expressly destined for sick-nurses, and in particular for religious who devote themselves to the care of the sick. And yet it is of great importance that they should clearly discern what a sublime and blessed, but at the same time what a difficult, task they have to fulfil, and how they should accomplish it. With this view the present work has been undertaken. It deals in detail with the care of the sick as a vocation, and gives instructions on the best way to render spiritual assistance to the sick and dying. The book treats only of the spiritual care of the sick and in the sense of the Catholic Church; the care of the body is not included, because it is supposed that the sick-nurses already possess all necessary knowledge of this. According to the recognized principle that "words instruct, but examples attract," about one hundred exampls, suitable for the nurses as well as for the sick, have been inserted in the proper places. Care has been taken in the choice of these examples to select only such as are true and are from reliable sources. In order to render the book a complete manual for religious who attend the sick, different prayers and devotional exercises (especially examinations of conscience on the care of the sick) are given in an appendix; by which means the sanctification of their own souls is taken into consideration.