[♦ ] 37. SEAL OF THE HOSPITAL OF ST. BARTHOLOMEW, ROCHESTER

[♦] p273

APPENDIX A OFFICE AT THE SECLUSION OF A LEPER

[Translated from the Manuale ad Usum Insignis Ecclesiæ Sarum, printed in York Manual, &c., Appendix, Surtees Society, Vol. 63, p. 105*.]

The Manner of casting out or separating those who are sick with leprosy from the whole.[165]

FIRST of all the sick man or the leper clad in a cloak and in his usual dress, being in his house, ought to have notice of the coming of the priest who is on his way to the house to lead him to the Church, and must in that guise wait for him. For the priest vested in surplice and stole, with the Cross going before, makes his way to the sick man’s house and addresses him with comforting words, pointing out and proving that if he blesses and praises God, and bears his sickness patiently, he may have a sure and certain hope that though he be sick in body he may be whole in soul, and may reach the home[166] of everlasting welfare. And then with other words suitable to the occasion let the priest lead the leper to the Church, when he has sprinkled him with holy water, the Cross going before, the priest following, and last of all the sick man. Within the Church let a black cloth, if it can be had, be set upon two trestles at some distance apart before the altar, and let the sick man take his place on bended knees beneath it between the trestles, after the manner of a dead man, although p274 by the grace of God he yet lives in body and spirit, and in this posture let him devoutly hear Mass. When this is finished, and he has been sprinkled with holy water, he must be led with the Cross through the presbytery to a place where a pause must be made. When the spot is reached the priest shall counsel him out of Holy Scripture, saying: “Remember thine end and thou shalt never do amiss.” [Ecclus. vii. 36.] Whence Augustine says: “He readily esteems all things lightly, who ever bears in mind that he will die.” The priest then with the spade (palla) casts earth on each of his feet, saying: “Be thou dead to the world, but alive again unto God.”

And he comforts him and strengthens him to endure with the words of Isaiah spoken concerning our Lord Jesus Christ:—“Truly He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows, yet did we esteem Him as a leper smitten of God and afflicted” [Isa. liii. 4, Vulgate]; let him say also: “If in weakness of body by means of suffering thou art made like unto Christ, thou mayest surely hope that thou wilt rejoice in spirit with God. May the Most High grant this to thee, numbering thee among His faithful ones in the book of life. Amen.”

It is to be noted that the priest must lead him to the Church, from the Church to his house as a dead man, chanting the Responsorium Libera me, Domine, in such wise that the sick man is covered with a black cloth. And the Mass celebrated at his seclusion may be chosen either by the priest or by the sick man, but it is customary to say the following:—

Introitus. Circumdederunt me. Quære in Septuagesima.

Collecta. Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, salus æterna credentium.

Epistola. Carissimi, Tristatur quis vestrum.

Resp. Miserere mei.

Vers. Conturbata sunt. Alleluya. V. Qui sanat.

Si in Quadragesima, Tractus. Commovisti.

Evangelium. Intravit Jesus in Capharnaum.

Offertorium. Domine, exaudi.

Secreta et Postcommunio in communibus orationibus.

Communio. Redime, Deus, Israel ex omnibus angustiis nostris. p275

When leaving the Church after Mass the priest ought to stand at the door to sprinkle him with holy water. And he ought to commend him to the care of the people. Before Mass the sick man ought to make his confession in the Church, and never again; and in leading him forth the priest again begins the Responsorium Libera me, Domine, with the other versicles. Then when he has come into the open fields he does as is aforesaid; and he ends by imposing prohibitions upon him in the following manner:—