§. I. IT is agreeable enough to the changeable state of things in this uncertain world, that so dolorous an office as this should immediately succeed the festivities of holy matrimony, for our delights are short and soon expire; and sometimes before our nuptial crowns wither, they are wet with a shower of funeral tears. The eastern emperors thought it not incongruous to choose the stones for their sepulchre on the day of their coronation". And it would make our very mirth to be innocent and holy, if by casting an eye on this following form we should call to mind that the next and the longer scene must be calamitous. It is certain that sickness doth always and every where lie in wait for us, no place nor condition of life can secure us from it; our bodies consist of contrary qualities which are continually in war with one another, and whether the heat or the cold, the dryness or the moisture become predominant, our health falls under the victor's Dionys. Carthus. de 4. Noviss. art. 14. a triumphs; so that we began to be sick when we began to live, as soon as we were born we began to draw to our end; and our whole life is but one continued sickness, alleviated with some lucid intervals, but ending in death at last. Alas, who can reckon the innumerable diseases that do infest us? the smallest part of our body may be the subject of smart or malady; a tooth or a nail, a finger or a toe may breed vexation and disquiet to us. And any of the creatures that minister to our necessities, may bring distempers on us. The fire that warms us, the water that cools us, the air we breathe in, the earth we tread upon, the food that allays our hunger, the drink that quenches our thirst, a fly or a gnat may be the occasion of our sickness or our death. The consideration whereof, makes it more to be admired that we are not always sick, than that we are so sometimes; and renders it a greater wonder that any are healthful, than that some are groaning under their infirmities. And doubtless, since men are so universally liable to sickness, that sooner or later, in some kind or other, all shall come into this estate; it must be the duty of every particular person to prepare for it, and it did well become the prudence and piety of the church to provide a peculiar office for those in this condition. No man must forget 74 that it will be his own lot, and all men are concerned to pity and take care of those who at present lie under this common calamity. The visitation of the sick therefore is a duty incumbent upon all; we must remember them that are thus afflicted, as being ourselves also in the body, Heb. xiii. 3. We are liable to the same miseries, and likely to need the same compassion b Quando natus est homo, de Verb. Dom, Ser. 21. ægrotare cœpit; quando morc Wisdom v. 13. tuus est, finit ægritudinem. Aug. which we extend to others; we are members of the same body, and must all conspire to succour and restore a weak and wounded limb. Nature taught the Gentiles this, and the emperor Adrian is recorded to have visited, not only his friends, but his soldiers in their sickness twice or thrice every day, and to have taken care they wanted nothing d; from whence a learned man observes, that visiting the sick was in great repute at Rome, since it is so often mentioned in the emperors' lives; and the wise man affirms, it is the ready way to obtain love, Ecclus. vii. 35. But Christianity obligeth us to it by higher motives; St. James making it an act of religion, James i. 27; and David assures us, that he shall be blessed who visits the sick and needy, for God will comfort him in his sickness, and deliver him out of it, Psalm xli. 1, 2, 3. Yea, our Lord Jesus adds, that he will take this charity as done to his own person, and reward it at the last day with eternal glory, Matt. xxv. 34, 35, And who would not do so small a duty, which shall be requited with so great a recompense? The Jewish doctors reckon it among the principal acts of mercy, calling it an imitation of the divine compassion, and a means to deliver from the flames of hell. The primitive Christians accounted the visiting the sick and weak brethren among the solemn exercises of religion f; and the very women among them did punctually observe this piece of charity. But we are here to treat of visiting the sick in a stricter sense, viz. as d Dion. de Adriano. item Spartian. vit. Adri. pag. 41, &c. Apparet magni Romanos officii genus hoc æstimasse, cujus adeo frequens in vitis imperatorum mentio. Casaub. notis. ibid. e Lib. Musar. fol. 120. p. 1. f Aut imbecillus aliquis ex fratribus visitatur, aut sacrificium offertur, &c. quidvis horum gravitatis, et sanctitatis negotium est. Tertull. de Cult. Foem. lib. 2. cap. 11. it denotes the religious duties which the clergy are to perform to those who lie on their sick bed; for which use this office was composed, and therefore of this we must give a fuller account. §. II. The original of this useful and pious duty need not be inquired after any further than that positive command of holy scripture: Is any sick among you? let him call for 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 have committed sins, they shall be forgiven him, James v. 14, 15. In which words we shall first note the authority prescribing this duty; secondly, the particulars prescribed; thirdly, the benefit to be had by observing thereof. First, the authority which prescribes this visitation of the sick is a positive divine command, delivered by an inspired apostle, so that it is plainly instituted by God; and accordingly, it was always practised in the Christian church, as might be evidenced by many testimonies. The admonition of St. Polycarp to the elders, to visit all those that were weak 5, shews it was esteemed necessary in his days. And no doubt that solemn company in Tertullian, who went to visit the infirm, were led by a bishop or priest h. Possidonius affirms also concerning St. Austin, "That when he was called to the sick, he went without delay;" and it seems by one of his tracts, he writ to those whom he could not personally come to seek, as St. Hierom also did in an epistle to one of his sick friends1. But it hath been so evidently the practice of the Christian έπισκε. 8. Καὶ οἱ πρεσβύτεροι h Tertull. ad Uxor. lib. 2. cap. 27. k Aug. de Visit. Infirm. lib. duo. tom. 9. p. 207. 1 Hieron. Epist. 7. tom. 9. p. 60. church in all ages to do this, that I will not multiply instances in a known matter, especially since persons of all persuasions agree in this, that the sick ought to be visited by the ministers of religion"; both Romanists and reformed being sufficiently convinced by this plain command of holy scripture. The Jews have no such express command in all the Old Testament, and yet their rabbies are very careful to visit those of their nation whensoever sickness seizeth on them "; whose diligence will condemn our sloth, if we, who have clearer precepts, do neglect this duty so unquestionably enjoined by divine authority. us. §. III. The second consideration is, What are the 75 things prescribed in this matter? viz. 1st, The proper time for it; 2dly, The particulars whereof it consists, being the several duties, 1. of the sick man, and 2. of the priest, on each of which somewhat is to be said. I. The time is here noted to be, when any are sick among The state of sickness is common to all men, Christians as well as others are liable to it; there are among us, as well as among others, many sick and weak; and when any members of the Christian church are thus visited, then is the proper time for this religious office, and that for these reasons: I. Because then the parties have most need of it; sickness is the harbinger of death, and death the forerunner of judgment; when therefore the day of our great account draws so, nigh, then if ever, it is time to regard our never-dying souls, and to call in all the help we can to assist us in preparing for our last reckoning. Then we have the greatest work to do, and the least strength in ourselves to do it, and so had need to call in that m Dionys. Carthus. de 4. Noviss. Artic. 8. Melch. Adam in vita Theodor. Sneptii, p. 591. Clichtov. Doctrin. Mor. p. 40. n |