PENANCE, ANOINTING, & BURIAL - HOME & SYLLABUS

Who Is That?

The image on the left is a photo of St Leopoldo Mandic, also known as Leopold of Castelnuovo (1866-1942), the Capuchin "humble servant of the confessional" canonized by Pope John Paul II in 1983.

Required Texts

1. The Rites of the Catholic Church, vol. 1. Collegeville MN: Pueblo, 1990.

2. Keller, Paul Jerome. 101 Questions and Answers on the Sacraments of Healing: Penance and Anointing of the Sick. New York: Paulist, 2010.

3. Kasza, John C. Understanding Sacramental Healing: Anointing and Viaticum. Chicago: Hillenbrand, 2007.

4. Other required texts are available online and linked on the course calendar below, or are available through the course’s Blackboard site. Readings accessible on Blackboard are labeled BB below.

COURSE CALENDAR†

Class 1, Monday 29 August

TOPIC: Introduction

READINGS:

• Course Syllabus

PART I:  THE SACRAMENT OF PENANCE AND RECONCILIATION

Class 2, Wednesday 31 August

TOPIC: The Sacrament of Penance: At the Center of Our Pastoral Concerns

READINGS:

• Congregation for the Clergy, The Priest, Minister of Divine Mercy: An Aid for Confessors and Spiritual Directors (9 March 2011), §§1-63, and Appendices I and II

Class 3, Wednesday 7 September

TOPIC: Christ’s Ministry, the Church’s Ministry, the Priest’s Ministry

READINGS:

• Pope John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation On Reconciliation and Penance in the Mission of the Church Today Reconciliatio et paenitentiae (2 December 1984), §§23-31 only

• Keller, Questions 26-30

Class 4, Monday 12 September

TOPIC: Preliminary Consideration I: Sin

READINGS:

• Pope John Paul II, Post-Synodal Apostolic Exhortation On Reconciliation and Penance in the Mission of the Church Today Reconciliatio et paenitentiae (2 December 1984), §§14-22 only

• Keller, Questions 12-20

Class 5, Wednesday 14 September

TOPIC: Preliminary Consideration II: Penance

READINGS:

• Pope Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution On Fast and Abstinence (or On Christian Penance) Paenitemini (17 February 1966)

Class 6, Monday 19 September

TOPIC: Doctrine and Theology of the Sacrament of Penance

READINGS:

• Council of Trent, Session 14: The Most Holy Sacraments of Penance and Extreme Unction (section on penance)

• St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae III, qq. 84 and 90, all articles

Class 7, Wednesday 21 September

TOPIC: Catechesis on the Sacrament of Penance

READINGS:

• Catechism of the Catholic Church §§1420-1498

• Keller, Questions 1-11, 46-48

Class 8, Monday 26 September

TOPIC: Historical Issues Regarding Penance and Reconciliation

READINGS:

• The Penitential of Theodore, selections [BB]

• De sacramento poenitentiae (the rite of the extraordinary form) [BB]

• Keller, Questions 21-25

Class 9, Wednesday 28 September

TOPIC: Celebrating the Sacrament of Penance: Rites I and II

READINGS:

• Pope John Paul II, Reconciliatio et paenitentiae, §§32-33

• Rite of Penance, in The Rites, vol. 1, pp. 523-559, pp. 591-624

• Keller, Questions 31-45

Class 10, Monday 3 October

TOPIC: Celebrating the Sacrament of Penance: The Third Rite

READINGS:

• Rite for Reconciliation of Several Penitents with General Confession and Absolution, in The Rites, vol. 1, pp. 560-563

• Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Pastoral Norms On General Absolution Sacramentum paenitentiae (16 June 1972) [BB]

• Sacred Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith, Letter (U.S.A.) Commenting on the Pastoral Norms for General Absolution (14 January 1977) [BB]

• Pope Paul VI, Address to a General Audience On the Sacrament of Reconciliation (19 July 1972) [BB]

• Sacred Congregation for Doctrine of the Faith, Reply (U.S.A.) to a Query On General Absolution (20 January 1978) [BB]

• Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter/Motu Proprio on Certain Aspects of the Celebration of the Sacrament of Penance Misericordia Dei (7 April 2002)

Class 11, Wednesday 5 October

TOPIC: Canonical and Pastoral Matters Pertaining to the Sacrament of Penance

GUEST LECTURER: Msgr Ramacciotti

READINGS:

• Code of Canon Law (1984), canons 959-991

• Keller, Questions 49-73

Class 12, Monday 10 October

TOPIC: First Penance and Celebration of the Sacrament with Children

READINGS:

• Sacred Congregation of the Discipline of the Sacraments, Decree On First Communion Quam singulari (8 August 1910)

• Sacred Congregation for Discipline of the Sacraments, Declaration On Children’s Confession Prior to their First Communion Sanctus pontifex (24 May 1973) [BB]

• Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship and Sacred Congregation for the Clergy, Letter to the Conferences of Bishops On Children’s First Confession Prior to First Communion In quibusdam ecclesiae partibus (31 March 1977) [BB]

• Sacred Congregation for the Sacraments and Divine Worship and Sacred Congregation for the Clergy, Reply to a Query On First Confession and First Communion (20 May 1977) [BB]

• The Archdiocese of St Louis, Pastoral Guidelines for the Celebration of the Sacrament of Penance with Children (1998) [BB]

Class 13, Wednesday 12 October

TOPIC: An Eastward Glance: Confession and Anointing among the Orthodox

READINGS:

• Euchologion, The Service for Holy Confession

• Greek and Slavic Rites of Anointing of the Sick [BB]

• Kasza, pp. 108-113

PART II: PASTORAL CARE OF THE SICK AND DYING

Class 14, Monday 17 October

TOPIC: The Gospel of Suffering

READINGS:

• Pope John Paul II, Apostolic Letter on the Christian Meaning of Human Suffering Salvifici doloris (11 February 1984) 

• Pope Benedict XVI, Homily for Day of the Sick (11 February 2010)

Class 15, Wednesday 26 October

TOPIC: Historical Observations Regarding the Church’s Ministry to the Sick and Dying

READINGS:

• Kasza, pp. 40-54

• Keller, Questions 74-77

• St Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae III sup., qq. 29 and 30, all articles

Class 16, Monday 31 October

TOPIC: Doctrine and Theology of the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick

READINGS:

• Council of Trent, Session 14: The Most Holy Sacraments of Penance and Extreme Unction (section on extreme unction only)

• Catechism of the Catholic Church §§1499-1532

• Pope Paul VI, Apostolic Constitution on the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick Sacram unctionem infirmorum (30 November 1972); also in The Rites, vol. 1, pp. 771-774

• Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Note On the Minister of the Sacrament of Anointing of the Sick, with Commentary (11 February 2005)

• Keller, Questions 78-91

Class 17, Wednesday 2 November, All Souls’ Day

TOPIC: Pastoral Care of the Sick and Dying after the Council of Trent

READINGS:

• Ordo ministrandi sacramentum extremae unctionis (scroll down for the English translation)

• Ministration to the Sick and Dying (includes Visitation and Care of the Sick; Rite of Apostolic Blessing; Commending a Departing Soul Unto God) [BB]

• Kasza, pp. 55-74

Class 18, Monday 7 November

TOPIC: Communion and Anointing of the Sick

READINGS:

• Part I: Pastoral Care of the Sick, in The Rites, vol. 1, pp. 778-843 (includes Visits to the Sick; Visits to a Sick Child; Communion of the Sick; and Anointing of the Sick)

• Kasza, pp. 188-213

Class 19, Wednesday 9 November

TOPIC: Viaticum and Anointing of the Dying

READINGS:

• Part II: Pastoral Care of the Dying, in The Rites, vol. 1, pp. 844-895 (includes Celebration of Viaticum; Commendation of the Dying; Prayers for the Dead; and Rites for Exceptional Circumstances; also, Apostolic Pardon)

• Keller, Questions 92-101

Class 20, Wednesday 16 November

TOPIC: Canonical and Pastoral Matters Pertaining to the Sacrament of Anointing

READINGS:

• Code of Canon Law (1984), canons 998-1007

 
PART III:  PASTORAL CARE OF THE DEAD

Class 21, Monday 21 November

TOPIC: Purgatory and Prayers for the Dead

READINGS:

• Catechism of the Catholic Church, §§1020-1041

• pray for the faithful departed

Class 22, Monday 28 November

TOPIC: Pastoral Care of the Dead, Vigils

READINGS:

• Ordo exsequiarum, in The Rites, vol. 1, pp. 1108-1116

• Pastoral Care of the Dead, in The Rites, vol. 1, pp. 872-874

• Order of Christian Funerals (and all that takes place before the Mass), in Rites, vol. 1, pp. 911-966

Class 23, Wednesday 30 November

TOPIC: The Funeral Mass

READINGS:

• The Rite of Burial, (extraordinary form) [BB]

• Funeral Liturgy and Rite of Committal, in The Rites, vol. 1, pp. 967-1004

Class 24, Monday 5 December

TOPIC: Funeral Rites for Children

READINGS:

• Funeral Rites for Children, in The Rites, vol. 1, pp. 1005-1047

• Order for the Naming and Commendation of an Infant who Died Before Baptism [BB]

Class 25, Wednesday 7 December

TOPIC: Canonical and Pastoral Matters Pertaining to the Funeral Services

READINGS:

• Code of Canon Law (1984), canons 1176-1185

Class 26, Monday 12 December

TOPIC: The Office of the Dead

READINGS:

• Office for the Dead, in The Rites, vol. 1, pp. 1064-1071

• Liturgy of the Hours, Office of the Dead, ordinary form

• Officium defunctorum, extraordinary form: on divinumofficium.com

FINAL EXAM: to be held on the last day of class, Wednesday 14 December