06-20-2026, 04:52 AM
Mgr. Louis de Ségur: Short Answers to Common Objections Against Religion - 1908
FIFTY-SIXTH OBJECTION. EXTREME UNCTION KILLS A SICK MAN. IT IS ENOUGH TO FRIGHTEN HIM TO DEATH. THE PRIEST SHOULD NEVER BE SENT FOR WHILE CONSCIOUSNESS REMAINS.
Answer. Do you wait till the last moment to call a doctor for a man seriously ill? Not at all; his life is at stake, and you fear to risk it; yet you do not fear to risk his eternal salvation.
That is it; the confessor must be sent for when the patient can no longer confess; the priest must be sent for when his presence is useless! There would be a course more simple yet: not to send for him at all, and to let people die like the dogs.
Is Jesus Christ, then, the God of the dead? Did He send His priests to comfort and help dead corpses?
It would be almost impossible to calculate the number of unfortunate souls which have been lost for ever through this fatal prejudice. It is in vain that each day gives it the lie, and shows the sick and dying, shedding tears of joy and consolation after having received the last Sacraments of the Church; it makes no impression, and whole families calling themselves Christians, seem to enter as it were into a common league against the priest, to hinder him from saving the soul of a father, a mother, a child, or friend, which is about to appear before its God!
When sent for too late to save the departing soul, the priest endeavors to make the relations and friends sensible of the wrong they have done: "Oh, no!" they exclaim, "he was such a good, virtuous man! She was such a worthy woman! He was so regular! She loved her children so much, and was such a good mother. We need have no fears." And perhaps ten or twenty years may have elapsed, during which the unfortunate deceased has lived in forgetfulness of Jesus Christ, and in the neglect of the essential duties of a Christian life!
Be very certain of this, the poor dying man is not afraid of the priest! The sight of a priest does not hasten his death! On the contrary, his visit consoles and strengthens him, relieves his mind, and sometimes even his physical condition. Numerous physicians have stated the equally touching and unexpected results produced by the fulfilment of religious duties among the sick.
A short time since I witnessed an example of this, which I shall never forget. I was sent for to attend a child whom the doctor had given up. The poor mother was prepared for the worst. I gave the poor little thing the last Christian Sacraments, I heard his confession, I gave him the Holy Viaticum as his first communion, or rather, as his last! He held his little hands joined together during this sad and pious ceremony. And when I asked him afterward, if he felt peaceful and happy, he made an effort to summon strength enough to smile, and reply: "Yes, father, very happy." I left him, never expecting to see him again.
The following morning the doctor was surprised to find him still alive. But his surprise increased on examining him more closely. He had no more fever; the symptoms of death had disappeared. He could not understand it.
Three days after, the little fellow, thus brought back to life, was playing with his brother.
Did Extreme Unction here frighten the patient, and cause his death?
Do not be afraid, then, of the priest. When you are seriously ill, send for him at once; and ask for the last consolations of religion. Hold yourself in readiness for whatever may happen, and make your peace with God.
To have had one's passport signed, does not oblige us to start on our journey.
FIFTY-SIXTH OBJECTION. EXTREME UNCTION KILLS A SICK MAN. IT IS ENOUGH TO FRIGHTEN HIM TO DEATH. THE PRIEST SHOULD NEVER BE SENT FOR WHILE CONSCIOUSNESS REMAINS.
Answer. Do you wait till the last moment to call a doctor for a man seriously ill? Not at all; his life is at stake, and you fear to risk it; yet you do not fear to risk his eternal salvation.
That is it; the confessor must be sent for when the patient can no longer confess; the priest must be sent for when his presence is useless! There would be a course more simple yet: not to send for him at all, and to let people die like the dogs.
Is Jesus Christ, then, the God of the dead? Did He send His priests to comfort and help dead corpses?
It would be almost impossible to calculate the number of unfortunate souls which have been lost for ever through this fatal prejudice. It is in vain that each day gives it the lie, and shows the sick and dying, shedding tears of joy and consolation after having received the last Sacraments of the Church; it makes no impression, and whole families calling themselves Christians, seem to enter as it were into a common league against the priest, to hinder him from saving the soul of a father, a mother, a child, or friend, which is about to appear before its God!
When sent for too late to save the departing soul, the priest endeavors to make the relations and friends sensible of the wrong they have done: "Oh, no!" they exclaim, "he was such a good, virtuous man! She was such a worthy woman! He was so regular! She loved her children so much, and was such a good mother. We need have no fears." And perhaps ten or twenty years may have elapsed, during which the unfortunate deceased has lived in forgetfulness of Jesus Christ, and in the neglect of the essential duties of a Christian life!
Be very certain of this, the poor dying man is not afraid of the priest! The sight of a priest does not hasten his death! On the contrary, his visit consoles and strengthens him, relieves his mind, and sometimes even his physical condition. Numerous physicians have stated the equally touching and unexpected results produced by the fulfilment of religious duties among the sick.
A short time since I witnessed an example of this, which I shall never forget. I was sent for to attend a child whom the doctor had given up. The poor mother was prepared for the worst. I gave the poor little thing the last Christian Sacraments, I heard his confession, I gave him the Holy Viaticum as his first communion, or rather, as his last! He held his little hands joined together during this sad and pious ceremony. And when I asked him afterward, if he felt peaceful and happy, he made an effort to summon strength enough to smile, and reply: "Yes, father, very happy." I left him, never expecting to see him again.
The following morning the doctor was surprised to find him still alive. But his surprise increased on examining him more closely. He had no more fever; the symptoms of death had disappeared. He could not understand it.
Three days after, the little fellow, thus brought back to life, was playing with his brother.
Did Extreme Unction here frighten the patient, and cause his death?
Do not be afraid, then, of the priest. When you are seriously ill, send for him at once; and ask for the last consolations of religion. Hold yourself in readiness for whatever may happen, and make your peace with God.
To have had one's passport signed, does not oblige us to start on our journey.
"So let us be confident, let us not be unprepared, let us not be outflanked, let us be wise, vigilant, fighting against those who are trying to tear the faith out of our souls and morality out of our hearts, so that we may remain Catholics, remain united to the Blessed Virgin Mary, remain united to the Roman Catholic Church, remain faithful children of the Church."- Abp. Lefebvre