AGONIZZANTI, ASSOCIATIONS AND CONFRATERNITIES for. — The Church’s solicitude for the dying, in addition to the special prayers with which she accompanies them at the end of life (v. ANIMA, raccomandazione della), is also manifested in the various associations and confraternities established for the purpose of securing for them special blessings and graces.
The principal ones are, in chronological order:
1° The Congregation of the Good Death in honour of Jesus agonizing on the Cross and of Our Lady of Sorrows; more briefly, Congregation of the Good Death, founded in the church of the Gesù in Rome by Fr. Vincenzo Carafa, 7th superior general of the Society of Jesus, on 2 October 1648. Its purpose is to prepare the faithful who are enrolled in it for a peaceful and holy death through frequent remembrance of the agony of Jesus and the practice of a Christian life. It was greatly enriched with indulgences by Alessandro VII, Benedetto XIII, Leone XII, and Leone XIII (cf. F. Beringer, Les Indulgences, II, 4th French ed., Paris 1925, no. 262). Seat: church of the Gesù, Rome.
2° The Archconfraternity of Our Lady of the Sick, founded by Abbot Salacroux in the church of St. Lorenzo in Paris on 22 August 1847. Its purpose is to procure, through prayers and good works, the spiritual and bodily relief of the sick. It was enriched by Pio IX with valuable indulgences (ibid., no. 256 b). Seat: parish of St. Lorenzo, Paris.
3° The Archconfraternity of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus and the Compassionate Heart of Mary for the salvation of the dying, founded in 1848 by Fr. Giovanni Lyonnard, S.J., for the purpose of honouring the sufferings of Jesus in his agony, especially in the Garden of Olives, and those of Mary during the Passion, in order to obtain, through these two mysterious agonies, the grace of a good death for the approximately 140,000 dying persons scattered throughout the entire world each day. The archconfraternity is richly endowed with many indulgences and is widespread everywhere (ibid., no. 228). Seat: Angers.
4° The Archconfraternity of Our Lady, Health of the Sick, of St. Joseph and of St. Camillus, established by Fr. Ferdinando Vicari, a Camillian, in the church of St. Maria Maddalena in Rome in 1860. Its purpose is to obtain for the sick, and especially for the dying, the powerful patronage of Mary Most Holy, St. Joseph, and St. Camillus (ibid., no. 258).
5° The Confraternity of the Passing of St. Joseph for the consolation of the dying, established on 23 February 1913 by Pio X in the church he had built near the Vatican, opposite the ancient Porta Trionfale, and dedicated to the saint. It was enriched with many indulgences and spiritual privileges by Pio X himself and by Benedetto XV (ibid., no. 268).