DYING, Associations and Confraternities of the. - The Church's solicitude for the dying, besides the special prayers with which it accompanies the moribund in life's final hour (v. ANIMA, raccomandazione della), is also revealed by the various associations and confraternities instituted for the purpose of securing for them special blessings and graces.
The principal ones are, in order of date:
1. The Congregation of the Good Death in honor of Jesus agonizing on the Cross and of Our Lady of Sorrows; more briefly, the Congregation of the Good Death, founded in the church of the Gesù in Rome by Fr. Vincenzo Carafa, 7th general of the Society of Jesus, on 2 Oct. 1648. Its purpose is to prepare the faithful who are aggregated to it for a serene and holy death by the frequent remembrance of the agony of Jesus and by the practice of a Christian life. It was greatly enriched with indulgences by Alexander VII, Benedict XIII, Leo XII, Leo 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. Lawrence in Paris, on 22 Aug. 1847. Its purpose is to procure, by prayers and good works, the spiritual and bodily relief of the sick. It was enriched by Pius IX with precious indulgences (ibid., no. 256 b). Seat: parish of St. Lawrence, Paris.
3. The Archconfraternity of the Agonizing Heart of Jesus and of the Compassionate Heart of Mary for the salvation of the dying, founded in 1848 by Fr. Giovanni Lyonnard S.J., for the purpose of honoring the sorrows 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 each day scattered throughout the whole world. The archconfraternity is rich in many indulgences and spread everywhere (ibid., no. 228). Seat: Angers.
4. The Archconfraternity of Our Lord, health of the sick, of St. Joseph and of St. Camillus, instituted by Fr. Ferdinando Vicari, Camillian, in the church of St. Mary Magdalene in Rome, in 1860. Its purpose is to obtain for the sick and especially for the dying the powerful patronage of Mary Most Holy, of St. Joseph and of St. Camillus (ibid., no. 258).
5. The Confraternity of the Transit of St. Joseph for the comfort of the dying, established on 23 Feb. 1913 by Pius X in the church built by him near the Vatican, in front of the ancient Porta Trionfale, and dedicated to the saint. It has been enriched with many indulgences and spiritual privileges by the same Pius X and by Benedict XV (ibid., no. 268).
Celestino Testore