VIATICUM. - From the liturgical point of view, the term was first adopted to indicate all the religious aids or comforts provided to the dying (cf. can. 13 of the Council of Nicaea [325]; can. 3 of the Council of Orange [441]; Hefele-Leclercq, I, 436, 593; Gratian, Decr., 6-89; XXVI, q. 6); but very soon it was limited to indicating exclusively the Eucharist and, more precisely, the Eucharistic Communion given as the last food to the dying, without the obligation of fasting.
I. OBLIGATION
By both divine law (cf. Jn. 6:54; Summ. Theol., 3a, q. 80, a. 11) and ecclesiastical law (can. 864 § 1), the grave obligation to receive the viaticum is urgent in danger of death.
The Council of Nicaea, already cited, speaks of an "ancient and canonical law" (cf. Hefele-Leclercq, I, 436). Such is the urgency of this precept that, in order to procure the viaticum even for a single dying person, a priest who does not have consecrated hosts at his disposal may not only celebrate without fasting and at any hour of the day or night, but may also use, for the consecration, leavened bread, if he is of the Latin rite, or unleavened bread, if he is of the Eastern rite (cf. can. 851 § 2).
This precept begins to bind with the onset of danger of death, whatever its cause (can. 964), internal or external (illness, before a battle, a dangerous surgical operation, a capital execution, a difficult childbirth). If the precept has not been fulfilled knowingly, a sin has been committed, but one is not bound to receive Communion, because the precept is no longer urgent. If it could not be fulfilled in the danger of death itself, the obligation begins shortly before the danger, that is, when, morally speaking, the danger itself is imminent, since in that case the danger has already begun, and since it cannot be satisfied at the proper time, it must be fulfilled at once. Hence, in accordance with the prescription of can. 865: "the holy viaticum for the sick is not to be delayed too long; and those who have the care of souls are to strive so that the sick receive it while they are still fully conscious of themselves" (cf. Rituale Rom., tit. V, ch. 4, no. 2; tit. VI, ch. 4, no. 10).
Canon 864 § 2 settles an old question (cf. St. Alphonsus, Theol. mor., 1, VI, n. 285, dub. 2, ed. L. Gaudé, III, Rome 1909, p. 259 ff.), namely whether one who has received Communion of devotion on the same day is bound to receive the viaticum or may receive it, and it prescribes that the reception of the viaticum is not obligatory, but most highly advisable. According to some modern authors (Cappello, Coronata), the same thing seems to be held when the Communion was received a few days before the danger of death arose. Throughout the entire danger of death it is lawful, indeed fitting, in the judgment of the confessor, to receive the viaticum, even without fasting, on several distinct days and even daily (canon 864 § 3). Indeed the viaticum may lawfully be received twice on the same day in two different dangers of death. The viaticum, therefore, may be administered on any day, not excluding Good Friday, and even in the case of a local interdict, whether general or particular (cf. cann. 2270-71), and at any hour of the day or night.
II. SUBJECT
Every member of the faithful in danger of death is obliged to receive viaticum (can. 864), provided he is capable and worthy of it. This obligation is not satisfied by sacrilegious Communion (can. 861), nor is one bound to the eucharistic fast (can. 864 § 3).
Children too, strictly speaking, are bound by the precept of viaticum, even if they have not been admitted to first Communion, provided they know how to distinguish the Body of Christ from ordinary food and know how to adore it reverently (can. 854 § 2). Confession itself is not required, if the child is not judged capable of sin. But if there is sufficient discernment, the child shall beforehand, and as far as possible, be instructed in the truths necessary by necessity of means, and afterwards absolved of his sins. Adults who are ignorant of the truths of religion and are in danger of death are to be regarded in the same way as children. The perpetually insane, according to the current ecclesiastical discipline, cannot receive viaticum. It is otherwise with the feeble-minded, the senile and the insane who have lucid intervals: these can and must receive viaticum under the same conditions as children.
III. MINISTER
The administration of viaticum is reserved to the local Ordinary and to the parish priest, within the limits of their respective territory, both publicly and privately, to their own subjects as well as to strangers, save for the exceptions provided by law and except in case of necessity (cann. 848-50).
To a gravely ill bishop, viaticum is administered by the dignitaries and canons of the cathedral Chapter, according to the order of precedence. To those who reside in a religious house, it is administered by the superior (cf. can. 848, Pontifical Commission for the Authentic Interpretation of the CIC, June 16, 1931; AAS, 23 [1938], p. 353). In a monastery of nuns, it is administered by the ordinary confessor or by his substitute. In lay religious institutes or in pious houses withdrawn from the care of the parish priest, by the respective chaplain; in the seminary, by the rector or his substitute (cf. can. 848 § 1; 850; 397, n. 3; 514; 464 § 2; 1368). In an urgent case, with at least the presumed license of the parish priest or of the local Ordinary, any priest may administer viaticum, whether publicly or privately; however, one who has already received viaticum a first time during the same illness may receive it from any priest without need of the parish priest or of the local Ordinary, provided the administration is done privately: in this case, in fact, it is a question of viaticum in the broad sense; provided, however, that it remains within the limits and norms indicated by cann. 847, 849 § 1.
In a case of general necessity (persecution, war, epidemic), if no priest can be found (even one under a vitandus excommunication, or after a condemnatory or declaratory sentence: can. 2261 § 3) or a deacon, and recourse cannot be had to the Ordinary for authorization, today, in conformity with the primitive custom of the Church, it is commonly taught that any layperson, presuming the license, may administer viaticum, evidently taking into account the skill or ability of the ministering subject. All the more, in a case of particular necessity, a layperson may administer viaticum, provided there is no danger of irreverence or profanation.
IV. RITE
Viaticum must be received in one's own rite unless an urgent necessity excuses it (can. 866; cf. cann. 852, 851 § 2). It is recommended that viaticum be brought publicly with great solemnity (cf. the Council of Würzburg of 1287; the Council of York of 1195; the Sacred Congregation of Rites, 6 Feb. 1875; 2 Dec. 1903; the Roman Ritual, tit. V, ch. 4), unless there are particular provisions to the contrary, in view of the respect owed to the Eucharist. The formula prescribed by the Roman Ritual for the administration of viaticum, "Accipe, frater [soror], viaticum Corporis Domini...", is used only once, during the same danger of death, and precisely the first time (cf. however can. 864 § 2).