Religious and sacramental life in the Infirmary of the Hospital of the Holy Spirit in Rome in the 17th-18th centuries

Marian Surdacki

Abstract

The hospital Order of the Holy Spirit, founded at the end of the 12th century by Guidon of Montpellier, played a major role in the development of hospitals. He ran the largest in Europe Holy Spirit Hospital in Rome, founded in 1198 by Pope Innocent III, which became a model for other hospitals in the Christian world. It performed two functions: an asylum for foundlings (brefotrophium) and a hospital-infirmary for the sick. Both of these institutions, were unmatched in Europe in terms of the number of charges (foundlings and the sick). In the last quarter of the 18th century, it could accommodate 2,000 people, most of them sick. In the old days, hospitals that were under church management were places where the religious life of those under their care was taken special care of. The physical healing of the sick and the salvation of their soul was cherished with the same care. This was also the case at the Holy Spirit Hospital in Rome. Practical care for the spiritual life of the sick and their completion of the sacraments belonged to the confessors on duty, as well as to the priests who recommended the souls of the dying to God (raccommandatori dell’anime). In the 17th century, they were all monks of the Holy Spirit. In later times, especially in the 18th century, these functions were often performed by priests from outside the hospital, mainly Capuchins. The number of the clergymen changed depending on the needs, usually increasing in summer, along with the constant increase in the incidence rate and thus the increase in mortality in hospitals. The main duty of confessors and those recommending souls to God was administering the sacrament of penance for hospital boarders, especially newcomers, and in a life-threatening situation, giving them viaticum and the last anointing at each call on duty. In their spare time, they were to deepen the foundations of the Christian faith of the sick. Holy Communion was always given to the sick as a consequence of confession. Efforts were made that none of the sick would die without the sacraments and that a priest would always be present with the dying, recommending the soul of the dying person to God.