ss._ Again if the need be special, it is either
the result of an internal cause, like sickness, and then we have _to
visit the sick,_ or it results from an external cause, and then we
have _to ransom the captive._ After this life we give _burial to the
dead._

In like manner spiritual needs are relieved by spiritual acts in two
ways, first by asking for help from God, and in this respect we have
_prayer,_ whereby one man prays for others; secondly, by giving human
assistance, and this in three ways. First, in order to relieve a
deficiency on the part of the intellect, and if this deficiency be in
the speculative intellect, the remedy is applied by _instructing,_
and if in the practical intellect, the remedy is applied by
_counselling._ Secondly, there may be a deficiency on the part of the
appetitive power, especially by way of sorrow, which is remedied by
_comforting._ Thirdly, the deficiency may be due to an inordinate
act; and this may be the subject of a threefold consideration. First,
in respect of the sinner, inasmuch as the sin proceeds from his
inordinate will, and thus the remedy takes the form of _reproof._
Secondly, in respect of the person sinned against; and if the sin be
committed against ourselves, we apply the remedy by _pardoning the
injury,_ while, if it be committed against God or our neighbor, it is
not in our power to pardon, as Jerome observes (Super Matth. xviii,
15). Thirdly, in respect of the result of the inordinate act, on
account of which the sinner is an annoyance to those who live with
him, even beside his intention; in which case the remedy is applied
by _bearing with him,_ especially with regard to those who sin out
of weakness, according to Rom. 15:1: "We that are stronger, ought to
bear the infirmities of the weak," and not only as regards their
being infirm and consequently troublesome on account of their unruly
actions, but also by bearing any other burdens of theirs with them,
according to Gal. 6:2: "Bear ye one another's burdens."

Reply Obj. 1: Burial does not profit a dead man as though his body
could be capable of perception after death. In this sense Our Lord
said that those who kill the body "have no more that they can do";
and for this reason He did not mention the burial of the dead with
the other works of mercy, but those only which are more clearly
necessary. Nevertheless it does concern the deceased what is done
with his body: both that he may live in the memory of ma