The Church, the spouse of Christ, wants men to be mindful of death, so that they live in Christian readiness for that step. But the children of this world want to have nothing to do with death. They prefer to have death as an implacable enemy, hidden, alien; they prefer it to come unexpectedly, as a painful surprise.
That is why they bury the corpses of their loved ones as quickly as possible, and strive to wipe out everything which reminds them of death. And yet one of the great things about man is precisely that he knows he has to die. And the Christian also knows that death is the price of sin: “death came into the world through sin” (cf Rom 5:12).
A Christian should think about death; serenely meditate on this truth, until he is quite familiar with it; he should learn to treat death as a sister full of light and experience, who can give him sound, disinterested advice.
Seen in this way death, Christian death, our good sister death, that’s how the ‘Poverello’ [St Francis] of Assisi called her -- will show us her serene face which will not shock or scare us but will fill us with the sweetest of Christian virtues -- the virtue of hope. ‘Life is changed, not taken away.’
A feeling of joy fills the Christian when he reflects on this truth. Your disciples, Lord, those who love you and who live, or at least sincerely want to live, for you, know very well that death is the beginning of Life; it is the beginning of that meeting with you, the reward of their efforts and the crown won by their struggle.
To your disciples, Lord, those words are very familiar which you said to the apostles when you were talking to them about their life and the short while they would spend here below. “Your sorrow will be turned into joy.” (Jn 16:20) And that is precisely what happens: the sorrow of the body and of the world is turned into the joy of the soul and of heaven when you live in a Christian way and think about death in a Christian way.
Death, my friend, also teaches us to love and live the truth, for death is the moment of truth. Imagine what realism and what love for the truth you will have in your interior life, if the thought of death becomes familiar to your soul.
The deceptions of self-love, the duplicity of hypocrisy, the hidden feelings of revenge, the excuses of sensuality, the injustices and lies of life, and the enticements of frivolity cannot resist the penetrating light of death.
At that moment, and forever after, you will be exactly what you are at that moment in the presence of God; in your heart there will be no dark corner where you can hide things. If you want lies, deceit, duplicity and injustice (whch is also a kind of lie) to cease to dominate your interior life and the lives of others, think about death.
Ref: Salvatore Canals, “Jesus as friend”, 1981, pp89-91
On death: Its certainty and uncertainty
From the souls in purgatory we are brought today to the thought of death, very related subjects. We all know we will die only once. On this death depends our eternal salvation. The most momentous business of our whole existence, it must be our chief concern during life.
The mystery is we seldom think of death. If the thought enters our minds, we consider it as unpleasant and untimely. Is this true with us? Can we say that at least once a week we seriously ask ourself the question, ‘Were I to die now, what should I fear or hope? How should I wish to have lived?’
Perhaps our answer is in the negative. Or even if the death of one of our colleagues brings our own end before us, we instinctively disregard the idea, saying, ‘I am still young’. Or perhaps, ‘I am older than he who is gone, but I am strong and healthy. I need not think about dying yet.’
What folly! What can be its cause? If we seriously and frequently thought of death, we should feel obliged in conscience to live in a more holy and mortified manner, which we are not disposed to do. While we banish the thought of death, we only enjoy a false peace, which is useless.
Today for me, tomorrow for you. Imagine that we are motionless on our deathbed, our life ebbing away from us, and our soul on the point of appearing before its Judge. Then ask ourselves two questions:
First: What troubles my conscience at this awful hour which makes me fear the sight of God? Lay any doubts before our confessor and follow his advice confidently.
Second: Ask myself an account of my past life. I will be forced to exclaim, as so many others did, ‘Would to God I had been a more mortified person!’ How many my omissions, how great my negligence, sin, and folly!
O, Lord, give me back my health, allow me time for penance. I will live differently, and atone for the past!
Ref: Cf “Practical Meditations” by a Father of the Society of Jesus, 1964, pp708-10
Preparing for death on a daily basis
It is not easy to speak about death and dying. Some consider the very mention of the subject as a sign of bad taste. Nonetheless, it is the certainty of death that enlightens our way of life. The Church invites us to meditate frequently on it so we will not be surprised when the inevitable comes.
Christians believe that death represents the end of an earthly pilgrimage. Believers prepare for death on a daily basis. (cf C Pozo, “Theology of the after life”, Madrid 1980)
It is through sanctification of ordinary realities that we will win heaven as an eternal reward. In the words of St Cyprian, “death is a stepping up into eternity after we have run in this earthly race.” (“Treatise on mortality”, 22)
We must have a keen ear for the footsteps of the Lord. This is a daily challenge and concerns specific points of concrete struggle. No one was more watchfully prepared for the coming of Christ than his Mother Mary. She will teach us how to be vigilant if we should ever find ourselves threatened by lukewarmness.
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 5:457-9; 289
St Martin de Porres, religious
As a Dominican lay brother, he lived a life of fasting, prayer and penance. He was very devoted to the Holy Eucharist. (Fr James Socias, ‘et al’ [Eds], “Daily Roman Missal”, 1989, p1687)
“His burning charity embraced not alone his needy brethren, but also the very animals in the fields.” (From “Prayer to St Martin de Porres”)
• Our Lady of Rennes, in Brittany. The English having made a mine to blow up the town, it is said that the candles in the chapel were found miraculously lighted; the bells rung of themselves, and the image of the Blessed Virgin was seen to stretch out its arms towards the middle of the church, where the mine was, which by that means was discovered. — Triple Couronne, Trait. 3, c. 7 and 8. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Rennes (Bretagne / Britanny, France). (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html); (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of Rennes (France, 1451). (http://mariedenazareth.com)
• “Notre Dame de Rennes”. Brittany, France. Pictures. (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm)
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