St. Alphonsus de Ligouri

The sentence of death has been written against all men: you are a man; you must die. “Our other goods and evils,” says St Augustine, “are uncertain; death alone is certain.” It is uncertain whether the infant that is just born will be poor or rich, whether he will have good or bad health, whether he will die in youth or in old age. But it is certain that he will die. The stroke of death will fall on all the nobles and monarchs of the earth. When death comes there is no earthly power able to resist it. St Augustine says, “Fire, water, the sword, and the power of princes may be resisted; but death cannot be resisted.” Belluacensis relates: “Behold, with all my power, I cannot induce death to wait one more hour for me.” When the term of life arrives, it is not deferred a single moment. Thou hast appointed his bounds, which cannot be passed.

Dearly beloved reader, though you should live a many years as you expect, a day will come, and on that day an hour, which will be the last for you. For me, who am now writing, and for you, who read this, has been decreed the day and the moment when I will no longer write, and you will no longer read. “Who is the man that shall live and not see death?” [Psalm LXXXIX, 48]. The sentence has already been passed. There never has been a man so foolish as to flatter himself that he will not have to die. What has happened to your forefathers will also happen to you. Of the immense numbers that lived in this country in the beginning of the last century there is not one now living. Even the princes and monarchs of the earth have changed their country; of these nothing now remains but a marble mausoleum with a grand inscription, which only serves to teach us that of the great ones of this world nothing is left but a little dust enclosed in the tomb. “Tell me,” says St Bernard, “where are the lovers of the world? Of them nothing remains save ashes and worms.”

Since our souls will be eternal, we ought to procure, not a fortune which soon ends, but one that will be everlasting. What would it profit you to be happy here (if it were possible for a soul to be happy without God),. if hereafter you must be miserable for all eternity? You have built that house to your entire satisfaction; but remember that you must soon leave it to rot in a grave. You have obtained that dignity which raises you above others; but death will come and reduce you to the level of the poorest peasant.

Ah! Unhappy me, who have spent so many years only in offending Thee, O God of my soul. Behold these years are already past: death is perhaps at hand; and what do I find but pains and remorse of conscience? Oh, that I had always served Thee, O my Lord! Fool that I have been! I have lived so many years on this earth, and instead of acquiring merits for Heaven, I have laden my soul with debts to the Divine Justice.

Ah, my dear Redeemer, give me light and strength now to adjust my accounts. Death is perhaps not far off. I wish to prepare for that great moment, which will decide my eternal happiness or misery. I thank Thee for having waited for me till now; and since Thou hast given me time to repair the past, behold me, O my God! Tell me what I am to do for Thee. Dost Thou wish me to weep over the offences I have offered to Thee? I am sorry for them, and detest them with my whole soul. Dost Thou wish me to spend the remaining years and days of my life in loving Thee? I desire to do so, O God; I have even hitherto frequently resolved to do so; but I have violated my promises. O my Jesus, I will be no longer ungrateful for the great graces Thou hast bestowed upon me. If I do not now change my life, how shall I be able at death to hope for pardon and for Paradise? Behold, I now firmly resolve to begin to serve Thee in earnest. But give me strength; do not abandon me. Thou didst not abandon me when I offended Thee: I therefore hope more confidently for Thy aid, now that I purpose to renounce all things to please Thee. Accept me, then, as one of Thy lovers, O God worthy of infinite love! Receive the traitor that now casts himself with sorrow at Thy feet - that loves Thee, and asks Thy mercy. I love Thee, O my Jesus; I love Thee with my whole heart; I love Thee more than myself. Behold, I am Thine; dispose of me, and of all that I possess, as Thou pleasest. Give me perseverance in obeying Thy commands; give me Thy love; and then do with me whatsoever Thou wishest. Mary, my mother, my hope, my refuge, to thee I recommend myself; to thee I consign my soul: pray to Jesus for me. †

It is appointed. It is certain, then, that we are all condemned to death. We are born, says St Cyprian, with the halter round our neck; every step we take brings us nearer to death. My brother, as your name has been one day entered in the register of baptisms, so it will be one day entered in the register of deaths. As in speaking of your ancestors you say: “God be merciful to my father, to my uncle, to my brother”, so others shall say the same of you. As you have heard the death-bell toll for many, so others shall hear it toll for you.

But what would you say if you saw a man on his way to the place of execution jesting, laughing, looking about in every direction, and thinking only of comedies, festivities, and amusements? And are not you on your way to death? What is the object of your thoughts? Behold in that grave your friends and relatives, on whom justice has already been executed. How great is the terror and dismay of a man condemned to die, when he beholds his companions suspended on the gallows! Look then at these dead bodies. Each of them says to you: Yesterday for me; today for thee. The same is said to you by the portraits of your deceased relatives, by the memoranda-books, the houses, the beds, the garments, which they have left.

To know that you must die, that after death you will enjoy eternal glory or suffer eternal torments, that on death depends your eternal happiness or eternal misery, and, with all this before your eyes, not to think of settling your accounts, and of adopting every means of securing a happy death, is surely the extreme of folly. We pity those who meet with a sudden and unprovided death; why then do we not endeavour to be always prepared? We too may die suddenly and without preparation. But, sooner or later, with or without warning, whether we think or do not think of it, we shall die; and every hour, every moment, brings us nearer to our end, which shall be the last illness that will send us out of the world.

At every age, the houses, the streets, the cities are filled with new people; the former inhabitants are borne to the grave, their last resting place. As the days of life have ended for them so a time will come when neither I nor you, nor any one alive, will live any longer on this earth. Days shall be formed and no-one in them. We shall all then be in eternity, which shall be for us either an eternal day of delights, or an eternal night of torments. There is no middle way; it is certain and an article of faith, that either one lot or the other will be ours.

My beloved Redeemer! I would not dare to appear before Thee, did I not see Thee hanging on the cross, lacerated, despised, and lifeless, for the love of me. My ingratitude has been great; but Thy mercy is still greater. My sins have been very grievous; but Thy merits exceed their enormity. Thy wounds, Thy blood, and Thy death are my hope. I deserved hell by my first sin: to that sin I have added so many other offences. And Thou hast not only preserved my life, but Thou hast also invited me to pardon, and hast offered me peace with so much mercy and so much love. How can I fear that Thou wilt drive me away, now that I love Thee and desire nothing but Thy grace? Yes, my dear Lord, I love Thee with my whole heart, and I desire only to love Thee. I love Thee, and I am sorry for having despised Thee, not so much because I have deserved hell, as because I have offended Thee, my God, who hast loved me so tenderly.

O my Jesus, open to me the bosom of Thy goodness; add mercies to mercies. Grant that I may be no longer ungrateful to Thee: change my whole heart. Grant that my heart, which has once despised Thy love, and has exchanged it for the miserable delights of this earth, may now be entirely Thine, and may burn with continual flames for Thee. I hope to gain Paradise, that I may always love Thee. I cannot enjoy in that kingdom a place among the innocent - I must remain among the penitents; but though among these, I wish to love Thee more than the innocent. For the glory of Thy mercy, make all Heaven behold so great a sinner inflamed with an ardent love. I resolve henceforth to be all Thine, and to think only of loving Thee. Assist me with Thy light and with Thy grace to execute this desire, which Thou in Thy goodness hast inspired.

O Mary! thou who art the Mother of Perseverance, obtain for me the grace to be faithful to this my promise.†

And the Word was made Flesh
The Grandeur of the Mystery of the Divine Incarnation

Our Lord sent St Augustine to write upon the heart of St Mary Magdalene de Pazzi these words: “And the Word was made flesh”. Oh, let us also pray the Lord to enlighten our minds, and to make us understand what an excess and what a miracle of love this is, that the Eternal Word, the Son of God, should have become man for the love of us.

The Holy Church is struck with awe at the contemplation of this great mystery: “I considered Thy works and was afraid” [Divine Office]. If God had created a thousand other worlds, a thousand times greater and more beautiful than the present, it is certain that this work would be infinitely less grand than the Incarnation of the Word: “He hath showed might in His arm” [Lk I, 51]. To execute the great work of the Incarnation, it required all the omnipotence and infinite wisdom of God in order to unite human nature to a Divine Person, and that a Divine Person should so humble Himself as to take upon Him human nature. Thus God became man, and man became God; and hence, the divinity of the Word being united to the soul and body of Jesus Christ, all the actions of this Man-God became divine: His prayers were divine, His sufferings divine, His infant cries divine, His tears divine, His steps divine, His members divine, His very blood divine, which became, as it were, a fountain of health to wash out all our sins, and a sacrifice of infinite value to appease the justice of the Father, who was justly offended with men.

And who, then, are these men? Miserable, ungrateful, and rebellious creatures. And yet for these God becomes man; subjects Himself to human miseries; suffers and dies to save these unworthy sinners: “He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even to the death of the cross” [Phil. II, 8]. O Holy Faith! If Faith did not assure us of it, who would believe that a God of infinite majesty should abase Himself so far as to become a worm like us, in order to save us at the cost of so much suffering and disgrace, and of so cruel and shameful a death?

“O grace! O power of love!” cries St Bernard. O grace, which men could not even have imagined, if God himself had not thought of granting it to us! O divine love, which can never be fathomed! O mercy! O infinite charity, worthy only of an infinite bounty!

O soul, O body, O blood of my Jesus! I adore you and thank you; you are my hope; you are the price paid to save me from hell, which I have so often merited. O my God! what a miserable and hopeless life would await me in eternity if Thou, my Redeemer, hadst not thought of saving me by Thy sufferings and death! But how is it that men, redeemed by Thee with so much love, and knowing all this, can live without loving Thee, and can despise the grace which Thou hast acquired for them with so much suffering? And did not I also know all this? How, then, could I offend Thee, and offend Thee so often? But, I repeat it, Thy blood is my hope, I acknowledge, my Saviour, the great injuries that I have done to Thee. Oh that I had rather died a thousand times! Oh that I had always loved Thee! But I thank Thee that Thou yet givest me time to do so. I hope in the time that remains to me in this life, and for all eternity, to sing forever Thy praises for the mercies Thou hast shown me. I have deserved, on account of my sins, to be more and more in darkness: but Thou hast given me more and more light. I deserved that Thou shouldst abandon me; but Thou, with calls still more loving, didst come to me and seek me. [...] Thou lovest me, and I also love Thee; but my love is but little. Oh, give me more love; Thou deservest more love from me, for I have received from Thee more special favours than others; I pray Thee, do Thou increase the flames of my love. Most Holy Mary, obtain for me that the love of Jesus may consume and destroy in me every affection that has not God for its object; [...] obtain for me love and perseverance. †

St Catherine of Bologna, when she wished to obtain any grace,
had recourse to the souls in Purgatory, and her prayers were heard immediately.

The practice of recommending to God the souls in Purgatory, that He might mitigate the great pains which they suffer, and that He may soon bring them to His glory, is most pleasing to the Lord and most profitable to us. For these blessed souls are His eternal spouses, and most grateful are they to those who obtain their deliverance from prison, or even a mitigation of their torments. When, therefore, they arrive in Heaven, they will be sure to remember all who have prayed for them. It is a pious belief that God manifests to them our prayers in their behalf, that they may also pray for us. It is true that these blessed souls are not in a state to pray for themselves, because they are atoning for their faults. However, because they are very dear to God, they can pray for us, and obtain for us the divine graces. St Catherine of Bologna, when she wished to obtain any grace, had recourse to the souls in Purgatory, and her prayers were heard immediately. She declared that, by praying to those holy souls, she obtained many favours which she had sought through the intercession of the saints without obtaining them. The graces which devout persons are said to have received through these holy souls are innumerable.

But, if we wish for the aid of their prayers, it is just, it is even a duty, to relieve them by our suffrages. I say, it is even a duty: for Christian charity commands us to relieve our neighbours who stand in need of our assistance. But who among all our neighbours have so great need of our help as those holy prisoners? They are continually in that fire which torments more severely than any earthly fire. They are deprived of the sight of God, a torment far more excruciating than all other pains. Let us reflect that among these suffering souls are parents, or brothers, or relations and friends, who look to us for succour. Let us remember, moreover, that being in the condition of debtors for their sins, they cannot assist themselves. This thought should urge us forward to relieve them to the best of our ability. By assisting them we shall not only give great pleasure to God, but will acquire also great merit for ourselves. And, in return for our suffrages, these blessed souls will not neglect to obtain for us many graces from God, but particularly the grace of eternal life. I hold for certain that when a soul delivered from Purgatory by the suffrages of a Christian enters paradise, she will not fail to say to God: “Lord, do not suffer that person to be lost who has liberated me from the prison of Purgatory, and has brought me to the enjoyment of Thy glory sooner than I had deserved.”

[The holy doctor then goes on to urge the faithful to do all in their power to relieve and liberate these blessed souls, by procuring Masses to be said for them, by alms, and by their own fervent prayers.]

Cardinal Baronius Had Inscribed on His Ring the Words
Memento Mori “Remember Death!”

Death is certain. But, O God, this truth Christians know, this they believe and see: and how can they still live so forgetful of death as if they are never to die? If after this life there were neither hell nor Heaven, could they think less of it than they do at present? It is this forgetfulness that makes them lead so wicked a life. My brother, if you wish to live well, spend the remaining days of life with death before your eyes. O death, thy sentence is welcome. Oh! How correct the judgments, how well directed the actions, of the man whose judgments are formed, and whose conduct is regulated in view of death! “Consider the end of life,” says St Laurence Justinian, “and you will love nothing in this world”. All that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh, of the eyes and the pride of life. All the goods of this earth are reduced to the pleasures of sense, to riches and to honours. But all these are easily despised by the man who considers that he will be soon reduced to ashes, and buried in the earth to be the food of worms.

And in reality it was at the sight of death that the saints despised all the goods of this earth. St Charles Borromeo kept on his table a skull, in order that he might continually contemplate it. Cardinal Baronius had inscribed on his ring the words, Memento mori - remember death! The Venerable Juvenal Ancina, Bishop of Saluzzo, had this motto written on a skull: “What you are, I was; and what I am, you shall be.” A holy hermit being asked when dying how he could be so cheerful, said: “I have always kept death before my eyes; and, therefore, now that it has arrived, I see nothing new in it.”

What folly would it not be for a traveller to think only of acquiring dignities and possessions in the countries through which he had to pass, thereby reducing himself to the necessity of living miserably in his native land, where he must remain all his life! And is not he a fool who seeks after happiness in this world, where he will remain only a few days, and exposes himself to the risk of being unhappy in the next, where he must live for eternity? We do not fix our affections on borrowed goods, because we know that they must soon be returned to the owner. All the goods of this earth are lent to us; it is folly to set our heart on what we must soon quit. Death shall strip us of them all. The acquisitions and fortunes of this world all terminate in a dying gasp, in a funeral, in a descent into the grave. The house which you have built for yourself you must soon give up to others. The grave will be the dwelling of your body till the day of judgment; thence it will go to Heaven or to hell, whither the soul will have gone before.

Then, at death, all shall be at an end for me. I shall find only the little I have done for Thee, O my God! And what do I wait for! Do I wait till death comes to find me as miserable and defiled with sin as I am at present? Were I now called to eternity I should die with great disquietude on account of my past sins. No, my Jesus; I will not die so discontented. I thank Thee for having given me time to weep over my iniquities, and to love Thee. I wish to begin from this moment. I am sorry from the bottom of my heart for having offended Thee, O Sovereign Good! I love Thee above all things - I love Thee more than my life. My Jesus! I give myself entirely to Thee. From this moment I embrace and unite Thee to my heart. I now consign my soul to Thee. Into Thy hands I commend my spirit. I will not wait to give it to Thee when that proficiscere -”Depart, O soul” - will announce my departure from this world. I will not wait till then to ask Thee to save me. [...] Who knows but this consideration which I have read may be the last call which Thou wilt give me, and the last mercy which Thou wilt show me? Extend Thy hand, O my love, and deliver me from the mire of my tepidity. [...] O Mary! through the love which thou bearest to thy Jesus, obtain for me these two graces - perseverance and love. †

Death is Certain
But Nothing is Less Certain Than the Hour

It is certain that we shall die; but the time of death is uncertain: “Nothing”, says the author who styles himself the ‘Idiot’, “is more certain than death; but nothing is more uncertain than the hour of death.” My brother, God has already fixed the year, the month, the day, the hour, and the moment when you and I are to leave this earth and go into eternity; but the time is unknown to us. To exhort us to be always prepared, Jesus Christ tells us that death will come unawares, and like a thief in the night. “The day of the Lord shall so come as a thief in the night” [I Thess. V, 2]. He tells us to be always vigilant; when we least expect Him, He will come to judge us. “At what hour you think not, the Son of Man will come” [Lk. XII,40]. St Gregory says that, for our good, God conceals from us the hour of death, that we may always be prepared to die. “Since, then,” says St Bernard, “death may take away life at all times and in all places, we ought, if we wish to die well and save our souls, to live always in expectation of death.”

All know that they must die: but the misfortune is, that many view death at such a distance, that they lose sight of it. Even the old, the most decrepit, and the most sickly, flatter themselves that they will live three or four years longer. But how many, I ask, have we known, even in our own times, to die suddenly - some sitting, some walking, some sleeping? It is certain that not one of these imagined that he should die so suddenly, and on that day on which he died. I say, moreover, that of all who have gone to the other world during the present year, no-one imagined that he should die and end his days this year! Few are the deaths which do not happen unexpectedly.

When, therefore, Christian soul, the devil tempts you to sin by saying, ‘Tomorrow you will go to confession’, let your answer be, ‘How do I know but this will be the last day of my life? If this hour, this moment, in which I would turn my back on God, were the last of my life, so that I would have no time for repentance, what would become of me for all eternity?’

To how many poor sinners has it happened, that in the act of feasting on the poison of sin they were struck dead and sent to hell? “As fishes are taken with the hook,” says Ecclesiastes, “so men are taken in the evil time” [IX, 12]. The evil time is that in which the sinner actually offends God. The devil tells you that this misfortune will not happen to you, but you should answer him: ‘If it should happen to me, what will become of me for all eternity?’

Lord, the place in which I ought to be at this moment is not that in which I find myself, but in hell, which I have so often merited by my sins! Thou hast had so much patience with me, and hast waited for me, because Thou wishest me not to be lost, but return to Thee by repentance. My God, I return to Thee; I cast myself at Thy feet, and supplicate mercy. Have mercy on me, O God, according to Thy great mercy.

Lord, to pardon me requires a great and extraordinary act of mercy, because I offended Thee after I had been favoured with a special light. Other sinners also have offended Thee, but they have not received the light which Thou gavest to me. But, in spite of all my sinfulness and ingratitude, Thou commandest me to repent of my sins, and to hope for pardon. Yes, my Redeemer, I am sorry with my whole heart for having offended Thee, and I hope for pardon through the merits of Thy Passion.

O Eternal Father! Pardon me for the sake of Jesus Christ! But it is not enough to receive pardon; I desire also to love Thee, O Sovereign Good, and I offer Thee henceforth to avoid not only grievous, but also venial offences. I will fly from all evil occasions. Lead us not into temptation: for the love of Jesus Christ, preserve me from the occasions in which I would offend Thee. But deliver us from evil: deliver me from sin, and then chastise me as Thou pleasest. I accept all infirmities, pains, and losses which Thou mayest be pleased to send me: it is enough for me not to lose Thy grace and Thy love. Ask, and you shall receive. Thou promisest to grant whatsoever we ask: I ask these two graces - holy perseverance and the gift of Thy love. O Mary, Mother of Mercy! Thou dost pray for me: in thee do I put my trust. †

WE MUST BE PREPARED FOR DEATH NOW
Then It Will Be Too Late!

When death arrives God does not tell us to prepare ourselves; He tells us now to be prepared. When death comes, it will be almost impossible, in that tempest and confusion, to give ease to a troubled conscience. This reason tells us; this God threatens, saying that then He will come, not to pardon, but to avenge, the contempt of His graces. “Revenge is mine, I will repay” [Rom. XII, 19]. It is, says St Augustine, a just punishment, that he who was unwilling, when he was able to save his soul, will not be able when he is willing. “But perhaps”, you will say, “I may still be converted and saved.” Would you throw yourself into a deep well, saying, “Perhaps I may not be drowned?” O God! how sin blinds the understanding, and deprives the soul of reason! When there is question of the body, men speak rationally, but when the soul is concerned, they speak like fools.

My brother, who knows? Is this point which you read the last warning that God sends you? Let us immediately prepare for death, that it may not come upon us without giving us time to prepare for judgment. St Augustine says that God conceals from us the last day of life, that we may be always prepared to die. St Paul tells us that we must work out our salvation, not only with fear, but also with trembling.

St Antoninus relates that a certain king of Sicily, to make one of his subjects understand the fear with which he sat on the throne, commanded him to sit at table with a sword suspended over him by a slender thread. The apprehension that the thread might give way filled him with so much terror that he could scarcely taste food.

We are all in like danger; for the sword of death, on which our eternal salvation depends, may at each moment fall upon us.

It is indeed a question of eternity. “If the tree fall to the south, or to the north, in what place soever it shall fall, there shall it be” [Eccles. XI, 3]. If, when death comes, we are found in the grace of God, oh with what joy shall we say: “I have secured all; I can never again lose God, I shall be happy forever!” But, if death finds the soul in sin, with what despair will it exclaim, “Therefore we have erred!” [Wisdom V, 6] - “I have erred; and for my error there will be no remedy for all eternity!”

The fear of an unhappy eternity made the venerable Father Avila, Apostle of Spain, say, when the news of death was brought to him: “Oh! That I had a little more time to prepare for death!” This fear made the Abbot Agatho, who spent so many years in penance, say at death: “What will become of me? Who can know the judgments of God?” St Arsenius, too, trembled at the hour of death, and being asked by his disciples why he was so much alarmed, he said: “My children this fear is not new to me; I have had it always during my whole life.” Above all, holy Job trembled when he said: “What shall I do when the Lord shall rise to judge? And when He shall examine, what shall I answer Him?”

Ah my God! who has ever loved me more than Thou hast? And whom have I despised and insulted more that I have insulted Thee? O Blood, O Wounds of Jesus, you are my hope. Eternal Father, look not upon my sins, but look at the wounds of Jesus; behold Thy Son dying through pain for my sake, and asking Thee to pardon me. I repent, O my Creator, of ever having offended Thee. I am sorry for it above all things.

Thou didst create me that I might love Thee, and I have lived as if Thou didst create me to offend Thee. For the love of Jesus Christ, pardon me and give me grace to love Thee. I have hitherto resisted Thy Will, but I will resist no longer, and will do whatsoever Thou commandest.

Thou commandest me to detest the outrages I have offered Thee; behold, I detest them, with my whole heart. Thou commandest me to resolve to offend Thee no more; behold, I resolve to lose my life a thousand times, rather than forfeit Thy grace. Thou commandest me to love Thee with my whole heart; yes, with my whole heart I love Thee, and I wish to love nothing else but Thee. Thou wilt henceforth be my only beloved, my only love. From Thee I ask, and from Thee I hope for holy perseverance. For the love of Jesus Christ, grant that I may be always faithful to Thee, and that I may always say to Thee, with St Bonaventure: “My beloved is one, my love is one.” I do not wish that my life be employed any longer in giving Thee displeasure; I wish to spend it only in weeping over the offences I have committed against Thee, and in loving Thee. Mary, my Mother, pray for all who recommend themselves to thee, - pray to Jesus also for me. †

THE SINNER WILL SEEK GOD AT DEATH
But he will not find Him!

The incorupt body of St. Alphonsus Ligouri

At present sinners banish the remembrance and thought of death; and thus they seek after peace, though they never find it in the sinful life which they lead. But when they are found in the straits of death, on the point of entering into eternity, they shall seek peace, and there shall be none. Then they will not be able to fly from the torture of their sinful conscience. They will seek peace; but what peace can be found by a soul loaded with sins that sting it like so many vipers? What peace can the sinner enjoy when he sees that he must in a few moments appear before the judgment-seat of Jesus Christ, whose law and friendship he has till then despised? Trouble shall come upon trouble. The news of death, which has been already announced, the thought of being obliged to take leave of everything in this world, the remorse of conscience, the time lost, the want of time at present, the rigour of the divine judgment, the unhappy eternity which awaits sinners - all these things will form a horrible tempest, which will confuse the mind and increase his apprehensions; and thus, full of confusion and distrust, the dying sinner will pass to the other world.

Trusting in the divine promise, Abraham, with great merit, hoped in God against human hope. But sinners, with great demerit, hope falsely and to their own perdition, not only against hope but also against faith; for they despise the menaces of God against all who are obstinate in sin. They are afraid of a bad death, but they fear not to lead a wicked life. But who has assured them that they will not suddenly be deprived of life by a thunderbolt, by apoplexy, or by the bursting of a blood-vessel? And were they at death even allowed time for repentance, who assures them that they will sincerely return to God?

To conquer bad habits, St Augustine had to fight against them for 12 years. How will the dying man, who has always lived in sin, be able, in the midst of the pains, the stupefaction, and the confusion of death, to repent sincerely of all his past iniquities? I say sincerely, because it is not enough to say and to promise with the tongue, it is necessary to promise with the heart.

O God! what terror and confusion will seize the unhappy Christian who has led a careless life, when he finds himself overwhelmed with sins, with the fears of judgment, of hell, and of eternity! Oh! What confusion will these thoughts produce when the dying sinner will find his reason gone, his mind darkened, and his whole frame assailed by the pains of approaching death. He will make his confession; he will promise, weep, and seek mercy from God, but without understanding what he does; and in this tempest of agitation, of remorse, of pains and terrors, he will pass to the other life. “The people shall be troubled, and they shall pass” [Job XXXIV, 20]. A certain author says that the prayers, the wailings, and promises of dying sinners are like the tears and promises of a man assailed by an enemy who points a dagger to his throat to take away his life. Miserable the man who takes to his bed at enmity with God, and passes from the bed of sickness to eternity.

O wounds of Jesus! You are my hope. I should despair of the pardon of my sins, and of my eternal salvation, did I not behold you, the fountains of mercy and grace, through which a God has shed all His Blood, to wash my soul from the sins which I have committed. I adore you, then, O holy wounds! And trust in you. I detest a thousand times, and curse those vile pleasures by which I have displeased my Redeemer, and have miserably lost his friendship. Looking then at Thee, I raise up my hopes, and turn my affections to Thee. My dear Jesus, Thou deservest to be loved by all men, and to be loved with their whole heart. I have so grievously offended Thee, I have despised Thy love; but, notwithstanding my sinfulness, Thou hast borne with me so long, and invited me to pardon with so much mercy. Ah, my Saviour, do not permit me evermore to offend Thee, and to merit my own damnation. O God! what torture should I feel in hell at the sight of Thy Blood and of the great mercies Thou hast shown me. I love Thee, and will always love Thee. Give me holy perseverance.

Detach my heart from all love which is not for Thee, and confirm in me a true desire, a true resolution henceforth, to love only Thee, my sovereign good. O Mary, my Mother! Draw me to God, and obtain for me the grace to belong entirely to Him before I die. †

SETTLE YOUR ACCOUNTS WHILE YOU MAY
Time waits for no man!

The Lord does not wish us to be lost, and, therefore, by the threat of chastisement, He unceasingly exhorts us to a change of life. “Except you will be converted, He will brandish His sword” [Ps. VII, 13]. Behold, He says in another place, how many, because they would not cease to offend Me, have met with a sudden death, when they were least expecting it, and were living in peace, secure of a life of many years: “For when they shall say ‘peace and security’, then shall sudden destruction come upon them” [I Thess. V, 3]. Again He says: “unless you shall do penance, you shall all likewise perish” [Lk XIII, 3]. Why so many threats of chastisement before the execution of vengeance? It is because He wishes that we amend our lives, and thus avoid an unhappy death. “He”, says St Augustine, “Who tells you to beware, does not wish to take away your life.” It is necessary, then, to prepare our accounts before the day of account arrives. Dearly beloved Christians, were you to die, and were your lot for eternity to be Adecided before night, would you accounts be ready? Oh! How much would you give to obtain from God another year or month, or even another day, to prepare for judgment? Why then do you not now, that God gives you this time, settle the accounts of your conscience? Perhaps it cannot happen that this shall be the last day for you? Delay not to be converted to the Lord, and defer it not from day to day; for His wrath shall come on a sudden, and in the time of vengeance He will destroy thee. My brother, to save your soul you must give up sin. “If then you must renounce it at some time, why do you not abandon it at this moment?”, asks St Augustine. Perhaps you are waiting till death arrives? But for obstinate sinners, the hour of death is the time, not of pardon, but of vengeance. In the time of vengeance He will destroy thee.

When any one borrows from you a large sum of money you take care to get a written security for it. Who knows, you say, what may happen? Why are you not equally careful about the salvation of your soul, which is of far greater importance to you than all the riches of the earth? When eternity is at stake, why do you not say: Who knows what may happen? If you were to lose a sum of money, all would not be lost; and though in losing it your entire property would be lost, you would have the hope of recovering it. But if at death you lose your soul, then you will truly have lost all, and can never hope to regain it. You are careful to keep an exact account of all the goods you possess, lest, by dying suddenly, any of them be lost; and if you meet with a sudden death, and find yourself at enmity with God, what will become of your soul for all eternity?

Ah! My Redeemer! Thou hast spent all Thy Blood, and hast given Thy life in order to save my soul. [...] I have so often abused Thy goodness to offend Thee. By doing so, I have deserved to be suddenly struck dead, and to be cast into hell. In a word, I have been engaged in a contest with Thee. Thou didst treat me with mercy, and I offended Thee; Thou didst seek after me, and I fled away from Thee; Thou gavest me time to repair the evil I had done, and I employed that time in adding insults to insults. Lord, make me understand the injustice I have done Thee, and the obligation by which I am bound to love Thee.

Ah! My Jesus! How could I be so dear to Thee, Who sought after me so often when I chased Thee away? How hast Thou been able to bestow so many graces on one who has given Thee so much displeasure? >From this I see the ardour of Thy desire to save me from perdition. I am sorry with my whole heart for having offended Thee. O infinite goodness! Ah, receive this ungrateful sheep that casts itself sorrowful at Thy feet; receive it and bind it on Thy shoulders, that I may never more fly away from Thee. I will never again abandon Thee. I wish to love Thee; I wish to be Thine; and provided I belong to Thee, I am content to suffer every pain. And what greater punishment can fall upon me than to live without Thy grace, to be separated from Thee, who art my God, who hast created me and died for me? O accursed sins! What have you done? You have made me displease my Saviour, Who has loved me so tenderly.

Ah, my Jesus, as Thou hast died for me, so I ought to die for Thee. Thou hast died through love for me - I should die through sorrow for having despised Thee. I accept death in whatever manner and at whatever time Thou pleasest to send it. Hitherto I have not loved Thee, or I have loved Thee too little. I do not wish to die in this state. Ah, grant me a little more time, that I may love Thee before I die. Change my heart, wound it, inflame it with Thy holy love. [...] Do not permit me to lose Thee! Give me holy perseverance; give me Thy holy love. Most Holy Mary, my refuge and my mother! Perform the office of advocate in my behalf.†

The Importance of Spiritual Reading

"To a spiritual life the reading of holy books is perhaps not less useful than mental prayer. St Bernard says reading instructs us at once in prayer, and in the practice of virtue. Hence he concluded that spiritual reading and prayer are the arms by which hell is conquered and paradise won. We cannot always have access to a spiritual Father for counsel in our actions, and particularly in our doubts; but reading will abundantly supply his place by giving us lights and directions to escape the illusions of the devil and of our own self-love, and at the same time to submit to the Divine Will. Hence St Athanasius used to say that we find no one devoted to the service of the Lord that did not practise spiritual reading. Hence all the founders of religious orders have strongly recommended this holy exercise to their religious. St Benedict, among the rest, commanded that each monk should every day make a spiritual reading, and that two others should be appointed to go about visiting the cells to see if all fulfilled the command; and should any monk be found negligent in the observance of this rule, the saint ordered a penance to be imposed upon him. But before all, the Apostle prescribed spiritual reading to Timothy: ‘Attend unto reading’. Mark the word ‘attend’, which signifies that, although Timothy, as being bishop, was greatly occupied with the care of his flock, still the Apostle wished him to apply to the reading of holy books, not in a passing way and for a short time, but regularly and for a considerable time”

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