Consideration IX - THE PEACE OF A JUST MAN WHO DIES

"Iustorum animae in manu Dei sunt, non tanget illos tormentum malitiae; visi sunt oculis insipientium mori; illi autem sunt in pace" (Wis. 3:3).

Point I

"Iustorum animae in manu Dei sunt." If God holds the souls of the just tightly in His hands, who can ever snatch them from His hands? It is true that hell does not cease to tempt and assault even the Saints at their death, but God does not cease to assist them and to increase His help to His faithful servants wherever their danger increases: "Ibi plus auxilii, ubi plus periculi; quia Deus adiutor est in opportunitatibus," says St. Ambrose. When the servant of Elisha saw the city surrounded by enemies, he was terrified; but the Saint encouraged him, saying: "Noli timere, plures enim nobiscum sunt, quam cum illis" (4 Kings 6:16). And then he showed him an army of Angels sent by God for their defense. The devil will indeed come to tempt, but the Guardian Angel will also come to comfort the dying person; the holy Patrons will come; St. Michael will come, who is appointed by God to defend His faithful servants in the last struggle with hell; the divine Mother will come to drive away the enemies, placing her devoted one under her mantle; and above all, Jesus Christ will come to guard from temptation that innocent or penitent sheep of His, for whose salvation He gave His life. He will give it the confidence and the strength it needs in that combat, so that it will say with full courage: "Dominus factus est adiutor meus" (Ps. 29:11). "Dominus illuminatio mea, et salus mea, quem timebo?" (Ps. 26:1). Our salvation matters more to God, says Origen, than our perdition matters to the devil, because God loves us far more than the devil hates us: "Maior illi cura est, ut nos ad salutem pertrahat, quam diabolo, ut nos ad damnationem impellat."

God is faithful, says the Apostle; He does not permit us to be tempted beyond our strength: "Fidelis Deus non patietur vos tentari supra id quod potestis" (1 Cor. 10:13). But you will say: Many Saints died with great fear for their salvation. I answer: Few are the examples of those who led a good life and then died with such fear. The Lord permits this in some, says Bellovacensis, to purify them at death of some defect of theirs: "Iusti quandoque dure moriendo purgantur in hoc mundo." For the rest, of almost all the Servants of God we read that they died with a smile on their lips. The divine judgment gives fear to all at death; but whereas sinners pass from fear to despair, the Saints pass from fear to confidence. St. Bernard feared while he was sick, as St. Antoninus relates, and was tempted to distrust; but thinking of the merits of Jesus Christ, he drove away all fear, saying: "Vulnera tua, merita mea." St. Hilarion feared, but then said cheerfully: "Egredere, anima mea, quid times? Septuaginta prope annis servisti Christo, et mortem times?" He meant to say: My soul, what do you fear, having served a God who is faithful and does not know how to abandon one who has been faithful to Him in life? Father Joseph Scamacca of the Society of Jesus, asked whether he was dying with confidence, answered: "Have I served Muhammad all these years, that I should now doubt the goodness of my God and His wish to save me?"

If ever at death the thought of having offended God at some time torments us, let us know that the Lord has declared that He forgets the sins of the penitent: "Si impius egerit poenitentiam, omnium iniquitatum eius non recordabor" (Ezek. 18). But, someone will say, how can we be sure that God has pardoned us? St. Basil also asks: "Quomodo certo persuasus esse quis potest, quod Deus ei peccata dimiserit?" And he answers: "Nimirum si dicat: iniquitatem odio habui, et abominatus sum." He who hates sin can be sure that God has already pardoned him. The heart of man cannot exist without loving: either it loves creatures or it loves God; if it does not love creatures, then it loves God. And he loves God who observes the commandments: "Qui habet praecepta mea, et servat ea, ille est qui diligit me" (John 14). He who dies, then, in the observance of the commandments dies loving God; and he who loves God does not fear: "Caritas mittit foras timorem" (1 John 4:18).

Affections and Prayers

Ah, my Jesus, when will that day come when I can say to You: My God, I can lose You no more? When shall I see You face to face, and be certain of loving You with all my strength for all eternity? Ah, my supreme Good, my only Love, as long as I live I must always be in danger of offending You and of losing Your beautiful grace! There was an unhappy time when I did not love You and despised Your love; now I repent of it with all my soul, and I hope that You have already pardoned me; and now I love You with all my heart, and I desire to do all I can to love You and please You. But I am still in danger of denying You my love and of turning my back on You once more. Ah, my Jesus, my life, my treasure, do not permit it. If ever this supreme misfortune should befall me, let me at this very moment die the harshest death You will; I am content with it, and I beg You for it. Eternal Father, for the love of Jesus Christ, do not abandon me to this great ruin. Punish me as You will; I deserve it and I accept it; but deliver me from the punishment of seeing myself deprived of Your grace and Your love. My Jesus, commend me to Your Father.

Mary, my Mother, commend me to your Son; obtain for me perseverance in His friendship and the grace to love Him, and then let Him do with me what He wills.

Point II

"Iustorum animae in manu Dei sunt, non tanget illos tormentum malitiae, visi sunt oculis insipientium mori... illi autem sunt in pace" (Wis. 3:3). It seems to the eyes of the foolish that the Servants of God die afflicted and against their will, as the worldly die; but no — God knows well how to console His children at their death, and even amid the pains of death He lets them taste certain great sweetnesses, as foretastes of the paradise He soon wishes to give them. Just as those who die in sin begin, even from that very bed, to taste certain foretastes of hell — remorse, terrors, and despair — so, on the contrary, the Saints, with the acts of love they then make more frequently toward God, with the desire and the hope they have of soon enjoying Him, even before dying begin to taste that peace which they will then fully enjoy in heaven. Death for the Saints is not punishment but reward: "Cum dederit dilectis suis somnum, ecce hereditas Domini" (Ps. 126:2). The death of one who loves God is not called death but sleep, so that he may well say: "In pace in idipsum dormiam, et requiescam" (Ps. 4:9).

Father Suarez died with such peace that, dying, he exclaimed: "Non putabam tam dulce esse mori" — I could never have imagined that death would turn out to be so sweet. Cardinal Baronius, warned by his doctor not to think so much about death, replied: And why not? Do you think perhaps that I fear it? I do not fear it — I love it. Cardinal Fisher, as Sanderus relates, when he went to die for the faith, took care to put on his best clothes, saying that he was going to a wedding. When he was in sight of the scaffold, he threw away his walking stick and said: "Ite, pedes, parum a paradiso distamus" — Come, my feet, walk quickly; paradise is not far off. And before dying he intoned the Te Deum in thanksgiving to God for letting him die a martyr for the holy faith; and so, all joyful, he laid his head beneath the axe. St. Francis of Assisi sang as he was dying and invited others to sing. "Father," said Brother Elias to him, "at death one should weep, not sing." "But I cannot help singing," replied the Saint, "seeing that soon I am to go to enjoy God." A young Teresian nun, dying in her youth while the other sisters stood weeping around her, said to them: "O God, why weep? I am going to find my Jesus Christ; rejoice with me, if you love me."

Father Louis of Granada relates that a certain hunter found a solitary leper who lay dying, and yet was singing. "How is it," said the hunter, "that in your condition you can sing?" The hermit replied: "Brother, between me and God there stands only the wall of this body of mine; now I see it falling to pieces, and the prison is being demolished, and I am going to see God; and for this I am consoled, and I sing." This desire to see God made St. Ignatius the Martyr say that if the wild beasts did not come to take his life, he would provoke them to devour him: "Ego vim faciam, ut devorer." St. Catherine of Genoa could not bear that anyone should regard death as a misfortune, and she said: "O beloved death, how ill you are thought of! And why do you not come to me, who day and night call for you?" And St. Teresa so desired death that she considered it her death not to die, and with this sentiment she composed that famous song of hers: "I die because I do not die." Such is what death is for the Saints.

Affections and Prayers

Ah, my supreme Good, my God, if in the past I have not loved You, now I turn entirely to You. I take my leave of all creatures, and I choose to love only You, my most lovable Lord. Tell me what You wish of me, and I wish to do it. Enough of offending You. This life that remains to me, I wish to spend entirely in pleasing You. Give me strength, so that I may make up by my love for the ingratitude I have shown You until now. For so many years I deserved to burn in the fire of hell, and You pursued me so closely that You have already drawn me to Yourself; grant now that I may burn in the fire of Your holy love. I love You, infinite Goodness. You wish to be the sole object of my love, and You have every right, because You have loved me more than all others, and You alone deserve to be loved; and You alone I wish to love. I wish to do all I can to please You. Do with me what You will. It is enough for me that I love You and that You love me.

Mary, my Mother, help me; pray to Jesus for me.

Point III

And how can he fear death who hopes, after death, to be crowned king of paradise? "Non vereamur occidi," said St. Cyprian, "quos constat quando occidimur coronari." How can he fear dying who knows that, dying in grace, his body will become immortal? "Oportet mortale hoc induere immortalitatem" (1 Cor. 15:53). He who loves God and desires to see Him considers life a suffering and death a joy. "Patienter vivit, delectabiliter moritur," says St. Augustine. And St. Thomas of Villanova says that death, if it finds a man sleeping, comes as a thief, strips him, kills him, and casts him into the pit of hell; but if it finds him watchful, it comes as an ambassador of God, greets him, and says: The Lord calls you to the wedding feast; come, I will lead you where you desire: "Te Dominus ad nuptias vocat, veni, ducam te quo desideras."

Oh, with what joy he who is in the grace of God awaits death, hoping soon to see Jesus Christ and to hear Himself told: "Euge serve bone et fidelis, quia in pauca fuisti fidelis super multa te constituam" (Matt. 25:21). Oh, how then will penances, prayers, detachment from earthly goods, and all that has been done for God bring consolation! "Dicite iusto, quoniam bene, quoniam fructum adinventionum suarum comedet" (Is. 3:10). Then he who has loved God will taste the fruit of all his holy works. For this reason Father Ippolito Durazzo of the Society of Jesus, when a religious friend of his died with signs of salvation, did not weep but was full of joy. But what an absurdity it would be, said St. John Chrysostom, to believe in an eternal paradise and then grieve for those who go there: "Fateri coelum, et eos, qui hinc eo commearunt, luctu prosequi?" What a consolation it will especially be then to remember the homage paid to the Mother of God — those rosaries, those visits, those Saturday fasts, the frequenting of her Congregation! "Virgo fidelis" Mary is called; oh, how faithful she is in consoling her faithful servants at death! A certain devotee of the Blessed Virgin said as he was dying to Father Binet: "Father, you cannot believe the consolation that the thought of having served Our Lady brings at death! Oh, my father, if you knew what contentment I feel for having served this Mother of mine! I cannot express it." What joy, then, it will bring to one who has loved Jesus Christ, who has often visited Him in the Blessed Sacrament and often received Him in Holy Communion, to see his Lord enter the room with the Holy Viaticum, coming to accompany him on the passage to the other life! O happy the one who can then say to Him with St. Philip Neri: "Behold my love, behold my love! Give me my love!"

But who knows (someone will say) what lot will fall to me? Who knows whether in the end I shall make a bad death? But to you who speak thus, I ask: What is it that makes death bad? Only sin. Therefore only sin should we fear, not death. "Liquet," says St. Ambrose, "acerbitatem non mortis esse, sed culpae; non ad mortem metus referendus, sed ad vitam." Do you wish, then, not to fear death? Live well. "Timenti Deum bene erit in extremis."

Father La Colombiere held it morally impossible that one who has been faithful to God in life should make a bad death. And St. Augustine said it before him: "Non potest male mori, qui bene vixerit." He who is prepared to die fears no death, however sudden. "Iustus quacunque morte praeoccupatus fuerit, in refrigerio erit" (Wis. 7:7). And since we cannot go to enjoy God except by means of death, St. John Chrysostom exhorts us: "Offeramus Deo, quod tenemur reddere." And let us understand that he who offers God his death makes the most perfect act of love he can make toward God; because by willingly embracing that death which pleases God, at that time and in that manner God wills, he makes himself like the holy Martyrs. He who loves God must desire and sigh for death, because death unites us eternally with God and frees us from the danger of losing Him. It is a sign of little love for God not to desire to go quickly to see Him, thus making certain that we can no longer lose Him. Meanwhile, in this life, let us love Him as much as we can. Life should serve us only for this: to grow in love. The measure of love with which death finds us will be the measure of the love with which we shall love God in blessed eternity.

Affections and Prayers

Bind me, my Jesus, to Yourself, so that I may never again be separated from You. Make me entirely Yours before I die, so that I may behold You appeased, O my Redeemer, the first time I see You. You sought me when I was fleeing from You; ah, do not cast me away now that I seek You. Pardon me all the displeasures I have given You. From this day forward I wish to think of nothing but serving You and loving You. You have placed me under too great an obligation: You did not refuse to give Your blood and Your life for love of me. I would therefore wish to consume myself entirely for You, O my Jesus, who consumed Yourself entirely for me. O God of my soul, I wish to love You greatly in this life, in order to love You greatly in the next. Eternal Father, ah, draw my whole heart to Yourself; detach it from earthly affections; wound it; inflame it entirely with Your holy love. Hear me, for the merits of Jesus Christ. Give me holy perseverance, and give me the grace that I may always ask You for it.

Mary, my Mother, help me and obtain for me this grace: to ask your Son always for holy perseverance.