against God? in whose hands death still finds the weapons he used in his war against the Almighty? Can he dwell in peace, amongst the chosen saints of heaven? No; all law and reason are against it.
And drives him to despair. Cease, O priest of God! repeating those prayers that the Church has appointed only for her God-fearing or truly repentant children, for I am not one of them. Cry out rather in a voice of thunder: depart, accursed, wicked soul! depart from the body which you have used only for sin! depart from this world, which you have defiled by your crimes! Separate yourself from the creatures whom you have scandalized and betrayed by your bad example! Go forth in the name of the Father, to whom in a moment you shall have to give a strict account of your life; in the name of the Son, who will upbraid you with the blood He has shed for you, which you have trampled under foot; in the name of the Holy Ghost, who will accuse you of having rejected so many graces and inspirations. Go forth, unhappy soul! Away with you! It is time for you to become the victim of the just vengeance of God, and to know how great is that Lord whom you have treated so contemptuously! Away with you! There is no room for you here any longer! Alas! and must I go? Come, ye demons, and take my soul into everlasting fire! O death of the sinner! O misery of all miseries! in which there is neither comfort or help from heaven, on earth, from nature, from grace, from God, nor from man! Call out, O Prophet! in the ears of all men: “The death of the wicked is very evil;”[1] it is the most terrible of all.
Consolation for the good and pious. Be not frightened, pious Christians! I have been speaking only of one who is hardened in sin to the end, of the impenitent sinner, of the sinner on his death-bed. This subject is not for you, except to console you with the thought that if you continue to serve God faithfully you shall not have such a death to fear. This subject is not for you, except to give you a greater knowledge and appreciation of the divine mercy, which has allowed you time for repentance after you have perhaps committed many grievous sins. This subject is not for you, except to encourage you and give you afresh impulse to serve the good God with still greater zeal, and to prepare yourselves for the consoling and joyful death of the righteous. As a man lives, so shall he die; death is an echo of life. If you call out “A” into the forest,
- ↑ Mors peccatorum pessima.—Ps. xxxiii. 22.
