Preparation for Death/IX. THE PEACE THAT A JUST MAN FEELS WHEN DYING
CONSIDERATION IX
The peace one feels when dying
"The souls of the just are in the hands of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die, .... but they are in peace." Wisd. iii. 1-3.
First Point.
The souls of the just are in the hand of God." If God holds the souls of the just in His hand, who is it that can pluck them out of it? It is true that hell never ceases to tempt and to insult the saints, even when they are dying; but God never ceases to assist them; and when, as S. Ambrose observes, His faithful servants are placed in more danger, then does He give them more help.
When the servant of Elisha saw the city surrounded by enemies, he was affrighted; but the saint encouraged him, Saying, " Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them." (2 Kings vi. 16.) And Elisha then prayed, and the young man's eyes were opened, and he saw an army of angels sent by God to defend them. The devil will indeed come to tempt the dying man, but his guardian angel will also come to comfort him. S. Michael, who is appointed by God to defend His faithful servants in this their last combat with hell; but above all, Jesus Christ will come to keep this His penitent and innocent sheep for whose salvation He once gave up His life. He will give thy soul that confidence and strength which in such a combat it will stand in need of, so that He will exclaim with all courage, "Lord, be Thou my helper." (Ps. xxx. 10.) " The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom then shall I fear?" (Ps. xxvii. I.) God, as Origen observes, cares much more about our eternal salvation than the devil does about our eternal ruin; because God loves us much more than the devil hates us.
God is faithful, observes the apostle, and will not suffer us to be tempted above that we are able, (i Cor. x. 13.) But you will say, " Many saints have died in great fear concerning their eternal salvation." I answer, that few are the examples of those who, having led a holy life, have afterwards died in great fear. Belluacensis observes, that the Lord permits this in some saints, in order to purge them when dying from some defect. Besides, do we not read that almost all God's servants have died with a smile upon their lips? To all, the Divine Judgment gives fear of death; but where sinners pass from fear to desperation, the saints pass to assurance. S. Antoninus narrates that S. Bernard being ill, was tempted to fear, but thinking upon the merits of Jesus Christ, he dismissed every fear, saying, " My merits are Thy wounds." S. Hilarion at first was afraid, but aftenvards he said, rejoicing, " Go forth, my soul, of what art thou afraid? For well nigh seventy years thou hast served Christ, and dost thou now fear death? " As if he wished to say, my soul, what dost thou fear after having served a God Who is faithful, and Who will never abandon him who has been faithful to Him in life? Father Joseph Scamacca being asked if he felt he was dying with confidence, answered, " What! have I been serving Mahomet all my life, that I should now doubt the goodness of my God as to whether He may wish me to be saved? "
If the thought of having once offended God at any time should torment us in death, we know that the Lord has promised to remember no more the sins of the penitent. " If the wicked will turn from all his sins that he hath committed, .... they shall not be mentioned unto Him." (Ezelc xviii. 21, 22.) But some will say, how can we be sure that God has pardoned us? S. " Basil even, asks this question, and replies, " If we can say, I hate and abominate my sin; because he who hates sin, may rest secure that God has pardoned him already." The heart of man cannot exist without love; it either loves the creature, or it loves God; if it does not love the creature, then it loves God. And who is it that loves God? Even he who keeps His commandments. " He that hath My commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth Me." (S. John xiv. 21.) He therefore who dies, observing God's commands, dies loving God; and he that loves God shall not fear: for " perfect love casteth out fear." (i S.John iv. 18.)
Affections and Prayers.
Ah, my Jesus, when will that day come when I shall be able to say, "My God, never more shall I be able to lose Thee?" When will that day come when I shall see Thee face to face, and shall rest secure of loving Thee with all my strength for all eternity? Ah my Sovereign Good, my only love, as long as I live I shall stand in danger of offending Thee, and of losing Thy blessed grace! There was once an unhappy time when I loved Thee not, and when I despised Thy love; but now I repent with all my heart, and hope that Thou hast already pardoned me; for now I love Thee with all my heart, and I desire to do all I can, to love Thee, and to please Thee; but I am still in danger of not loving Thee, and of again turning away from Thee. Ah, my Jesus, my Life, my Treasure, do not permit me to do this. Rather than allow this dreadful misfortune to befall me, let me now die the most painful death it may please Thee to send me. I am content with it, and I pray for it. Eternal Father, for the love of Jesus Christ, give me not over to this great ruin. Punish me as Thou wilt, I deserve it, and I accept it; but deliver me from the punishment of ever beholding myself deprived of Thy grace and of Thy love. My Jesus, for Thine own sake have mercy upon me.
Second Point.
"The souls of the just are in the hand of God; and the torment of death shall not touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die, .... but they are in peace." (Wisd. iii. 1-3.) It seems in the sight of the unwise that the servants of God die with sorrow, and unwillingly, even as the worldly do; but no, for God knows well how to comfort His children when they are dying; and amidst the pains of their death, He makes them feel a certain incomparable sweetness, as a foretaste of that Paradise, which within a short time He will bestow upon them. Like those who die in sin, who even upon their death-bed experience certain foretastes of hell, such as remorse, fear, and despair; so on the contrary do the saints, by the acts of love which at that time they often make towards God, by the desire and by the hope that is in them, of very soon enjoying God, begin even before death to feel that peace which they will afterwards fully enjoy in heaven. Death to the saints is not a punishment, but a reward. " For so He giveth His beloved sleep." (Ps. cxxvii. 3.) The death of him who loves God is not called death, but sleep, so that he can truly say, " I. will lay me down in peace and take my rest." (Ps. iv. 9.)
Father Saurez died in such peace that when dying he was able to say, " I did not think that it was so sweet to die." Cardinal Baronius having been advised by his physician not to think so much about death, replied, "And why? Is it perchance that I fear it? I do not fear, but I love it." Cardinal Fisher, as Saunders relates, when about to die for the faith, put on the best clothes he had, saying, that he was going to a wedding. When he came in sight of the scaffold he cast away his staff, saying, " Make haste my feet; make haste, for we are not far from Paradise." And before dying he sang Te Deum, in returning thanks to God, who had allowed him to die a martyr's death, for the holy faith, and thus being filled with joy, he placed his head under the axe. S. Francis of Assisi sang when dying, and invited the others to sing. One, brother Elias, made answer, saying, " We ought to weep, Father, and not to sing when we are dying." But the saint replied, " I cannot do less than sing, seeing that within so short a time I am going to enjoy God." A Teresian nun dying whilst she was young, and seeing the other nuns begin to weep, she said to them, " O God, wherefore do you weep, I am going to find my Jesus; if you love me rejoice with me." Father Granada relates that a certain huntsman found a solitary leper singing when dying; " Why is it," said the huntsman, "that thou canst sing when in this condition?" The hermit answered, saying, " Brother, between me and God there is only the wall of this my body; now I can see falling into pieces that which was my prison, and I am going to see God; and therefore it is that I comfort myself and sing." This longing to see God, made S. Ignatius the martyr say, that if the wild beasts did not come to take away his life, that he would irritate them, and thus provoke them to devour him. Catherine of Genoa would not allow any one to consider death a misfortune, for she said, " O beloved death, how ungraciously art thou welcomed! and why do you not come to me, when I call upon thee day and night?" S. Teresa desired death so much that she considered it death not to die, and accordingly she composed that celebrated hymn, " I die, because I do not die." Even such is death to the saints.
Affections and Prayers.
Ah my Sovereign Good, my God! if during the years that are past, I have not loved Thee, now will I be converted to Thee. I bid farewell to every creature, and I choose to love Thee alone, my sweetest Saviour. Tell me what Thou wishest me to do, that I may do it. I have already committed offences enough against Thee. The life that remains to me, I would wish to spend it all in pleasing Thee. Give me strength, in some way to atone with my love for the ingratitude, which, until now, I have shown towards Thee. I have deserved, all these years, to be cast into everlasting punishment. Thou hast sought me so many times, that at last Thou hast drawn me to Thee; let me now burn with the fire of Thy holy love. I love Thee, O Thou Infinite Good, Thou wishest me to love Thee only; and with reason, for Thou hast loved me more than all, and Thou alone art worthy to be loved, and I will love Thee only, for I would do all I can to please Thee. Do with me as Thou wilt. It is enough that I love Thee; and that Thou lovest me.
Third Point.
How is it then, that he can fear death, who hopes to be crowned after death? S. Cyprian says, "We cannot fear to die, who await our crown when we are killed."
How can any one fear death, who knows that dying in grace, his body will become immortal: " This mortal must put on immortality." (i Cor. xv. 53.) He who loves God and desires to see Him, regards life as a pain and death as a joy: " He lives patiently he dies delightedly," says S. Augustine. S. Thomas of Villanova says, " that death, if it finds a man sleeping, comes as a thief, robs him, kills him, and casts him into the pit of hell;" but if death finds a man vigilant, it salutes him as the ambassador of God, and says, " The Lord expects thee at the nuptial feast; come, and I will lead thee to the blessed kingdom that thou hast desired."
Oh with what joy does he await death who is in the grace of God, hoping, as he does, soon to see Jesus Christ, and to hear Him say, " Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things." (S. Matt. xxv. 21.) Oh how well then will he understand the force of the repentance, the prayers, the alienation from the things of this world, and all that he has done for God! " Say ye to the righteous, that it shall be well with him; for they shall eat the fruits of their doings." (Isa. iii. 10.) Then will he who has loved God enjoy the fruit of all his good works. Therefore did Father Hippolitus Durazzo, when a friend of his, a religious, was dying, with every sign of salvation, rejoice and not weep. For how absurd it would be, remarks S. John Chrysostom, to believe in an eternal heaven, and yet to pity any one who goes there. What joy it will bring to him, who has loved Jesus Christ, and who has often received Jesus Christ in the Holy Communion to see this same Jesus enter his room at the most solemn hour of death, to accompany him in his journey to the other life. Oh happy he who can then say with S. Philip Neri, " Behold my love, behold my love."
But some will say, "Who can tell what fate will be mine? Perhaps, after all, my end will be an unhappy one!" But to those who thus speak, I ask, " What is it that makes death dreadful?" Sin only; therefore it is sin that we ought to fear and not death. S. Ambrose observes, that "it is clear that the bitterness is not from death, but from sin; fear is not to be referred to death but to life." Therefore, if you desire not to fear death, live holily: " To him who fears the Lord it will be well in his last hour." Father Colombiere considered it quite impossible, for him, who has been faithful to God all his life long, to die an unhappy death. And before him S. Augustine has remarked, " He cannot die badly who has lived well." He who is prepared for death, does not fear it, although it should be sudden. " But the just man, if he be prevented with death, shall be in rest." (Wisd. iv. 7.) And since we are unable to go to enjoy God, except we die, S. John Chrysostom exhorts us "to offer to God that which we are bound to render to Hun." And let us understand, that he who offers his death to God, performs the most perfect act of love that can be done towards God; for by willingly embracing that death, which it pleases God to send us, and that time and manner of death which God wishes, he makes himself like unto the holy martyrs. He who loves God ought to long and sigh for death, because death unites us eternally with God, and frees us from the danger of ever losing Him again. It is a sign that we love God but little, if we have no desire soon to go to see Him, feeling certain that we shall never be able to love Him more. For the meantime, let us love God as much as we can in this life. For this alone should we live to increase in our love to Hun; the measure of love to God in which death will find us, will be the measure of our love to God in a blessed eternity.
Affections and Prayers.
Bind me, my Jesus, to Thyself, so that I may never more be severed from Thee. Make me wholly Thine before I die, so that, when I behold Thee for the first time, I may behold Thee in peace. Thou hast sought me when I was fleeing from Thee; oh, do not drive me from Thee, now that I seek Thee. Pardon me whatever displeasure I may have caused Thee. From this day forward I wish to think of serving and loving Thee only. I am already too much indebted to Thee. Thou didst not refuse to shed Thy blood and give Thy life through love of me. I would wish to be entirely consumed for Thee as Thou wert for me. O God of my soul, I would love Thee much in this life, so as to love Thee much in the life to come. Eternal Father, draw my whole heart to Thee, take from it all earthly affections, wound it, inflame it with Thy holy love. Hear me, through the merits of Jesus Christ. Give me holy perseverance, and give me the grace ever to ask it of Thee.