Harvesting The Fruits of Contemplation

Everything we need to know or have forgotten about assisting a dying soul is set forth in The Art of Dying ( Ars Moriendi ), an “immensely popular and influential text of the Middle Ages”. This treasure was recently translated with Introduction and Notes by Br. Columba Thomas, O.P., M.D. and a Forward by Mother Agnes Mary Donovan, SV. Few Catholics know or live their Faith anymore. A substantial number no longer believe there is a hell or if there is such a place, they believe God is too merciful to send anyone there. (The Truth is we send ourselves there by the choices we make in this life). Few are prepared to die and fewer still are equipped to assist dying souls overcome Satan’s last-ditch efforts to snatch their souls from eternal bliss. The Art of Dying was, and is, “aimed at equipping the faithful for death and dying.” It is needed just as much now (if not more so) than when it was first published centuries ago. We have lost our zeal for the salvation of souls. Countle...

[ Last week I shared a silly whimsical glance into the particular judgment of one attorney - the judgment that occurs immediately after death. Today, we cast aside that foolishness, and get real. The salvation of souls is at stake. Ponder what Ven. Louis of Granada, O.P. had to say on the subject.]   (Image Source: Wikimedia Commons ) “Consider, also, how uncertain is the hour of death. It generally comes when man is most forgetful of eternal things, overturning his plans for an earthly future, and opening before him the appalling vision of eternity. Therefore, the Holy Scriptures tell us that it comes as a thief in the night; that is, when men are plunged in sleep and least apprehensive of danger. The forerunner of death is usually a grave illness with its attendant weariness, sufferings, and pains, which weaken the powers of the body and give entrance to the king of terrors. Just as an enemy who wishes to take a citadel destroys the outer fortifications, so death with its va...

As our parish journeys through its fifteenth year of Perpetual Eucharistic Adoration, I marvel at, and give God thanks for, the hundreds of faithful Adorers who have spent time in His Presence over the years. It is hard to believe that sixty-seven of them have passed on into eternity.  Many of their names and faces pop into my consciousness from time to time – a reminder of the impact their lives and examples have had on me and countless others. With each passing year, I become increasingly aware of my own approaching death – at a time and under circumstances fully and solely in God’s hands. Although modern sensitivities discourage reflection on our immortality as a morbid and useless effort, nothing could be further from the truth , as you will glean from these words of Father Winfrid Herbst, S.D.S. from his book, The Way of God: “So it is wise for me always to remember that I must die and that I ought always to be ready. This reminds me of a story told abou...