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Congregation of Jesus and Mary (Eudists) | ||
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Congregation of Jesus and Mary (Eudists) | ||
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MEDITATIONS ON THE PREPARATION FOR DEATH by SAINT JOHN EUDES
Death is usually p-receded by such violent throes of intense weakness that the dying person is unable to direct his thoughts to God and cannot render the homage owed to His divine majesty at that crucial time. Therefore, it is extremely advisable to anticipate this disability by setting aside a few days each year to carry out now what one ought rightfully to render to God at the hour of death.
Remark from the Pastor: Because of the great tradition in this area of honoring the dead, such as cleaning and decoration the grave for All Saints Day, November 1st, I thought you would be interested in these meditations on preparing for death by St John Eudes. These meditations will be inspiring and practical in November when the church wants us to think about death and dying, and to remember the poor souls in purgatory. I have summarized meditations of two and three pages to fit on one page.
St John Eudes begins where Dr Kubler-Ross’s modern stage of dying end, with acceptance. (These stages “on death and dying”—denial, rage and anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance—are described briefly on the last page.)
I hope you will find this ten day meditation on preparation for death helpful in November. Use them freely in whatever way is most helpful for you. Rev. James Burson
Note: The series of meditations will be available at all church doors in three parts on the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Sunday of November.
FIRST MEDITATION Submission to the Will of God
FIRST POINT LET US ACCEPT DEATH AS A PUNISHMENT FOR OUR SINS AND AS A HOMAGE TO THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD O my Lord Jesus, behold me prostrate at Thy feet, adoring my Judge and Sovereign, as Thou dost pronounce on me the sentence of death, pronounced to Adam and in his person to all sinners, by Thy words; “Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.” (Gen.3, 19)
SECOND POINT LET US ACCEPT DEATH TO HONOR THE DEATH AND THE SOVEREIGNTY OF OUR LORD O Jesus, Thou are eternal and immortal; Thou art the source ofall life, yet Thou dost will to die on the Cross the most cruel and ignominious of all deats. I ought not only to accept death, but even to desire to die, in order to honor Thy holy death. Even if Thou hadst not died, O my God, all living things ought most willingly to sacrifice their very existence to pay homage to Thy supreme and eternal being.
THIRD POINT LET US ACCEPT DEATH TO HONOR THE DEATH OF THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY O Mother of Jesus, surely it would seem that thou shouldst not have died, since thou are the Mother of the Eternal and Immortal Son of God, who is life itself! Yet thou dist willingly submit to death, in homage to the most adorable death of thy Son. I most humbly implore thee, O Mother of Life, to unite my death to thine in honor of the death of thy Son and to obtain from Him the grace to die in His favor and in His love.
Ejaculatory prayer: “Dust thou art, and into dust thou shalt return.”
SECOND MEDITATION Thanksgiving for Graces Received
FIRST POINT LET US THANK OUR LORD FOR ALL THE GRACES THAT WE HAVE RECEIVED FROM HIM After we have made the solemn act of acceptance, we should prepare for a holy death, first by thanking Our Lord for all the favors we have received from Him in our whole lifetime. And it is very wise to devote a day to this exercise as follows: O Jesus, I contemplate and adore Thee as the principle and source ofall good things and all temporal and eternal graces past, present and future, in heaven and on earth, especially those I have received from Thee. I refer all these graces to Thee, for Thou art their source and Thy glory is their destiny. O good Jesus, who could ever describe all the favors that Thou has done me? They are numberless and I am utterly incapable of thanking Thee for them as Thou dost deserve.
SECOND POINT LET US THAK OUR LADY, AND ALL THE ANGELS AND SAINTS FOR THE MANY FAVORS RECEIVIED THROUGH THEM O Good Jesus, Thou knowest how many favors and benefits I have received from Thy Blessed Mother, the angels and saints in heaven, and from many persons on earth. Thou knowest also how incapable I am of acknowledging them and giving thanks for them as I ought. O Mother of Grace, Mother of my God, it is through thy mediation that I have received all the graces ever bestowed on me from heaven. May heaven and earth bless thee for them all, on behalf of myself and of all the thoughtless persons who have received favors from thee and give thee no thanks whatever.
Ejaculatory prayer: “Let us return thanks to the Lord our God.”
THIRD MEDITATION Confession, Satisfaction for Our Sins
FIRST POINT IN REPARATION FOR OUR SINS SET US OFFER JESUS ALL THE GLORY THAT HE RECEIVED FROM HIS FATHER, HIS HOLY SPIRIT, THE BLESSED VIRGIN, THE ANGELS AND THE SAINTS Having set aside one day to thank God for all the graces He has given us in our lifetime, it is most necessary that we devote another day to ask forgiveness for our sins and to make satisfaction to Him. O Most Lovable Jesus, infinitely worthy of all service and love, to Whom I owe debts without number, Thou didst create me only to love and serve Thee. Yet I have done scarcely anything but offend Thee by thought, word and deed, by all my bodily senses and spiritual faculties, by my misuse of Thy creatures, against all Thy commandments, in countless different ways. O what sins! What ingratitude!
SECOND POINT LET US OFFER TO GOD IN REPARATION FOR OUR SINS THE HONOR WHICH JESUS RENDERED TO HIM O Good Jesus, I offer Thee instead all the glory, love and service given Thee by all the saints and Thy most Blessed Mother, by their holy thought, words and actions, by holy use of their bodily senses and their spiritual powers, by their eminent virtues and sufferings, in satisfaction for the failures of my lifetime. I offer Thee likewise all the honor given Thee forever by all the angels, by the Holy Spirit, by Thyself, and by the Eternal Father, in reparation for the dishonor I have given Thee all my life.
Ejaculatory prayer: “My sin is always before me.”
FOURTH MEDITATION Holy Communion
FIRST MEDITATION INTENTIONS FOR OUR LAST HOLY COMMUNION Holy Communion is the most precious and effective means given us by God to render to Him all the honor and service we owe to Him. To prepare for a holy death, we should make a point of taking one day of this exercise to dispose ourselves for an exceptionally well prepared Communion, marked by extraordinary devotion and approached with as much care and recollection as if it were to be our last. We should offer this special Comunion to our Lord: 1. In honor of all that He is in Himself and towards us. 2. In thanksgiving for all the effects of His love for His Father and for all creatures, but especially for us. 3. Ins satisfaction for all the dishonor and pain given Him by all the sins of the world, especially by our own. 4. For the fulfillment of the plans of His Divine Providence for all men, especially for us.
SECOND POINT DISPOSITIONS FOR OUR LAST HOLY COMMUNION Let us offer ourselves to the Eternal Father, begging Him to unite us with the surpassing love of His paternal heart when He received His Son Jesus Christ into His bosom on the day of the Ascension. THIRD POINT LET US ASK OUR DEAR LORD TO ACCOMPLISH AND COMPLETE ALL HIS HOLY DESIGNS IN US After we have received Communion and made the usual thanksgiving to our Lord with unusual fervor, let us adore His divine plans from all eternity for us.
Ejaculatory prayer: “He that eateth this bread shall live for ever.
FIFTH MEDITATION Extreme Unction
FIRST POINT LET US ADORE JESUS AS AUTHOR OF EXTREME UNCTION O Jesus, I adore Thee as the author of the Holy Sacrament of Extreme Unction, and as the source of its priceless graces, which Thou has acquired and merited for us by the shedding of Thy Precious Blood. I refer to Thee all the graces Thou didst ever produce in souls through Extreme Unction. I bless Thee a thousand times for all the glory Thou hast given to Thyself by this last Sacrament. I adore the infinite design of Thy Providence in the institution of Extreme Unction and I surrender myself to the accom-plishment of thy divine Plan for me according to Thy holy will. I implore Thee most humbly to grant me the grace of receiving this Sacrament at the end of my life. And if I should not be able to receive it, I implore Thee to produce in my soul, by Thy great mercy, the same graces I would acquire by its reception.
SECOND POINT LET US ASK JESUS TO PREPARE OUR SOULD TO RECEIVE EXTREMEN UNCTION AND ALL ITS ATTENDANT GRACES O Good Jesus, I adore Thee as High Priest to Whom, before all others, belongs the right of conferring all the Sacraments. I give myself to Thee as High Priest and implore Thee to inspire in my soul all the dispositions required for the fruitful reception of Extreme Unction. O Good Jesus, come into my soul and into my heart. Come to bring me Thy holy peace and to destroy in me all that might disturb the peace and repose of my spirit. Come unto me, and with Thy Precious Blood purify me of the foulness of my sins. Come to grant me full and total absolution, indulgence and remission of all my sins.
Ejaculatory prayer: “Come, Lord Jesus.” SIXTH MEDITATION THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF JESUS AND THE ONE WHICH WE SHOULD MAKE IN ITS HONOR
FIRST POINT BEQUESTS OF CHRIST’S LAST WILL The last will of Our Saviour comprises five bequests: The 1st bequest is to His enemies: His first word and first prayer on the Cross is for His enemies, begging the Father to pardon them. The 2nd bequest is to the Heavenly Father, the final gift of His holy soul with these words: “Father, into thy hands I commend my spirit.” The 3rd bequest in His will concerns the Blessed Mother. He gave her to me not only as my Queen and Lady, gut in the most honorable and lovable character there is- that of a Mother. The 4th bequest in His will: During His last days on earth, He expressed a surpassing and extraordinary love, assuring us that the Father loves us as He loves Him (John 17, 23), and that He dost love us as the Father loves Him (John 17, 9). And He consequently urges us to love one another as he has loves us (john 13, 34). The 5th and last bequest in His will was made on Mount Olivet when, departing from the apostles and ascending into heaven, He gave His holy blessing.
SECOND POINT OUR SPIRITUAL WILL SHOULD BE MADE IN HONOR AND IMITATION OF THE WILL OF JESUS I abandon myself to Thee to love Thee as Thou lovest the Father and as the Father loves Thee. I give myself also to Thee to love my neighbor as Thou didst love me.
Ejaculatory prayer: “Father into thy hands I commend my spirit. SEVENTH MEDITATION Our Last Agony and the Moment of Death
FIRST POINT WE SHOULD LOOK UPON THIS DAY AS THE LAST OF OUR LIFE AND UNITE OURSELVES TO JESUS AND HIS HOLY MOTHER For this purpose, we should apply ourselves to the contemplation and adoration of Our Lord in the last day of His life on earth, and to do everything in union with the holy and divine dispositions of His last actions. Similarly we should consider and honor the Blessed Virgin on the last day of her life, uniting ourselves to her dispositions, offering her the last day of our life.
SECOND POINT WE SHOULD ADORE JESUS IN HIS AGONY AND OFFER HIM OUR AGONY AND DEATH IN HONOR OF HIS I may also add at this point that it is a good thing on this day to adore Jesus and honor His most holy Mother in their agony and death, offer ing our agony and death in union with theirs, imploring them to bless and sanctify our death by their own. On this same day it would be most advisable to read the Passion of Our Lord, the seventeenth chapter of St. John, containing His last words and prayers. Do not forget, when you are at the end of your life, to remind one of your friends to gain a plenary indulgence for you, not in your own interest but for the pure glory of God. Frequently clasp the Crucifix in your hands, so that you may from time to time make acts of love while kissing the Cross. Let the Holy Names of Jesus and Mary be ever in your heart and lips. Finally, let us cast ourselves down at the feet of Jesus and His most holy Mother, to implore them to give us their blessing and that my last breath may be an act of most pure love of you.”
Ejaculatory prayer: “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.”
EIGHTH MEDITATION The Particular Judgment
FIRST POINT LET US ADORE JESUS IN THE JUDGEMENT PRONOUNCED AGAINST HIM BY HIS HEAVENLY FATHER O Jesus, Thou art Saint of Saints and Sanctity Itself, infinitely above all sin and imperfection. Yet, Thou hast taken the place of all sinners and borne the heavy judgment of our sins by dying on the Cross for our salvation. Thou dost accept that judgment with most perfect submission, most profound humility and most ardent love for Thy Father and for us. O Jesus, I adore and glorify Thee in this judgment and in all holy dispositions of humiliation, contrition, submission and love with which Thou didst suffer to be judged and condemned to save us.
SECOND POINT LET US SUBMIT OURSELVES IN ADVANCE TO THE SENTENCE PRONOUNCED AGAINST US AT THE HOUR OF OUR DEATH O Jesus, I adore Thee in Thy coming at the hour of my death and at the moment of Thy judgment of my soul. I adore now every aspect and detail of my particular judgment. O my God, how many sins I have committed against Thee all my life long, by thought, word and deed, in every way!
THIRD POINT LET US BEG JESUS TO BE MERCIFUL And yet, O God of mercy, do not permit that I should be numbered among those who will never love Thee. O Mother of Mercy, Mother of Jesus, O angels and saints of Jesus, offer to God all your merits and words on my behalf and all the glory you ever gave Him, in satisfaction for my offenses and implore His mercies, in order that I may love and bless Him with you forever.
Ejaculatory prayer: “According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my iniquity.
NINTH MEDITATION Death and Burial
FIRST POINT LET US OFFER OUR DEATH TO JESUS IN HONOR OF HIS O Jesus, Thou art eternal life and the source of all life, yet I behod Thee cold in the darkness and shadow of death. I offer Thee the state of death which will one day be mine, in honor of that state of death in wshich Thou didst remain before the Resurrection.
SECOND POINT LET US ADORE JESUS BURIED IN THE SEPULCHRE O Divine Jesus, even though Thy body and soul were separated, nevertheless they are continually united to Thy divinity. I also adore Thy body in the tomb, in all its members, for there is no part of it that is not infinitely adorable. I adore you, O most holy eyes of my Saviour’s body. I adore you, O sacred ears of my God. Alas, my Beloved! Thy perfect body is lifeless because of my sins!
THIRD POINT LET US GIVE OURSELVES TO JESUS, BEGGING HIM TO MAKE US DIE TO OURSELVES IN ORDER TO LEAD A HIDDEN LIFE WITH GOD O Good Jesus, I surrender myself completely to the power of Thy holy love, I implore Thee by that love, to reduce me now into a state of death that may imitate and honor Thy state of death. Utterly extinguish in me the life of sin and of the old Adam. Cause me to die to the world, to myself and to all that is not Thee.
Ejaculatory prayer: “For you are dead: and your life is hid with Christ in God.
TENTH MEDITATION The Entrance of the Soul into Heaven
FIRST POINT LET US OFFER JESUS CHRIST OUR ENTRANCE INTO HEAVEN IN HONOR OF HIS ASCENSION AND OF THE ASSUMPTION OF HIS HOLY MOTHER O Jesus, I adore, praise and glorify Thee countless times at the moment of Thy triumphant entrance into heaven. I also honor Thy Blessed Mother in the moment of her assumption into Paradise. Even though we are most unworthy to see the face of God and to be admitted into the blessed company of the citizens of heaven, it is, nevertheless, most certain that the Father, the Son, the Holy Spirit, the Blessed Virgin, all the angels and all the saints eagerly desire to behold you soon joined with them, to be overwhelmed as they are in the torrents of the heavenly and unspeakable delights of divine love which reigns with fullness in heaven. O blessed day, when I shall begin to love most purely and perfectly my Lord and Saviour who is infinitely amiable! O thousand times happy day in which I shall begin to be all love for Him who is all love for me! Surely if you celebrate the day of your birth into the life of grace by holy Baptism, how much more should you celebrate the feast of your entrance into heaven and your birth into the life of glory! Anticipate that day, and begin now to celebrate that feast.
SECOND POINT LET US RESOLVE TO LEAD A HEAVENLY LIFE HERE BELOW While waiting for that day, I desire, to live on earth as though I were not here, but living by my heart and spirit in heaven. I desire to concentrate all my powers on the establishment of the kingdom of Thy glory and holy love within myself. I give to Thee, that Thou mayest destroy every obstacle and perfectly establish the kingdom of Thy pure love in my body, in my soul, and in all my thoughts, words and actions.
Ejaculatory prayer: “Our conversation is in heaven.”
THE STAGES OF DYING
People pass through clearly defined stages in reconciling themselves to death, according to Dr. Elisabeth Kubler-Ross. A psychiatrist who has let the way to a deeper understanding of the needs of dying people, Doctor Ross describes these stages in her book, “On Death and Dying”.
DENIAL: “No, not me.” This is a typical reaction when a patient learns that he or she is terminally ill. Denial, says Doctor Ross, is important and necessary. It helps cushion the impact of the patient’s awareness that death is enevitable.
RAGE AND ANGER: “Why me?” The patient resents the fact that others will remain healthy and alive while he or she must die. God is a special target for anger, since He is regarded as imposing, arbitrarily, the death sentence. To those who are shocked at her claim that such anger is not only permissible but inevitable, Dr Ross replies succinctly, “God can take it.”
BARGAINING: “Yes me, but …” Patients accept the fact of death but strike bargains with God… “even among people who never talked with God before. “They promise to be good or to do something in exchange for another week or month or year of life. Notes Dr. Ross: “What they promise is totally irrelevant, because they don’t keep their promises anyway.”
DEPRESSION: “Yes, me.” First, the person mourns past losses, things not done, wrongs committed. But then he of she enters a state of “preparatory grief,” getting ready for the arrival of death. The patient grows quiet, doesn’t want visitors. “When a dying patient doesn’t want to see tyou any more,” says Dr Ross, “this is a sign he has finished his unfinished business with you, and it is a blessing. He can now let go peacefully.”
ACCEPTANCE: “My time is very close now and it’s all right.” Dr Ross describes this final stage as “not a happy stage, but neither is it unhappy. It’s devoid of feelings but it’s not resignation, it’s really a victory.”
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