It is inevitable, and no-one can escape it. We will all, one day, leave everything behind and stand before Jesus Christ to be judged.
Editor’s Notes
The second period of the preparation for St Louis de Montfort’s Total Consecration to the Blessed Virgin – “Week 1” – is focused on gaining a greater knowledge of ourselves, and sorrow for our sins.
Today, we are reading Fr Aloysius Ambruzzi’s explanation of death and judgement – the common fate of all men. This is an appropriate theme for Advent – which is certainly not an early Christmas period, not even just a period for thinking about the lead-up to Christmas. It is also a time to contemplate the four last things, and the second coming of Christ.
The purpose of these readings is to provide material to help with our meditation – and you can find the points for the meditation in the link below. The themes, as well as vocal prayers and readings associated with this ‘Week 1’, can be found here. You can find the book here.
Although this is part of the Total Consecration preparation, all the texts also stand alone in their own right. It is not required to have read or listened to previous instalments in order to profit from this.
Reminder
In the Spiritual Exercises, one would make a general confession, of all the sins of one’s life, at the end of this week. This might be beneficial for those following this series: whether it will be possible or not is another question, and will depend on a multitude of factors.
But if it were possible to arrange such a confession (or even just a regular confession) with a priest, the most fitting day to do so in this preparation might be Day 18.
To maximise the fruit drawn from Week 1 of our Preparation for Total Consecration, and to prepare for a really good confession on Day 18, one must realise that the effects of the corresponding week in the Spiritual Exercises are meant to be cumulative.
One shouldn’t just breeze through a single use of the readings and meditations and then expect to acquire a profound sense of contrition or tears for our sins. In the Exercises, the exercitant spends much of his day in prayer, repeating individual exercises on more than one occasion. This is how the effects are cumulative.
We suggest returning to Day 3 and 4 at least once (if not more), as well as repeating this week’s exercises more than once.
Day 3: Sin and the spirit of the world
The Three SinsDay 4: What is ‘the spirit of the world’?
The Triple ColloquyDay 13: Have you ever tried to count all the sins of your life?
Our Own SinsDay 14: Are YOU on your way to Hell?
HellDay 15: Does venial sin actually matter?
Venial SinDay 16: Why lukewarmness towards God can be worse than actual coldness
Tepidity
St Ignatius would also suggest putting away thoughts of the more joyful and glorious aspects of the Faith at t his time, and even depriving ourselves of light, “closing the blinds and doors while I am in the room, if it be not to recite prayers, to read and eat.”
CONTENTS:
READING: The text consists of a chapter from Fr Aloysius Ambruzzi’s Companion to the Spiritual Exercises. This text is intended to provide material for further consideration of the subject of this week.
MEDITATION: Fr Ambruzzi’s text is intended to provide material for the meditation, which appears in point-form following it. A guide on how to use these points in meditation can be found here.
Reading: Death and Judgement
In the Light of Eternity
A Companion to the Spiritual Exercises of Saint Ignatius
Fr Aloysius Ambruzzi SJ
The first Prelude is to see myself as if I were at the point of death.
The second Prelude is to ask light and grace to know the world, to abhor it, and put away all worldly and vain things.
“The land of a certain rich man brought forth plenty of fruits. And he thought within himself, saying: What shall I do, because I have no room where to bestow my fruits? And he said: This will I do: I will pull down my barns and will build greater; and into them I will gather all things that are grown to me, and my goods. And I will say to my soul: Soul, thou hast much goods laid up for many years; take thy rest: eat, drink, make good cheer. But God said to him: Thou fool, this night do they require thy soul of thee: and whose shall those things be which thou hast provided?”
(Luke xii, 16-20)
“Thou fool,” the same voice seems to ring in the ear of each one of us, “you dream of long years of life—of happy, thoughtless life—and you know not how fast death is approaching. Shortly—this year—why not this very day?—they will require thy soul of thee and what will become of thy life, of thy goods, and of all thy castles built on the sands of transitory existence?”
1. Certainty of death
We must die. “It is appointed to all men once to die” (Heb. ix, 27). We die every day. Every minute brings us nearer to the boundless sea of eternity. We are travellers, pilgrims, exiles going home. This world is a house of probation, a novitiate.
“We have here no abiding city, but we seek for that which is to come.” (Heb. xiii)
Death is the departure from this world to the eternal.
“Man shall go into the house of his eternity.” (Eccl. xii, 5)
We must leave all—our goods, our work, our dear ones, our friends, even our body, the faithful companion of our soul. We shall enter on that awful journey alone. No, not alone: “their works do follow them” (Apoc. xiv, 13)
Our goods and evil deeds—be they ever so little—will cling to us, to be our salvation or our condemnation. Whatever, during our life-time, we build on God—every thought of Him and every longing after Him, every deed fulfilled in compliance with His Holy Will, every cross patiently borne and every act of self-denial, every deed of kindness and charity, even a glass of water given in His name, will be as so many wings that bear our soul higher and higher—to the Throne of God. Every grievous unforgiven sin will be a millstone dragging it into the abyss. And yet instead of living in the light of eternity, we live as if this world were to be our dwelling place for ever. Instead of gathering gold and precious jewels, we load ourselves with straw that will have to burn out in the fire of Purgatory, or it may be with heavy and unbearable stones, with stinking mud and mire.
2. Shortness of life
We must die. We know it only too well, though we do our best to drive the thought of death away. We like to dwell on life, its pleasures, its length. All round us is a conspiracy to make us forget how flimsy, how short, how fleeting life is.
Man’s life is as a bird that “flies through the air, of the passage of which no mark can be found, but only the sound of the wings beating the light air and parting it by the force of her flight; she moved her wings and hath flown through, and there is no mark found afterwards of her way” (Wisd. v, 11). It is “as a ship that passeth through the waves: whereof when it is gone by, the trace cannot be found, nor the path of its keel in the water.” (Wisd. v, 10).
“As when an arrow is shot at a mark, the divided air presently cometh together, so that the passage thereof is not known: so also we being born, forthwith cease to be.” (Wisd. v, 12, 13)
We come forth like flowers in the morning, soon to wither away. Our days upon earth are but a shadow: they vanish like smoke.
“Whatsoever thy hand is able to do, do it earnestly for neither work, nor reason, nor knowledge shall be in the grave where thou art hastening.” (Eccl. ix, 1)
3. Suddenness of death
Fleeting as every man’s life is, inexorable death often pounces upon its victim before it has run its natural course. The suddenness of death is the great truth that our Lord so many times sought to impress on His disciples.
“Be ye then also ready, for at that hour ye think not, the Son of Man will come.” (Luke xii, 40)
“I will come as a thief, and thou shalt not know at what hour I will come upon thee.” (Apoc. iii, 3)
Is not this truth confirmed almost every day by many an unexpected death? Who, then, can assure us that we shall have time to make our peace with God, to turn fervently to Him, and to give Him at least a few days of fervent service before the great day of reckoning?
“O! I shall always have time to cry ‘God forgive me,’” an obdurate sinner would say to the priest who used to exhort him to repentance. He was thrown off his horse and died cursing God.
Who will assure us that, even when dangerously ill, we shall realize that death is approaching? How often death proves, if not sudden, yet unforeseen and unprovided for!
And who assures us that even in the presence of death we shall have the strength and the courage to break away with our evil habits and turn to God seriously and sincerely? How many have cried, at that moment, “I cannot, I cannot.” We must, then, watch, and be always ready.
“Let your loins be girt and lamps burning in your hands, and you yourselves like to men who wait for their lord, when he shall return from the wedding: that when he cometh and knocketh, they may open to him immediately. Blessed are those servants, whom the Lord when He cometh shall find watching. Amen I say to you, that He will gird Himself, and make them sit down to meat, and passing will minister unto them. And if He shall come in the second watch, or come in the third watch, and find them, so blessed are those servants.” (Luke xii, 35-38)
Our Divine Saviour desires that we keep Him constantly in our hearts, and that we try to accomplish His will in everything. Whenever we think of death we are to think of it not as something bitter and inexorable, not as the end of all, but as the drawing aside of the veil, the pulling down of the wall and the appearance of the Master Whom we have loved and for Whom we have lived. We see immortality in death. Our cry should be the cry of the Apostle of Love:
“Come, O Lord Jesus!”
Death is the throwing of ourselves into the arms of Jesus:
“And when the evening was come, Jesus said: Let us pass to the other side.”
Judgement will hold no terrors for the soul that has watched constantly for the coming of the Lord and served Him alone.
4. Before Christ the Judge
But woe to the sinner: woe to the unfaithful soul!
“O Death, how bitter is the remembrance of thee to a man that hath peace in his possessions!” (Eccl. xli, 1)
The past will rise up with all its horrors: sins committed, scandals given, souls lost, graces neglected, favours abused—all will surround the bed of the dying sinner and try to drive him into despair, by crying: “We are thine.”
The present will torment the sinner with the thought of the immediate separation from whatever he most cherishes. “Doth bitter death separate in this manner!” (I Kings xv, 32)
And the future will be a frightening vision.
To have to appear before Christ—before Love slighted, insulted, and crucified.
“I am Joseph.” These words by which the ill-treated son of Jacob manifested himself to his brothers, were said with a smile and with tenderness; but “his brethren could not answer him, being struck with exceeding great fear.” (Gen. xlv, 3)
What shall we say when Christ will appear, and showing us His hands, His feet, His Heart, will thunder:
“I am Jesus, your loving God. What have you done with your hands? with your eyes? with your tongue? with your body? with your mind? with your will? with your heart? What have you done to Me? What have you done to so many souls dear to Me?”
And in a flash of light our whole life will stand revealed: all our sins in their number, their circumstances, their malice; good deeds neglected, and good deeds badly done.
Shall we bring forward excuses? Impossible. The devil will be our first accuser. Of what avail the fact that we only followed a crowd in sinning? The Gospel, the Commandments of God and of the Church, the obligations of our state of life will be the code according to which we shall be judged.
“And they say to the mountains and to the rocks: Fall upon us, and hide us from the face of Him who sitteth upon the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath hath come and who can stand.” (Apoc. vi, 16)
What will be the sentence that would be pronounced on me if I were to die and appear before the tribunal of Christ at this very moment?
O King of fearful Majesty,
Thou savest freely, O save me,
Thou art sweet pity’s Fountain Head.With blushes deep and heartfelt moan,
O God, oppressed with guilt I groan,
Spare one who for Thy pardon strives.
May I live from to-day in the light of eternity! May I live as I shall wish to have lived on the day of my death! May I judge of things as I shall judge of them on the day of judgement! May the Gospel be the guide of my soul, and the Commandments of God and of the Church and my duties, my only rule of life, so that my sentence may be:
“Come, you blessed of my Father, possess you the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” (Matt. xxv, 34)
Come, O Lord Jesus!
Suggestions for the Colloquy
1. O my Jesus, Thy Holy Will should be my guiding rule in all the details of life—in choosing and in rejecting the things of this world—in saying yes and in saying no. But, alas, how truly the bewitching of vanity obscureth good things, and the wandering of concupiscence overturneth the innocent mind. The thought of death, so inexorable and yet so uncertain as to its time and circumstances, will help me to see things and appreciate them in the light of eternity—to choose or to reject them as Thou wantest—to order my life as I should have liked to have done were I at the point of death.
2. O Jesus, may I obey Thy command and constantly work for Thee and be ever ready for Thy coming—from day to day—from Communion to Communion. Give me to look upon death as the drawing aside of the veil that conceals Thee from my sight—as the throwing of my poor soul in Thy loving arms. May my constant cry be the cry of the Apostle of love: Come, O Lord Jesus!
3. O Mary, my Mother, pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death:—now, the only moment that is mine, that I may do in it God’s Will—at the hour of my death, that I may pass into eternity in His love and grace.
O Lord, my God, I now, at this moment, readily and willingly accept at Thy hand whatever kind of death it shall please Thee to send me, with all its anxieties, pains and sufferings. Amen.
(Pius X granted a Plenary Indulgence at the moment of death to all who, once during life, some day after Holy Communion, make an act of resignation in these or in similar words.)
Meditations for Day 17
It is in mental prayer that that much of the preparation will be achieved – and meditation is a means of entering mental prayer. See our guide to meditation for two ways to use the below texts.
Below are three meditations from the book Christian Warfare. Use whichever or as many as you wish.
One could consider the points below in reference to oneself: How far have we been conscious of this in our daily lives so far, what practical conclusions should we draw from these truths, how far have we lived up to them so far, what must we do to live up to them in the future, etc.
One could consider the acts of virtue we can make in response to these truths – Acts of faith, humility, hope/confidence, thanksgiving, contrition and love – talking all the while to God, the Blessed Virgin, our Guardian Angels, etc.
Colloquies
Fr Ambruzzi offers some suggestions for the colloquies. However, it is important to speak frankly to God in our own words, rather than simply reading somebody else’s.
If one feels moved to speak to God before meditating on all the points, one should certainly do so. The same applies if one feels moved to simply rest in God, rather than engaging in discursive meditation. These impulses should be followed over any particular method of meditation.
One could also use the Triple Colloquy previously discussed:
The End
End the meditation with a vocal prayer – such as the Our Father, the Anima Christi.
Reflect on how well we have prayed, and how well we have followed our chosen method.
Select a spiritual nosegay from your meditation to keep with you for the rest of the day.
Death
There are numerous motives to meditate on Good Death, in order to prepare for death: to understand the importance of the apostolate of a Good Death, to grasp the nothingness of the things of earth, etc.
Here, also, we do so in order to understand the gravity of sin (for sin condemned all humanity to death by God, Infinite Justice, but also Infinite Goodness), now when we still have time, and to put our life in order.
Prayer. The usual Preparatory Prayer.
First Prelude. Your deathbed.
Second Prelude. The second Prelude is to ask for the light and grace to understand the gravity of sin now that there is still time.
The Points for Meditation
First Point: Sin is “to turn away from God, to prefer creatures to Him.” Death will separate us from all creatures.
Second Point: Sin is to misuse our time. Death will deprive us of time. “I will come as a thief... No man knows the day nor the hour.”
Colloquy. End with one or several colloquies.
Particular Judgement
Prayer. The usual Preparatory Prayer.
First Prelude. Your soul alone before God with all its accounts to render.
Second Prelude. The second Prelude is to ask for the grace to weep for your sins and to put your life in order.
The Points for Meditation
First Point: To assist at your own judgement. Pass through your mind all of your sins... See their malice... the fitting outrage of God... and by whom were these sins committed?
Second Point. Today, you can still obtain forgiveness. Then, it will be too late.
Colloquy, to Jesus, accepting to be dragged accused before the human tribunal for us....
General Judgement
Prayer. The usual Preparatory Prayer.
First Prelude. All men before God, with all their accounts to render.
Second Prelude. The second Prelude is to ask for the grace to weep for your sins and to put your life in order.
The Points for Meditation
We will all be there... Christ the King on the clouds of Heaven. The resurrection of the body. Will we be on the Right or the Left? Today, we can still determine it. See our faults as we will see them on that day. The Universal Judgement: justice will be rendered to all. To Christ.... to the persecuted. All sins will be made manifest. The sentence... (See the Sequence “Dies iræ” below.)
Colloquy of mercy. There is still time.. Thank you, my God… !
Dies Irae
1 Day of wrath and doom impending.
David’s word with Sibyl’s blending!
Heaven and earth in ashes ending!
2 O, what fear man’s bosom rendeth,
When from heav’n the Judge descendeth,
On whose sentence all dependeth!
3 Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth,
Through earth’s sepulchers it ringeth,
All before the throne it bringeth.
4 Death is struck, and nature quaking,
All creation is awaking,
To its Judge an answer making.
5 Lo! the book exactly worded,
Wherein all hath been recorded:
Thence shall judgments be awarded.
6 When the Judge his seat attaineth,
And each hidden deed arraigneth,
Nothing undisclos’d remaineth.
7 What shall I, frail man, be pleading?
Who for me be interceding,
When the just are mercy needing?
8 King of majesty tremendous,
Who dost free salvation send us,
Fount of pity then befriend us!
9 Think, kind Jesu! my salvation
Caused thy wondrous Incarnation;
Leave me not to reprobation.
10 Faint and weary thou hast sought me,
On the Cross of suff’ring bought me;
Shall such grace be vainly brought me?
11 Rightous Judge! for sin’s pollution
Grant thy gift of absolution,
Ere that day of retribution.
12 Guilty, now I pour my moaning,
All my shame with anguish owning:
Spare, O God, thy suppliant groaning!
13 Through the sinful woman shriven,
Through the dying thief forgiven,
Thou to me a hope hast given.
14 Worthless are my prayers and sighing,
Yet, good Lord, in grace complying,
Rescue me from night undying.
15 With thy sheep a place provide me,
From the goats afar divide me,
To thy right hand do thou guide me.
16 When the wicked are confounded,
Doom’d to shame and woe unbounded,
Call me, with thy Saints surrounded.
17 Low I kneel, with heart’s submission;
See, like ashes my contrition!
Help me in my last condition!
18 Ah! that day of tears and mourning!
From the dust of earth returning.
Man for judgement must prepare him:
Spare, O God, in mercy spare him!
Lord, all pitying, Jesu blest,
Grant them thine eternal rest. Amen.
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For more on the St Louis de Montfort’s True Devotion and Total Consecration, for which we are preparing, see here:
The theological basis of ‘True Devotion’ and the Consecration to Mary (Garrigou-Lagrange)
The fruits of ‘True Devotion’ and Consecration to Mary (Garrigou-Lagrange)
For more on the importance of not getting bogged down with methods, and on allowing God to act, see here:
For more on Week 0, and the vocal prayers that are are suggested for each day, see here:
‘Week 0’ of St Louis de Montfort’s Total Consecration preparation (Prayers, practices and reading)
Get the book here:
True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary (St Louis de Montfort)
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