A candle, crucifix, prayer book, and hourglass in a quiet chapel.

Death

Death is certain.
Its hour is unknown.

You will die, and the time to prepare will end. Jesus Christ has conquered death. Seek the grace to die in His friendship: turn from sin, pray, and receive the sacraments.

Begin the meditation Pray for a good death

“And as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgment:”

Hebrews 9:27Douay-Rheims, Challoner revision; DRBO transcription

Prepare to die in God’s friendship

Death separates the soul from the body and ends our earthly pilgrimage. The soul continues to live, but our earthly time for accepting or rejecting the grace of Christ has ended. The state in which we die matters for eternity. Prepare now to die in the grace of Christ. (Catechism 1005, 1013, 1021; Hebrews 9:27.)

A life of deliberate sin disposes a person to resist the very mercy he needs. Alphonsus warns against saving repentance for a deathbed we may never have. Yet conversion remains possible while life remains. Pray for sinners and the dying, and answer the grace offered to you today. (Preparation for Death, V, X, XXII.)

A happy death means dying in friendship with God, whether the outward circumstances are peaceful or painful. Final perseverance is His gift. Aquinas teaches that we cannot claim it as a reward owed to our past achievements, but we can ask for it in prayer. Depend on God with humility, and ask Him to keep you faithful. (Summa I–II, q. 114, a. 9, answer and reply 1.)

Christ has conquered death through His death and Resurrection. Seek His sacramental help in serious illness: contact a priest promptly for Confession, the Anointing of the Sick, and Holy Communion as Viaticum when possible. Do not postpone this care until the dying person can scarcely participate. The Church prepares her children for their passage to the Father. (Trent, Session XIV, On Extreme Unction, chapters I–III; Catechism 1524–1525.)

Follow the sources

The value of time

St. Alphonsus de Liguori
Preparation for Death

Open quiet reading

The hour of death is unknown, and lost time cannot be recalled. Alphonsus calls us to cease delaying our conversion and to spend the life that remains in the service of God. Read, ask pardon, and resolve to amend your life.

Some will say: What evil am I doing? O God! is it not an evil to lose time in gaming, in useless conversations, which are unprofitable to the soul? Does God give you time, that you may squander it away? No; the Holy Ghost says: “Defraud not thyself of the good day, and let not the part of a good gift overpass thee”—Eccl., xiv. 14. The workmen mentioned by St. Matthew, though they did no evil, but only lost time, were rebuked by the master of the vineyard. “Why stand you here all the day idle?”—Mat., xx. 6. On the day of judgment Jesus Christ will demand an account of every idle word. All time which is not spent for God is lost time.

…

The Venerable Sister Jane of the most holy Trinity, of the order of St. Teresa, used to say that, in the lives of the saints, there is no to-morrow. To-morrow is found in the life of sinners, who always say: Hereafter, hereafter: and in this state they continue till death. “Behold, now is the acceptable time”—II. Cor., vi. 2. “To-day, if you shall hear his voice, harden not your hearts”—Ps., xciv. 8. If God call you to-day to do good, do it; for, to-morrow it may happen that for you time shall be no more, or that God shall call you no more.

If you have hitherto spent the time in offending God, endeavour, like King Ezechias, to weep over your mispent years during the remainder of your life. “I will recount to thee all my years in the bitterness of my soul”—Isa., xxxviii. 15. God spares your life, that you may repair the time you have lost. “Redimentes tempus quoniam dies mali sunt”—Eph., v. 16. In explaining this passage, St. Anselm says: “You shall redeem the time, if you do what you have neglected to do.” Of St. Paul, St. Jerome says that, though the last of the Apostles, he was, on account of his great labours after his vocation, the first in merits. “Paulus novissimus in ordine, primus in meritis, quia plus omnibus laboravit.” Let us reflect that in each moment of time we may acquire new treasures of eternal riches. Were all the land round which you could walk, or all the money which you could count in a day, promised to you, would you not hasten to walk over the ground, or to reckon the money? In each moment you can acquire eternal treasures: will you, notwithstanding, squander away your time? Say not that what you can do to-day, you shall be able to do to-morrow; for this day shall then be lost, and shall never return. When his companions spoke of the world, St. Francis Borgia conversed with God by holy affections: and so recollected was he, that when asked his opinion on the subject of conversation, he knew not what to answer. Being corrected for this, he said: “Malo rudis vocari, quam temporis jacturam pati.” I prefer to be considered stupid and unlearned, than to lose time.

Read the source & edition details

Consideration XI, Third Point, pp. 147–149 · selected passage. Dublin: James Duffy, 1843. Translated by A Catholic Clergyman (as credited on the title page). Historical excerpt, not a new reflection or a complete edition. Wording and spelling follow the 1843 printing; line breaks, quotation marks, and spacing are normalized. The ellipsis marks an omitted passage. Biblical abbreviations and the author’s secondary attributions are retained as printed.

Open the historical source

For perseverance and the love of God

No, my God, I will no longer lose the time which you in your mercy give me. I should at this hour be in Hell weeping without fruit. I thank you for having preserved my life: I wish during the remainder of my days to live only for you. Were I now in Hell, I should weep in despair and without profit: I will now bewail the offences I have offered to you; and if I weep over them, I know for certain that you will pardon me. Of this the Prophet assures me: “Weeping, thou shalt not weep; he will surely have pity on thee”—Is., xxx. 19. Were I in Hell, I could never more love you; and now I love you, and hope always to love you. Were I in Hell, I could ask no more graces; but now I hear you say: Ask, and you shall receive. Since then I still have time to ask your graces, O God of my soul, I ask two graces:—give me perseverance in your grace, give me your love; and then do with me what you please. Grant that in all the remaining moments of my life I may always recommend myself to you, saying: Lord, assist me; have mercy on me; grant that I may never more offend you; make me love you. Most holy Mary, my mother, obtain for me the grace always to recommend myself to God, and to ask him for perseverance and for his holy love.

St. Alphonsus de Liguori, Preparation for Death, Consideration XI, Third Point, complete Affections and Prayers, printed pp. 149–150
Dublin: James Duffy, 1843 · A Catholic Clergyman (as credited on the title page)

For a good death

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, assist me in my last agony.

Traditional aspiration, as given by the USCCB, Prayers for Death and Dying

Prepare while there is time

If you are conscious of mortal sin, turn to God in contrition now and seek Confession as soon as possible. If you are living in His grace, guard that gift. Examine your conscience, fulfill your duties, and ask for perseverance until death.

Prepare for Confession

Make an act of contrition and arrange Confession if you are conscious of mortal sin.
Stop postponing the duty, restitution, or reconciliation your conscience requires.
Pray for final perseverance, and ask Our Lady to intercede at your last hour.
Contact a priest promptly for a seriously sick or dying Catholic who needs the sacraments.

Continue the journeyJudgment

Further counsel on death

Prepare by living in grace.

The Council of Trent teaches us to place firm hope in God’s help while remaining watchful over our own weakness. Perseverance is a gift to be sought with humility. Do not presume upon a future conversion: answer the grace God offers today. (Trent, Session VI, chapter XIII.)

Use your remaining time for conversion. Confess remembered mortal sins sincerely, give up an avoidable occasion of grave sin, and begin the restitution or reconciliation you owe. Fulfill today’s duties for love of God. Alphonsus’s insistence on the value of time becomes practical in these acts, which His grace enables you to make before the hour is gone. (Preparation for Death, X–XI, XXXI; Trent, Session XIV, chapters IV–V.)

Pray daily for perseverance and a good death, and ask Our Lady to intercede at your last hour. Practice humility, patient endurance, and charity in ordinary trials; support the dying with prayer and presence. Hope rests in the Savior who can sustain you and raise you when you fall. (Trent, Session VI, chapter XIII; Preparation for Death, XXXII.)