The very structure of the daily prayers in an abbey helps remind the religious of impending death. Each night at Compline, the community sings the responsory, In manus tuas, Domine, commendo spiritum meum “Into your hands Lord, I commend my spirit”, words used by the Lord as He died on the cross, and themselves a quotation from Psalm 31:5. As I write these words, after nearly thirty-seven years as a Norbertine, death is much closer to me than when I entered as a twenty-five year old. It is essential that we realize that this moment is, ironically, the most important in our lives.
Christ, in so many of His parables to the crowds (the servants waiting for the Master to come home from the wedding; the ten virgins – five wise and five foolish; and many others) stresses that the reality of our visitation, of our death, will probably come at a time when we least expect it. This means that we have to foresee the moment by preparing well, being vigilant, ready. A good preparation for death would be to develop a relationship with the Angels and Saints, in particular Our Lady, St. Joseph, patron of a happy death, and our own guardian angel. Tradition has it that St. Joseph died in the arms of Jesus and Mary, something that I certainly very much want; and as such, St. Joseph must have extraordinary intercessory power.
Another very good preparation for death would be to cultivate the habit of saying the daily rosary. This practice is a deepening of dwelling on the Gospels, since it is a meditation on the mysteries therein. It is also a prayer that can greatly foster the virtue of humility, a virtue that connects us with reality: the reality of God’s greatness, and the reality of our contingency, which can strengthen our knowledge of and trust in God’s love for us. In the next consideration, we will return to the virtue of humility, and also consider fortitude, or courage.
