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PERSEVERANCE is defined: that gift which makes the
moment of death coincide with the state of grace,
either continued or restored. Let us see, first, what
Scripture and tradition say of this grace. Then we
shall listen to the explanation furnished by the
theology of St. Thomas. [66] Scripture attributes to
God the grace of death in the state of grace.
In the Book of Wisdom, on the subject of the death of
the just as opposed to the death of the wicked, we
read: "His soul pleased God, therefore the Lord
hastened to bring him out of the midst of iniquities."
[67] In the New Testament we read these words of St.
Peter: "The God of all grace, who has called us unto
His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have
suffered a little, will Himself perfect you and confirm
you and establish you." [68] St. Paul says: I am
confident that He who hath begun a good work in you
will perfect it unto the day of Jesus Christ." [69]
Again to the Romans: "To them that love God all things
work together unto good, to such as, according to His
purpose, are called to be saints.... And whom He
predestined, them He also called. And whom He called,
them He also justified. And whom He justified, them He
also glorified." [70] This glorification supposes that
God preserves the soul in that grace which justifies
it. He says to Moses: "I will have mercy on whom I will
have mercy, and I will show mercy to whom I will show
mercy." [71] This mercy of final perseverance is given
to all the elect.
St. Augustine [72] says that death in the state of
grace is a pre-eminent gift of God, even in the case of
infants. In the case of adults this gift sustains their
own voluntary and meritorious choice, and hinders them
from being cast down by adversity. But while each
predestined soul will have this gift, none can know,
without special revelation, that he will persevere.
Hence we must work out our salvation with fear and
trembling. St. Augustine [73] adds that this gift is
not given to us according to our merits, but according
to the will of God, a will very secret, very wise, very
beneficent. Only to God does it belong to give it,
since He alone determines the end of our life. But this
gift, even if it cannot be merited, can be obtained by
humble supplication. [74]
St. Thomas Aquinas [75] explains this doctrine. His
teaching, generally admitted by theologians, may be
reduced to this: The principle of merit, namely, the
state of grace, cannot be merited, since a cause cannot
be the effect of itself. But final perseverance is
nothing but grace, preserved by God up to the moment of
death. Hence it cannot be merited. It depends on God
alone, who alone can preserve the state of grace or
restore to the state of grace. Yet this final
perseverance can be obtained by humble and confident
prayer, which we address, not to divine justice as in
the case of merit, but to divine mercy.
Whence comes it, then, that we can merit eternal life,
if we cannot merit final perseverance? The reason runs
thus: Eternal life, far from being the principle of
merit, is the terminus and the goal of merit. We shall
obtain it on condition that we do not lose our merits.
St. Thomas adds: "Since free will is of itself
changeable, even after it has been healed by habitual
grace, it is not in its power to fix itself immutably
in good. It can choose this good, but it cannot realize
it." [76]
The Council of Trent [77] confirms this traditional
doctrine. "This succor is a great gift, very
gratuitous, which we cannot obtain except from Him who,
according to St. Paul, [78] can sustain him who stands
and lift up him who falls." The Council adds that,
without special revelation, we cannot in advance be
certain of receiving this gift, but we can and should
hope firmly for it, battling against temptation, and
working out our salvation by the practice of good
works.
As regards the grace given for this last meritorious
act, Thomists hold that this grace is intrinsically
efficacious, that is, efficacious of its own self,
though without violating in any way the liberty which
it actualizes. Molinists say, on the contrary, that it
is efficacious extrinsically, namely, by our consent
which God had foreseen by scientia media. According to
Thomists, such prevision would put a passivity in God,
who would thereby become dependent in His foreknowledge
on a created determination which would not come from
God Himself.
If we cannot be certain in advance of the grace of a
good death, we can nevertheless exercise the signs of
predestination, particularly those that follow: care to
preserve ourselves from mortal sin, the spirit of
prayer, humility which draws down grace, patience in
adversity, love of neighbor, assistance to those who
are afflicted, a sincere devotion to our Lord and His
Holy Mother. In this sense, according to the promise
made to St. Margaret Mary, those who have received
Communion in honor of the Sacred Heart on the first
Friday of nine successive months can have the
confidence of obtaining from God the grace of a good
death. A condition is here understood, namely, that the
nine Communions have been made well. The grace of
receiving them well is a grace given to the elect by
the Sacred Heart. [79]
The Death of the Just
In the Old Testament the death of the just is painted
in that of Tobias: At the hour of his death he calls to
him his son and the seven sons of his son and says to
them: "Hearken, my children, to your father: Serve the
Lord in truth, and seek to do the things that please
Him. And command your children that they do justice and
almsdeeds, and that they be mindful of God and bless
Him at all times in truth and with all their power."
[80]
In the Book of Ecclesiasticus [81] we read that the
just man is not scandalized by the inequality of human
conditions, and that it is especially at the time of
his death that he judges wisely. Why are there poor and
rich? Why are there those who are unfortunate and those
who are fortunate? Ecclesiasticus replies: Why does one
day excel another and one light another, and one year
another year, when all come from the sun? By the
knowledge of the Lord they were distinguished . . . and
He ordered the seasons and holidays of them; . . . some
of them God made high and great days, and some of them
He put in the number of ordinary days. And all men are
from the ground and out of the earth, from whence Adam
was created. With much knowledge the Lord hath divided
them and diversified their ways. Some of them hath He
blessed and exalted, . . . and some of them hath He
cursed and brought low." God gives to every man
according to his works. The just man sees this above
all at the moment of his death.
In the same Book of Ecclesiasticus we read that God
hears the prayer of the poor man, especially at the
time when this man has to die, and that He punishes
hearts that are without pity. "The Lord is judge, and
there is not with Him respect of person; the Lord will
not accept any person against a poor man; He will hear
the prayer of him that is wronged . . . (and of) the
widow.... The prayer of him that humbleth himself shall
pierce the clouds, and he will not depart till the most
High beholds." [82] This doctrine is verified
particularly at the hour of death. God will be with him
in that last hour. These high thoughts occur repeatedly
in the Old Testament, and still more in the New, which
sees clearly in the death of the just man the prelude
of eternal life.
It was the writer's privilege to see the death of a
just man, a poor man, Joseph d'Estengo, who lived with
his family in the eighth story of a house near the
Campo Santo in Rome. He was gangrened in his four
limbs, suffered much from the cold, especially when his
nerves began to writhe before death. Nevertheless he
never complained. He offered all his sufferings to the
Lord for the salvation of his soul, for his own people,
for the conversion of sinners. Then he was struck by
rapid consumption, and had to be carried to the other
extremity of Rome, to the hospital of the Littorio,
where three weeks later he died, in a perfect state of
abandonment to God in the middle of the night.
At the precise instant when he died, his elderly
father, a very good Christian, who was at the other
extremity of the city, heard the voice of his son
saying: "Father, I am going to heaven." And his
excellent mother dreamed that her son mounted up to
heaven with healed hands and feet, just as he will be
in fact after the resurrection of the dead.
I count it one of the great graces of my life that I
knew this poor man, who was pointed out to me by a
Vincentian helper who said: "You will be happy to know
him." She spoke truly. He was a friend of God. His
death confirmed this. Blessed are they who die in the
Lord. He was one of those "who taste death" as the
prelude of eternal life.
Preparation for Death
The just man awaits death, prepares himself for it by
vigilance, above all by a reverent fear, recalling his
past sins and considering the expiations that are to
come. He has a vivid faith in everlasting life, the
goal of his journey, the inamissible possession of God
in the beatific vision, union with Christ the Redeemer,
union with His holy Mother, with the saints, with those
whom he has known, who have died or who will die in a
Christian manner.
To this faith the just man joins a confidence ever more
firm in the help of God, who enables him to arrive at
his goal. And as his charity grows greater day by day,
the Holy Spirit [83] gives testimony to his spirit that
he is a child of God. Hence arises the certitude of
tendency, which strengthens hope in him more and more.
The just man also urges friends to warn him of
approaching death. It is a lack of faith when friends
do not dare warn a sick person that he is going to die.
It is a sin. They deceive him and prevent him from
preparing himself. It is good to have an understanding
with one special friend that each may warn the other.
Finally it is appropriate that, as man nears the goal
of his life, he often make the sacrifice of his life in
union with the sacrifice of the Mass, which perpetuates
on the altar the sacrifice of the cross. Let him unite
his own life and death with the four ends of all
sacrifice: adoration, to recognize the sovereign
excellence of the Creator; secondly, reparation, to
expiate past sins; thirdly, supplication, to gain the
grace of final perseverance; fourthly, thanksgiving,
for innumerable benefits which God prepared for us from
all eternity, which we have received daily from the
time of our birth.
Daily offering of our life is counseled by His
Holiness, Pius X: "Lord, my God, whatever be the kind
of death which it pleases Thee to reserve for me, I
from this moment on receive that death with all my
heart and with all my soul. I accept that death from
Thy hands, with all its anguish, pains, and sorrows."
Thus prepared, we may hope to sacrifice our life at the
last moment in union with the Masses that will be
celebrated then, far or near, in union with the
oblation, always living, of the heart of Christ, who
ceases not to intercede for us. [84] A last act of love
for God obtains the remission of a great part of the
temporal punishment due to sin, and thus shortens
purgatory. A very good practice is to have Mass
celebrated for obtaining the grace of graces, which is
that of a good death. The Christian is fortified by the
grace of extreme unction against the natural horror of
death, and against the temptations of the enemy of
salvation. In sorrow at leaving those whom he loves, a
Christian is consoled by the Holy Viaticum, by the
prayers for the dying. These prayers are
extraordinarily beautiful, especially the following:
"Go forth, Christian soul, go forth in the name of the
almighty Father who created thee, in the name of Jesus
Christ, the Son of the living God, who has suffered for
thee, in the name of the Holy Spirit, who has been
given to thee, in the name of the glorious and holy
mother of God, the Virgin Mary, in the name of blessed
Joseph, her spouse, in the name of the angels and
archangels, the thrones and dominations, the
principalities and powers, the cherubim and seraphim,
in the name of the patriarchs and prophets, in the name
of the apostles, the evangelists, the martyrs, the
confessors, the virgins, and of all holy men and women
of God. May thy dwelling today be in peace, in the
heavenly Jerusalem, with Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen."
Thus the blessed come down to surround the Christian
soul, to carry it from the Church on earth into the
Church in heaven.
Bossuet [85] has a little work called Preparation for
Death. Faith, hope, and charity are founded on an act
of perfect abandonment: "O my God, I abandon myself to
Thee. My fear is that I may not abandon myself
completely to Thee through Jesus Christ. I put the
cross of Thy Son between my sins and Thy justice. My
soul, why art thou sad, why dost thou trouble me? Hope
in Him, say to Him with all your power: 'O my God, Thou
art my salvation. The time is approaching when faith is
to turn into vision. My Savior, I believe. Help Thou my
unbelief. Sustain my feebleness. I have nothing to hope
in from myself, but Thou hast commanded me to hope in
Thee. I rejoice when I hear them say that I shall go
into the house of the Lord. When shall I see Thee, my
one and only God? My God, my strength, my life, I love
Thee. I rejoice in Thy power, in Thy eternity, in Thy
goodness. Soon, in a moment, I shall be able to embrace
Thee. Take me to Thyself."'
"Our conversation is in heaven, from whence also we
look for the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ, who will
reform the body of our lowliness made like the body of
His glory, according to the operation whereby He is
able to subdue all things unto Himself.... And the
peace of God, which surpasseth all understanding keep
your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." [86]
After these words of St. Paul, Bossuet continues: "My
Savior, I run to Thy feet in the Garden of Olives. I
lie prostrate with Thee on the ground. I draw near, as
near as possible, to Thine own holy body, to receive on
my body the precious blood which flows from Thy veins.
I take in my two hands the chalice which Thy Father
gives me. Come, consoling angel of Jesus Christ, who is
now suffering and agonizing in my members. Flee away,
ye powers of hell. O my Savior, let me say with Thee:
'All is consummated. I commend my soul into Thy hands.
Amen.' My soul, let us commence the eternal Amen, the
eternal Alleluia, the joy and the song of the blessed
for all eternity. Adieu, my mortal brethren. Adieu,
holy Catholic Church. Thou hast borne me in thy bosom,
hast nourished me with thy milk. Continue to purify me
by thy sacrifices, because I die in unity with thee and
in thy faith. And yet, O holy Church, I do not leave
thee. I go to find thee in heaven, thy own home, where
I shall find thy apostles, thy martyrs, thy confessors,
thy virgins, with whom I shall sing forever the mercies
of the Lord." Let us conclude with St. John of the
Cross: "In the evening of our life, we shall be judged
by love, namely, by the sincerity of our love for God,
for our own soul, for our neighbor."
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