One thing we Catholics used to pray for was to be saved from an, 'Unprovided for death'. In other words that we should die without a chance for the Sacrament, to make an act of contrition. All these poor souls who die in seconds all over the World in these massive events with scarcely a chance to turn their hearts to God. So many of them are not even Catholic. They say at least 10,000 died in that recent deluge in Nepal. How many of them were even Catholic? Prayers. I must try to get to confession regularly even though it is difficult here. Thank God for the new young African priest. https://www.ncregister.com/blog/from-unprovided-death-deliver-us From a Sudden and Unprovided Death, Deliver Us How does the Church particularly help us make provision for death? Ferdinand Georg Waldmüller, “Extreme Unction,” 1846 (photo: Public Domain) John Grondelski Blogs April 6, 2022 This week is five weeks since Ash Wednesday. Thirty-five days have now passed since we received ashes as a sign of our mortality. Over these past five weeks, we have also reflected on our inexorable orientation to being, our orientation to good, and the course of our lifetimes as the space within which we define ourselves, with God’s grace, for eternity. Last week we specifically focused on why death is the moment that makes (or breaks) us. If death is that defining moment, we should also focus on how the Church seeks to prepare us for that moment. While death and its experience has not changed, the human circumstances in which death occurs have. Once upon a time, death typically occurred in a family setting. Today, more often than not, death often occurs in clinical and medical settings. Once upon a time, death was not just an individual but a family experience. That latter dimension has been badly eroded. Catholics have always prayed to be delivered “from a sudden and unprovided for death.” Because death is so self-defining, we want to be prepared for it. That, of course, first means reckoning with the reality of death as part of life as we know it, rather than trying to hide it or shove it under the carpet. We should pray every day to be saved “from a sudden and unprovided for death,” particularly to St. Joseph as the patron of a good death. One cannot hope for a better death than St. Joseph had, conducted from this side of death by the arms of Jesus and Mary into the arms of the Blessed Trinity. How does the Church particularly help us make provision for death? The Church does so specifically through three sacraments: Penance, the Sacrament of the Sick and the Holy Eucharist. They should be the last sacraments we receive. First, Penance. As the Sacrament of the Sick and the Eucharist are “sacraments of the living,” i.e., sacraments whose reception presupposes being in a state of grace, the person preparing for death should first receive Penance, being reconciled to God and neighbor. This is obviously true with regard to mortal sin, but the sacrament of Penance also exists to help us grow in holiness, this sacrament helps us be ever better prepared for that distinctive, final encounter with God. There is a good piece of advice in the old Confraternity of the Precious Blood Missal: “Each confession should be made as if it were the last one in our life.” Second, the Sacrament of the Sick. Vatican II’s reform of the sacraments emphasized that this sometimes forgotten sacrament is not one for the dying but for the sick. “Extreme Unction” is the Sacrament of the Sick, those who by age or chronic condition as well as immediate circumstances suffer the effects of illness. In comparison to the past, when the priest was called for the “Last Rites” as someone was in their last agony, the Church today strongly encourages those who, by reason of age or chronic condition suffer the effects of old age or illness, to receive this sacrament. The Sacrament of the Sick is not just for those about to die but also a sacrament of healing. Like the Eucharist, however, one should be receiving the Sacrament of the Sick only in a state of grace, i.e., when one is unaware of being guilty of any mortal sin, which should first be confessed in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Finally, the Sacrament of the Eucharist. Communion is the “last sacrament” any Catholic should receive. This last Communion in life is “Viaticum,” food for the way. As Jesus reminds us in John 6, the Eucharist is the Bread of Life that resounds to everlasting life, without which “you will have no life in you.” This last sacrament, then, is the encounter with Christ sacramentally in this world to prepare for one’s encounter with Christ face-to-face in the next world. So, we should resolve several things: Do I understand and pray for the “last sacraments” as God’s final gift in my life? Do I have the number of my parish (there is sometimes an emergency number for “sick calls” listed in bulletins) among my phone contacts? Have I discussed with my family my desire for them to ensure these sacraments are available to me (particularly since there were some strange denials of access during COVID-19)? Do I keep sacramentals in my home, especially a cross, holy water and blessed candles — once standard elements, especially to accompany the sick and dying? The image of Divine Mercy? For older relatives, have I inquired about how to sustain their sacramental lives? Some parishes typically arrange for the priest to come — often around First Fridays — for Confession and Communion. Other parishes often provide for priests or other extraordinary ministers of the Eucharist to bring Communion to the sick or homebound on Sundays. If I am healthy and mobile, do I notice any older or sicker or immobile people around me who might benefit from the offer of a ride to church on Sundays? These three last sacraments are also often accompanied by the Church’s gift of a plenary indulgence. Indulgences, of course, are not magic: a plenary indulgence demands detachment from sin, and such perfection — even from our “daily faults” — is indeed demanding, but God is perfect. We want, therefore, to avail ourselves of all the gifts the Church generously wants to offer its sons and daughters for their entry into their eternal home. In his love, God provides us with invaluable and indispensable sacramental help for our way out of this world. That sacramental tempo should simply be a normal outgrowth of the sacramental praxis that guides one’s entire life. As Lent comes to an end, how have I planned for this stage of my life? Finally, because our Lenten reflections are incorporating the truth of death into our spiritual lives, we should consider providing for ourselves after death. The Church has the tradition of “Gregorian Masses,” i.e., 30 Masses offered on 30 consecutive days for a deceased person. This pious tradition dates back to Pope St. Gregory the Great in the sixth century, who ordered 30 Masses to be celebrated for a deceased monk. The deceased man later appeared to a fellow monk after the last Mass was celebrated to say he had been delivered from Purgatory. Because it is often difficult for parishes to arrange for the celebration of 30 Masses in a row, many missionaries, religious orders and religious associations often assume responsibility for Gregorian Masses. An internet search will disclose many of them with whom you can arrange now for such Masses to be celebrated after your death. They send a card, to be kept with your most important papers, that your next-of-kin simply needs to mail back notifying them of your death and the community will then celebrate the Gregorian Masses on your behalf. As you consider the almsgiving you still want to perform this Lent, why not arrange for your own spiritual welfare now and involve your family in your own spiritual future? Why leave this to chance or the beneficence of others, who may not even think of having Mass celebrated for your repose? Having spent this season on the meaning of life and death, these last days of Lent are an appropriate opportunity to take a permanent step towards your spiritual future. Why not do it now?
Those poor people, yes, so sudden! So many. We should pray that St. Joseph prayer every day. Seeing things like this really brings it home.
This week has made us stop and pause. To meditate on life and death. How quickly things can change. And to pray that all who died did not live in vain, but for God. And the love of their neighbor. Praying for the deceased and comfort for their families.
Poor souls. I for one don't think everyone who dies goes to heaven, that there is no hell. To die like that with no warning is a terrible thing. I pray I am granted a little time, even an hour or so. Even enough to say an act of contrition.
After our accident, we were given last rites and the Apostolic Pardon. It is why we confidently know that Alyce's sister is a saint now in Heaven. I now ask when we have any medical procedure for not just anointing but for the AP.
I think it is very difficult to say exactly what happens in those moments because, according to numerous testimonies of saints, and ultimately also of people who have experienced NDEs, there seems to be that level between the final judgment and our own decision. In some sense, our life is like the decision of a jury, where the judge, i.e. God, passes judgment based solely on our life. But I remember the testimony from the life of Padre Pio, when he said that some people who had committed suicide repented at the very last moment, after that decision, while they were already on the threshold of death. Death is when the soul leaves the body, but in certain circumstances God gives people, subconsciously, as if in dreams, the possibility of repentance. That is grace—the power of the intercession of our ancestors and the prayers of the saints, and perhaps also of those whom we have never known. For example, there is the case of the girl who died by euthanasia in Spain after having been gang-raped in an asylum center. She had first tried to kill herself by jumping and was left paralyzed as a result. Of course, the Church can never justify suicide, but I nevertheless deeply believe that God is the first to understand that suffering. Every decision must be conscious, and many of the decisions we make are not.
Also the Daily Rosary and dedication to the St Michael chaplet can save our family. Our devotion can truly save our families.
Thanks for reminding me about the Apostolic Pardon. I had half forgotten about it. There are so many treasures of our Faith that we have half forgotten. https://www.lincolndiocese.org/news/diocesan-news/12126-ask-the-register-apostolic-pardon Ask the Register: Apostolic Pardon? 19 April 2019 Q. At the recent funeral of Father Paul Rutten, Bishop Conley talked about the Apostolic Pardon. What is the Apostolic Pardon? A. The Apostolic Pardon is a blessing with an indulgence that happens at the conclusion of the Sacrament of the Anointing of the Sick if the recipient is in danger of death. The Apostolic Pardon remits all temporal punishment due to forgiven sin. The usual process is confession, then the Anointing of the Sick, followed by the Apostolic Pardon. While confession forgives the eternal punishment for sin, the indulgence attached to the Apostolic Pardon forgives temporal punishment due to sin. Catholics believe that the Church gives priests the authority to forgive and remit temporal punishment (Matthew 16:18-19); this authority to forgive and remit receives its authenticity and power from the treasuries that Jesus won for us by His death on the Cross. The words of the blessing said by the priest for the Apostolic Pardon are: “Through the holy mysteries of our redemption may almighty God release you from all punishments in this life and in the life to come. May He open to you the gates of paradise and welcome you to everlasting joy.” When we say the Apostolic Pardon is an indulgence given for the remission of temporal punishment due to sin, you might ask, “Exactly what is ‘temporal punishment’?” Many Catholics believe that when you go to the Sacrament of Penance, confess your sins, receive absolution, and do your penance, all has been fulfilled to have one’s sins forgiven. However, temporal punishment remains even after sin is confessed and forgiven. Temporal punishment is the residue of the injustice caused by sin, even after that sin has been forgiven through sacramental confession. Here’s an analogy. If one were in a car accident, the drivers would call the police, fill out an accident report, contact their insurance agent, and receive a settlement check. However, the matter isn’t closed. If the damage is severe enough, it would require repairs at a body shop to make the car drivable again. Likewise, our sins are truly forgiven in the Sacrament of Penance, but the injustice caused by those sins remains, which we call “temporal punishment.” We remit temporal punishment by works of charity, such as prayer, fasting, and almsgiving, while we are still alive on this earth, or it is atoned for in our experience in purgatory. When a person who is properly disposed by being in the state of grace (i.e., no known and unconfessed mortal sins) receives the Apostolic Pardon, he or she gains the complete pardon of all temporal punishment due to sin for sins that have already been forgiven by the reception of absolution and the doing of penance. The Apostolic Pardon does not forgive sins by the act of absolution; it deals only with the punishment (purgation of the residue) due for those sins that have already been sacramentally forgiven. Therefore, when a person fulfills all of the aforementioned criteria and receives the Apostolic Pardon, he or she will go immediately to heaven upon death. This is also addressed in the Catechism of the Catholic Church no. 1471-1479.
I think of our life's journey as being a bit like driving a car, we choose to drive through life in one of two directions, either towards heaven or towards hell. Now say we are driving our car at a 100 mile per hour towards hell and go off the road and into Eternity. Having been on a certain direction at full speed all our life it is very unlikely we would change direction at the last moment. It might happen , but I wouldn't count of it. As a general rule I would say, as in Earth so in heaven. Anyway, why risk hell? Many years ago I was captured by members of the Special Air Service an Elite British Special Forces Regiment. They got ready to shoot me, but their officer asked them to hold off killing me until they found my rifle. I know I was about to die and despite the fact that I had become an absolute Atheist and had been living the most horrendous life I at once made an Act of Contrition. At once Our Lord spoke to me very sadly. He said if I died I would indeed be going to heaven though only after a bad Purgatory. But then he said something that really touched and saddened me. 'Padraig you will be going to heaven. But do you really want to come here empty handed? To spend Eternity knowing you never did anything for me while here on Earth?' They did not find my weapon and I got off the hook. But very,very sadly went back to living a wicked life as though nothing had happened.
Padraig, what eventually changed you? I know you had a beautiful encounter with Our Lady but anything else you can share?
I think hatred is like battery acid that you take in your hands to throw in someone else face. Eventually the acid of hate burns you to the bone. It is self destructive and cannot be maintained. It leads to deep sadness and self hate. In addition without God we need some kind of false God to Worship to take His place. My False God was politics. I thought if we threw the British out of Ireland everything would be well. But as the years rolled on I understood this was not so. That even if we got rid of the British there was no magic solution we would still be in the same sad state. I suspect that deep down at some level or another people who reject God know that God is real. I also suspect that also they are deeply unhappy and lacking peace. Many people can of course go through life without God and seem to maintain balance. Others however can not. Some people have this huge need for God and cannot be distracted or maintained by other things. I think with me I was dying without Him. Like someone without food, or air , or light.
