The Irish standard., 1905-11-04
THE WORK OF THE BONA MoRs
On Being Conscious Of the Steady Ap.
proach of Death.

On Being Conscious Of the Steady Ap.
proaeh Of Death.
1t is dreadful thing to be con-
scious of the steady approach of
death; to hear it coming at each
breath we draw; to recognize its
steady step at each beating Of the
heart; to know that in a short tine
darkness will cover US, and the whcle
world will be blotted out; that our
hand will lose its grasp on what now
1t clings to; that the place we live in
will know us no more; that our very
name will be forgotten; that those
we lived with and loved will go about
their own affairs as If we had never
existed, and that when it comes we
shall stand before a Judge who will
scrutinize every thought and action
of our life and pass sentence upon US
for eternal happiness or eternal woe,
says the Messenger of the Sacred
Heart.
The fact we have to face whether
we like it or: not. but the more we
study it through the medium ot faith
the more 1t is divested of its horror.
The spectre gradually transforms IT.
self into an angel. For the terror Of
death is, after all, not much in leaving
this life; because one is like a tired
laborer who longs for rest; the world
has been disappointment; its am
billions, delusions; its pleasures, de-
ceits. Friends have failed and sor-
rows have come and the shadows
have fallen over what once was all
glowing with light. Life is not what
we dreamed. Or there may be anger
and wrath and fury; fierce indignation
with the world; sense of wrong, in
Justice, cruelty, outrage, and the grave
is welcome even to those who forget
God, because it will be the end of it
ALL
These things, indeed, would help to
rob death of its terrors, were the
grave to be the end. But the portals
of death open upon the Judgment
Seat of God. In the grasp of death
am to be placed before that tribu-
nal and my lot is to be decided for
ever. 1T is decreed that all men
shall die, and after that, judgment"
1t is fact which makes meditation
on death one Of the wisest things a
man can do. 1t is the act of the pris-
oner in his cell getting ready for a
trial which cannot possibly be evaded.
He is already summoned and the
clutch of the jailer, Death, is every
day and every moment getting a
harder grip on him. Certainly If he
is conscious that death may usher
him at any moment into the presence
of an angry Judge who will pronounce
a sentence of eternal damnation which
he has, however, the power to prevent.
there can be no better thing for him
to do than prevent 1t. That is the
reason the church continues to put
the awful fact Of death before our
eyes.
1t is clear, also, that the more fire.
quently a man contemplates such a
contingency the more apt is he to re-
move whatever would make that curse
an actuality. Meantime, by the re-
moval of the stains on his soul, his
spiritual perceptions become brighter
and more acute. He appreciates bet
ter the value of his soul and the right
which Almighty God has to its obed-
fence. When he reflects. moreover,
that the Judge whom he is to face ds
Jesus Christ, Who died upon the
cross precisely to prevent the loss of
every member of the human race;
when he realizes that over and above
His Justice, mercy Is the quality that
He longs to exercise, the terror which
surrounds the departure Of the soul
from this world diminishes, and little
by little, while he ds earnestly labor
ing to purify himself more and m.-e
from sin. fear Of Gods judgment will
begin to invest itself with love and
confidence against the moment Of
meeting the Omnipotent Judge.
Death loses Its sting and. grave its
victory. Thus the constant study Of
death, undertaken In a Christian man
ner. instead Of nlling the mind with
gloomy and depressing thoughts.
makes 1t serious. indeed. and ctrcum-
spect and humble, but nils 1t at the
same time with confidence; ard II one
advances in sanctity, adds even holy
Joy. so that It becomes possible to ex-
claim with the Apostle: Il desire r.
be dissolved and to be with Ch1is:."
To cultivate that spirit the Church
has established q special society
whose object is to prepare for death
This Bona Mors. or Cool Death So
ciety. at its establishment. immediate
ly appealed to the Catho'c instinct
and spread everywhere. 1t is 257
years old, and was founded In the
Church Of the Gesu, in Rome, by
Father Caraffa, seventh general of th'
Society Of Jesus. It was approved by
several Popes, who enriched 1t with
manv indi11encea