A Novena for a Happy Death
A nine-day series of Reflections & Prayers by the monks of St. Benedict’s Abbey
A Novena for a Happy Death
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Pl ace you r hop e in G o d a l one. . . Ye ar n for e verl ast ing l i fe w it h holy desire. D ay by d ay rem i nd you rs el f t hat you are going to di e. . . And f ina l ly, ne ver l os e hop e i n G o d’s merc y. rule of saint benedict e xc e r p t s o n d e at h chapter four: the to ols for go od works
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F R OM T HE ABBOT
In his Rule, our Holy Father St. B enedict instructs us to keep death daily before our e yes . At first , this may seem like a morbid thought; why would we want to contemplate death? But in the context of our Christian lives, our Redeemer has conquered death, cleaving open the path to the Father with his own death and resurrection. This contemplation of death should serve as a reminder that, as we face the darkness of death, we run with the light of life – the light of Christ that conquers death. For the next nine days , I inv ite you to j oin our monastic community in contemplating these mysteries. As you read these reflections and join us in p r a y e r, r e m i n d y o u r s e l f o f t h e w o r d s o f S t . P a u l : “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” As St. Benedict passed from this life, his brothers raised his arms that he might die doing what he had dedicated his life to: offering praise to Christ. Please know that your prayer ser ves our community in the s a m e w a y, r a i s i n g o u r a r m s t o h e a v e n . A n d i t i s o u r hope that our prayer might do the same for you. T h a n k y o u f o r j o i n i n g u s o n t h i s j o u r n e y o f p r a y e r. In Christ, Abbot James
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Day One Where is our hope? It is now 20 years ago that my grandmother, my mom’s mother, passed away, and I had the privilege of being in her room with several aunts and uncles and my mother. The nurse had come in to check her vital signs when she began to slip away, and at that moment, our Fr. Regis walked in the door and anointed her. We could literally see her earthly life pass away as the numbers on the machine dropped, but we witnessed the hope found in the sacraments of Christ as she was anointed. My mother later described it as the most awesome thing she had ever witnessed. It is difficult to understand how we can say that death is awesome unless we have great hope in eternal life with God. So where is our hope? God has put in the heart of each of us the desire for unending life and happiness. While death will claim us at some point in time, God gives us something which death cannot touch – his own divine life and sustaining power. Our work here on earth is to allow that divine life to find a place in us, with the hope that we will experience unending life and happiness. It makes no sense for us to work so hard in building up faith, in building up the body of Christ, the church, unless they have hope? It is a hope that God is working through us so that others can join in that hope. St. Paul reminds us of his sufferings in spreading the Gospel for the sake of those who were chosen, “so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus.” Looking back just a few of the deceased monks from our community: Father Henry Lemke, Father Oswald Moosmueller, Abbot Innocent Wolf, Father Sylvester Schmitz, Father Eugene Dehner, Father Augustine Rottering, Brother Robert Heiman, Father Bertrand LaNoue, Father Denis Meade, Brother Anthony Vorwerk – the many brothers who were the mortar that held St. Benedict’s Abbey together – we can’t help but wonder at their hope. Why else would they have worked so hard in building up this monastic family? Why, when they struggled in establishing and sustaining this monastery would they have given their lives for this community, except for the hope that their lives would bring others to Christ, whether it was that given some 160 years ago or today. Take a few moments as you are praying this novena for the souls in Purgatory to consider those whose hope provided for the building of the Body of Christ in your own family and in your own life. Give praise to God for that labor. Ask in prayer that their hope, and the hope of all the souls in Purgatory, will soon be realized. God sent his only Son to give us that hope, and in the life of Christ present, he promises unbroken fellowship and freedom from fear. He promises the answer to our hope through the sharing in his resurrection. It is this hope and desire that will bring us to see God face to face. And that is truly an awesome thing. 4 • S t. B e n e d i c t ’ s A b b e y
A Prayer for those in Purgatory Almighty Father, You sent your only Son, Jesus, our Lord and Savior, to suffer and die so that all mankind might be saved and brought to eternal happiness. Grant to the souls of your faithful ones in Purgatory remission of their sins, and through my meager prayer, the pardon they desire, thus fulfilling their hope of eternal life. Through Christ our Lord. Amen. Eternal Rest grant unto them, O Lord; and let perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithfully departed rest in peace. Amen.
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Day Two Where, O death is your victory? Without Jesus Christ, crucified and risen from the dead, our celebration of November as a time to remember the dead and pray for their souls makes no sense. In praying for the dead we are also reminding ourselves that someday, each of us will also die. For a Christian this does not cause distress, but rather confidence: Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law-But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. 1 corinthians 15:55-57 In chapter of his Holy Rule, Saint Benedict mentions death, not with a sense of bitterness or anxiety, rather in the context of yearning: Yearn for everlasting life with holy desire. Day by day remind yourself that you are going to die. Hour by hour keep careful watch over all you do, aware that God’s gaze is upon you, wherever you may be. rule of st. benedict 4:46-49 Each day when I pray, I am reminded of the goodness of God, I am also reminded to yearn to be with God. I also desire that the souls of the faithful departed might also share in that blessed life. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us about the importance of praying for the dead in paragraph 1032: This teaching is also based on the practice of prayer for the dead, already mentioned in Sacred Scripture: “Therefore [Judas Maccabeus] made atonement for the dead, that they might be delivered from their sin.”( 2 Macc 12:46.) From the beginning the Church has honored the memory of the dead and offered prayers in suffrage for them, above all the Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus purified, they may attain the beatific vision of God.( Cf. Council of Lyons II (1274):DS 856.) The Church also commends almsgiving, indulgences, and works of penance undertaken on behalf of the dead: Let us help and commemorate them. If Job’s sons were purified by their father’s sacrifice, why would we doubt that our offerings for the dead bring them some consolation? Let us not hesitate to help those who have died and to offer our prayers for them. (St. John Chrysostom, Hom. in 1 Cor. 41,5:PG 61,361; cf. Job 1:5.) 6 • S t. B e n e d i c t ’ s A b b e y
Prayer to Our Holy Father Benedict for a Happy Death O holy Father blessed by God both in grace and in name, who, while standing in prayer with your hands raised to heaven, did most happily yield your most angelic spirit into the hands of your Creator, and has promised zealously to defend against all the snares of the enemy in the last struggle of death, those who shall daily remind you of your glorious departure and your heavenly joys. Protect me, I beseech you, O glorious Father, this day and every day, by your blessing, that I may never be separated from our blessed Lord, from the society of yourself and all the blessed. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Th e to m b of St. Be ne di ct - Monte C assin o A Novena for a Happy Death
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Day Three Do I know the way ? “D o not let y our he ar t s b e trouble d . You have faith in Go d ; have faith al so in me . In my Father ’s hou se there are many dwelling pl ace s . If there were not , would I have told y ou that I am going to prep are a pl ace for y ou? And if I go and prep are a pl ace for y ou , I w ill come b ack ag ain and t ake y ou to my self , so that where I am y ou al so may b e . W here I am going y ou k no w the way.” - john 14:1-4 D o I k now the w ay? Chr ist Hims elf ans wers my que stion when He says , “I am the w ay, and the tr uth, and the life.” This me ans that I must live my life according to His w ay, His tr uth, and His life. B ut I have b e en liv ing in the world. And the world tells me that the w ay is broad, that I c an do whate ver I w ant to do. It als o tells me that tr uth is relative, whate ver I make of it or fe el like b elie v ing . And f inally, the world tells me to live my life a s I cho o s e. I am at the center of it all. B ut when I lo ok at mys elf in the mir ror, I fe el like I have just simply made a me ss of it . A happy de ath? Will I re ally approach de ath in a happy st ate? If I ke e p mys elf at the center of it , I w ill f ail e ven in that . I c an’t br ing mys el f to happine ss . I am to o broken, we ak , sinf ul. B ut He c an. If I place Him the center of my life, then He promis e s me happine ss . The stor ms of life could rage, and I c an b e at p e ace w ith Him … not just at p e ace, but re ally, tr uly happy. His w ay is nar row and the gate is nar row, only b e c aus e the world’s path is to o broad. On this path, I must c ar r y my c ro ss and follow af ter Him. His tr uth is the only tr uth that matters , b e c aus e all other “tr uths” … w ait , how could that word b e plural? There c an only b e one tr uth. And I le ar n that tr uth by study ing His life. The w ay He live d and die d, for me. And then He ro s e f rom the de ad, for me. He go e s ahe ad of me to pre pare a place for me in the Father ’s hous e. Am I wor th that much? He s e ems to think s o.
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Dear Jesus, Help me to realize all You have done for me, so that I can follow You on Your way, believe in Your truth, and live Your life. But I know I shall stumble on this Way. For You who fell three times along this Way in carrying Your Holy Cross, I too shall stumble after You in carrying mine. Give me the grace not to be discouraged amid the storms of life that threaten to overtake me. Let me focus on You, for that is the only thing that will give me true happiness in this valley of tears. Jesus, I surrender all to You; only show me the way through a happy death into everlasting life. Amen.
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Day Four What waits for me? I haven’t always thought that heaven would be familiar. There was a time, not many years ago, when I worried that heaven was something like a cold, winners’ circle, a place where I wouldn’t feel very much at home. I’m not sure where this impression came from (perhaps some regrettable and poorly understood presentation of the afterlife in my youth), but it took an event for me to both realize and transcend it. Every year the Abbey community gathers to walk up to the community cemetery to pray for the dead. This gesture has always been moving to me; it is at once an encounter with the broad heritage and history of this brotherhood (over 200 graves!) and a confrontation with the location where I will one day be buried. But a few years ago I was suddenly struck at this gathering as I prayed for the deceased monks of my community. It occurred to me that perhaps not all of them, but likely at least some of these men are in heaven right now and I have, as it were, brothers who wait for me. Brothers. Not just saints and angels, holy people whom I’ve never met, but brothers. It was profoundly comforting to me to think that men who I view as my ancestors, as kin, wait for me in heaven. Heaven began to feel like home for me at that moment. Along with the accumulated notions of heaven as an inconceivable, ineffable, majestic, new existence, I have begun to view it as a place also familiar and comforting. Of course, it will be overwhelming and surpassing my most profound imaginings. Being with God without even a veneer of isolating selfishness is so truly what I desire and so beyond my ability to comprehend. But I expect that the transition in death from one community (the Church Militant) to another community (the Church Triumphant) will be experienced as a long-expected homecoming for each soul who arrives, cleaving to Jesus Christ. Entrance into this community won’t just escape articulation, it will answer something deeply felt and persistently intuited in all of the most pure forms of love that I have known on earth. In a sense, I expect that heaven will be familiar. Until I, too, am called to it, I will visit the abbey cemetery for reminders of this homecoming.
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Heavenly Father, You have placed in our hearts the desire for perfect communion And prepared for us a homecoming at once familiar and unimaginable, Grant us grace to adhere to Jesus And to love what You offer us now in this life As a reminder of our wondrous destiny and final joy. We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.
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Day Five How do we face death? When we pray the Hail Mar y, we rememb er the two mo st imp or t ant moment s for us at any g iven time: now, and the hour of our de ath. Now is imp or t ant , b e c aus e we have only to day. Ye sterday is gone, tomor row is not here. To day I c an re p ent of my pa st sins , and re ceive G o d’s merc y, and w ith streng th lo ok for w ard to tomor row, tr usting in Div ine Prov idence. The hour of de ath is s ome thing that s e ems strange to mention in our culture of consumer ism, where we think p o ss e ssions , and p ower, and pre stige w ill buy us e ter nal happine ss . It is only through Je sus Chr ist that we f ind tr ue happine ss . And s o, while liv ing f ully e ach moment of to day, I als o pray that whene ver de ath come s I may lo ok for w ard not in a c r ing ing manner, but w ith g re at f aith and tr ust in Je sus Chr ist , who s e pa ssion, de ath and Re sur re ction tr uly br ing me salv ation. On All S ouls Day, 2018, Pop e Franc is t aught us ab out this tr ust and hop e this month should br ing to us : “ To d ay i s a d ay of memor y that t ake s u s b ack to our ro ot s . It i s al so a d ay of hop e . It remind s u s of what we c an e xp e ct : the hop e of encounter ing the lo ve of the Father.” In Je sus Chr ist , e ter nal S on of the Father, may the s ouls of the f aithf ul de par te d re st in p e ace, and k now the love of the Father.
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Almighty Father, Trusting in the Divine Mercy revealed in your Son, Jesus Christ, I ask that the Holy Spirit be with me in every moment of life, and at the hour of death. May my every thought, word, and deed give you praise, and witness to your goodness. Look also, with pity, upon the faithful departed who believed in you. May they know the fullness of your eternal rest and peace. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.
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Day Six What can we learn from death? The world is dying around us, in burgundy, bronze, and gold. It seems strange that death could be as beautiful as the Fall and awaken such longing in our hearts. The Romanians call this dor: a deep desire generated by a lack, simultaneously full of sadness for what is lost and a yearning and even a certain joy stirred up by its memory. You can hear this in their folk music, or that of the Irish, or American spirituals, or Allegri’s Miserere Mei. And yet what is the death of the world compared to that of a single person? What can all the world’s music do in the face of its terrible finality? How can we possibly speak of a happy death? Hospital chaplain Fr. Vincent Nagel writes in Life Promises Life: “[Life] is a promise of more, especially in a person we love. It doesn’t fit that everything visible and experiential about a person then die! Things weren’t leading up to this... Death is like that - our family, God, everything promises us life. When death comes it entirely contradicts that promise, and therefore it feels unreal.” In front of this St. Benedict’s 47th tool for good works may look odd, even macabre: Mortem cotidie ante oculos suspectam habere. “To every day hold up death before your eyes.” But this changes when it is seen as a corollary of the 46th tool: Vitam aeternam omni concupiscentia spiritali desiderare. “To long for everlasting life with all the desire of your spirit.” Death forces us to face the nature of our hearts, the very structure of our being: everlasting desire. The mystery of death reveals in us an even greater mystery, namely our need to be met again and again by a love that has no end, a Presence that is stronger than death. What makes it possible for this expectation to become that most incredible of gifts, hope? When this fact of death is challenged and overcome by the revelation of a greater, more ancient and more original fact: Et Verbum caro factum est – the Word became flesh and dwelt among us. When the infinite Mystery for whom our hearts beg, becomes flesh for us, becomes a fact of our experience that we cannot deny: “...my brethren , y ou have die d to the l aw through the b o dy of Chr i st , so that y ou may b elong to another, to Him who ha s b e en rai se d f rom the de ad in order that we may b e ar f r uit for Go d .” - romans 7:4 This certainty for the future, hope, is the fruit of Christ’s present Presence among us hic and nuncm – here and now. Each day He comes to meet us to overcome the death which overshadows our hearts and raise them up to His life. Let us ask for the grace to recognize Him with the simplicity and certainty of a child who knows he belongs to an Other, whose whole heart cries out for the life which sustains him: Abba – Father. 14 • S t. B e n e d i c t ’ s A b b e y
Prayer for the Heart of a Child Composed by Leonce de Grandmaison
Holy Mary, Mother of God, preserve in me the heart of a child, pure and clean like spring water; a simple heart that does not remain absorbed in its own sadness; a loving heart that freely gives with compassion; a faithful and generous heart that neither forgets good nor feels bitterness for any evil. Give me a sweet and humble heart that loves without asking to be loved in return, happy to lose itself in the heart of others, sacrificing itself in front of your Divine Son; a great and unconquerable heart, which no ingratitude can close and no indifference can tire; a heart tormented by the glory of Christ, pierced by his love with a wound that will not heal until heaven. Amen.
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Day Seven Supporting one another A s St B ene dict w a s dy ing , two monk s held up his ar ms in prayer, and he saw a v ision of the he avenly glor y he w a s enter ing . Perhap s this is the image of de ath the monk is to ke e p daily b efore one’s e ye s , an image of enter ing he avenly glor y while sur rounde d by conf rère s supp or ting one another in prayer. His v ision of enter ing glor y prov ide s an example of how we might conduct our live s now in the light of the e ter nal glor y alre ady over t ak ing us . May we st and to ge ther in this life w ith the he avenly v ision b efore us shaping how we b ehave in the pre s ent .
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Seeing the glory you were calling him to share, O Lord, St. Benedict stood in prayer supported by the brethren, so may we support one another in prayer and conduct our lives now with the vision ever before us of the glory you call us to share with you who live and reign for ever and ever. Amen.
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Day Eight What are you waiting for? Deathbed conversions happen. The penitent thief cried out, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom,” and Christ promised that they would be together in Paradise that very day (Luke 23:42–43). But such conversions are rare. I think it’s much safer to say that the way you live will be the way you die. If you rebel against God during your life, you will rebel against him at death. If you follow Christ during your life, you will follow him into his Kingdom. Every day of our life is a dress rehearsal for that final act. We must practice abandoning ourselves to the love of our Father in heaven, so that when the time comes, we can do so in the most perfect way possible. The Church has traditionally used the language of punishment and reward to describe the contrary states of man’s ultimate end. But, the great secret about heaven and hell is that they start here and now. We set the trajectory while on earth. It is fanciful to think that a life of pride, greed, sensuality and anger will be turned into an eternity of love, peace and joy by a last-minute conversion or an in-the-nick-of-time confession. And, it isn’t because such an intervention would be ineffectual, but because the further we go down the path of sin, the more we actively distance ourselves from the means God gives us for our conversion. As the Catechism confirms, the “chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God” (#1035), and that is something that starts here on earth. Christ came on earth to announce the Good News of the Kingdom of God. We do not need to wait until we are dead to enter the Kingdom. We may only get a glimpse of its fullness here on earth: “No eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man conceived, what God has prepared for those who love him” (I Cor 2:9). Yet, Jesus taught that “the Kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). If you allow God to reign in your life, you will, like the penitent thief, be with Christ in Paradise this very day.
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Merciful Father, Forgive me my sins and love in me what you love in your Son, Jesus . Lord Jesus , set me free from the slaver y of sin, so that I may ser ve you as my only true King . Holy Spirit, enliven my heart to desire all the good gifts you wish to give and grant me the grace of final perseverance in your love. Amen.
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Day Nine By Way of the Waters “In th e water s of b apti sm [y ou] have die d w ith Chr i st and ro se w ith him to ne w life . May [y ou] no w share w ith him eter nal glor y.” This vers e, f rom the O rder of Chr i sti an Fun eral s, is the vers e for the re ce ption and spr inkling w ith holy w ater of the b o dy of the de ce a s e d. It re c alls to e ver yone pre s ent at the v ig il or f uneral the re ality of B aptism in the life of the de ce a s e d. B aptism is the sac rament in which our sup er natural life b e g ins , but that life c an only b e g in af ter the de ath of the old s elf. This me ans that a transfor mation made p o ssible only by g race happ ens in the sac rament . We not only die to our old s elve s , but are brought to life in our ne w s elve s a s ne w c re ations . We, who were once f ar of f and had no share in G o d or his covenant , are brought ne ar by the w aters of B aptism and the blo o d of Je sus Chr ist (c f. Eph. 2:11-13). We are made par tic ipant s , re c ipient s , and heirs to all that G o d promis e d his cho s en p e ople and more. That ’s a whole lot of promis e. The thing that is tr uly f a s c inating here, though, is that our me ans to that promis e is by our par tic ipation in the me ans by which Je sus g ive s it to us : sac r if ice. The S on of the one, tr ue, liv ing G o d live d his life by sac r if ice, that is , he live d his life a s an of fer ing to the Father. In doing s o, he conquere d all that had plag ue d humanity since paradis e w a s lo st to us by our or ig inal parent s . At the end, he of fere d e ven his ver y life to the Father for our salv ation. His v ictor y over sin and de ath elic it s a re sp ons e f rom me, f rom e ach of us . What is that re sp ons e? Tr ust , acce pt ance, and of fer ing . The s e are the thing s that marke d the f inal moment s of Je sus’ life in his Pa ssion. By them we c an cor re sp ond and par tic ipate in his sav ing us now. Even more, by them, the thing s that us e d to just b e e v il for us are now the me ans by which Je sus g ive s us life when we live them a s an of fer ing w ith him to the Father. The s e little de aths re conne ct us to that for which we were c re ate d: happine ss . The s e little de aths are a pre paration for a happy de ath and alre ady a par tic ipation in the glor y promis e d us here af ter.
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Concluding Prayer for the Vigil for the Deceased Lord Jesus, our Redeemer, You willingly gave yourself up to death, So that all might be saved and pass from death to life... You alone are the Holy One, you are mercy itself; By dying you unlocked the gates of life for those who believe in you. Forgive [us our] sins, And grant [us] a place of happiness, light, and peace In the kingdom of your glory for ever and ever. Amen.
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Ultima
A prayer to Our Lady for a blessed, peaceful death St. Benedict of Nursia is the patron saint of a happy death. In remembrance of this fact, at the close of any celebration, the monastic community concludes proceedings by singing t h e U l t i m a , a p r a y e r t o t h e V i r g i n M a r y f o r a h a p p y d e a t h . We i n v i t e y o u t o j o i n u s b y a d d i n g t h i s t o y o u r r e g u l a r p r a y e r, t h a t you might offer it for yourself and your loved ones.
Ultima in mortis hora , Filium pro nobis ora , Bonam mortem impetra , Virgo, Mater, Domina . When the last dread hour is o’er us , Pray thy Son may fashion for us , Death anointed and serene, Virgin Mar y, Mother, Queen.
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St. Benedict’s Abbey
Atchison, Kansas
kansasmonks.org 9 1 3 . 3 6 7 . 7 8 5 24 • S t. B e n e d i c t ’ s 3A b•b eiyn f o @ k a n s a s m o n k s . o r g