Caput LXIX. De animae e corpore exeuntis requie vel supplicio.
The Glorious Death of the Righteous
The death of the righteous is precious to the Lord and commended by a good conscience.
They truly sleep in glory, whose death a good conscience commends. For precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.✦
Angelic Escort to Eternal Rest
Angels and saints attend the dying righteous soul, defending it from enemies and bringing it peacefully to the bosom of Abraham.
Truly he sleeps in glory whose dying is attended by angels, met by the saints and fellow citizens, who offer their aid and impart consolation; they set themselves against the enemies, resisting, driving back, and refuting the accusers — and so, escorting the holy soul as far as the bosom of Abraham, they place it in a place of peace and rest.✦
The Tormented Death of the Wicked
The impious are dragged from their bodies by demons and cast into fire, worms, and eternal stench.
Not so the impious, whom the worst spirits drag from the body as from a foul tomb — with infernal instruments pulling them out, polluted by lust, enveloped in greed — and hurl them into fires to be burned, hand them over to worms to be torn apart, and condemn them to be suffocated by eternal stenches.✦
Two Destinies, Two Hopes
The hope of the righteous is joy, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.
Truly, the expectation of the just is joy; but the hope of the impious will perish (Prov.✦ X, 28).✦
Read the original Latin
Dormiunt quippe in gloria quorum mortem bona commendat conscientia. Quoniam pretiosa est in conspectu Domini mors sanctorum ejus. Dormit sane in gloria, cujus dormitioni assistunt Angeli, occurrunt sancti et concives, suum praebentes auxilium, et impertientes solatium, hostibus se opponunt, obsistentes repellunt, refellunt accusantes: et sic usque ad sinum Abrahae sanctam animam comitantes in loco pacis collocant et quietis. Non sic impii, quos de corpore, quasi de foetenti sepulcro, pessimi spiritus cum instrumentis infernalibus extrahentes pollutos libidine, obvolutos cupiditate, injiciunt ignibus exurendos, tradunt vermibus lacerandos, aeternis foetoribus deputant suffocandos. Vere exspectatio justorum laetitia; spes autem impiorum peribit (Prov. X, 28).
Scripture echoes
- ↩Ps.115.6 — They have ears, but they do not hear; they have noses, but they do not smell.
- ↩Luke.16.22 — And it happened that the poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried.
- ↩Isa.14.11 — Your pride is brought down to Sheol, the music of your lyres; maggots are spread beneath you, and worms cover you.
- ↩Prov.10.28 — The hope of the righteous is gladness, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.
- ↩Prov.10.28 — The hope of the righteous is gladness, but the expectation of the wicked will perish.
De institutione inclusarum (A Rule of Life for a Recluse) companion
A rule only lives if you keep it daily
Chosen Portion gives your new rule its anchor: one free devotional portion every day.
Aelred built his sister's day around fixed times of prayer and meditation; Chosen Portion supplies the fixed daily portion that makes a modern rule of life keepable.
- Anchor your rule with a fixed 10-minute daily portion
- Practice Aelred's threefold meditation with guided daily prompts
- Review and adjust your one-page rule after 30 days of tracked practice