The Art of Dying Well
De Arte Bene Moriendi
Catalogue updated 2026-06-08
Qui bene vivit, bene moritur; et e converso, qui bene mori cupit, bene vivere debet.
Our renderingWho lives well dies well; and conversely, who desires to die well must live well.
What it is
Bellarmine's final major work, written in 1619 when the aged cardinal was himself preparing for death, structured in two books that together form a complete Christian preparation for dying. Book One argues that living well — through the sacraments, the virtues, and habitual prayer — is the only reliable preparation for a good death. Book Two provides meditations on death, judgment, heaven, and hell for use in the final hours. An English translation by a Jesuit identified only as 'C.E.' was published at St. Omer in 1622 — under James I, not Elizabeth I — and circulated among recusant Catholic noble households who had access to the Continent's Catholic presses. The work occupied a narrower audience than Bellarmine's catechisms but held a secure place in Counter-Reformation noble piety.
Why it still matters
Book One functions as a complete short guide to the sacramental life and is well suited for a Lenten or pre-death preparatory reading; Book Two is an ideal Advent retreat text for meditating on the four last things across four days.
Oratio starter guide
A prayer for every moment, already on your phone
Chosen Portion puts a curated historic prayer in front of you each day — so the words are there before the moment arrives.
- One short, memorable prayer delivered daily — build your repertoire a card at a time
- Prayers matched to real situations: fear, gratitude, decisions, grief, sleep
- Save favourites into your personal pocket collection you can open anywhere
Kept alongside
Introduction to the Devout Life
Introduction à la vie dévote
Composed initially as spiritual direction letters for Madame Louise de Charmoisy — wife of Claude de Charmoisy, ambassador of the Duke of Savoy — this work was explicitly written for lay people living 'in town, within families, or at court.' It received a royal privilege from Henri IV of France on 10 November 1608 and was first published at Lyon in 1609. Francis de Sales shaped each of its five parts around the practical rhythms of court and household life, treating topics from meditation and vocal prayer to temptation and worldly conversation. The Introduction circulated widely in the dévot circles of the French court and became the devotional manual par excellence for Catholic lay formation in the early modern period.
Spiritual Exercises (Exercitia Spiritualia)
The foundational Jesuit method of prayer and discernment composed by the Spanish-Basque Ignatius of Loyola, structuring a four-week guided retreat through meditations on sin, the life of Christ, the Passion, and the Resurrection. Its Habsburg connection runs deep: Joanna of Austria (1535–1573), daughter of Charles V and sister of Philip II, was secretly admitted to the Society of Jesus under the alias 'Mateo Sánchez' after undertaking the Exercises under the direction of Francis Borgia, former Duke of Gandia and a close Habsburg courtier—making her the only woman ever enrolled in the Jesuit order. Philip II was unaware of his sister's membership, yet the Ignatian network shaped the spiritual climate of the court from within.
The Holy Rosary (Fifteen Decades with Joyful, Sorrowful, and Glorious Mysteries)
The Rosary in its standard fifteen-decade form was formally established by Pope Pius V's bull Consueverunt Romani Pontifices (1569) and is closely linked to the Battle of Lepanto (1571), at which Philip II of Spain organized the Holy League. Jakob Sprenger's Dominican confraternity at Cologne, founded in 1475, enrolled more than 100,000 members within its first decade, spreading the devotion throughout Europe. Mary Queen of Scots carried her personal gold-and-enamel rosary beads to her execution at Fotheringhay in 1587, bequeathing them to Anne, Countess of Arundel; these beads were held at Arundel Castle until stolen in May 2021. John Paul II added five Luminous Mysteries in 2002, expanding the standard form to twenty decades.