De incerta hora mortis et celeri fine huius vitae
The Wisdom of Remembering Death
The soul is blessed when it contemplates the fleeting nature of worldly joys and prepares for the eternal life to come.
Stay awake, because you don't know the day or the hour. Blessed is the soul that often thinks about that final hour, when everything in this life—the joys and the sorrows, the honors and the insults—will come to an end. Blessed is the soul that has become poor and a stranger for God's sake, and that scorns all worldly heights, no matter how great and beautiful they may be. In that final hour, all the castles, villages, and towns will vanish from your sight; all the silver and gold vessels, all the fine feasts and various drinks sweetened with spices, will be gone. The lyre, the trumpet, the flute, and the harp will all fall silent, along with every game, joke, laugh, dance, applause, song, and harmony, and all the shouting in the streets and in the houses; for the hearts of all who live will be reduced to nothing, and the whole earth will tremble before the face of God. Oh, how wise is the person who thinks about these things every day and prepares themselves with tears to receive the future good and eternal joys. Blessed is the one who willingly leaves behind whatever gives carnal pleasure on this earth, where everything is full of dangers and traps. Blessed is the pilgrim who often groans and grieves in this exile, and longs to be set free and to be with Christ in the heavenly kingdom.
The Vanity of Earthly Life
Worldly status, riches, and power are transient and offer no security against the sudden arrival of death.
Blessed is the person who hates this world and what in it can entice them to sin; who, like Elijah, flees into the desert to a monastery, away from the face of the many dangers that often drag an unguarded soul down to hell. Blessed is the one who keeps watch day and night against their temptations and frequently prays with Elijah, saying: “It is enough, Lord; take my soul.” For it is better for me to die with good hope and depart in grace than to see evil and live among so many dangers. For as long as the soul is in the body and the body is nourished by earthly food, a person isn't pure from all sins, nor free from their temptations, nor certain of future mishaps. Therefore, that person is greatly deceived and errs like a fool at heart who desires to live here for a long time and proposes to do many things, yet does not know if they will have tomorrow. Remember, you noble person, rich in your pleasures, what you’ll be like after death, buried in the earth. And what will all those riches profit you then? Look, today a king lives and rules, and tomorrow he's nowhere to be found or heard. Today he sits on a high throne dressed in golden robes; tomorrow he's buried in the earth, seen no more. Today he's honored by many; tomorrow he's cared for by no one. Today he's magnified by everyone; tomorrow he's stripped of his riches, honors, estates, and castles. Today he's beautiful beyond the sons of men and numbered among kings; tomorrow he's food for worms and a stench to the nostrils. Just as he came into the world naked, so he goes to the grave like a pauper and an exile. For the end of all the world's delights and pageantry is brief; death, sorrow, mourning, and fear overtake everyone. The lord pope and the cardinal die, and another succeeds them, soon to die himself. No one has a guarantee of living for even a single day; you can't get a papal bull to keep you from dying, nor can you buy a permanent position with money. Often, even after you've secured favor and a high position, sudden death arrives and takes everything away at once. And so it happens that a man leaves Rome just as poor and naked as he was when he first arrived at the curia. In books, we read about many ancient fathers who lived for a very long time; it says, 'he was, he was,' and so on for the others who followed, and in the end, it concludes, 'and he died.' For we all die, and like water we slip into the earth from which we were made. What is our entire life but a brief moment—like a passing wind, a morning mist, or a guest who never returns? Like a flash of lightning in the blink of an eye, so do all the kingdoms and ages of the world perish. Count all the days, hours, months, and years of your life; tell me, where are they now?
The Fragility of All Things
All earthly works are like shadows that pass away, urging the believer to remain detached from worldly allurements.
They have passed away like the shadow of the sun, and they have perished like a spider weaving its web. The wind blew, and its work perished. There is nothing stable or lasting, therefore, on the earth from which Adam and his children were made. Everything that seems great, beautiful, and delightful in this world is vanity and fragile. Don't let its allurements deceive you, then, nor its injuries break you. However much something may be adorned with colors, or decorated with gold, silver, and precious gems, it grows vile, withers, dies, and is buried. In every work you do, therefore, and in whatever place you may be, wherever you go and pass through, be mindful of the end of your life and the final hour, which you do not know. Blessed is the one who desires, with Paul, to be dissolved and to be with Christ.✦
The Hope of Eternal Union
The faithful soul finds confidence in Christ's promise of eternal rest and the reward of the good servant.
This is much better than living longer in the flesh and living as a stranger to God, or being shaken and troubled by the waves of this world. If you always keep Jesus in your mind, truly love Him, and pray to Him daily, you'll certainly have confidence regarding His kingdom, for He says: “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and my servant shall be there too.” Blessed is the servant who, at the end, is worthy to hear the sweet word of Christ. “Well done, good and faithful servant; because you have been faithful in a few things, enter into the joy of your Lord.”
Read the original Latin
Vigilate: quia nescitis diem neque horam. Felix anima quae saepe cogitat de novissima hora: quando omnia sunt cessatura in hac vita laeta et tristia, honores et vituperia. Felix anima paupercula propter Deum peregrina facta; quae spernit omnia mundana culmina: quantumcumque sint magna et decora. In illa ultima hora peribunt ab oculis omnia castella villae et oppida; omnia vasa argentea et aurea: omnia fercula lauta et pocula varia cum aromatibus dulcorata. Cessabunt pariter lyra tuba tibia et cithara, omnis ludus iocus risus, saltus plausus, cantus et discantus, clamor in plateis et in domibus; quia ad nihilum redigentur omnium viventium corda: et pavebit a facie Dei omnis terra. O quam sapiens qui cotidie haec pensat: et ad futura bona et aeterna gaudia percipienda cum fletu se praeparat. Beatus quios sponte deserit quaecumque carnaliter delectant in terra: ubi omnia sunt periculis et laqueis plena. Beatus peregrinus qui saepe gemit et dolet in hoc exilio: et cupit dissolvi et esse cum Christo in caelesti regno.
Beatus qui odit hunc mundum et quae in mundo allicere possunt ad peccandum; et fugit cum Elia in desertum ad monasterium a facie mulstorum periculorum: quae saepe trahunt hominem incustoditum ad infernum. Beatus qui vigilat die ac nocte contra temptationes suas: et frequenter orat cum Elia dicens. Sufficit mihi Domine: tolle animam meam. Quia melius est mihi cuin bona spe mori et decedere in gratia: quam videre mala et vivere inter tot pericula. Nam quamdiu anima est in corpore et corpus alitur cibis terrenis: i non est homo purus a peccatis omnibus; nec liber a temptationibus suis: neque certus a casibus futuris. Decipitur ergo valde et errat tamquam insipiens corde qui hic diu vivere appetit, et multa agere proponit: et nescit an crastinum habebit. Memento homo nobilis et dives in deliciis tuis: qualis eris post mortem in terra sepultus. Et quid proderunt tunc omnes divitiae?
En hodie rex vivit et simperat: et cras non invenitur nec auditur. Hodie in alto solio sedet et aureo pallio vestitur: et cras sub terra sepelitur et amplius non videtur. Hodie a multis honoratur: et cras a nullo curatur. Hodie magnificatur ab omnibus: et cras privatur divitiis et honoribus villis et castellis. Hodie speciosus prae filiis hominum et in numero regum: et cras cibus vermium et foetor narium. Sicut nudus venit in mundum: sic quasi pauper et exul pergit in sepulchrum. Nams omnium deliciarum et pomparum saeculi brevis finis: mors dolor luctus et pavor invadit omnes. Moritur dominus papa et cardinalis: et succedit alius cito moriturus.
Nemo quippe unius diei certitudinem vivendi habet; nec impetrare potest a papa bullam numquam moriendi: nec optinere pecunia praebendam iugiter manentem. Saepe enim post impetratam gratiam et praelaturam repentina mors venit; et omnia simul tollit. Sicque fit ut tam pauper et nudus homo de Roma recedit: sicut prius ad curiam venit. Legitur de multis antiquis patribus in libris qui valde diu vixerunt; qui fuit, qui fuit, et sic de aliis sequentibus: et in fine concluditur, et mortuus est. Omnes enim morimur: et tamquam aqua labimur in terram, unde facti sumus. Quid est totum tempus vitae nostrae nisi nunc breve instans; quasi ventus volans et aurora mane pertransiens, et hospes non revertens? Quasi fulgur caeli in ictu oculi: sic pereunt omnia regna et tempora mundi. Numera omnes dies horas menses et annos vitae tuae; dic ubi iam sunt?
Transierunt tamquam umbra solis: et perierunt sicut aranea texens. Flavit ventus et periit opus eius. Nihil ergo stabile et durabile super terram: de qua sfactus est Adam et filii eius. Totum enim vanum et fragile: quicquid videtur in saeculo magnum decorum et delectabile. Non ergo te decipiant illecebrae: nec frangant iniuriae. Qualitercumque sit aliquid ornatum coloribus, aut auro et argento et gemmis pretiosis decoratum: vilescit et arescit mortuum ac sepultum. In omni igitur opere quod agis et in quocumque loco fueris; ubicumque pergis et istransis: memor esto finis vitae tuae et ultimae horae quam nescis. Felix qui cupit cum Paulo dissolvi et esse cum Christo.
Hoc enim multo melius quam in carne diutius vivere et a Deo peregrinari: et in fluctibus saeculi quassari et turbari. Si Iesum in mente semper geris et vere diligis et ad eum cotidie oras: tunc utique fiduciam habebis de regno suo qui ait. Volo Pater ut ubi ego sum: illic sit et minister meus. Beatus ille servus: qui meruerit audire in extremis dulce verbum Christi. Euge serve bone et fidelis quia in pauca fuisti fidelis: intra in gaudium domini tui.
Scripture echoes
- ↩Phil.1.23 — But I am hard-pressed between the two, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for it is far better;
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