![]() There was no escaping it, because average lifespans were significantly shorter than ours are today. Ancient civilizations and past cultures were keenly aware of their own mortality. We have perpetuated this false reality because contemplating our deaths has become too morbid for our delicate, modern sensibilities. So many medical advancements, pharmaceutical breakthroughs, surgical procedures, and technological developments stem from our desire to push back death and reject its relevance to us. Unfortunately, in our culture today, people want to deny death’s call and live forever, looking young and lovely all the while! How easy it is to forget time, and, as we rush through our busy days, to forget even death. We even see its liturgical expression in the ashes we receive on Ash Wednesday: “Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”ġ6th/17th-century ivory pendant, Monk and Death, recalling our mortality. Whole genres of art, jewelry and other “mementos” took on this theme to prompt the viewer to memento mori. Kings used these words for their seals and wore them on signet rings. Shakespeare used the term in his play King Henry IV. In the middle ages, memento mori was not only an exercise in meditation it also took the form of tangible expression. In antiquity, Plato and Socrates wrote of the importance of remembering death, but it was the early Christians who introduced the practice and concept of memento mori to the faithful. She realized that though the practice of memento mori may be ancient, the concept is relevant in all times and places. Teresa Aletheia’s apostolate has introduced this ancient phrase and its practice to a new generation of Catholic Christians. Teresa Aletheia Noble of the Daughters of St. The phrase and discipline known as memento mori has recently resurfaced and experienced renewed popularity, thanks to the writing of a young nun, Sr. This is a grace of the practice of “Memento mori,” which is Latin for “Remember your death.” ![]() Instead of focusing on the unfamiliar, uncontrollable aspect of bodily death, God calls us to rejoice in the gift of our immortal souls, and to embrace the hope and the promise implicit in bodily death. The better part is to fix our gaze confidently on God, who desires all to be saved. Matthew 10: 28-31įear is a natural part of our humanity, but it is not the better part. So do not be afraid you are worth more than many sparrows. Even all the hairs of your head are counted. Are not two sparrows sold for a small coin? Yet not one of them falls to the ground without your Father’s knowledge. Contemplating the Reality of DeathĪnd do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna. We can let go of our fear of death and embrace the unique mission He asks of us in our finite time on earth. We can spend our lives seeking His will, and aspiring only for that to be done. If we understand and believe these truths of our Faith, we can live freely in the light of His love for us. Yet, if we are pursuing holiness and conformity to God’s will, we need not fear the future held in store for us: it is Heaven, and union with the Lord who is the source of our joy.Ĭhrist has already died for each of us, and if we have been baptized, then we have died to the world through our baptism in Him. ![]() ![]() This reality can strike fear in the heart of even the most faithful Christian. And, over time, so will all those whom we know and love.
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