Nicaea Library › Library

Alphonsus Liguori: Preparation for Death

Alphonsus Liguori · translated by Eugene Grimm (editor) · 1758; translation 1893 edition

Considerations on the eternal truths — death, judgment, heaven and hell — for conversion and a holy life.

Edition: Internet Archive · archive.org

Free to read, with no account needed. Public domain or openly licensed, with every source named.

Read it free online Download for Windows (free)

From the opening: Viil. on the Means of

dom or never prays for God’s assistance, and, by neglecting to pray for it, he is lost. They who neglect mental prayer, pray witha distracted mind; hence many who say the Rosary, the Office of the Blessed Virgin, and other prayers, continue to live in the state of sin. But it is impossible for him who continues to make mental prayer to remain in sin; he shall either give up meditation, or renounce sin.

Mental prayer contains three parts: the preparation, the meditation, and the conclusion. In the preparation there are three acts: first, an act of faith of the presence of God; secondly, an act of humility; thirdly, a petition for light. They may be made in the following manner. 1. My God, I believe you present within me, and I adore you from the abyss of my nothingness, 2. Lord, I ought now to be in Hell on account of my sins; I am sorry for having offended you; pardon me in your mercy. 3. Eternal Father, through the merits of Jesus and the prayers of Mary, give me light, that I may draw fruit from this meditation. Then say a Hail Mary, that she may obtain this light for you; and a short prayer to St. Joseph, your angel-guardian, and your holy patron, that they may ask it for you. The ii as should be short, but made with fervour.

In the meditation, after reading the points, reflect on the part by which you feel your devotion most excited. But remember that the advantage of mental prayer does not consist in reflecting on the truths of faith, so much as in the three great fruits of meditation. More of the time of mental prayer should be given to reflections on the eternal maxims by those who live in the world, than by those who live in religious communities, and devote a good deal of time each day to spiritual reading and other devout exercises.

The three principal fruits of meditation are—first, pious affections; secondly, fervent petitions to God for al/ the graces necessary for our salvation; thirdly, firm resolutions to perform some particular acts of virtue, or to avoid some particular defect. The first fruit of meditation consists in pious affections; that is, in making interior acts of the different virtues, such as acts of adoration and praise of God’s majesty, acts of thanks for his infinite benefits, acts of love of his {infinite goodness and perfection, and desires to love him as much as he wishes and deserves to be loved

Keep reading in the library →

Contents (60 sections)

  1. Opening
  2. Title page
  3. Her Affectionate and Loving, Though Vile and Unworthy, Servant Humbly Dedicates This Work
  4. On the Means of Acquiring Perfection ‘ Bull of the Canonization of St. Alphonsus
  5. Taken Principally from the Works of 8St. Alphonsus M. Liguori
  6. Viil. on the Means of
  7. Acquiring Perfection. . V
  8. Of the Canonization
  9. For a Perpetual Remembrance of the Thing
  10. XVI. Bull of the Canonization of
  11. XX. Bull of the Canonization of
  12. Bull of the Canonization of
  13. Necessary to Be Read
  14. Xxv1. Objects of the Work
  15. Objects of the Work. XXVIL
  16. Picture of a Man Who Is but a Short Time Gone to Eternity
  17. Consideration the Second. with Death All Ends
  18. Third Consideration. Shortness of Life
  19. Third Consideration. Shortness of Life (continued)
  20. Consideration the Fifth
  21. Death of the Sinner
  22. Eighth Consideration. Death of the Just
  23. Tenth Consideration. Means of Preparing for Death
  24. Eleventh Consideration. Value of Time
  25. On the Importance of Salvation
  26. Thirteenth Consideration. Vanity of the World
  27. The Present Life 18s a Journey to Eternity
  28. The Present Life 18s a Journey to Eternity (continued)
  29. Abuse of Divine Mercy
  30. Eighteenth Consideration. on the Number of Sins
  31. In Enmity with God
  32. Twentieth Consideration. Folly of Sinners
  33. Unhappy Life of the Sinner: and Happy Life of the Christian Who Loves God
  34. Twenty-Second Consideration. on Evil Habits
  35. The Delusions Which the Devil Suggests
  36. Twenty-Fourth Consideration. on the Particular Judgment
  37. Twenty-Fifth Consideration. on the General Judgment
  38. On the Eternity of Hell
  39. Remorses of the Damned
  40. The third remorse of the damned: shall arise WwW
  41. Twenty-Ninth Consideration. on Heaven
  42. Thirty-First Consideration, on Perseverance
  43. Thirty-Second Consideration
  44. On Confidence in the Patronage of Mary
  45. Thirty-Third Consideration. on the Love of God
  46. Thirty-Fourth Consideration. on the Holy Communion
  47. Thirty-Fifth Consideration
  48. Thirty-Fifth Consideration (continued)
  49. Protestation of Death
  50. Prayer to Be Said Every Day for a Good
  51. To Prepare Fob Death
  52. Acceptation of Death
  53. 4,74 on a Day’s Retreat, Etc
  54. Cheap and Valuable Editions
  55. At the Following Low Prices
  56. Catholic Works Published by
  57. James Duffy, 25, Anglesea Street
  58. Catholic Works Published by
  59. James Duffy, 25, Anglesea Street
  60. Catholic Works Published by James Duffy

How to cite it

Chicago
Alphonsus Liguori. Alphonsus Liguori: Preparation for Death. Translated by Eugene Grimm (editor). Internet Archive, 1758; translation 1893 edition. https://archive.org/details/preparation_for_death_1893-st_alphonsus_m_liguori
MLA
Alphonsus Liguori. Alphonsus Liguori: Preparation for Death. Translated by Eugene Grimm (editor), Internet Archive, 1758; translation 1893 edition. https://archive.org/details/preparation_for_death_1893-st_alphonsus_m_liguori
APA
Alphonsus Liguori (1758; translation 1893 edition). Alphonsus Liguori: Preparation for Death (Eugene Grimm (editor), Trans.). Internet Archive. https://archive.org/details/preparation_for_death_1893-st_alphonsus_m_liguori

More from Saints since 1500