Memento Mori: Remember Your Death

Memento Mori: Remember Your Death

Ascension Team

What happens in the final moments of our lives? Jeff shares his personal experience as he faces his mother's imminent passing, emphasizing the Catholic tradition of Last Rites, the Apostolic Pardon, and various prayers offered by the Church during the final hours of a loved one's life.

Snippet from the Show

 We need spiritual strength for the process of going from this life to the life to come.

Shownotes

Anointing of the Sick

James 5:14

Is any among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord;

Prayer For Renewed Strength

O Lord, my God,
Please give me the grace to maintain my hope in you
through all of life’s changes
and to taste and see your goodness.
I praise you for the gifts you have showered
on me for so many years.
Help me find joy in a renewed
strength of spirit. Please bless me with good
health, and inspire me to be a good example to others.
For you are Lord, forever and ever. Amen.

A Blessing Prayer for Those Who Are Sick
All praise and glory is yours, Lord our God,
for you have called us to serve you in love.
Bless N., so that he/she may bear this illness
in union with your Son's obedient suffering.
Restore him/her to health, and lead him/her to glory.
We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

Prayer to St. Joseph

St. Joseph, in the popular piety of the Church, has been considered the
patron saint of those
dying since he himself had the privilege of dying in the arms of Mary
and Jesus. “Since we all
must die, we should cherish a special devotion to St. Joseph, that he
may obtain for us a happy
death.” (St. Alphonsus Ligouri)
O Blessed Joseph, you gave your last breath in the loving embrace of
Jesus and Mary. When the
seal of death shall close my life, come with Jesus and Mary to aid me.
Obtain for me this solace
for that hour – to die with their holy arms around me. Jesus, Mary and
Joseph, I commend my
soul, living and dying, into your sacred arms. Amen.

Prayer of Commendation of the Dying

Welcome your servant, Lord, into the place of salvation which, because
of your mercy, he/she
rightly hoped for.
Response: Lord, save your people.
Deliver your servant, Lord, from every distress. R.
Deliver your servant, Lord, as you delivered Noah from the flood. R.
Deliver your servant, Lord, as you delivered Abraham from Ur of the
Chaldees. R.
Deliver your servant, Lord, as you delivered Job from his sufferings. R.
Deliver your servant, Lord, as you delivered Moses from the hand of the
Pharaoh. R.
Deliver your servant, Lord, as you delivered Daniel from the den of
lions. R.
Deliver your servant, Lord, as you delivered the three young men from
the fiery furnace. R.
Deliver your servant, Lord, as you delivered Susanna from her false
accusers. R.
Deliver your servant, Lord, as you delivered David from the attacks of
Saul and Goliath. R.
Deliver your servant, Lord, as you delivered Peter and Paul from prison.
R.
Deliver your servant, Lord, through Jesus our Savior, who suffered
death for us and gave us eternal life. R.
Lord Jesus Christ, Savior of the world,
we pray for your servant N., and commend him/her to your mercy.
For his/her sake you came down from heaven;
receive him/her now into the joy of your kingdom.
For though he/she has sinned, he/she has not denied the Father,
the Son, and the Holy Spirit, but has believed in God and has worshiped
his/her Creator. Amen.
Litany: Mary, Mother of Life
The Response is: Mary, pray for us.
Mary, Mother of all Life,
help us to respect human life from the moment of conception to the
moment of natural death. R.
Mary, Mother of Compassion,
You showed us how valuable a single life can be;
Help us to guard and protect the lives of all people entrusted to our
care. R.
Mary, Mother of the Child Jesus,
with St. Joseph you formed the Holy Family.
Guard and protect all families in this earthly life; R.
Mary, Mother Most Holy,
You sanctified the vocation of motherhood;
Pour out your heavenly aid on all mothers and help them to be holy. R.
Mary, Mother of Sorrows,
Simeon’s prophecy foretold that a sword of suffering would pierce your
heart;
Bring comfort and hope to all mothers who suffer over their children. R.
Mary, Full of Grace,
You had a choice in responding to God’s call; help us always to say
“Yes” to the will of God in
our lives, and strive always to do whatever he tells us. R.
Mary, Comforter of the Afflicted,
Pour forth your heavenly grace on all who are in need of God’s healing,
Especially those involved in abortion;
Help them to experience the love and mercy of Christ, your Son. R.
Mary, Intercessor and Advocate,
We lift up the poor, the displaced, the marginalized and vulnerable
members of society;

Help them to never abandon hope, but to place their trust in the God
who gave them life. R.
Mary, Mother of the Word Incarnate, you bore in your womb him whom
the heavens cannot
contain; Help us to bear witness to Christ by the example of our lives
and show the world the
extravagant love of God. R.
All:
Remember, o most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that
anyone who fled to
your protection, implored your help, or sought your intercession was left
unaided. Inspired
with this confidence, we fly unto you, O Virgin of virgins, our Mother. To
you we come, before
you we stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate,
despise not our petitions,
but in your mercy hear and answer them. Amen.

Apostolic Pardon

The apostolic pardon is a plenary indulgence offered when death is
imminent,
Jesus promised the Good Thief on Good Friday, he would be with him in
paradise. “This day.”
The words of the blessing said by the priest for the Apostolic Pardon
are:
“Through the holy mysteries of our redemption, may Almighty God
release you from all punishments in this life and in the life to come. May
he open to you the gates of paradise and welcome you to everlasting
joy.”
“By the authority which the Apostolic See has given me, I grant you a
full pardon and the remission of all your sins in the name of the Father,
and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.”

Prayer of the Elderly, Pope Saint John Paul II

Grant, O Lord of life,
That we may savor every season of our lives as a gift
filled with promise for the future.
Grant that we may lovingly accept your will,
and place ourselves each day in your merciful hands.
And when the moment of our definitive “passage” comes,
grant that we may face it with serenity,
without regret for what we shall leave behind.
For in meeting you,
after having sought you for so long,
we shall find once more every authentic good
which we have known here on earth,
in the company of all who have gone before us
marked with the sign of faith and hope.
Mary, Mother of pilgrim humanity,
pray for us “now and at the hour of our death.”
Keep us ever close to Jesus,
your beloved Son and our brother,
the Lord of life and glory. Amen!

Memorare

Remember, O most gracious Virgin Mary, that never was it known that anyone who fled to thy protection, implored thy help, or sought thine intercession was left unaided.

Inspired by this confidence, I fly unto thee, O Virgin of virgins, my mother; to thee do I come, before thee I stand, sinful and sorrowful. O Mother of the Word Incarnate, despise not my petitions, but in thy mercy hear and answer me.

Amen.

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