Let death be daily before your eyes.

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Solemn Requiem | Saint John Henry Newman Victoria | Remembrance Sunday

Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble, F.S.P

(O)ur assurance is not in the stability of our country’s government; it’s not in our nation’s privileged status in the world, and it’s not in any political candidate. The only rock and refuge in our lives is God himself. Meditation on death can root us in the stability and firmness of the love of God and this helps us to navigate the troubles of this life. The practice of memento mori or meditating on one’s death is a practice that puts life in perspective. St. Elizabeth of the Trinity wrote, “We see the true value of things by the light of eternity. Oh, how empty all is that has not been done for God and with God! I beg you to mark all your doings with the seal of love; it is the only thing that lasts! . . . What a serious thing life is!”


Epictetus. Enchiridion. XXI.

Let death and exile, and all other things which appear terrible, be daily before your eyes, but death chiefly; and you will never entertain any abject thought, nor too eagerly covet anything.

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