Preparing for a Good Death

The devotion to Our Lord of the Good Death is a beautiful and good tradition like praying to St. Joseph.

Yes, it speaks of death, as something that all of us must endure—but something that becomes the doorway to Eternal Life.

Our Faith teaches us that no one escapes death which is the ultimate punishment for the sin of Adam and Eve. In fact, Our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Himself suffered death—not for His own sake—but for our sake— that we would be saved from eternal death in hell with Satan.

The sad fact is that death is a terrible ordeal that we must endure. We all ask ourselves—every time that death occurs in our families: What will my death be like? Will it be scary? Will it be painful? Will it come quickly? Will it come slowly? Will I be conscious? Will it be instantaneous? Is it like traveling through space? When I come out the other side—who will be there to greet me? God? Jesus, Mary? The saints and Angels? My grandparents and ancestors?

And I am sure that the thought of death is even worse for people who are not Catholic and who do not believe in God. But thanks be to God who has told us of a world beyond this world—of a life beyond this life—that is happy and holy and beautiful and will last forever. And, thanks be to God, He has given us the way to get there—Jesus, the Church and the Sacraments.

Do this and we shall be saved. And that is where we get the devotion of the Good Death. A Good Death that would prevent us from going to hell—even if we might need some purification in Purgatory.

Three Beautiful Gifts
That is why it is so important to call for the priest when someone you love is seriously ill in the hospital or at home. Because the priest will come and he will give the person—as much as possible—three beautiful gifts that will ensure a Good Death.

Now when the priest walks in, he determines if the person is able to go to confession. If so, then Father will hear their confession in order to forgive their sins. This is very important, because if someone is conscious of serious sin—mortal sin— they must be absolved of that sin in order to receive the grace of any of the other sacraments. Then the priest gives the Holy Oils which are the Sacrament par excellence of the sick and the dying. They give the greatest possible amount of grace to the person’s soul. The grace from this sacrament gives us the strength and the courage we need just at the moment our souls are separating from our bodies.
After the Our Father is said, then Holy Communion is given to the dying person. This last Holy Communion is called Viaticum. It is no less than the Body of Christ and is the most wonderful food we can take on this journey from here to there. Now, I will be honest, these days, because of the advances of medical science, most people are too ill to receive either Confession or Holy Communion. By the time the priest is called, they can only passively receive the Oils of the Sick.

However—and this is so beautiful—if when the priest comes to us, and we are in a coma and cannot go to confession, and if before we went into the coma we were sorry for our sins, at least because we were afraid of going to hell (this is called imperfect contrition) then the Sacrament of the Sick, the Holy Oils, takes away our sins—as if it were confession! Our imperfect contrition is made perfect—And we are again in God’s good graces. And this even for mortal sins! And what is more—the priest gives us a Plenary Indulgence—a special gift from Our Lord (through the Church) that removes—as far as we can tell—of any time in Purgatory. I often hope that at the end of my life someone loves me enough to call for the priest so that I will receive all these graces and forgiveness from God.

And this is what we mean by a Good Death: A Good Death means that at the very end of our life on this earth, despite all our sins and weaknesses, despite all the ways in which we have hurt our neighbor and offended our God, a Good Death means that Jesus will be there with us—to hold our hand, stroke our brow, kiss our cheeks—to forgive us, console us, and encourage us. How beautiful—and how Catholic—that we should want no more of this life than to have a good death—because that means, then, an eternity of happiness with God.