THE BOOK “THE ART OF DYING” BY PATRICIA WEENOLSEN “The Art of Dying” by Patricia Weenolsen



“The Art of Dying” by Patricia Weenolsen

Introduction

The Art of Dying tells the modern reader with a refreshing frankness and wit. It covers the subject thoroughly, how to inform relatives about the impending death, to cope with pain and fear of death rituals, preparing for a possible afterlife, or, depending on your point of view, at the end of it all.

Discussion

The will of God that one day all of us to be with Him in heaven. This is the whole meaning of our existence and purpose, we must strive to achieve. Thus, it is good to turn our minds and hearts to heaven and think of the last things: death and features of the solution; heaven, hell and purgatory, and all that relates to the second coming, that is, the resurrection of the dead, the Last Judgement and a new heaven and new land. Some of these things, we can know by reason itself, for example, that death is the separation of soul from the body that the soul exists after death, even that there is some solution, and rewards and punishments after death, for good and evil in this life. We can know these things without a revelation, so that no one can say on Judgement Day, "I do not know!" However, God revealed more to us than the great mysteries beyond our reasoning in order to light our longing for the good things he has in store for us and even give us the holy fear the bad things that await us if we do not live correctly.

Death and Dying

Death, as we have said, is the separation of soul from the body. Body returns to dust, but the soul continues to exist. Nevertheless, this division only at the time with body and soul once again reunited in the resurrection of the dead. Everybody dies, but not all die well. In the Middle Ages can be found beautiful traditions Ars Moriendi, ie, a bit of guidance on how to die well. This is a very Christian idea. Death is not meaningless, but rather, in Christ, death is in God's plan of salvation. We must "use" the good death, always remembering the words of our catechism: Death puts an end to human life, just to either accept or reject divine grace revealed in Christ.

Thus, when we die, this is our last chance to turn to God. At that time, let us ask His mercy, we offer our lives to Him, receive the sacraments (or at least desire for them, if they are not available to us) and make acts of faith, hope and love. We can pray: "Jesus, I trust in you ... My God and my all ... Let me never be separated from you!" We must always be ready to die so that we can die well. Special solutions We know by faith that after death, souls will be judged ...