St. Alphonsus de Liguori wrote, “It is a practice very profitable for our eternal salvation to say often to ourselves: ‘I must one day die.’ The Church every year, on Ash Wednesday, gives this reminder to the faithful: ‘Remember, Man, that thou art dust, and into dust thou shalt return.’” The saint pointed out that the most precious furniture which was carried by the anchorites to their caves was a cross and a skull to remind them of the day of their own death.
St. Alphonsus exhorted us: “Let us live with death ever before our eyes, and in all the affairs of this present life, let us take care to act as we should act at the point of death. All things upon earth either leave us, or we have to leave them.”
The Enchiridion of Indulgences was issued in 1968. It states: “To the faithful in danger of death, who cannot be assisted by a priest to bring them the sacraments and impart the Apostolic Blessing with its plenary indulgence, Holy Mother Church nevertheless grants a plenary indulgence to be acquired at the point of death, provided they are properly disposed and have been in the habit of reciting some prayers during their lifetime. The use of a crucifix or a cross to gain this indulgence is praiseworthy.”
A beautiful prayer that can be recited daily is the acceptance of the will of God regarding death: “My Lord God, even now I accept at Thy hand, cheerfully and willingly, with all its anxieties, pains and sufferings, whatever kind of death it shall please Thee to be mine. Amen.”
Another beautiful prayer consists in the invocations of the Holy Family: “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I give you my heart and my soul. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, assist me in my last agony. Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, may I breathe forth my soul in peace with you. Amen.”
One of the favourite invocations of Sister Mary Martha Chambon was the following: “Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, I give you my heart, my mind, and my life ...” St. Joseph told her: “When you make this invocation, we take your hearts and we give them to Jesus.” He said, “This prayer gives me great glory and great joy, it renews all the happiness that I had in being the Foster Father of Jesus and the Head of the Holy Family.”
We pray for a good death in the second half of the Hail Mary. According to Ven. Fulton J. Sheen, the second half of the Hail Mary “was not introduced until the latter part of the Middle Ages. Since it seizes upon the two decisive moments of life: ‘now’ and ‘at the hour of our death,’ it suggests the spontaneous outcry of people in a great calamity. The Black Death, which ravaged all Europe and wiped out one-third of its population, prompted the faithful to cry out to the Mother of Our Lord to protect them at a time when the present moment and death were almost one.”
Saint Louis Guanella was deeply devoted to St. Joseph. He founded the Pious Union of St. Joseph for the Salvation of the Dying. Members of the Pius Union committed to recite the following prayer to St. Joseph every day for the benefit of the suffering and dying: “O St Joseph, Foster Father of Jesus Christ and true spouse of the Virgin Mary; Pray for us, and for the suffering and dying of this day/night.”
It is very important to pray for the dying. Our Lord told St. Faustina Kowalska: “Pray as much as you can for the dying. By your entreaties, obtain for them trust in My mercy, because they have most need of trust, and have it the least. Be assured that the grace of eternal salvation for certain souls in their final moment depends on your prayer. You know the whole abyss of My mercy, so draw upon it for yourself and especially for poor sinners. Sooner would heaven and earth turn into nothingness than would My mercy not embrace a trusting soul.”
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祈禱每天提醒我們死亡
聖亞豐索寫道：『經常對自己說「終有一天我會死亡。」是一項對永恆救恩十分實用和有利的習慣。教會每年在聖灰星期三都給信眾這樣的提醒：「人啊！你要記住，你原來是塵土，將來還要歸於塵土。」』這位聖人指出—位隱修士帶到他洞穴最珍貴的傢具是一個十字架和一個頭顱骨去提醒自己死亡的一天。
聖亞豐索激勵我們：『讓我們在我們眼目中活於死亡，在現世生命的一切事物中，讓我們留心應做的工作，一如我們在臨近死亡時所應做的一樣。世界上一切的事物，不是要離開我們，便是我們要離開它們。』
1968年的大赦的資料稱：『為面臨死亡的信徒，他們未能得到神父的幫助付予聖事和宗徒的全大赦。儘管如此，慈母教會容許死亡前的一個全大赦，如果他們有適當的心靈和一個在他們生命中經常誦念禱文的習慣。』
一篇可以每天誦念美麗的禱文是接納天主有關死亡的聖意：『我主，我的天主，我從袮手中，愉快地，意願地接納任何可以為袮悅納的，焦慮的，痛苦的和受折磨的死亡，亞孟。』
另外一篇美麗的禱文包含向聖家的呼喚：『耶穌、瑪利亞、若瑟，我心，我靈，我生命，皆獻於爾等。耶穌、瑪利亞、若瑟，扶助我於臨終時。耶穌、瑪利亞、若瑟，俾我在爾等中得安死之恩。』
瑪利亞.瑪爾大修女的一個她喜愛的祈禱是：『耶穌，瑪利亞和若瑟，我將我的心，我的思想和我的生命…交給你』聖若瑟告訴她：『當你們作這祈禱，我們把你們的心交給耶穌。』『這祈禱給我很大的光榮和喜樂，它更新我作為耶穌父親和聖家之首的一切喜樂。』
在聖母經版下半部，我們祈求一份善終。根據可敬富爾頓主教說，下半部的聖母經『到中世紀的下半部才被引入。因為它抓著生命中兩個重上要的時刻：「現在」和「我們臨終時」，它倡導了信徒們在大災難中自發的呼喊。黑死病肆虐整個歐洲並消滅了三份一的人口，促進了教友們向我主之母呼喊，求她在他們現在和在臨終時保護他們。那時死亡差不多是必然的了。』
聖類斯.冠樂是虔敬聖若瑟的聖人。他為亡者的救恩建立了虔敬聖若瑟會。會員承諾為受苦和垂死的人每天誦念以下向聖若瑟祈禱的經文：『噢，聖若瑟，耶穌基督之鞠養與童貞瑪利亞之淨配，請為我們，並為今日/夜的受苦者及臨終者祈求。』
為死亡祈禱是十分重要。我主告訴聖傅天娜、克瓦爾斯卡說：『為臨終者作盡可能多的祈禱。以你的懇求，為他的們獲得對我慈悲的信賴，因為他們最需要的是信賴，也是最缺乏信賴的。可以肯定的是，有些靈魂在他們最後的時刻中，為能夠得到永恆救恩的恩寵，都依靠著你的祈禱。你知道我慈悲的深淵，在那裡為你自己和特別是些可憐的罪人，提取我的慈悲。不久天堂和世界都要變了虛無但我的慈悲不會不擁抱一個信賴的靈魂。』