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Something I wrote a long time ago on 5 temptations of a dying person from Ars Moreindi.
The ARS MORIENDI
Ars Moriendi is a Latin term that can be translated as the Art of Dying. For centuries it has referred to a genre of literature dealing with the spiritual preparation for death. The paradigm of this genre is the 15th century anonymous treatise entitled, Tractatus de Arte Moriendi (A Treatment of the Art of Dying). This essay will refer to it as the Art of Dying. Imbedded deeply in our history of care for the dying, this 600 year old artifact of our tradition can speak to us today and enhance our ministry. Do we know how to die today?
There is a great deal for reflection and commentary in the Art of Dying. In fact, for a book once popular for two centuries throughout Western Europe, there has been surprisingly little attention paid to it since. This essay will focus on its five “temptations” of a dying person with only limited discussion of other parts as they relate to the temptations. These five temptations: loss of faith, despair, impatience, complacence, and clinging, provide a thematic structure for spiritual conversation.
The first temptation is to lose faith. Faith is described as the foundation of all health, and goodness. St. Augustine and St. Paul are quoted, “One without faith is already judged.” & “Without faith it is not possible to please God.” The Devil is credited as the source of all temptations and though the Devil can tempt, human free will remains the dying person’s most valuable asset which must be guarded above all. Often enough among the dying, there are people of faith who ask, “Why me? I have been faithful and prayed all my life.” Faith is shaken. Many feel they had a pact with God, that if they followed the rules and said the prayers they would not face death before the fullness of years. The Devil attacks, “You wretch. You have been greatly mistaken. It is not as you believe or as the preacher says.” The vulnerability or fragility of one’s faith can depend on one’s level or stage of faith. James fowler describes one of the earlier stages as based on reciprocal fairness and a justice based on reciprocity. A terminal illness can seem unfair, unjust and will challenge faith at that stage. With the illness there may also be unresolved anger that manifests as a rejection of God. Anger is the second of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s well known five stage model of grief. (Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance). How might one assist another in coping with loss of faith or with anger?
The Art of Dying recommends recitation of the Creed or expressing belief in God “in a loud voice,” recounting of stories of examples of Biblical faith such as Abraham, Job, Paul, etc. Also relevant to dealing with doubt is the first question: “Do you believe in God (still)?” The great value of questions lie in that they provide opportunity for the person to reflect, articulate, verbalize, proclaim, and affirm their own faith. Pastoral ministry here is not a matter of preaching nor judging, but of skilled listening. “Can you tell me more about what you believe about God, your relationship with God?” Pastoral conversation assists the dying in processing the emotional and intellectual response to the illness. The goal is to assist such persons to integrate this catastrophic situation into his or her belief system or personal theology, to perhaps see God in a new way and thus strengthen the faith, grow in faith, come to a new stage of faith. The creed and biblical narratives then also have new meaning and value. The initial issue, however, is an assessment of faith.
Despair, the second temptation, is hopelessness and failure to trust in God. Sins seem too great and too many to be forgiven. A few people bluster, “I have not been a good Christian all my life. I will not be a hypocrite now that I’m dying.” There is some degree of pride to this, as if the sin or sins of this person are greater than God’s ability to forgive. On the other hand there are also those who feel, and have always felt, unloved and unworthy of anything but reproach, condemnation and punishment. Psychological issues of poor self image contaminate spiritual health.
The Art of Dying prescribes a recounting of the scriptural example of great sinners who were forgiven: Peter who denied Jesus, Paul who persecuted the Church, Matthew and Zaccheus the tax collectors, the woman caught in adultery, etc. It recalls the words of St. Bernard, “God’s mercy is greater than any sin.” Again the questions can serve as starting points for pastoral conversation. “What is your greatest concern right now?” If despair is indicated: “Are you sorry for your sins? Do you believe Christ died for your sins?” (For Christians) “Would you like to make a Confession?” (For Catholics) “Is there anyone with whom you would like to reconcile?” Questions help provide opportunity for the person to express in his or her own words an affirmation of faith. It becomes a process for life review ultimately leading to a shift of focus from “me” to the passion of Christ. In fact, the Art of Dying recommends that a crucifix be always present to gaze upon so that one can consider the disposition of Christ on the cross, “giving all himself” for such sins.
The following invocation is recommended and is typical of the prayers found in the Art of Dying:
“Also, let him say three times these words or similar ones, which are ascribed to blessed Augustine: May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the power of his passion, and the sign of the holy cross, and the purity of the most blessed Virgin Mary, and the blessing of all the saints, and the protection of the angels, and the prayers of all the elect be between me and all my enemies visible and invisible in this hour of my death.”
Impatience is a temptation against love because “love endures all things.” as St. Paul said. The ordeal of sickness and death is all too often a grueling journey. Regardless of the length, for the person enduring it, it is too long and too painful. It is no wonder some people opt for euthanasia. Fortunately, hospice care is now the standard of care for the dying. The problem is that many people cannot accept the fact that they are hospice appropriate. They continue to push for aggressive therapy that is essentially futile. Families often play an influential role in this when they cannot accept the impending loss. Instead they continue to encourage the person to fight the disease, “You can beat it.” Miracles are often expected.
The Art of Dying addresses this tendency. It warns, “Do not tell the person there is hope of cure.” The concern is failure to prepare spiritually. There is a delicate balance between false hope and “false no hope” as Bernie Siegle wrote. The latter being a premature prognosis of death. Science has come a long way and diseases that once were hopeless are now manageable. The skilled minister tactfully helps to frame things in terms of new realistic hopes that make the best of life as it now is. It is a careful endeavor to give full respect to the true gravity of an illness and help prepare for death, while at the same time not aggravating the fear, sadness and anxiety that is already present.
The Art of Dying tells us that suffering, endured patiently, is a cleansing process. Suffering is easier to endure and it is easier to have patience, if one sees meaning and purpose in the suffering. This is no small challenge. The distinction between a meaningless needle prick and a vaccine shot is easy enough to understand and accept. But the suffering of many human illnesses often makes no sense to us at all and there is no simple advice for the companion or minister seeking to assist the dying. The meaning and purpose that an individual might discover in such a situation can be as unique as the person. One person may find meaning in solidarity with the suffering Christ. Another sees the illness bringing family closer together. A third simply accepts the cycle of life and “the way things are” while a fourth family member speaks in terms of “God needing another flower in His garden.” One must withhold judgment to beneficially journey with people seeking meaning and purpose. Only meaning and purpose, no matter how expressed or imaged, will bring the peace and patience to cope with serious illness and loss. It is interesting to note that the same families who refused to accept the impending loss, upon seeing their loved one suffering in the last days, then pray for it to end and express some degree of guilt about that prayer. God’s timing is too soon and then not soon enough.
Sometimes worn down people who are so tired of their illness basically refuse to comply with their own plan of care. Not to be confused with a natural withdrawal, this is despair of a different kind, not of their sinfulness, but of their life situation. It is a vast hopelessness due to the loss of worldly goods including health, mobility, physical strength and autonomy. These are some of the same issues relevant to the fifth temptation of avarice. The image of the crucified Christ is recommended for contemplation as he was patient “even unto death.”
Complacence is the fourth temptation. Those who have had strong faith, who have been religious, are most vulnerable to this temptation. It is tantamount to spiritual pride. There is a diminished sense of guilt and exaggerated self righteousness. It is the opposite of despair and needs to be balanced against it. We are told about the Devil “Throwing such thoughts as these against him like darts: ‘How firm you are in faith, how strong in hope, how patient in your illness, how much good you have done! You should take special pride because you are not like others...” Meekness is the antidote to this temptation and it comes by reflecting on ones sins. It should be remembered that “pride so offends God that for the sake of it alone he banished the noblest creature Lucifer...” “It is pride alone that makes an angel into a devil.” What is needed is self examination. One must not simply acknowledge a general vague sinfulness. Self righteous people acknowledge their general sinfulness as a perfunctory prerequisite to claim the virtue of humility. In so doing they fail to identify, and own, specific failures that are the grist of true compunction and repentance. An honest and specific examination of conscience helps to nurture a meekness that properly disposes one to meet one’s creator. Examination of conscience with pastoral guidance through a life review process, can lead one into significant actionable self awareness of both the good and bad of one’s life, the blessings and the failures. There may still be an unrecognized need for reconciliation and closure to be discovered.
The last temptation is avarice or inordinate clinging to the world, inordinate as in inappropriate for this moment in one’s life. If it is within God’s will that life is ending, it is then against God’s will that one cling to all that is of this world including family, business, pleasures, wealth, etc. Once again, as in the case of impatience with dying, the family can play a strong roll. Perhaps they are the ones clinging, the ones refusing to let go. The dying person may actually be trying to withdraw and the family cannot accept it. The Art of Dying states, “When one is at the point of death and is hurrying to the end then should no carnal friends, nor wife (husband), nor children, nor riches, nor temporal goods be brought before him...” Fortunately, it provides qualification, “…only as much as spiritual health and profit of the sick one asks and requires.”
Family attachments are often the chief source of sorrow for the dying person. Not wanting to abandon loved ones may be the only thing holding a person back from “letting go.” Yet contact with family and friends may be exactly what is needed for permission and goodbyes, for reconciliation and final words, for blessings and reassurance. Later in the Art of Dying reference will be made to the model death of Jesus, including the transfer of filial responsibility of his mother over to John. Perhaps then, the more appropriate pastoral response is not to keep family and friends away but to facilitate such handing over of earthly concerns, be they possessions, business, or family. Facilitating any communication that needs to take place is a gift. Just because something needs to be said does not mean it will be said easily or perhaps even said at all.
To overcome this temptation to cling to family life, the Art of Dying recommends meditation on the poverty of Christ “as he hung on the cross for you.” The key issue is whether the person is tempted to “turn from the love of God.” Voluntary poverty of this kind as death approaches is the antidote for the love of worldly goods that separates one from the love of God. At the time of death, what the Art of Dying calls the “articulis mortis,” the “turning point of death,” a decision must be made. Of course we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves, to love all, including family. But God must have priority in this love as Jesus taught, “Those who love mother, father, sister, brother more than me are not worthy of me.” The pastoral care giver can help to see the love of family, friends, and the goods of this world in the greater context of God’s larger plan, God’s larger life, thus easing the tendency to cling.
Conclusion
Contemporary training for the professional chaplain involves Clinical Pastoral Education. There, emphasis is placed on respecting the spirituality, the spiritual journey, and religious beliefs of everyone at the moment of encounter. This encompasses a wide range of tolerance for any form of Christian faith, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, but also Wicca and any mixture of New Age thinking or no apparent religious beliefs at all. As long as a person is not spiritually suffering from their belief system, their spirituality, it is not the chaplain’s role to challenge or evangelize in the traditional sense of the word. Rather, the chaplain is there to assist people to access the blessing of their own spirituality and in so doing to mediate God’s presence. However, that role is not limited to the professional chaplain. Indeed, the purpose of the Art of Dying is to guide anyone, especially the laity and “all true Christians,” to learn and have knowledge of how to die well.
Though death is a universal human experience, we all cope with it in different ways. Perhaps everyone does not experience all five temptations as presented in the Art of Dying. Nevertheless, faith, despair, complacence, impatience and clinging serve as a structure for reflection and opening for pastoral dialogue (especially for Christians) that lead people to see, perhaps even for the first time, their belief system, where their faith lies, and how well they have lived according to those values. How one dies is the last statement one makes. It is the last opportunity to reconcile, if needed. It is the last opportunity to proclaim what faith they have and to live through that faith into death. The Art of Dying can be summarized in one line: “Bene Mori est libenter mori.” To die well is to die willingly, freely. We all share in the work to be done toward that final freedom. The six hundred year old Tractatus de Arte Moriendi, from the heart of the Catholic spiritual care tradition, provides a useful method for that work.
References
Beaty, Nancy Lee. The Craft of Dying. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1970.
Comper, Frances M.M. The Book of The Craft of Dying. New York, NY: ANO Press, 1977.
Siegel, Bernie S., MD. Peace, Love and Healing. New York, NY: Harper Row, 1989.
The ARS MORIENDI
Ars Moriendi is a Latin term that can be translated as the Art of Dying. For centuries it has referred to a genre of literature dealing with the spiritual preparation for death. The paradigm of this genre is the 15th century anonymous treatise entitled, Tractatus de Arte Moriendi (A Treatment of the Art of Dying). This essay will refer to it as the Art of Dying. Imbedded deeply in our history of care for the dying, this 600 year old artifact of our tradition can speak to us today and enhance our ministry. Do we know how to die today?
There is a great deal for reflection and commentary in the Art of Dying. In fact, for a book once popular for two centuries throughout Western Europe, there has been surprisingly little attention paid to it since. This essay will focus on its five “temptations” of a dying person with only limited discussion of other parts as they relate to the temptations. These five temptations: loss of faith, despair, impatience, complacence, and clinging, provide a thematic structure for spiritual conversation.
The first temptation is to lose faith. Faith is described as the foundation of all health, and goodness. St. Augustine and St. Paul are quoted, “One without faith is already judged.” & “Without faith it is not possible to please God.” The Devil is credited as the source of all temptations and though the Devil can tempt, human free will remains the dying person’s most valuable asset which must be guarded above all. Often enough among the dying, there are people of faith who ask, “Why me? I have been faithful and prayed all my life.” Faith is shaken. Many feel they had a pact with God, that if they followed the rules and said the prayers they would not face death before the fullness of years. The Devil attacks, “You wretch. You have been greatly mistaken. It is not as you believe or as the preacher says.” The vulnerability or fragility of one’s faith can depend on one’s level or stage of faith. James fowler describes one of the earlier stages as based on reciprocal fairness and a justice based on reciprocity. A terminal illness can seem unfair, unjust and will challenge faith at that stage. With the illness there may also be unresolved anger that manifests as a rejection of God. Anger is the second of Elizabeth Kubler-Ross’s well known five stage model of grief. (Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance). How might one assist another in coping with loss of faith or with anger?
The Art of Dying recommends recitation of the Creed or expressing belief in God “in a loud voice,” recounting of stories of examples of Biblical faith such as Abraham, Job, Paul, etc. Also relevant to dealing with doubt is the first question: “Do you believe in God (still)?” The great value of questions lie in that they provide opportunity for the person to reflect, articulate, verbalize, proclaim, and affirm their own faith. Pastoral ministry here is not a matter of preaching nor judging, but of skilled listening. “Can you tell me more about what you believe about God, your relationship with God?” Pastoral conversation assists the dying in processing the emotional and intellectual response to the illness. The goal is to assist such persons to integrate this catastrophic situation into his or her belief system or personal theology, to perhaps see God in a new way and thus strengthen the faith, grow in faith, come to a new stage of faith. The creed and biblical narratives then also have new meaning and value. The initial issue, however, is an assessment of faith.
Despair, the second temptation, is hopelessness and failure to trust in God. Sins seem too great and too many to be forgiven. A few people bluster, “I have not been a good Christian all my life. I will not be a hypocrite now that I’m dying.” There is some degree of pride to this, as if the sin or sins of this person are greater than God’s ability to forgive. On the other hand there are also those who feel, and have always felt, unloved and unworthy of anything but reproach, condemnation and punishment. Psychological issues of poor self image contaminate spiritual health.
The Art of Dying prescribes a recounting of the scriptural example of great sinners who were forgiven: Peter who denied Jesus, Paul who persecuted the Church, Matthew and Zaccheus the tax collectors, the woman caught in adultery, etc. It recalls the words of St. Bernard, “God’s mercy is greater than any sin.” Again the questions can serve as starting points for pastoral conversation. “What is your greatest concern right now?” If despair is indicated: “Are you sorry for your sins? Do you believe Christ died for your sins?” (For Christians) “Would you like to make a Confession?” (For Catholics) “Is there anyone with whom you would like to reconcile?” Questions help provide opportunity for the person to express in his or her own words an affirmation of faith. It becomes a process for life review ultimately leading to a shift of focus from “me” to the passion of Christ. In fact, the Art of Dying recommends that a crucifix be always present to gaze upon so that one can consider the disposition of Christ on the cross, “giving all himself” for such sins.
The following invocation is recommended and is typical of the prayers found in the Art of Dying:
“Also, let him say three times these words or similar ones, which are ascribed to blessed Augustine: May the peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, and the power of his passion, and the sign of the holy cross, and the purity of the most blessed Virgin Mary, and the blessing of all the saints, and the protection of the angels, and the prayers of all the elect be between me and all my enemies visible and invisible in this hour of my death.”
Impatience is a temptation against love because “love endures all things.” as St. Paul said. The ordeal of sickness and death is all too often a grueling journey. Regardless of the length, for the person enduring it, it is too long and too painful. It is no wonder some people opt for euthanasia. Fortunately, hospice care is now the standard of care for the dying. The problem is that many people cannot accept the fact that they are hospice appropriate. They continue to push for aggressive therapy that is essentially futile. Families often play an influential role in this when they cannot accept the impending loss. Instead they continue to encourage the person to fight the disease, “You can beat it.” Miracles are often expected.
The Art of Dying addresses this tendency. It warns, “Do not tell the person there is hope of cure.” The concern is failure to prepare spiritually. There is a delicate balance between false hope and “false no hope” as Bernie Siegle wrote. The latter being a premature prognosis of death. Science has come a long way and diseases that once were hopeless are now manageable. The skilled minister tactfully helps to frame things in terms of new realistic hopes that make the best of life as it now is. It is a careful endeavor to give full respect to the true gravity of an illness and help prepare for death, while at the same time not aggravating the fear, sadness and anxiety that is already present.
The Art of Dying tells us that suffering, endured patiently, is a cleansing process. Suffering is easier to endure and it is easier to have patience, if one sees meaning and purpose in the suffering. This is no small challenge. The distinction between a meaningless needle prick and a vaccine shot is easy enough to understand and accept. But the suffering of many human illnesses often makes no sense to us at all and there is no simple advice for the companion or minister seeking to assist the dying. The meaning and purpose that an individual might discover in such a situation can be as unique as the person. One person may find meaning in solidarity with the suffering Christ. Another sees the illness bringing family closer together. A third simply accepts the cycle of life and “the way things are” while a fourth family member speaks in terms of “God needing another flower in His garden.” One must withhold judgment to beneficially journey with people seeking meaning and purpose. Only meaning and purpose, no matter how expressed or imaged, will bring the peace and patience to cope with serious illness and loss. It is interesting to note that the same families who refused to accept the impending loss, upon seeing their loved one suffering in the last days, then pray for it to end and express some degree of guilt about that prayer. God’s timing is too soon and then not soon enough.
Sometimes worn down people who are so tired of their illness basically refuse to comply with their own plan of care. Not to be confused with a natural withdrawal, this is despair of a different kind, not of their sinfulness, but of their life situation. It is a vast hopelessness due to the loss of worldly goods including health, mobility, physical strength and autonomy. These are some of the same issues relevant to the fifth temptation of avarice. The image of the crucified Christ is recommended for contemplation as he was patient “even unto death.”
Complacence is the fourth temptation. Those who have had strong faith, who have been religious, are most vulnerable to this temptation. It is tantamount to spiritual pride. There is a diminished sense of guilt and exaggerated self righteousness. It is the opposite of despair and needs to be balanced against it. We are told about the Devil “Throwing such thoughts as these against him like darts: ‘How firm you are in faith, how strong in hope, how patient in your illness, how much good you have done! You should take special pride because you are not like others...” Meekness is the antidote to this temptation and it comes by reflecting on ones sins. It should be remembered that “pride so offends God that for the sake of it alone he banished the noblest creature Lucifer...” “It is pride alone that makes an angel into a devil.” What is needed is self examination. One must not simply acknowledge a general vague sinfulness. Self righteous people acknowledge their general sinfulness as a perfunctory prerequisite to claim the virtue of humility. In so doing they fail to identify, and own, specific failures that are the grist of true compunction and repentance. An honest and specific examination of conscience helps to nurture a meekness that properly disposes one to meet one’s creator. Examination of conscience with pastoral guidance through a life review process, can lead one into significant actionable self awareness of both the good and bad of one’s life, the blessings and the failures. There may still be an unrecognized need for reconciliation and closure to be discovered.
The last temptation is avarice or inordinate clinging to the world, inordinate as in inappropriate for this moment in one’s life. If it is within God’s will that life is ending, it is then against God’s will that one cling to all that is of this world including family, business, pleasures, wealth, etc. Once again, as in the case of impatience with dying, the family can play a strong roll. Perhaps they are the ones clinging, the ones refusing to let go. The dying person may actually be trying to withdraw and the family cannot accept it. The Art of Dying states, “When one is at the point of death and is hurrying to the end then should no carnal friends, nor wife (husband), nor children, nor riches, nor temporal goods be brought before him...” Fortunately, it provides qualification, “…only as much as spiritual health and profit of the sick one asks and requires.”
Family attachments are often the chief source of sorrow for the dying person. Not wanting to abandon loved ones may be the only thing holding a person back from “letting go.” Yet contact with family and friends may be exactly what is needed for permission and goodbyes, for reconciliation and final words, for blessings and reassurance. Later in the Art of Dying reference will be made to the model death of Jesus, including the transfer of filial responsibility of his mother over to John. Perhaps then, the more appropriate pastoral response is not to keep family and friends away but to facilitate such handing over of earthly concerns, be they possessions, business, or family. Facilitating any communication that needs to take place is a gift. Just because something needs to be said does not mean it will be said easily or perhaps even said at all.
To overcome this temptation to cling to family life, the Art of Dying recommends meditation on the poverty of Christ “as he hung on the cross for you.” The key issue is whether the person is tempted to “turn from the love of God.” Voluntary poverty of this kind as death approaches is the antidote for the love of worldly goods that separates one from the love of God. At the time of death, what the Art of Dying calls the “articulis mortis,” the “turning point of death,” a decision must be made. Of course we are called to love our neighbors as ourselves, to love all, including family. But God must have priority in this love as Jesus taught, “Those who love mother, father, sister, brother more than me are not worthy of me.” The pastoral care giver can help to see the love of family, friends, and the goods of this world in the greater context of God’s larger plan, God’s larger life, thus easing the tendency to cling.
Conclusion
Contemporary training for the professional chaplain involves Clinical Pastoral Education. There, emphasis is placed on respecting the spirituality, the spiritual journey, and religious beliefs of everyone at the moment of encounter. This encompasses a wide range of tolerance for any form of Christian faith, Hinduism, Judaism, Islam, but also Wicca and any mixture of New Age thinking or no apparent religious beliefs at all. As long as a person is not spiritually suffering from their belief system, their spirituality, it is not the chaplain’s role to challenge or evangelize in the traditional sense of the word. Rather, the chaplain is there to assist people to access the blessing of their own spirituality and in so doing to mediate God’s presence. However, that role is not limited to the professional chaplain. Indeed, the purpose of the Art of Dying is to guide anyone, especially the laity and “all true Christians,” to learn and have knowledge of how to die well.
Though death is a universal human experience, we all cope with it in different ways. Perhaps everyone does not experience all five temptations as presented in the Art of Dying. Nevertheless, faith, despair, complacence, impatience and clinging serve as a structure for reflection and opening for pastoral dialogue (especially for Christians) that lead people to see, perhaps even for the first time, their belief system, where their faith lies, and how well they have lived according to those values. How one dies is the last statement one makes. It is the last opportunity to reconcile, if needed. It is the last opportunity to proclaim what faith they have and to live through that faith into death. The Art of Dying can be summarized in one line: “Bene Mori est libenter mori.” To die well is to die willingly, freely. We all share in the work to be done toward that final freedom. The six hundred year old Tractatus de Arte Moriendi, from the heart of the Catholic spiritual care tradition, provides a useful method for that work.
References
Beaty, Nancy Lee. The Craft of Dying. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1970.
Comper, Frances M.M. The Book of The Craft of Dying. New York, NY: ANO Press, 1977.
Siegel, Bernie S., MD. Peace, Love and Healing. New York, NY: Harper Row, 1989.
