Notes for Ars Moriendi PowerPoint
Fr. William Skudlarek, O.S.B.
Tentacio dyaboli de fide (The Temptation of the Devil to Unbelief)
Faith is the foundation of all salvation; without absolutely no one can be saved. If the devil can get someone to turn away from the faith, everything else crumbles. Argument: the gates of hell have been broken open. Even though you may have sinned, you don’t have to worry about being held there eternally. Has anything ever come back to tell you that what you believe is true? It’s all a hoax.
The devil at the top pulls on a blanket to hide the figures of Mary, Jesus, and God the Father from the view of the dying person.
Infernus f[r]actus est / There is a hell / [Hell has been broken open; the threat of eternal punishment no longer exists]
Fac sicut pagani / Imitate the pagans [Solomon and Queen of Sheba adoring their idol; three men (theologians) engaging in a learned debate on some obscure point]
Interficias teipsum / Kill yourself [Man putting a knife to his throat]
Bona inspiratio angeli de fide (The Angelic Exhortation to Faith)
This and the four succeeding angelic “inspirations” are directed to the bystanders. For that reason, I have translated inspiratio as “exhortation”
Don’t believe the devil; he’s a liar by nature. If you could understand what you believe, your faith would be without merit (i.e., faith a matter of the will, not the intellect). Think of the faith of all who have gone before us. Faith makes it possible to do all things. Say the creed aloud several times.
The passage ends with “Nota”—Be attentive, and as soon as the sick man feels himself tempted against faith, remind him of its necessity and what it can accomplish.
Sis firmus in fide / Be steadfast in faith
Fugiamus / Let’s get out of here
Victi sumus / We’ve been overcome
Frustra laboravimus / All for nothing
Next to the right side of the bed are Mary, Jesus, God the Father, and Moses (horns); hovering over the bed, a dove (Holy Spirit); behind a host of other heavenly persons encourage
Temptacio dyaboli de desperacione (The Devil’s Temptation to Despair)
The devil tempts to despair by reminding the dying man of his sins (including those of omission), and thus adding to his pain. Despair is an evil more to be avoided than any other since it offends the mercy of God, which alone can save us.
Devil no longer denies the existence of God but treats him now as an inexorable judge.
Ecce peccata tua / Take a look at your sins
Periurus es / You’ve lied [pointing to someone he has lied to—a lawyer (perjury)]
Fornicatus es / You’ve fornicated [pointing to the woman he has slept with]
Occidisti / You’ve murdered [devil holds a knife and points to the murdered man]
Avare vixisti / You’ve been greedy all your life [pointing to a beggar to whom he could have given alms but did not]
At the foot of the bed, a devil points to a naked man (someone he has robbed or not clothed)
Bona inspiratio angeli contra desperationem (The Angelic Exhortation against Despair)
Even if you know you are going to be damned, you should not despair. Scripture passages that show that there is no sin God cannot and will not forgive.
All that despair does is heighten the offense against an all-loving God, make the other sins worse, and infinitely increase eternal punishment.
Quotes Augustine “Judas sinned more by despairing than did those who crucified Christ.”
Nunquam desperes / Never despair
Victoria michi nulla / I’ve lost this one.
Four persons who could have despaired but didn’t (Saint Peter, the prostitute in the Gospel wrongly identified with Mary Magdalen, who anointed Jesus’ feet with precious ointment, the good thief, and Saul (Paul)
One devil running under the bed
Behind and to the left of the good thief is a pictorial representation of God’s mercy or of the light that blinded Saul
Temptacio dyaboli de impaciencia (The Devil’s Temptation to Impatience [Anger])
No matter what you may have done you don’t deserve all the suffering you are afflicted with. People may seem kind, but they want you to die; they’re only interested in the inheritance.
It is usually the unrepentant sinner who is least able to accept a painful death with a spirit of resignation.
Ecce quantam penam patitur / He’s in terrible pain.
Quam bene decipi eum / How well I’ve deceived him
Anger is probably a better word to describe the action of the dying man as depicted in the woodcut. This corresponds to one of the stages of dying described by Elizabeth Kübler-Ross
Bona inspiracio angeli de paciencia (The Angelic Exhortation to Patience)
Considering what you deserve, your suffering is mild indeed. Serves to lessen your time in purgatory. Anger turns us away from God.
Sum captivatus / I’ve been caught
Labores amisi / All my work for nothing
Four saints who patiently bore their suffering: Deacon Stephen (stoned to death), St. Catherine of Alexandria (broken on a wheel and beheaded), St. Lawrence (roasted on a gridiron), St Barbara (kept in a tower, beheaded)
God the Father holds an arrow, symbolizing that it is he who sends suffering to the dying man. Behind him, Christ, the “most patient,” holding reeds with which he was scourged
Temptacio dyaboli de vana gloria (The Devil’s Temptation to Vainglory)
Devout, religious, and holy people are especially susceptible. Vainglory makes one like the devil, whose sin was pride. It’s also blasphemy because it calls one’s own what comes from God.
Gloriare / Be proud of yourself
Tu es firmus in fide / You’re such a firm believer
Coronam meruisti / You deserve a crown
Exaltate ipsum / Exalt him
In paciencia perserverasti / You’ve never lost patience
The devils carry three crowns with which to crown this person who thinks he is so holy
Background: Mary, Christ, and God the Father; three unidentified saints behind them; three small children (Holy Innocents?)
Is this perhaps a hallucination of the dying man who thinks he is already in heaven?
Bona inspiracio angeli de paciencia (The Angelic Exhortation to Patience)
The angel now sounds like the devil when he tempted the dying man to despair. Here the angel counsels him to despair not of God’s mercy, but of his own righteousness.
Calls to mind Jesus’ words, “Whoever exalts himself will be humbled.”
Sis humilis / Be humble
Superbos punio / I punish the haughty
Victus sum / I give up
A monstrous beast (“the mouth of hell” is devouring three people, one of them a cleric (identified by his tonsure)
St Anthony of Egypt with tau cross and a bell, symbols of his power to drive out evil spirits
Temptacio dyaboli de avaricia (The Devil’s Temptation to Avarice)
Worldly and pleasure-loving people are especially prone to this temptation. Tempted by a greedy love of earthly things to turn away from the love of God and his own salvation. “Do not in any way remind a dying man of his friends, wife, children, riches, or any other temporal matters. The only exception is if the spiritual health of the sick person calls for this.” (Doesn’t say what that is.)
The temptation to “hold on” becomes stronger as death draws closer.
Provideas amicis / Take care of your friends
Intende thesauro / Keep an eye on your treasures
The temptation to “hold on” which the devil disguises as altruism
Servants already running off with a horse and draining the wine barrels
Bona inspiracio angeli contra avariciam (The Angelic Exhortation against Avarice)
Remember the words of Jesus: You have to give up everything to be my disciple. Remember that on the cross Jesus gave up everything.
The focus is on voluntary poverty. Man’s poverty is his death; he is called to make it voluntary, to make death a truly human act, a response of faith and confidence in God.
Non sis avarus / Don’t be greedy
Ne intendas amicis / Don’t worry about your friends
Quid faciam? / What am I to do?
Good sheep to the right of Christ
Advice to bystanders
Have the dying man pray fervently to God, call on Mary to be his intercessor, and also on the angels and saints. If he can’t, the bystander(s) should do it for him.
“Lord, you have broken my bonds, I will offer you a sacrifice of praise.” (3x)
Recite the prayer attributed to Saint Augustine: “The peace of our Lord Jesus Christ, the power of his passion, the sign of the holy cross, the integrity of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and the blessing of all the saints, the protection of the angels, and the prayers of all the elect be between me and all my enemies, both visible and invisible, in this, the hour of the death of my soul.”
Finally “Into your hands, O Lord, I entrust my spirit” (Ps 31)
Conclusion: the best preparation one can make for death is to find a good and loyal friend who will stand by him in that hour. Few do that, however, and are therefore in great danger of yielding to the devil’s temptations.
The position of the dying person is reversed
The soul is depicted as a small child
The devils are completed routed
Spes nobis nulla / There’s no more hope
Heu insania / What madness
Animam amisimus / We’ve lost a soul
Furore consumor / I’m furious
Confusi sumus / We’ve been routed
