DULCEDO!―SWEETNESS
Mary Renders Death Sweet to Her Servants.
(P. 101) "He that is a friend loveth at all times; and a brother is proved in distress." True friends and relatives are not known in times of prosperity, but in the season of adversity and misery. Worldly friends do not desert their friend when he if in prosperity; but if any misfortune over takes him, particularly in the hour of death, immediately his friends abandon him. Not so does Mary desert her devoted servants. In their distresses, and especially at the trying hour of death, when our sufferings are the greatest that can be endured on earth, she our good Lady and mother cannot abandon her faithful servants; and as she is our life in the time of our exile, so is she also our sweetness in the hour of death, by obtaining for us that it may be sweet and blessed. For since that great day in which it was the lot and the grief of Mary to be present at the death of Jesus, her Son, who was the head of the elect, she obtained the grace of aiding at death all the elect. Hence the holy (P. 102) Church requires us to pray the blessed Virgin, that she would especially aid us in the hour of our death: "Pray for us sinners, now and at the hour of our death."
The sufferings of the dying are very great, on account of their remorse for sins committed, their dread of approaching judgment, and the uncertainly of eternal salvation. At that moment especially, the devil puts forth all his power to gain the soul that is passing into eternity; knowing that the time is short in which may win her, and that if he loses her, he has lost her forever. "The devil is come down unto you, having great wrath, knowing that he hath but a short time." And therefore the devil, who has always tempted her in life, will not be satisfied to tempt her alone in death, but calls companions to his aid: "Their houses shall be filled with serpents. "When any one is at the point of death, his house is filled with demons, who unite to accomplish his ruin.
It is related of St. Andrew Avellino, that at the time of his death, ten thousand devils came to tempt him; and we read in his life, that at the time of his agony he had so fierce a struggle with hell, that it caused all his good religious who were present to tremble. They saw the face of the saint swell from agitation, so that it (P. 103) became black; they saw all his limbs trembling, and greatly agitated, rivers of tears flowed from his eyes, and his head shook violently; all these were signs of the horrible assault he was suffering from the powers of hell. All the religious wept in compassion, redoubled their prayers, and trembled with fear when they saw that a saint died thus. Yet they were consoled by seeing that the saint often turned his eyes, as if seeking help, towards a devout image of Mary, for they remembered that he had often said in life, that in the hour of his death, Mary must be his refuge. It finally pleased God to terminate this struggle by a glorious victory, for the agitation of his body ceased, his countenance gained its natural shape and color, and fixing his eyes tranquilly on that image, he devoutly bowed his head to Mary, who, it is believed, then appeared to him, as if to thank her, and quietly breathed forth in her arms his blessed soul, with heavenly peace depicted on his countenance. At the same time a Capuchin nun, in her agony, turned to the religious who were with her and said: "Say an Ave Maria, for a saint has just died."
Ah, how these rebels flee before the presence of their queen! If, in the hour of death, we have Mary on our side, what fear can we have of all the powers of hell? David, in dread of the agony of death, comforted himself with confidence in the death of his future Redeemer, and in the intercession of the Virgin mother: "For though I should walk in the midst of the shadow of (P. 104) death, I fear no evils, for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they have comforted me." Cardinal Hugo understands the staff to signify the tree of the Cross, and the rod the intercession of Mary, who was the rod foretold by Isaias: "And there shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up out of his root." This divine mother, says St. Peter Damian, is that powerful rod by which the fury of the infernal enemies is conquered. Hence St. Antoninus encourages us, saying: If Mary is for us, who is against us? Father Manuel Padial, of the Society of Jesus, being at the point of death, Mary appeared to him, and said, to comfort him: "The hour has at length come when the angels, rejoicing, say to thee, Oh happy labors! oh mortifications well recompensed!" At which words an army of devils was seen taking flight in despair, crying: "Alas! we have no power, for she who is without stain defends him." In like manner, the devils assailed Father Jasper Haywood, when he was dying, with great temptations against faith; he immediately commended himself to the most holy Virgin, and then was heard to exclaim: "I thank thee, oh Mary, that thou hast come to my aid."
(P. 105) St. Bonaventure says that Mary sends the archangel Michael, with all the angels, to the defence of her dying servants, to protect them from the assaults of evil spirits, and to receive the souls of all those who have especially and constantly recommended themselves to her.
When a man leaves this life, Isaias says that hell is in uproar, and sends its most terrible demons to tempt that soul before it leaves the body, and then afterwards to accuse it when it is presented at the tribunal of Jesus Christ to be judged: "Hell below was in an uproar to meet thee; at thy coming it stirred up the giants for thee." But Richard says, that the demons, when that soul is defended by Mary, will not even dare to accuse it; knowing that a soul protected by this great mother is never, and will never, be condemned. St. Jerome wrote to the virgin Eustochium, that Mary not only assists her dear servants in their death, but also comes to meet them in their passage to the other life, to encourage them and accompany them to the divine tribunal. And this agrees with what the blessed Virgin said to St. Bridget, speaking (P. 106) of her servants when they are at the point of death:
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