Memento Mori
This week we have a written interview with Sr. Theresa Aletheia Noble, FSP, on Memento Mori and an exciting announcement for the Coracle. Also see this week's Saints.
Preparation for Lent
This year as part of our Lenten devotion we thought we would highlight the work of Sr Theresa Noble, FSP in an interview I conducted over email about her book: Remember Your Death Lenten Devotional and Memento Mori in general. A former atheist and now Sister in the Daughters of St Paul, she has authored several books focusing on the Christian practice of reflecting on one’s death in preparation for heaven. There will be a short video at the bottom about her story of conversion and entering into the life of a Religious. But before that a quick announcement.
ANNOUNCEMENT……..
St Moluag’s Coracle has been going for nearly two years now with myself (Eric) as the Editor and sometime writer and many different contributors to which I am eternally grateful for. Now, to help grow what we can offer, we have two new permanent members of the team; Stephen Watt and Corrie Young. Stephen has taught philosophy at the University of Edinburgh and The Open University for over twenty years. As well as a PhD in philosophy, he holds a postgraduate MA in theology. He will focus on our Crombie Burn Reader which carries items of a more theological, historical or philosophical nature. Corrie is a staff writer at The Scottish Catholic as well as The Irish Voice and will write on a more general nature. The idea is to produce at least 2-4 new articles a month on top of the fortnightly email you receive. These articles will be on our website and a link will be in your emails. I hope this pleases you all and as ever any feedback is gratefully received.
Saint Finan, feast day - 17th February
Saint Colman, feast day - 18th February
To read about their lives click the button.
Interview between Eric Hanna and Sr Theresa Noble FSP.
The history of Memento Mori begins in Pre-Christian Rome being elevated by Stoic thinkers like Marcus Aurelius and Seneca. What makes the Catholic concept so different, and how do you keep out the more stoic elements?
Augustine of Hippo, one of the great Christian thinkers of the 4th century, was indebted to Stoic thought, as were other Church Fathers. So, there are some complementary ideas in the way Stoicism and Catholicism approaches remembrance of death in order to live well. However, I think what Christianity adds to the Stoic worldview is a view of divine Fate or Fortune that is personalized. Jesus showed us the face of God, a face of love. So, amidst our failings, sins, and inability to live perfect virtue, grace abounds. God’s grace provides us with an ability to live even more virtuously than the Stoics perhaps thought possible, (as Augustine points out in City of God when he argues that the Stoics should extend compassion to those who live unvirtuously). Our virtue comes from grace, not self-discipline. However, I nevertheless find the Stoic emphasis on self-discipline and realism to be inspiring and helpful in my spiritual life. I think many of us could benefit from embracing more Stoic realism rather than reasoning solely according to our passions. Everything good comes from God, even our good choices, but sometimes a healthy dose of realism in our spiritual lives helps us to make choices in view of death and the afterlife.
How does focusing on our end help us during our lives? Is it not a bit morbid to be thinking about death all the time?
If the chances that we were going to die were 50%, I’d say to the naysayers, “Sure, maybe it’s worth the gamble not to think about death much.” But the chances we are going to die are 100%. So, why would one not make decisions in light of the end of one’s life? Death is a reality of human life. A reality that every single person is going to face, whether he or she is prepared or not. A reality that you or I might face tomorrow. Each person must choose his or her response to this reality. Am I going to ignore death and allow my repressed fears to seep out the seams of my life and move me to make bad choices? Or am I going to face death, accept it, meditate on it, and really try to understand what this reality means for my life? I believe that anyone who really wants to live a life worth living will do the latter.
The founder of your Order seems to have been a very important influence on your life. Can you explain how he saw Memento Mori and how that has affected your walk with God?
Bl. James Alberione, the founder of the Daughters of Saint Paul kept a skull on his desk as a memento mori to remind him of his death. Before I entered the Daughters of Saint Paul I read a biography that mentioned this detail and thought, "That is so punk rock. I am definitely going to do that at some point." Then I forgot about it. But the idea kept coming back to me. And eventually, years after I joined the convent, I decided to imitate Alberione and put a skull on my desk and meditate on my death every day. The Holy Spirit-inspired decision changed my life. Remembrance of death cut through a haze in my life and sharpened everything around me. I was a nun living in a convent, but God was not my goal. Of course, I cannot say God is entirely my goal even now, but memento mori reminds me to continually make God my goal. We all think we will live until old age, but death could come at any time. Holiness and growing in virtue become much more urgent for us in view of the fact that our death is both inevitable and unpredictable.
Our culture dislikes dealing with death, not just the finality but even in those final years of life – does bearing the attitude of memento Mori in mind offer a healthy route for us all to handle death well?
Saint John Vianney has a beautiful sermon in which he describes how we can prepare for a good death. He writes, “If we were required to die twice, we could jettison one death. But man dies once only, and upon his death depends his eternity. . . . If we desire to die a good death, we must lead a Christian life. And the way for us to prepare for a good death is to model our deaths upon the death of Jesus Christ.” The practice of memento mori helps us to model our death on the death of Jesus Christ by living in preparation for it. Jesus knew that he would die. He spent his life preparing himself and his disciples for the moment of ultimate sacrifice on the Cross. Jesus was not surprised by the Cross. He was not shocked that he was sentenced by Pilate, that he was going to die young and in such terrible circumstances. Rather, Jesus knew that he was going to die for us and he began dying for us the very moment he was born. We are called to the same dynamic. It sounds depressing but it’s the secret paradox of the Christian life. In dying we find life.
You have written a Lenten devotional based on memento mori – why is it such a good fit for Lent?
Lent is a perfect time to begin or deepen one’s practice of remembering one’s death. In fact, the season begins on Ash Wednesday by immediately focusing our attention on death when the cross—the tool of death that became the tool of our salvation—is traced on our foreheads. The words the priest or minister says are inspired by the words that God said to Adam and Eve after the first sin, “Remember, man, you are dust and to dust you will return.” (see Gn 3:19). In Latin, the same phrase is: Memento, homo quia pulvis es, et in pulverem reverteris. A shorter way of saying this is memento mori or “Remember your death.” These words—memento mori—illumine the entire penitential season of Lent.
My book, Remember Your Death: Memento Mori Lenten Devotional, is a guided walk through Lent by way of meditation on death. My hope is that it will bring people to a deeper understanding of the Easter message. Each day contains a refection based on the liturgy of the day for all of Lent, Holy Week, and Easter day. The devotional also includes a memento mori examen or review of the day, a daily moment of intercessory prayer, and daily reflections on death from Church Fathers and many of the saints. The book also includes prompts for journaling that can be used along with Remember Your Death: Memento Mori Journal. My intention in writing and compiling books on this topic was to create a treasure trove of meditations on death in the Christian context. My hope is that they will provide people with powerful ways to meditate on their own mortality and the incredible gift of our salvation.