Friday, May 1, 2020

Remember Your Death: Lenten Devotional by Theresa Aletheia Noble



In the very simplest terms, memento mori(Latin for "remember you must die") is the practice of keeping a reminder in front of you that death is inevitable. The way I'd seen this most commonly was in paintings that included a skull tucked among still life items.

I'd never thought about it much one way or the other, except for the general way I would try to remember that my ultimate goal is heaven. When I saw this devotional it was after Easter 2019 so I waited until Lent 2020 to get it. How timely that turned out to be, what with global pandemics and suchlike.

Memento mori seems like a gloomy prospect but, especially as reflections written by Theresa Noble, it is actually life affirming. How do we want to live ... and why? How can we draw closer to God? Where are we going wrong and how do we fix it? These are all Lenten questions and all questions we want to have figured out by the time we die. Remember Your Death helps you with that.

Noble has her own two-page reflection, a prompt for Examen and intercessory prayer, and a journaling/prayer prompt. I liked all of them, especially the long quote from a saint that was included in each intercessory prayer section.

This book will definitely be one I use for future Lenten reflection.

1 comment:

  1. Hmm. I used to comment on Sister Theresa's blog all the time. It is a gloomy topic, but I may get the book.

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