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Saint Andrew Avellino and the Importance of the Preparation for Our Death
Saint Andrew Avellino and the Importance of the Preparation for Our Death
Saint Andrew Avellino and the Importance of the Preparation for Our Death
 
 
 

 
 

Saint Andrea Avellino celebrating the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass by Giovanni Lanfranco (1582-1647); 1624; In Lanfrancos altarpiece, which stands more than four metres high in the right transept of SantAndrea della Valle in Rome, Saint Andrea Avellino gazes up, wearing an inward-looking expression. The heavens open and a host of angels descend from the skies as the wide-eyed altar-boy standing behind the saint stares up. The large angel at the upper left spreads his arms and looks down at Avellino. www.wga.hu
 
 
Saint Andrew Avellino and the importance of the preparation for our death
from an article by Dr. Durand, (Traditional Catholic Customary)

Today the Church celebrates the festivity of Saint Andrew Avellino, Theatine priest and religious, who is invoked to avoid having a sudden death. It is curious how it would be precisely this type of death that this man of God would experience; who passed from this world to eternal life after suffering a fulminating apoplexy at the foot of the altar, while he started the celebration of the Holy Mass. And it turns out that, in reality, even though death presented itself suddenly, Saint Andrew Avellino was prepared to confront her; for this reason, instead of his sudden death being a disgrace, it turned out to be truly a merciful act of God, which saved him the sufferings of the agony of his body whose soul was always vigilant.

In this same sense it is necessary to comprehend the anecdote of one of his most celebrated devotees: Pope Pius XI. We copy said anecdote [below] from the memories of the pontificate chamber master Mons. Alberto Arborio Mella di Sant'Elia, which carries the suggestive title of "Unpublished snapshots of the last five Popes" (Paulianas publisher, 1961).

"Meanwhile the winters took place. The strolls through the garden became less frequent and also less pleasant. The upsetting experiences and pains suffered had given a swat to the Pope's health. The Holy Father had told me several times that he was going to not last long, but that he did not expect to die of disease. He did not want to fall into the hands of men, but instead directly go to the hands of God."

"I pray each and every day an Our Father, a Hail Mary and a Glory in honor of Saint Andrew Avellino so that he help me to have a sudden death, so beautiful like his."

"Horrors, my God! I exclaimed."

"Yes, quite a fright for those that would surround me but ... it is better that way ... less work to be done ... "

"No, most Blessed Father: A subitnea et improvista morte libera nos, Domine, I replied."

"What do you say?" - The Pope replied."

"The invocation of the Church, Holy Father: A subitnea et improvista morte libera nos, Domine.

"But, what are you saying?" - he repeated more loudly. Don't you understand that for us priests death is never unexpected or unforseen, even if it is sudden? We are always prepared and well disposed to die! What a lesson! I was left deeply impressed, moved by that warning that did me a lot of good."

This anecdote makes us reflect, with the purpose of the festivity of Saint Andrew Avellino, on the need to be habitually in a state of grace and in the convenience of meditating on the last things, in accordance with Sacred Scripture (Ecclesiasticus 7:40): "Memento novissima tua et in aeternum non peccabis" (Remember the last things and you will never sin again). Death should be for us Catholics a subject so natural as life and our afflictions. If we keep death present in our thoughts with more assiduity than is habitual (and not only through the loud knocks at the doors of our family and close ones), we would take more care in procuring that our salvation be appropriately tended.

Father Royo Marn teaches that one prepares for death in two ways: 1) remote and 2) proximate.

The remote way depends on us: in the maintenance of the state of grace through an authentically Christian life, always on guard and vigilant, made with prayer, penance, alms-giving, with frequency of receiving the Sacraments and the use of Sacramentals; consisting of good works and deeds, the exercise of theologal and cardinal virtues, etc. This is the preparation proper of prudent virgins, who have primed their lamps for when the Spouse arrives.

The close or proximate preparation, in contrast, depends on the Church, which disposes of the necessary means to assure the salvation of Her children in the last trance: extreme unction, general confession, the viaticum, the apostolic blessing in the article mortis, the prayers for the dying and certain Sacramentals.

Based on these two types of preparation, the distinguished dominican theologian distinguishes four types of death:

a) With remote and proximate preparation: this is the ideal death, the death of the just. Although one's life has been upright, it is always most convenient to have the last auxiliums offered by the Church which, also, can shorten Purgatory. It is the death of the just par excellence and its model is the Glorious Patriach Saint Joseph, just male, who had the consolation of dying assisted by Jesus and Mary.

b) With remote but not proximate preparation: it is less perfect than the previous one, but morally it permits to presuppose the salvation of the one who has this type of death. It tends to come precipitously, by an organic or physical accident, without allowing time to receive the last sacraments. To death herein is applied what is said regarding the Day of the Lord: He comes like a thief in the night, without anyone knowing the day nor the hour. Yet for the one who has lived in a Christian manner and in a habitual state of grace this does not have to be a tragedy. Its model is Saint Andrew Avellino.

c) With proximate but not remote preparation: this is the death of the repentant sinners, to whom even a point of contrition opens up the Heavens. It is a class of death that shows the extreme divine mercy, which wants to an extreme, that the sinner convert and live [eternally]; yet it is not most desirable by its uncertainty and because the habitual sinner runs the danger of hardening his heart and despairing at his salvation. Its model is Saint Dismas, the Good Thief, who was converted in the hallows of the cross after a miserable life of sin and crimes.

d) Without proximate nor remote preparation: It is the death of the renegade, of the one who has lived a life with his or her back to God and not even in the last instant turns back to God. It is a horrible death, the worst of all: "mors peccatorum pessima" (Psalm 33:22). This is the type of death one asks God to be distant from us in the Litanies of the Saints: "a subitnea et improvisa norte libera nos, Domine". Its model is the rich self-serving glutton who is surprised passing from this world to the other without any formed opinion.

After these considerations we clearly come to see the usefulness of the devotion to Saint Andrew Avellino, to whom we can ask that he reach for us from the Lord the needed graces to live piously and to be able to die in the arms of the Church surrounded by her last cares, since we cannot pretend to reach a level of sanctity like his, which permitted him to enter into glory from the altar of the Holy Mass, which he was disposed to celebrate. Let us thus invoke him with sincere devotion; to this end we include this prayer to him:


O Saint Andrew Avellino,
worthy son
* of Saint Cajetan,
I, your devotee, plead to you,
for love of God, that you
become my advocate before
the Most High
and you obtain from His mercy
the grace to live in such a way
that I deserve to die with the
auxiliums of our Holy Mother Church.
I ask you that you scare away
all snare of the malignant enemy
throughout my earthly existence
and above all in my last moments.
Make it so the Lord free me from
a sudden and unforseen death,
so that I may be able to prepare myself
to be present before Him and that
I may hear from such a just and merciful judge
a benign and clement sentence.
So Be It.


 
 

O Saint Andrew Avellino,
worthy son
* of Saint Cajetan,
I, your devotee, plead to you,
for love of God, that you
become my advocate before
the Most High
and you obtain from His mercy
the grace to live in such a way
that I deserve to die with the
auxiliums of our Holy Mother Church.
I ask you that you scare away
all snare of the malignant enemy
throughout my earthly existence
and above all in my last moments.
Make it so the Lord free me from
a sudden and unforseen death,
so that I may be able to prepare myself
to be present before Him and that
I may hear from such a just and merciful judge
a benign and clement sentence.
So Be It.


 
 

 
 

* Saint Avellino entered the monastery of the Theatines, which had been recently founded by Saint Cajetan.

Translated from the Spanish by Jan Paul von Wendt - costumbrario.blogspot.com

 
Saint Andrew Avellino and the importance of the preparation for our death
from an article by Dr. Durand, (Traditional Catholic Customary)

Today the Church celebrates the festivity of Saint Andrew Avellino, Theatine priest and religious, who is invoked to avoid having a sudden death. It is curious how it would be precisely this type of death that this man of God would experience; who passed from this world to eternal life after suffering a fulminating apoplexy at the foot of the altar, while he started the celebration of the Holy Mass. And it turns out that, in reality, even though death presented itself suddenly, Saint Andrew Avellino was prepared to confront her; for this reason, instead of his sudden death being a disgrace, it turned out to be truly a merciful act of God, which saved him the sufferings of the agony of his body whose soul was always vigilant.

In this same sense it is necessary to comprehend the anecdote of one of his most celebrated devotees: Pope Pius XI. We copy said anecdote [below] from the memories of the pontificate chamber master Mons. Alberto Arborio Mella di Sant'Elia, which carries the suggestive title of "Unpublished snapshots of the last five Popes" (Paulianas publisher, 1961).

"Meanwhile the winters took place. The strolls through the garden became less frequent and also less pleasant. The upsetting experiences and pains suffered had given a swat to the Pope's health. The Holy Father had told me several times that he was going to not last long, but that he did not expect to die of disease. He did not want to fall into the hands of men, but instead directly go to the hands of God."

"I pray each and every day an Our Father, a Hail Mary and a Glory in honor of Saint Andrew Avellino so that he help me to have a sudden death, so beautiful like his."

"Horrors, my God! I exclaimed."

"Yes, quite a fright for those that would surround me but ... it is better that way ... less work to be done ... "

"No, most Blessed Father: A subitnea et improvista morte libera nos, Domine, I replied."

"What do you say?" - The Pope replied."

"The invocation of the Church, Holy Father: A subitnea et improvista morte libera nos, Domine.

"But, what are you saying?" - he repeated more loudly. Don't you understand that for us priests death is never unexpected or unforseen, even if it is sudden? We are always prepared and well disposed to die! What a lesson! I was left deeply impressed, moved by that warning that did me a lot of good."

This anecdote makes us reflect, with the purpose of the festivity of Saint Andrew Avellino, on the need to be habitually in a state of grace and in the convenience of meditating on the last things, in accordance with Sacred Scripture (Ecclesiasticus 7:40): "Memento novissima tua et in aeternum non peccabis" (Remember the last things and you will never sin again). Death should be for us Catholics a subject so natural as life and our afflictions. If we keep death present in our thoughts with more assiduity than is habitual (and not only through the loud knocks at the doors of our family and close ones), we would take more care in procuring that our salvation be appropriately tended.

Father Royo Marn teaches that one prepares for death in two ways: 1) remote and 2) proximate.

The remote way depends on us: in the maintenance of the state of grace through an authentically Christian life, always on guard and vigilant, made with prayer, penance, alms-giving, with frequency of receiving the Sacraments and the use of Sacramentals; consisting of good works and deeds, the exercise of theologal and cardinal virtues, etc. This is the preparation proper of prudent virgins, who have primed their lamps for when the Spouse arrives.

The close or proximate preparation, in contrast, depends on the Church, which disposes of the necessary means to assure the salvation of Her children in the last trance: extreme unction, general confession, the viaticum, the apostolic blessing in the article mortis, the prayers for the dying and certain Sacramentals.

Based on these two types of preparation, the distinguished dominican theologian distinguishes four types of death:

a) With remote and proximate preparation: this is the ideal death, the death of the just. Although one's life has been upright, it is always most convenient to have the last auxiliums offered by the Church which, also, can shorten Purgatory. It is the death of the just par excellence and its model is the Glorious Patriach Saint Joseph, just male, who had the consolation of dying assisted by Jesus and Mary.

b) With remote but not proximate preparation: it is less perfect than the previous one, but morally it permits to presuppose the salvation of the one who has this type of death. It tends to come precipitously, by an organic or physical accident, without allowing time to receive the last sacraments. To death herein is applied what is said regarding the Day of the Lord: He comes like a thief in the night, without anyone knowing the day nor the hour. Yet for the one who has lived in a Christian manner and in a habitual state of grace this does not have to be a tragedy. Its model is Saint Andrew Avellino.

c) With proximate but not remote preparation: this is the death of the repentant sinners, to whom even a point of contrition opens up the Heavens. It is a class of death that shows the extreme divine mercy, which wants to an extreme, that the sinner convert and live [eternally]; yet it is not most desirable by its uncertainty and because the habitual sinner runs the danger of hardening his heart and despairing at his salvation. Its model is Saint Dismas, the Good Thief, who was converted in the hallows of the cross after a miserable life of sin and crimes.

d) Without proximate nor remote preparation: It is the death of the renegade, of the one who has lived a life with his or her back to God and not even in the last instant turns back to God. It is a horrible death, the worst of all: "mors peccatorum pessima" (Psalm 33:22). This is the type of death one asks God to be distant from us in the Litanies of the Saints: "a subitnea et improvisa norte libera nos, Domine". Its model is the rich self-serving glutton who is surprised passing from this world to the other without any formed opinion.

After these considerations we clearly come to see the usefulness of the devotion to Saint Andrew Avellino, to whom we can ask that he reach for us from the Lord the needed graces to live piously and to be able to die in the arms of the Church surrounded by her last cares, since we cannot pretend to reach a level of sanctity like his, which permitted him to enter into glory from the altar of the Holy Mass, which he was disposed to celebrate. Let us thus invoke him with sincere devotion; to this end we include this prayer to him:



 
O Saint Andrew Avellino,
worthy son
* of Saint Cajetan,
I, your devotee, plead to you,
for love of God, that you
become my advocate before
the Most High
and you obtain from His mercy
the grace to live in such a way
that I deserve to die with the
auxiliums of our Holy Mother Church.
I ask you that you scare away
all snare of the malignant enemy
throughout my earthly existence
and above all in my last moments.
Make it so the Lord free me from
a sudden and unforseen death,
so that I may be able to prepare myself
to be present before Him and that
I may hear from such a just and merciful judge
a benign and clement sentence.
So Be It.

 
 


* Saint Avellino entered the monastery of the Theatines, which had been recently founded by Saint Cajetan.

Translated from the Spanish by Jan Paul von Wendt - costumbrario.blogspot.com
 
 
 
 
 
November 10 - Saint Andrew Avelino (1521-1608) - The importance of the preparation for our death


 
 

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top
X
OUR FATHER

Our Father, Who Art In Heaven
Hallowed Be Thy Name.
Thy Kingdom come,
Thy Will be done
On earth as it is in Heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread
And forgive us our trespasses
As we forgive those who trespass against us.
Liberate us from all temptation[*]
And deliver us from all evil. Amen



[*] Liberate us is in keeping with the original Latin text.
       God usually does not "lead us" to temptation
       (unless we are tested),
       but gives us the grace to overcome and/or resist it
X
HAIL MARY

Hail Mary, full of grace
The Lord is with thee.
Blessed art though among women,
And blessed is the fruit
Of thy womb, Jesus.
 
Holy Mary, Mary of God
Pray for us sinners
Now, and in the hour
Of our death. Amen


 
X
APOSTLE'S CREED

I believe in God, the Father Almighty Creator of Heaven and earth;
And in Jesus Christ, His Only Son, our Lord;
Who was conceived by the
[work and grace of the] Holy Ghost,[*]
Born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, died and was buried.
He descended into the Dead.[**]
On the third day, He rose again;
He ascended into Heaven,
And sits at the right hand of God,
the Father Almighty.
From thence he shall come to judge
the living and the dead.
 
I believe in the Holy Ghost,[*]
The Holy Catholic Church,
The communion of saints,
The forgiveness of sins.
The resurrection of the body,
And life everlasting. Amen


[*] Holy Ghost: may be substituted with the current Holy Spirit.
[**] the Dead: "inferi", the underworld or the dead in Latin.
X
GLORIA

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost[*],
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen

[*] Holy Ghost: may be substituted with the current Holy Spirit.
X
DE PROFUNDIS

Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord:
Lord, hear my voice.
Let Thine ears be attentive
to the voice of my supplication.

If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities:
Lord, who shall abide it.
For with Thee there is merciful forgiveness:
and because of Thy law,
I have waited for Thee, O Lord.

My soul hath waited on His word:
my soul hath hoped in the Lord.
From the morning-watch even until night,
let Israel hope in the Lord.

For with the Lord there is mercy:
and with Him plenteous redemption.
And He shall redeem Israel
from all her iniquities.

Glory be to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Ghost[*],
as it was in the beginning, is now,
and ever shall be, world without end.
Amen

[*] Holy Ghost: may be substituted with the current Holy Spirit.
X
DE PROFUNDIS

Out of the depths I have cried to Thee, O Lord:
Lord, hear my voice.
Let Thine ears be attentive to the voice
of my supplication.

If thou, O Lord, wilt mark iniquities:
Lord, who shall abide it.
For with Thee there is merciful forgiveness:
and because of Thy law,
I have waited for Thee, O Lord.

My soul hath waited on His word:
my soul hath hoped in the Lord.
From the morning-watch even until night,
let Israel hope in the Lord.

For with the Lord there is mercy:
and with Him plenteous redemption.
And He shall redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.

V. Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.
R. And let perpetual light shine upon them.
V. From the gate of hell.
R. Deliver their souls, O Lord.
V. May then reset in peace.
R. Amen.
V. O Lord, hear my prayer.
R. And let my cry come unto Thee.
V. The Lord be with you.
R. And with Thy Spirit.

(50 days indulgence to all who pray the De Profundis with V. and R.
"Requiem aeternam" (Eternal Rest) three times a day.
Pope Leo XIII, February 3, 1888)


Let us pray:
O God, the Creator and Redeemer of all
the faithful, we beseech Thee to grant
to the souls of Thy servants the remission
of their sins, so that by our prayers
they may obtain pardon for which they long.
O Lord, who lives and reigns,
world without end. Amen

May they rest in peace. Amen

CERRAR
SIGUIENTE
PADRE NUESTRO

Padre Nuestro,
que estas en los Cielos
Santificado sea Tu Nombre;
Venga a nosotros tu Reino;
Hgase Tu Voluntad
en la tierra como en el cielo.
Danos hoy nuestro pan de cada da;
Perdona nuestras ofensas,
Como tambin nosotros
perdonamos a los que nos ofenden,
No nos dejes caer en la tentacin,
y lbranos del mal. Amén
 
CERRAR
SIGUIENTE
AVE MARA

Dios te salve, Mara,
llena eres de gracia;
El Seor es Contigo;
Bendita T eres
entre todas las mujeres,
Y bendito es el fruto
De tu vientre, Jess.
 
Santa Mara,
Madre de Dios,
Ruega por nosotros
pecadores,
Ahora y en la hora
De nuestra muerte.
Amn
 
CERRAR
CREDO

Creo en Dios, Padre Todopoderoso,
Creador del cielo y de la tierra.
Creo en Jesucristo,
Su nico Hijo, Nuestro Seor,
Que fue concebido por obra
y gracia del Espritu Santo,
Naci de la Santa Mara Virgen;
Padeci bajo el poder de Poncio Pilato,
Fue crucificado, muerto y sepultado,
Descendi a los infiernos,
Al tercer da resucit de entre los muertos,
Subi a los cielos
Y est sentado a la derecha de Dios,
Padre Todopoderoso.
Desde all ha de venir a juzgar
a los vivos y a los muertos.

Creo en el Espritu Santo,
La Santa Iglesia Catlica,
La comunin de los santos,
El perdn de los pecados,
La resurreccin de la carne
Y la vida eterna. Amn
 
 
CERRAR
DE PROFUNDIS

Desde lo hondo a Ti grito, Seor; Seor,
escucha mi voz;
Estn Tus oidos atentos
a la voz de mi splica.

Si llevas cuenta de los delitos, Seor,
quin podr resistir?
Pero de ti procede el perdn,
y as infundes respeto.
Mi alma espera en el Seor.

Espera en su palabra;
mi alma aguarda al Seor,
ms que el centinela la aurora.
Aguarda Israel al Seor.

Como el centinela la aurora;
porque del Seor viene la misericordia.
la redencin copiosa;
y l redimir a Israel de todos sus delitos.

Gloria al Padre, al Hijo y al
Espritu Santo,
como es desde el principio,
es ahora y ser por los siglos de los siglos.
Amn

X
GLORIA

Gloria al Padre, al Hijo y al
Espritu Santo,
como es desde el principio,
es ahora y ser por los siglos de los siglos.
Amn

CERRAR
DE PROFUNDIS

Desde lo hondo a Ti grito, Seor;
Seor, escucha mi voz;
Estn Tus oidos atentos a
la voz de mi splica.

Si llevas cuenta de los delitos, Seor,
quin podr resistir?

Pero de ti procede el perdn,
y as infundes respeto.
Mi alma espera en el Seor.

Espera en su palabra;
mi alma aguarda al Seor,
ms que el centinela la aurora.
Aguarda Israel al Seor.

Como el centinela la aurora;
porque del Seor viene la misericordia,
la redencin copiosa;
y l redimir a Israel de todos sus delitos.

V. Dadles, Seor, a todas las almas
el descanso eterno.
R. Y haced lucir sobre ellas
vuestra eterna luz.
V. Que en paz descansen.
R. Amn.