Preparation for Death: A Popular Abridgment

By St. Alphonsus Liguori

A popular abridgement of the much larger original that loses none of its punch. Shows that life is short and Hell is real. Discusses the certainty of death, the uncertainty of the time, the death of the sinner, of the negligent Christian and of the just and how different they are. Also the habit of sin, delusions of the Devil, Particular and General Judgments, the pains of Hell and its eternity, the remorse of the damned, etc. Powerful incentives to aim for Heaven!

"Death viewed according to the senses terrifies and causes fear; but when viewed with the eyes of faith it consoles and becomes desirable. It appears terrible to sinners, but lovely and precious to the saints."

~St. Alphonsus Liguori

"The souls of the just are in the hands of God, and the torment of death shall not touch them. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die; . . . but they are in peace." ~Wisd. 3:1

Author St. Alphonsus Liguori was born in 1696 to Neapolitan nobility at Marianella, Italy. He became a recognizable lawyer after going through law school at the age of sixteen, but later decided to leave law in favor of giving his salvation more attention. Alphonsus joined the Oratory of St. Philip Neri as a seminarian and was ordained in 1726, when he was thirty. The homilies he gave had the special ability of converting those who had fallen away from the faith. He also founded the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, and authored such works as The Glories of Mary, The True Spouse of Jesus Christ, Attaining Salvation, The Blessed Virgin Mary, Preparation for Death Abridged, What Will Hell Be Like?, The Twelve Steps to Holiness and Salvation, and The Way of the Cross.

After being a bishop for over a decade, St. Alphonsus Liguori died on the first of August, 1787. He was canonized by Pope Gregory XVI in 1839, and declared a Doctor of the Church in 1871. His feast is celebrated on August 1.

Paperbound, 2009

Saints