University Readers

The Journey Through Death: A Spiritual Manual belongs to a long Christian tradition of spiritual guides for dying. It comes from the tradition of the Ars Moriendi (the Art of Dying) from fifteenth century Europe. It is a collection of meditations, prayers and drawings designed to draw the reader into an experience of the mystery of life and death.

Why we live and why we die are part of the great mystery that surrounds us. There is so much power and joy in ordinary life, and yet such suffering. How do we face all of the challenges before us? Not only living well, creating a meaningful life, but letting it all go, dying gracefully at peace with ourselves and with God? This is a burden that all who have gone before us has borne. And yet, we are not alone in this effort. Not only do we share our life's journey with friends and family, but the human family, and in particular the Christian community of earlier generations stand with us now. Back in the 15th Century there were prayer manuals that were created to help people face the spiritual challenges of dying. They are grouped as a Christian tradition called "the art of dying."

The original prayer manual was part of a family's collection of books, just sitting on a shelf waiting until it was needed. Scholars say that people would study the manual long before they were ill, so that they would know what to expect when dying and be prepared. The Journey is written in harmony with that tradition.

Eternal life is fundamentally different from the life we know. We are separated from time and space, home and work, from a life of using our senses. We are separated from friends, lovers, children. We do not know what will be, although we have been taught or come to believe certain truths about heaven. We know something of what will not be, we won't wake up in our own bed, get up and have a cup of coffee, and get the day started. How do we prepare ourselves for death and the complete unknown of what follows? It seems natural to turn back into Christian history for guidance, for an explicitly Christian spirituality of dying.

This prayer book is intended as the spiritual companion for a person who is dying. It provides an avenue to wrestle with ones worries and fears, and build the strength and courage needed to die well. It would benefit other readers, as well. Those who provide pastoral care to the dying would find inspiration. And for spiritual directors, this manual would provide a way to strengthen spiritual growth in matters that draw us into the mystery of life and death. And if we followed the practice of ordinary people in the fifteenth century, it would be left on a bookshelf, glanced at occasionally over the years, familiar and at hand, for when needed. To die in a fully human way, alive spiritually and intellectually, connected to one's faith, family and friends, to die faithfully, that is the journey through death.