The Second Temptation in the Hour of Death—By Despair

The second temptation in the hour of death, by which the enemy endeavors to strike us down utterly, is fear at the recollection of the multitude of our sins. This fear cannot be avoided, but it is moderated by faith in the redemption of our sins through the redemptive death of Christ the Savior. The enemy, however, darkening this faith, fans the fear of sins to such a degree that it suppresses every hope of salvation and strikes with hopelessness and despair. Therefore, my brother, prepare in advance to repel this attack, and from this very moment begin to think about how, as you draw near to the gates of death, you may hold more firmly to our victorious banner—the cross of Christ—that is, to have firmly fixed in your heart a strong faith in the redemptive power of the Lord’s death on the cross. But when, actually entering those gates, you feel the onslaughts of despair, hasten first of all to recognize that they are the workings of the enemy, not the natural products of the recollection of your own sins. The proper effect of such recollection is to produce humility, contrition, and heartfelt sorrow for having offended God who is just, but also all-merciful; and so, although it strikes with fear, it is a fear that does not extinguish hope in God’s mercy and, being tempered by that hope, leaves room for a bold confidence in salvation, repelling every sense of rejection. Knowing this, you cannot fail to recognize that as soon as the recollection of sins overwhelms you and plunges you into despair—extinguishing every hope of salvation and striking you with the fear of rejection—all of this is the delusion of the devil. And recognizing this, it will not be difficult for you to hope beyond hope, which will dispel every hopelessness.

Hope beyond hope plunges one into the contemplation of God’s mercy, into the abyss of which one who has felt it casts the exceeding multitude of his sins, grounded in the firm conviction that God desires and seeks our salvation, not our destruction. This conviction can be strong at all times, and most especially, only on the boundless power of the Lord Savior’s death on the cross.

Therefore, as we must always take shelter under the shadow of the cross, so all the more must we do so at that hour. And this is the prayer with which it is fitting for you, as you enter the gates of death, to pray to the Lord your God: “O Lord! I have every reason to fear that you will condemn me and reject me for my sins according to your justice, but I have still greater boldness to hope for mercy through your boundless compassion, in Christ Jesus, our Redeemer and Savior. Therefore I beseech your immeasurable goodness: spare me, a wretched creature condemned by my sins, yet washed by the precious blood of your Son and our God, so that I may glorify you for ever. I commit my whole self into your hands—do with me according to your mercy. You are the sole Master of my life.”