The Third Temptation in the Hour of Death—By Vainglory

The third temptation in the hour of death is the temptation of vainglory and self-esteem, which suggest trusting in oneself and in one’s own deeds. Therefore, as always, so especially in the hour of death, on no account allow your attention to dwell on yourself and your own deeds and to fall into complacency with yourself and your works, even if you have advanced in virtue beyond all the saints. But let all your contentment be in God, and hope entirely in his mercy alone and in the sufferings of the Lord Savior, that you may be saved, humbling yourself utterly in your own eyes until your very last breath. And if it should happen that some good deed of yours comes to your mind, reflect that it was God who accomplished it in you and through you—not you yourself—and that it proceeded from him alone.

Take refuge under the shelter of God’s mercy, yet do not allow yourself to expect it as a kind of reward due you for the many great battles you have endured and the victories won in them. Always stand in saving fear, confessing sincerely that all your fervor, effort, and labors would have been vain and fruitless had God not taken them under the wing of his favor, aided them, and worked within them. Upon this merciful favor of God now place all your hope.

If you follow these counsels of mine, be assured that your enemies in the hour of death will meet with no success in their attacks upon you. And a free path will open before you, by which you will pass with joy from the vale of earth into the heavenly Jerusalem, your longed-for homeland.