An extract from the book...The Holy Souls - "Viva Padre Pio"

A sharing from this book and it consoles me to a certain degree..."VIVA PADRE PIO"...our dearest beloved Simon Sudin never fails to pray to Saint Pio....page 75...reads on: It would be a great mistake to say: " I will give myself to God when I am old," and expect to change our hearts at the moment of death. Just as nobody becomes bad suddenly, so too nobody can become good in a moment. And remeber; death can be something very sudden. Is it worth the risk? Death is frightening, so it is said. But it is not so much death itself that frightens us but rather the act of dying. It is the terror of a moment, not of eternity, that frightens us. So many questions arise: What will that moment be like? How long will it last? Who will assist me? Will I be alone? Where will I be? In the house, on the roadd, while working, whilr praying or while sinning? When will it surprise me? The thought of being alone, face to face with death, the victim and the executioner, terrifies me. It has been said that to die is the most difficult trial of life, but it is not true. It is the only thing everybody knows how to do! The newborn and the centenarian alike, the genius and the idiot, the saint and the rogue. Just as we pass from infancy to childhood, from childhood to youth, from youth to maturity and so to old age, in the same way we pass from life to death.
Seen in the light of God, death become a sweet encounter. It becomes not a sunset but a beautiful dawn, the forerunner to eternal life with God. When the heart is filled with God, death no longer frightens, but it becomes a sweet caress-the caresses of God as He welcomes His creatures. And so it is seen by the saints as it should be,because when the hour of death arrives, it will mean that our exile is almost over; the goal is near. The only thing we can do is invoke our celestial mother: "Holy mary, Mother of God, pray for us sinners now and at the hour of our death."
When our eyes close forever and a crucifix is placed in our hands, just as a sword used to be put into the hands of a soldier, the crucifix will be the golden hammer with which we shall knock at the door of eternity. At our hammering, that door will open and an immense light will invade our eyes and a voice sweeter than any melody will say: "Well done, good and faithfull servant. Enter the joy of your Master." (Mt 25:21)

God Almighty blesses all...