543 part v: daily meditations Oh, how horrible is the thought of that agony! When the colossal power of illness shall try to force the soul out from the body, but the soul indeed shall refuse a great deal, linger, and resist, unwilling to leave its Achates,274 the body, being particularly aware of the evils committed together. What would you say then? What sort of prayers will you utter? Which of the Patrons will you invoke? Which of the friends of God, or of your friends, will you summon to your aid? Nothing will be able to help you, except the knowledge of your good deeds based on the merits of Christ. 2. Consider now the departure of the soul, which painfully struggles as it leaves its habitation, namely, from the heart, while the vital warmth fades away from the feet, hands, and head and passes out through the door of the mouth.275 Then, accompanied on one side by its guardian angel, and on the other by the evil spirit, the tempter, the soul hastens to the tribunal of the Judge. There, after the examination of its deeds according to their kind, the soul will either receive the heavenly glory or be sentenced to Purgatory or eternal condemnation. Therefore, see how much you should honor numerous saints, and especially, the Virgin Mother of the dying among them, and your guardian angel, a faithful companion during your lifetime, so that you may experience their help at that time when you will be in no way able to help yourself. [f.178r] 3. Consider now that your body shall turn cold, pale, and foul smelling as soon as the soul has departed from it. All its parts will become rigid, constricted, and arousing no slight dread in those standing alongside to such an extent that those who cheerfully 274 Achates was the faithful companion and friend of Aeneas, according to the Aeneid of Virgil, where Achates is praised for being “brave” and “faithful.” Hence the word “Achates” is proverbially used to denote a faithful friend or companion. Here, “Achates” is meant to be the body of the dying person, the faithful companion of his soul during his life on earth. 275 Cf. Alberto Pincherle, EI, vol. III, Istituto della Enciclopedia Italiana, Roma 1929, p. 362 (s.v. Anima): According to the ideas of the primitive peoples, “the idea of the soul as breath, which leaves the body of the dying person through the mouth, has had a great influence: this is very frequently pictured in Greek vase paintings, where the soul is presented in the form of a butterfly, a fly, or of another winged insect coming out of the mouth of the dying person.”
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