The Prayer for a Happy Death

Halloween is near. Most of us will celebrate as a night to wear costumes, often of the spooky theme. Although time and time again Catholics online remind us that this celebration is actually “All Hallow’s Eve”, that is, All Saints’ or All Holies’ Evening. Still the skimpy witch costume is still preferred than that of Thèrése of Lisieux’s habit.

Therefore, to honor the true sense of Halloween as “All Hallow’s Eve” and the succeeding day as “All Souls’ Day”, I would like to discuss today a very beautiful prayer yet often ignored or unknown by many: the Prayer for a Happy Death.

The Taboo of Death

We are afraid of death and that’s normal. We are inherently control freaks and death is the most uncontrollable variable in human existence. That’s why Martin Heidegger argues that it is the most original experience someone could have.

But, it is also because of this unpredictability that most of us prefer not to talk about it. Even pious christians who, every Easter, proclaim that Christ has conquered death and it no longer reigns above us still shush their loved ones when they begin to talk about their future death.

This is also why the beautiful prayer for a happy death has become almost just a footnote in modern spirituality.

Why Pray for A Happy Death?

A while ago an older brother was rushed to the hospital. A priest commented that he will pray for his recovery and, if it is God’s will, for a Happy Death. A younger priest was offended by this, thinking that it was insensitive. The question therefore is: why pray for a happy death? Shouldn’t we cling to life?

The Old Testament understanding of death is terrifying: it is really the end. That is why God is God of the living and not of the dead. However, by his Resurrection, Jesus Christ has already conquered death and as such no longer have the last word. His Resurrection opened for us eternal life thus rendering death as an end a thing of the past. Death is no longer an end but a beginning of either fullness of life with the God of the truly living (saints) or the anguish of those who have preferred this earthly life and rejected his love.

This is the reason why we pray for a happy death, so that at that last earthly moment we may see the Face of God and that we may begin our new life with joy.

What is “happy” about death?

Thus, to pray for a happy death is to ask God to give us the blessing so as when our time comes, we may leave this earthly life not with the sadness of parting, still anchored with our attachments to this world, but with the joy of knowing we are coming home and that we will be seeing each other again in our true home.

It is of course easier said than done. And that is why we need to pray for it. Only God’s grace can make us call death like St. Francis as our “sister death”.

In fact, that part in St. Francis’ Canticle of Brother Sun captures the idea of a Happy Death: 

“Praised be You, my Lord, through our Sister Bodily Death,

from whom no one living can escape.

Woe to those who die in mortal sin.

Blessed are those whom death will find in Your most holy will,

for the second death shall do them no harm.”

Saint Francis of Assisi, "Canticle of Brother Sun".

To ask for a happy death is not just to ask not to suffer in our last earthly hours. St. Francis himself has been suffering when he composed his Canticle. To ask God for a Happy Death is to ask him the grace to see him even amidst our suffering, especially a suffering that makes us aware that our time might be nearing its climax.

Should you pray for a Happy Death?

The Prayer of a Happy Death is therefore not just a prayer of the sick. However young and healthy you are, you should pray this prayer. Even if you are just visiting the doctor for common colds, you should pray this prayer. Not because you are so excited for death (that is what people think and that is why they take offense to this prayer), but because you want to ask God the humility to accept his Will even if it means no longer being in control yourself.

The Prayer for a Happy Death

Let me end this reflection with this version of the prayer written by St. John Henry Newman that I recommend you to pray every night:

“O my Lord and Savior,

support me in my last hour by the strong arms of Thy sacraments

and the fragrance of thy consolations.

Let Thy absolving words be said over me, and the holy oil sign and seal me;

and let Thine own body be my food and Thy blood my sprinkling;

and let Thy Mother Mary come to me, and my angel whisper peace to me,

and Thy glorious saints and my own dear patrons smile on me,

that in and through them all I may die as I desire to live,

in Thy Church, in Thy faith, and in Thy love. Amen.”

Prayer for a Happy Death by St. John Henry Newman.