First, because death is a departure from this world and all its affairs, it is necessary that a man arrange his temporal estate properly, as it should be, or he intends to arrange it so that after his death no cause of quarrel, strife, or other error remains among his surviving friends. And this is a bodily or outward parting from this world and is given leave and last to the estate.
2) On the other hand, that one also takes a spiritual leave, that is, one forgives amicably.
For God's sake, forgive all people for how they have offended us. Again, also seek forgiveness truly for God's sake from all men, many of whom we have undoubtedly offended, least of all with evil examples or too little good deeds, as we have been guilty according to the commandment of brotherly Christian love, so that the soul may not remain afflicted with any trade on earth.
Thirdly, when everyone has been given a vacation on earth, one should then take a vacation alone.
to God, since the path of death also turns and leads us. And here is the narrow gate, the narrow path to life, which everyone must dare to take with joy; for it is almost narrow, but it is not long. Matth. 7, 14.
4. just as a child is born from the small dwelling of its mother's womb with danger and fear into this wide heaven and earth, that is, into this world, so man passes through the narrow gate of death from this life into eternal life. And although the heaven and the world, where we now live inside, are considered large and wide, it is all much narrower and smaller compared to the future heaven, as the mother's body is compared to this heaven.
Therefore the death of the dear saints is called a new birth, and their feast is called fatale in Latin, a day of their birth. But the narrow course of death makes this life seem wide and that narrow. Therefore we must believe this and learn it from the bodily birth of a child, as Christ says, Jn 16:21: "A woman when she gives birth is afraid, but when she has recovered she never remembers the fear, because a man is born into the world." So also in death one must remember fear and know that after it there will be a great space and joy.
6. Fourth, such preparation for this journey is contained therein: First of all, that one should make sure of the greatest things, especially those that are currently being remembered with as much diligence as possible, and of the holy Christian sacrament of the holy true body and blood of Christ [and of unction], devoutly desire it and receive it with great confidence, if one may have it; But if not, let the desire and desire of the same be comforting, and not be too much alarmed at it; for Christ saith, Marc. 9, 23: "All things are possible to him that believeth." For the sacraments are nothing else but signs that serve and stimulate faith, as we shall see, without which faith they are of no use.
7. fifth, shall one ever watch with
with all seriousness and diligence, that the holy sacraments be greatly respected, that they be held in honor, that they be freely and cheerfully relied upon, and that they be weighed against sin, death, and hell in such a way that they far surpass them, and that one be more concerned with the sacraments and their virtues than with sins. But how honor is done rightly, and what the virtues are, must be known.
8. the honor is that I believe it is true and be done to me what the sacraments mean, and all that God says and indicates therein, that one speak with Mary, the mother of God, in firm faith, Luc. 1, 38: "Be it done to me according to your words and signs". For while there God speaks and signs through the priest, one should do God no greater dishonor in His word and deeds than to doubt whether it is true, and do no greater honor than to believe it is true and to rely freely on it.
(9) Sixthly, to know the virtue of the sacraments, one must first know the evil against which they fight and are given to us. There are three of them: the first, the frightening image of death; the second, the horrible, manifold image of sins; the third, the unbearable and unavoidable image of hell and eternal damnation. Now each one grows from these three and becomes great and strong from its additions.
(10) Death becomes great and terrifying because the stupid, despondent nature forms the same image too deeply in itself, has it too much before its eyes. To this end, the devil incites man to contemplate deeply the dreadful image of death, so that he may become distressed, soft and timid. For there he shall hold up before him all the horrible, violent, evil deaths that a man has ever seen, heard or read about, and he shall also wrap up the wrath of God, as it has plagued and corrupted sinners here and there in the past. That he may drive the stupid nature to the fear of death and to the love and care of life, so that man, too much burdened with such thoughts, forgets God, flees and hates death, and thus in the end is and remains disobedient to God. For the more profoundly death is considered, regarded and recognized, the more serious and dangerous death becomes.
is. In life, one should exercise oneself with the thoughts of death and demand them of us when it is still far away and not driving. But in death, when it is already all too present, it is dangerous and of no use. There one must reject his image and not want to see it; as we will hear. So death has its power and strength in the stupidity of our nature and in its untimely too much looking at and contemplating.
The seventh: Sin grows and becomes great also through its too much prestige and too deep concern. This is helped by the stupidity of our conscience, which is ashamed of itself before God and punishes it horribly. There the devil has found a bath that he sought; there he drives, there he makes the sins so many and great; there he shall reproach all those who have ever sinned and who are condemned with many lesser sins, so that man must again despair or become unwilling to die, and thus forget God and remain disobedient until death. Especially because man thinks that he must then consider sin, and do well, rightly and usefully, to deal with it. So then he finds himself unprepared and unskilful to such an extent that all his good works have become sins. From this must follow an unwilling death, disobedience to God's will and eternal damnation. For there is neither time nor place to look deeply at sin; this is to be done in the time of life. Thus the evil spirit perverts all things for us. In life, when we should have the image of death, sin and hell constantly before our eyes, as Ps. 51:5 says: "My sins are always before my eyes," he closes our eyes and hides these images. At death, when we should only have life, grace and bliss before our eyes, he first opens our eyes and frightens us with the untimely images, so that we should not see the right images.
12. to the eighth: Hell becomes great and grows also by its too much prestige and hard concern at the wrong time. It helps greatly that one does not know God's judgment, where the evil spirit drives the soul, that it loads itself with superfluous, useless arrogance, yes, with the most dangerous arrogance,
and investigate divine counsel's secrecy, whether it be provided or not.
Here the devil practices his last, greatest, most cunning art and ability. For with this he leads man, if he so chooses, over God, so that he seeks signs of the divine will and becomes impatient that he should not know whether he is provided for; he makes his God suspicious to him, so that he longs much closer for another God. In short, here he intends to extinguish God's love with a storm wind and to awaken God's hatred. The more man follows the devil here and suffers the thoughts, the more dangerous he stands and in the end may not preserve himself, he falls into God's hatred and blasphemy. For what is it but that I want to know whether I am endowed, but that I want to know everything that God knows, and be like Him, that He knows nothing more than I do, and therefore God is not God, if He is to know nothing about me? There he reproaches how many Gentiles, Jews, and Christian children are lost, and with such dangerous and futile thoughts he drives so much that the man, even if he would otherwise gladly die, becomes unwilling in this matter. This is called contested with hell, when a man is contested with thoughts of his own sin, about which there is much lamentation in the Psalter. Whoever wins here has overcome sin, hell and death in one heap.
Fourteenth, the ninth: Now in this business one must take all care not to invite any of these three images into one's house, nor to paint the devil over the door; they themselves will fall in too strongly and want to have the heart completely in their possession with their appearance, disputing and showing. And where this happens, man is lost, completely forgetting God. For these images do not belong at all in this time, other than to fence with them and cast them out; indeed, where they are alone, without asserting themselves in other images, they belong nowhere but in hell among the devils. Now whoever wants to fence with them and cast them out, it will not be enough for him to tug and beat or wrestle with them. For they will be too strong for him and will get worse and worse. The art is entirely to let them fall and not to deal with them. But how is this done? It happens like this: You must
Look at death in life, sin in grace, hell in heaven, and do not let yourself be driven by the sight or look, even if all the angels, all the creatures, even if it seems to you that God Himself is presenting it to you differently, which they are not doing; but the evil spirit makes such an appearance. How then shall one do?
(15) Tenthly, thou must not look upon or consider death in itself, nor in thyself, nor in thy nature, nor in them which are slain by the wrath of God, whom death hath overcome; otherwise thou art lost and cast down with them: but turn thine eyes, and the thoughts of thine heart, and all thy senses mightily from the same image, and consider death strongly and diligently only in them which have died in the grace of God, and have overcome death, first of all in Christ, and afterward in all his saints.
(16) Behold, in these images death shall not be terrifying to thee, nor abominable; yea, despised and slain, and in life strangled and overcome. For Christ is nothing but life, consolation and blessedness; the deeper and firmer you imagine and look at the image, the more the image of death falls away and disappears from itself, without all tearing and strife, and so your heart has peace and may die peacefully with Christ and in Christ, as it says in Revelation 14:13: "Blessed are those who die in the Lord Christ." This is what Exodus 21:6, 9 means, when the children of Israel were bitten by fiery serpents, they did not drag themselves with the same serpents, but had to look at the dead serpent of brass, when the living ones fell off themselves and perished. So you must concern yourself with the death of Christ alone, and you will find life; and where you look at death elsewhere, it kills you with great anxiety and torment. Therefore Christ says, Joh. 16, 33.: "In the world - that is, also in ourselves - you will have unrest, but in me peace."
(17) The eleventh: So you must not look at sin in sinners, nor in your conscience, nor in those who finally remain in sins and are condemned; you will surely go there and be overcome; but you must turn away your thoughts, and not look at sin, for in the image of grace, you will be condemned.
and form the same image with all your strength and have it before your eyes.
The image of grace is nothing other than Christ on the cross and all his dear saints. How do you understand this? This is grace and mercy, that Christ on the cross takes your sin from you and bears it for you and strangles it; and to believe the same firmly and to have it before your eyes, not to doubt it, that is, to look at the image of grace and form it in yourself. In the same way, all the saints in their suffering and death also bear your sins on them and suffer and work for you, as it is written, Gal. 6:2: "Bear one another's burdens, and you will fulfill Christ's commandment." Thus saith he himself, Matt. 11:28: "Come unto me, all ye that are heavy laden, and labor, and I will help you." Behold, then you may look upon your sins safely apart from your conscience. Behold, there sins are sins no more; there they are overcome, and swallowed up in Christ. For as he taketh upon him thy death, and strangleth it, that it may not hurt thee, if thou otherwise believest that he doeth it unto thee, and lookest upon thy death in him, and not in thyself: so also he taketh upon him thy sins, and in his righteousness overcometh them unto thee out of all grace: if thou believe this, they do thee no hurt. So Christ, the image of life and grace against the image of death and sin, is our consolation. This is what Paul says, 1 Cor. 15:57: "To God be praise and thanksgiving, that in Christ he has given us conquest over sins and death."
(19) Twelfthly, thou must look upon hell and eternity of torment, with the provision, not in thyself, not in themselves, not in them that are damned, neither be thou concerned with so many men in all the world that are not provided. For, if you do not look ahead, the image will quickly overthrow you and knock you to the ground. Therefore, you must use force here, keep your eyes tightly shut against such a gaze; for it is of no use at all, whether you walk around with it for a thousand years, and it corrupts you in the first place. You must let God be God, so that he knows more about you than you do.
20Therefore behold the heavenly image of Christ, who for your sake went to hell.
and was forsaken of God, as one who is eternally damned, when he said on the cross, Eli, Eli, lama asabtani: "O my God, O my God, why have you forsaken me? Behold, in the image thy hell is overcome, and thy uncertain destiny is made sure. For if thou only care for it, and believe that it is done for thee, thou shalt surely keep the same faith. Therefore, do not let this be taken out of your sight, and seek only in Christ and not in yourself, and you will find yourself eternally in him. So if you look at Christ and all his saints, and you are pleased with the grace of God, who has chosen them, and you remain steadfast in the same pleasure, then you are already chosen. As he says, Gen. 12:3: "All who bless you shall be blessed." But if thou dost not dwell on this alone, and fall into thyself, thou shalt have an unwillingness toward God and His saints, and so find no good in thyself. Beware of this, for the evil spirit will drive you with many wiles.
21. to the thirteenth: This threefold image or battle is signified by Judg. 7, 16. f., when Gideon attacked the Midianites with three hundred men in three places at night, but did no more than sound the trumpets and strike the shards of light together, so that the enemies fled and strangled themselves. So death, sin and hell flee with all their powers, if only we practice Christ's and His saints' luminous images in us - in the night, that is, in faith, which does not see the evil images nor may it see them - to provoke and strengthen us with God's word, as with trumpets.
22 Thus the same figure of Isaiah in the 9th chapter, v.4, introduces sweetly against these three images and speaks of Christ: "The burden of his burden, the rod of his back, the scepter of his driver you have overcome, as in the days of the Midianites", which Gideon overcame. As if he said: "Your people's sin, which is a heavy "burden of his burden" in his conscience, and death, which is a "rod" or punishment that presses his back, and hell, which is a "scepter and power of the driver", so that eternal payment for sin is required, you have broken and overcome them all. How it is
happened in the time of Midian, that is, by faith, through which Gideon drove out the enemies without any sword blows. When did he do this? On the cross; for there he prepared for us himself a triune image to hold up to our faith against the three images, since the evil spirit and our nature tempt us to be torn from the faith. He is the living and immortal image against death, which he suffered, and yet testified with his resurrection from the dead that he was overcome in his life. He is the image of God's grace against sin, which he took upon himself and yet overcame by his unconquerable obedience. He is the heavenly image, abandoned by God as a reprobate and overcoming hell through His almighty love, testifying that He is the most beloved Son and given to all of us as His own, if we believe.
23 The fourteenth: For good measure, he not only overcame sin, death, and hell in himself, and held them up for us to believe; but to our greater comfort he himself also suffered and overcame the temptation we have in these images. He is just as challenged with the image of death, sin, and hell as we are.
024 And they held up the image of death unto him, when the Jews said, He descendeth now from the cross, he hath healed others, let him now help himself: as if they spake: There, you see death, you must die, there is no help for it. Just as the devil advances the image of death to a dying man and intimidates the stupid nature with a terrible image.
(25) They held up the image of sin to him, saying, "He has helped others; if he is the Son of God, let him come down," etc., Matt. 27:40, 42, as if to say, "His works have been false and all deceit; he is the son of the devil and not the Son of God; he is his own in body and soul; he has never done any good, but wickedness. And just as the Jews impelled these three images on Christ at once, disorderly among themselves, so man is at once disorderly assailed by them at once, so that he goes astray and soon despairs. As the Lord describes the destruction of Jerusalem, Luc. 19,43. 44. that her enemies surrounded her with a
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Debris, that they could not come out; that is death. Secondly, that they afflict them at every end, and drive them, that they cannot abide anywhere; these are sins. Thirdly, that they strike them down to the ground and leave no stone upon another, that is hell and despair.
(26) The image of hell drove them to him, saying, "He trusts in God, let us see if He will deliver him; he says he is the son of God"; as if they were saying, "He belongs in hell, God has not provided for him, he is eternally rejected, neither trust nor hope helps here, everything is in vain.
(27) As we now see that Christ is silent to all the words and abominable images, does not argue with them, acts as if he does not hear and see them, does not answer any of them - and if he would have already answered, he would only have given cause that they would have blasphemed and driven more and more abominably - but only pays attention to the dearest will of his Father, so completely that he forgets about his death, his sin, his hell, driven on him, and prays for them, Luc. 23, 34, for their sin, death and hell: so we should also let these images fall and fall away, as they want or like, and only remember that we cling to the will of God, which is that we cling in Christ and firmly believe that our death, sin and hell are overcome in him and may not harm us, so that Christ's image may be in us alone, and that we argue and act with him.
[Use and power of the sacraments.]
28 To the fifteenth: Now we come again to the holy sacraments and their virtues, that we may learn what they are good for and how to use them. Whoever has been given the grace and time to confess, absolve, report, and be blessed has great cause to love, praise, and thank God, and to die joyfully, if he otherwise comfortably relies and believes in the sacraments, as was said above. For in the sacraments your God, Christ Himself, acts, speaks, and works with you through the priest, and no human works or words take place there. God Himself tells you all the things that are now
Christ, and wants the sacraments to be a sign and document of it. Christ's life shall have taken your death, his obedience shall have taken your sin, his love shall have taken your hell and overcome it. For this purpose, through the same sacraments, you are incorporated and united with all the saints and come into the true communion of the saints; so that they die with you in Christ, bear sin, overcome hell.
It follows that the sacraments, that is, the outward words of God spoken by a priest, are a great comfort and at the same time a visible sign of divine opinion, to which one should adhere with firm faith, as a good staff, so that Jacob the patriarch went through the Jordan, Genesis 32, 10. 32, 10., or as a lantern, according to which one should direct oneself and keep an eye open with all diligence through the dark way of death, sin and hell, as the prophet says, Ps. 119, 105.: "Your word, Lord, is a light to my feet." And St. Peter, 2 Ep. 1, 19: "We have a certain word of God, and you do well to hear it." Nothing else can help in the distress of death. For with the sign all are preserved who are preserved, it points to Christ and his image, so that you may say against the image of death, sin and hell: God has promised me and given me a sure sign of his grace in the sacraments. God has promised me and given me a sure sign of his grace in the sacraments, that Christ's life has overcome my death in his death, his obedience has eradicated my sin in his suffering, his love has destroyed my hell in his abandonment. This sign, such assurances of my blessedness, will not lie nor deceive me; God has said it, God may not lie neither with words nor with works. And he who thus insists and relies on the sacraments, whose election and providence will find himself well, without his care and trouble.
30 To the sixteenth: Here now lies the greatest power, that the holy sacraments, in which God's words, promises, signs occur, are highly respected, held in honor, relied upon. This is that one should not doubt either the sacraments or the things of which they are certain signs, for if there is any doubt about them, it is everything.
lost. For as we believe, so shall it be done unto us, as Christ saith, Matth. 15, 28. What profit is it that thou shouldest imagine and believe that the sin, death, and hell of others are overcome in Christ, if thou dost not also believe that thy sin, death, and hell are there overcome and destroyed, and that thou art therefore redeemed? Then the sacrament would be completely in vain, because you do not believe the things that are indicated, given and promised to you there.
This is the cruelest sin that can happen, by which God Himself is considered a liar in His word, sign and work, as the one who speaks, testifies, promises that He does not want to keep, and therefore is not to be scolded with the sacraments, but there must be faith that relies on them and ventures happily into such God's signs and promises. What kind of Beatificator or God would that be, who would not want to make us blessed from sin, death and hell? It must be great what the right God promises and does. So then the devil comes and blows you in: Yes, how, if I had received the sacraments unworthily, deprived myself of such grace by my unworthiness? Here make the cross before you, don't let your worthiness or unworthiness challenge you, just see to it that you believe that there are certain signs, true words of God, then you are and will remain worthy. Faith makes you worthy, doubt makes you unworthy.
For this reason the evil spirit wants to reproach you with your worthiness or unworthiness, so that he will give you doubt and thereby destroy the sacraments with their works and make God a liar in his words. God does not give you anything for the sake of your worthiness, nor does He build His Word and Sacrament on your worthiness, but out of pure grace He builds you unworthy on His Word and signs. Only hold fast to this and say: He who gives and has given me his sign and word, that Christ's life, grace and heaven have made my sin, death and hell harmless to me, he is God, he will keep things well for me. If the priest has absolved me, I rely on it as on God's word itself. If it is God's words, then it will be true; then I will stay up,
I die. For you should trust in the priest's absolution just as firmly as if God sent you a special angel or apostle, yes, as if Christ himself absolved you.
(33) The seventeenth: Behold, such is the advantage of him who obtains the sacraments, that he obtains a sign and promise from God, by which he may exercise and strengthen his faith, that he is called into Christ's image and goods. Without which signs the others work in faith alone and obtain them with the desire of the heart. Although they also receive them, if they persist in the same faith.
(34) Thou shalt also say concerning the sacrament of the altar, If the priest hath given me the holy body of Christ, which is a sign and promise of the fellowship of Christ, and of all the angels and saints, that they love me, care for me, pray for me, suffer with me, strengthen me, bear my sin, and overcome hell; so it shall be, and so it must be; the divine sign deceiveth me not, neither let it be taken from me. I would rather deny all the world and myself before I doubted it; my God be sure and true to me in these signs and promises of his. Whether I am unworthy of it or not, I am a member of Christianity according to the sound and display of this sacrament. It is better that I be unworthy, than that God not be kept true; lift you devil, if you tell me otherwise.
35 And behold, there are many people who would like to be sure or to have a sign from heaven, how they would be with God and know their destiny; and if they were to receive such a sign, and yet did not believe it, what good would it do them? What good are all signs without faith? What did the signs of Christ and the apostles help the Jews? What is the use of the holy signs of the sacraments and the words of God even today? Why do they not adhere to the sacraments, which are certain and appointed signs, tried and tested by all the saints, surely invented for all those who have believed and come by all that they testify?
36 As we should learn to recognize the sacraments, what they are, what they are for, how to use them, we find that
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there is no greater thing on earth that can more sweetly comfort sorrowful hearts and evil consciences. For in the sacraments are the words of God, which serve to show and assure us of Christ with all His good, which He Himself is, against sin, death and hell. Now there is nothing more lovely, more desirable to hear than to destroy sin, death and hell. This is done through Christ in us, if we have a right need of the sacrament.
The custom is not other than believing that it is so, as the sacraments promise and obligate by God's word. Why is it necessary that we not only look at the three images in Christ and cast out and drop the counter-images with them, but that we have a sure sign that assures us that it is thus given to us. These are the sacraments.
38) The eighteenth: Let no Christian man doubt his end, that he is not alone in his death, but be sure that after the display of the sacrament many eyes will look upon him. First of all, God Himself and Christ, so that he believes His words and adheres to His sacraments. Then, the dear angels, the saints and all Christians. For there is no doubt, as the sacrament of the altar indicates, that they all come together as a whole body to his limb, help him overcome sin, death, hell, and carry all with him. There the work of love and communion of the saints goes on in earnest and mightily.
(39) A Christian man should also believe this and have no doubts about it, so that he will be bold to die. For he who doubts this does not believe in the reverend sacrament of the body of Christ, in which fellowship, help, love, comfort and assistance of all saints in all troubles is shown, promised and obligated. For if you believe in the signs and words of God, God has His eye on you; as He says, Ps. 32, 8: Firmabo super te oculos meos etc. "I will always have My eyes on you, so that you will not perish." And if God look upon thee, all the angels, all the saints, all creatures, look after thee: and if thou continue in faith, they all keep their hands under thee: and if thy soul go out, they are there to receive thee, that thou perish not.
40 This is testified in Elisha, 2 Kings 6:16, 17, who said to his servant, "Do not be afraid; there is more of them with us than with them," when the enemies had surrounded them and saw no one else. "But God opened the eyes of the servant, and there was about them a great company of fiery horses and chariots." This is certainly the case for everyone who believes in God. This is where the proverbs come from, Ps. 34, 8: "The angel of God will come in around those who fear God and will deliver them. And Ps. 125, 1.: "Those who trust in God will be immovable, like Mount Sion, it will remain forever. High mountains (that is, angels) are in its circumference, and God Himself encircles His people, from now until forever." Ps. 91:11 ff. "He has commanded His angels to carry you on their hands and to keep you wherever you go, so that you will not strike your foot against any stone. On the serpents and basilisks shalt thou walk, and on the lion and dragon shalt thou tread," that is, all the strength and cunning of the devil will not hurt thee. "For he trusted in me, I will deliver him; I will be with him in all his temptations; I will help him out, and set him in honor; I will fill him with eternity; I will shew him my everlasting grace." So also the apostle says, Ebr. 1, 14, that the angels, of whom there are innumerable, are all servants, and sent forth for the sake of them that are saved. [Hence the holy patriarch Jacob, Gen. 49, 29, said when he was about to die: Behold, "I am gathered unto my people"; and died and was gathered unto his people. So also to Moses and Aaron God spoke, 4 Mos. 20, 24. 5 Mos. 32, 50: "You shall go to your people and to your fathers." Thus expressing that death is a going to many more people who wait for us than we leave].
41. These are all great things, who can believe them? Therefore, it should be known that these are God's works, which are greater than anyone can imagine, and yet He works them in such small signs of the sacraments, so that He may teach us how great a thing it is to have true faith in God.
42. to the nineteenth: but shall no man
presume to practice such things out of his own strength, but humbly ask God to create and maintain such faith and understanding of His holy sacraments in us; so that it may be done with fear and humility, and that we do not ascribe such works to ourselves, but leave the glory to God. For this purpose, he should call upon all the holy angels, especially his angel, the Mother of God, all the apostles and dear saints, especially since God has given him special devotion, but he should ask so that he does not doubt that the prayer will be heard. He has two reasons for this:
The first, that he has now heard from the Scriptures how God commanded the angels, and how the Sacrament gives that they must love and help all who believe. This is to be held up to them and urged upon them: not that they do not know or otherwise do not do it; but that faith and confidence in them and through them in God may become the stronger and more joyful to go under the eyes of death.
The other is that God has commanded that if we want to pray, we should ever firmly believe that whatever we ask will be done and be a true Amen; Matth. 21, 22. Marc. 11, 24. The same commandment must also be imposed on God, saying: My God, you have commanded to ask and to believe that the request will be heard; I ask and rely on it, you will not let me go and will give me a right faith. For this purpose, one should ask God all one's life and His saints for the last hour for a right faith; as is sung so finely on the day of Pentecost: Now we ask the Holy Spirit for the right faith most of all etc. When we go home from this misery etc. And when the hour has come to die, one should admonish God of the same prayer, besides his commandment and promise, without any doubt, that it will be answered. For if he has commanded to ask and to trust in prayer, and has given grace to ask for it, what should one doubt, he
I have done it so that he will hear and fulfill it?
45. twentieth: Now behold, what more shall thy God do unto thee, that thou willingly accept death, fear it not, and overcome it? He instructs and gives you in Christ the image of life, grace and blessedness, so that you will not be afraid of sin, death and the image of hell. For this purpose he lays your sin, your death, your hell on his most beloved Son and overcomes them for you, makes them harmless for you. For this purpose, he also lets your temptation of sin, death and hell pass over his son, and teaches you to keep it, and makes it harmless and bearable. He gives you a sure sign of all this, so that you do not doubt it, namely the holy sacraments. He commands his angels, all the saints, all creatures, to look with him upon you, to perceive your soul and to receive it. He commands you to ask such things of him and to be sure that he will answer; what more can or should he do?
(46) Therefore, you see that he is a true God, and that he works right, great, divine works with you. Why should he not put something greater on you than dying, when he does such great good, help and strength? that he may try what his grace is able to do; as it is written, Ps. 111:2: "The works of God are great and chosen according to all his good pleasure." For this reason we must see to it that we ever give thanks with great gladness of heart to His divine will, that He exercises with us against death, sin and hell such wonderful, abundant and immeasurable grace and mercy, and not so much fear death as praise and love His grace. For love and praise makes dying so much easier, as he says through Isaiah, Cap. 48, 9: "I will bridle your mouth with my praise, and you shall not perish." May God help us, amen.