a happy death

This morning greeted us with the news that 1980 Ms. Universe
runner-up Maria Rosario "Chat" Silayan died in her sleep at 46.

It's the kind of death that I would wish for myself. No
drama, no suffering and no astounding expenses (like hospitalization)
left for my family to pay :)

Our late parish priest, Fr. Raul, said that one should
always pray for a happy death. It's quite odd, isn't it? :)

I used to fear death. When my grandfather died and followed
by my youngest aunt in less than two months, I was a nutcase. I
thought that I'd be next :) And I didn't want to be in that dark
place called purgatory, where the spirits of the dead are said to go
first until their sins are fully pardoned. I was afraid of the dark
and the unknown.

But that was in 1997 and I have since then accepted that we
all die and that my fear was as much a fear of the unknown as well as
my unpreparedness.

I have since taken care of things like insurance, etc. I
guess that all that remains to prepare is my spirit -- that I will be
good enough to accept God's grace.

I found a site that compiled several prayers for a happy
death at http://landru.i-link-2.net/shnyves/Pray_happy_death.html.
You might want to check it out.

sayong
04-24-06 4:55pm