The Two Deathbeds
- Mary Prays

- 4 days ago
- 1 min read
Cited by Liguori to a work his scan abbreviates as "Mondo Mariano"

A parish priest was called to the bedside of a rich man who was dying. The man lay in a fine house, surrounded by a crowd of relatives, friends, and servants. But the priest saw what no one else could: a pack of demons in the shape of hounds, waiting to seize the man's soul, which they did, for he died in his sins.
That same hour the priest had been sent for by a poor woman who was also dying and wanted the sacraments. Unable to leave the rich man, he sent another priest in his place, carrying the Blessed Sacrament.
That priest found no servants and no fine things, only a poor woman with a little straw to lie on. Yet the room was filled with a great light, and beside the dying woman stood the Blessed Virgin Mary, comforting her and wiping the sweat from her face with a cloth. The priest was awed and hesitated at the door, but Our Lady motioned him in and showed him to a seat to hear the woman's confession. The poor woman confessed, received the sacrament with great devotion, and died peacefully in the arms of Mary.
Source:
Simplified retellings of the "example" stories that St. Alphonsus Liguori placed at the end of each section of The Glories of Mary. These are paraphrased in plain modern prose, faithful to the substance of the 1888 English translation. Liguori himself, in his author's "Protest," noted that the miracles and apparitions in the book are offered on human authority only, not as articles of faith.

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