At the Hour of Our Death

Jean-Miguel Garrigues is the author of twenty books on theology and spirituality. He collaborated on the preparation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church and helped prepare the act of repentance made by St. John Paul II on behalf of the Church in the year 2000. He belongs to the Dominican province of Toulouse, where for many years he taught dogmatic theology and where he continues to give numerous seminars and retreats.
Gregory Casprini entered the Solesmes monastery in 1973 and was ordained a priest in 1983 after receiving a bachelor's degree in theology from the Catholic University of Angers. In 1998, he was sent with other brothers to found a new Benedictine monastery in Palendriai, Lithuania. Fr. Gregory has translated various articles on liturgy, theology, and Gregorian chant, including Dom Eugene Cardine's An Overview of Gregorian Chant and Dom Jacques Hourlier's Reflections on the Spirituality of Gregorian Chant.

In this series of beautiful and accessible meditations, Fr. Jean-Miguel Garrigues examines death and eternal life in the light of Christian revelation. His work is the fruit of years of sustained theological reflection, as well as his own experience accompanying terminally ill cancer patients as a hospital chaplain.

At the Hour of Our Death nourishes the vitally important theological virtue of hope. It encourages us to accompany the dying with compassion, love, and prayer, to live in communion with the saints of heaven and the holy souls of purgatory, and to wisely and serenely prepare ourselves for the day when we, too, will be called to accomplish, in the company of Jesus, the great Passover from this life to the house of our heavenly Father.

The worldwide pandemic has brought end-of-life issues closer to many people than ever before. Fr. Jean Miguel's insights, lucidly rendered into English by Fr. Gregory Casprini, will serve as a help and consolation to many, strengthening their faith and encouraging them to pray for and accompany others.