Live Well, Die Holy: The Art of Being a Saint Now & Forever is a useful book written by Saint Robert Bellarmine. Live Well, Die Holy: The Art of Being a Saint Now & Forever was written in 1620 by a man who was a saint and is one of the 37 doctors of the Catholic Church. Live Well, Die Holy: The Art of Being a Saint Now & Forever contains 16 steps that should appeal to everyone, since everyone will die. Do you think this advice would be useful to you?
The 16 Steps to Live Well and Die Holy
In Live Well, Die Holy: The Art of Being a Saint Now & Forever, there are 17 chapters. The last one is a summary. The other 16 are each on a specific step. Recounting those steps here will both summarize The book, will not only serve to summarize the book and give readers a list of practical steps they can take to become a saint.
The 16 steps in the book are: to strive to live well, learn to die to the world, persevere in faith, hope, and charity, be ever ready to meet Christ, remain detached from worldly possessions, be sober, just, and pious, pray fervently, practice fasting, give generously of the gifts God has given to you, be faithful to your baptismal promises, use the gifts you received in confirmation, receive the eucharist worthily, confess your sins with contrition, revere the sacred, love and honor your spouse and children, and guard your senses against sin.
Summary of The Book
Death comes to all us us. We must know how to die well, and Live Well, Die Holy: The Art of Being a Saint Now & Forever, written by a saint and doctor of the church, Robert Bellarmine. In the book, Bellarmine writes a truism: he who lives well dies well. He goes on to write, “We must acknowledge that it is a most dangerous thing to deter till death our conversion from sin to virtue: far more happy are they who begin to carry the yoke of the Lord ‘from their youth,’ as Jeremiah said.”
We can not put off turning our lives around until we are old, but must begin doing so today because death can come unexpectedly. Bellarmine reiterates this fact by saying, “This first great truth now remains established, that a good death depends upon a good life.” Bellarmine goes on to explain that if we wish to die well, we must first die to the world. He says, “That we may live well, it is necessary, in the first place, that we die to the world before we die in the body. All who live in the world are dead to God: we cannot in any way begin to live to God unless we first die to the world.”
Conclusion
Live Well, Die Holy: The Art of Being a Saint Now & Forever reminds us that the end is near and may come unexpectedly. The best thing about this book is that it gives practical suggestions for how to prepare for the inevitable. Readers should be interested and should execute these steps now, in case the end comes unexpectedly. For this reason, because everyone will die, the book should appeal to everyone, though it will be of greatest interest to Catholics, who should enjoy hearing from a saint.
