Our reading from Ezekiel as well as our Gospel points us towards the grace of final perseverance. Final perseverance is to be found in the state of grace when one’s life on this earth comes to its conclusion. Thus one who has led a life of wickedness can obtain forgiveness at the hour of their death while one who has lived a life of virtue can turn away from God at the hour of their death. Saint Alphonsus Liguori was known for praying each day for the grace of final perseverance and recommended that everyone pray to obtain this grace.
One beautiful devotion is that of three Hail Marys. This devotion is most simple and yet so powerful. As was stated by Saint Alphonsus Liguori: “A devout servant of Mary shall never perish.” Thus through this devotion one is to offer three Hail Marys in the morning and three Hail Marys in the evening in order that they may not fall into mortal sin.
Pope Pius X gave his apostolic blessing to this practice where one is instructed to “recite morning and evening, three Hail Marys in honor of the three great privileges bestowed upon Our Blessed Mother by the most Blessed Trinity with this invocation at the end: for the morning: “O my Mother preserve me from mortal sin during this day.” For the evening: “O my Mother preserve me from mortal sin during this night.”
To this practice it was revealed to Saint Gertrude the Great: “To any soul who faithfully prays the Three Hail Marys, I will appear at the hour of death in a splendor so extraordinary that it will fill the soul with heavenly consolation.”
I do not draw attention to this devotion as if it is some form of superstition or witchcraft where one can pray these prayers and in return act as they wish. Rather, these prayers are to turn toward the Blessed Mother who is most pure and holy in order that we may avoid falling into sin especially mortal sin. This devotion is to remind us of its seriousness and how dying in the state of mortal sin will rip us away from Heaven.
Hopefully none of us are so filled with pride to believe that such a reality is impossible for us in this current age. This devotion and this seriousness has been promoted throughout the ages among the likes of Saints Anthony of Padua, Bonaventure, Alphonsus Liguori, and John Vianney to name a few. Each of these men are now in Heaven and they venerated as saints yet they understood the seriousness of salvation and dedicated their life unto it. They understood that it was something that they could fall short of and thus they fervently prayed and promoted this reality.
Again this seriousness was pointed towards in our readings this day. From Ezekiel we heard: “When someone virtuous turns away from virtue to commit iniquity, and dies, it is because of the iniquity he committed that he must die. But if he turns from the wickedness he has committed, he does what is right and just, he shall preserve his life.” Also in our Gospel we are told of those who changed their mind and did something else and thus who were seen as sinful converted and lived. Let us turn towards the Blessed Mother and invoke her that we may never fall into mortal sin and may thus obtain Everlasting Life.
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