Ah the Catholics of yore and European royalty. Oh the Middle Ages. Things from that era always sound so barbaric when we think about it. And yet many of us are already desensitized from the multitude of horrifying news and media bombarding us everyday.

So why would dying instead of committing a mortal sin sound harsh to anyone these days? It is way more noble than sexually assaulting and murdering an innocent child, for example.

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Where Did Such a Thought Originate?

Well, early Christians had such ideas. Yesterday I didn't think far enough on how this started but before I slept I suddenly remembered something while praying.

In the Bible we can read it in Matthew 5:30, Jesus said:

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No wonder then that devout people have this mindset. It is like what Jesus taught! For example, the mother of St. King Louis the IX told him about it. Queen Blanche was quoted saying:

"I love you my dear son, as much as a mother can love her child; but I would rather see you dead at my feet than that you should commit a mortal sin."

That's in the 13th century, the Middle Ages. St. Joan of Arc declared the same thing in the 15th century.

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However it seems to be more popularly known because of the young St. Dominic Savio from the 18th century. He wrote four resolutions on his first communion and that sentence was one of them. I mean, at 12 years old he already had such thoughts!

Why Die Rather Than Commit a Sin?

Why indeed? Don't you still know how terrible sin is? Oh the sins of the flesh is the most irresistible and pleasurable of all that's why so many people go to hell for it.

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You can't bring your body into the next life when you die so why keep pleasuring yourself just to lose Heaven? Imagine someone cutting off and removing your sexual organs without anesthesia, that's hell already! And you still don't want to go to Heaven with your genitals intact? Come on, nobody dies just from being single and celibate nor living a good and happily married life.

Oh you might say it's so hard to stop, "ohhh ahhh, mooore." So then strive to get rid of the 7 Deadly Sins in your life. Why would it be difficult to avoid premarital sex or masturbation for example? Anyone can stop and change their behavior, there's so many other things we can do! Unless it's already an addiction, huh.

If you really can't stop your sexually immoral activities then you need to repent, pray to God and ask for His help! Yeah you can also seek professional help but be truly contrite and confess your sins first after a thorough examination of conscience (plenty of online guides for that).

You never know when you'll experience a miracle from God like so many people who converted, reverted and renewed their Catholic faith! It may even save you tons of money!

Blessed are those who have never committed any mortal sin since childhood. If I was like them I'd also rather physically die instead of offending God! Choosing death rather than sinning doesn't mean suicide at all, duh. 😂

If you haven't heard of what Jesus Christ did for all of us and the rest of the martyred saints then of course you'd think of ending one's life instead of sinning. Such a thought is contrary to everything Christ taught. All lives are important but the wage of sin is death and NOT eternal life with God. So no, we do not end our own lives no matter what happens!

Let me give you some examples.

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St. Rita of Cascia, 14th century

During her time, Italy was full of family feuds, you know like the Romeo and Juliet families. So many murders and assassinations kept happening. Her husband died in such a manner so naturally their children would vow revenge. Guess what she did?

The pious mother tried to counsel her sons but to no avail. Thus she prayed to God to take her children instead of letting them commit any mortal sin and cause them to go to hell! And so it happened, both young men eventually got sick then died in a state of grace.

St. Maria Goretti from the late 19th century

The 11 year old was about to get raped but she told her assailant what he wanted to do was a sin and warned him of it. She resisted and also said she'd rather die and so the man stabbed her 14 times. The girl died a day or two later (depending on which source you get to read) but of course she forgave the culprit beforehand. He lived serving his sentence in prison for 30 years and of course he repented. Eventually the guy became a Third Order Franciscan lay brother. She helped to save his soul, that's what happened!

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So now do you understand why dying is more nobler than committing any mortal sin? In case anyone commits a grave act against God's commandments, that will be your ticket to hell upon death.

Our bodies will eventually rot anyway but our souls will still exist after we die. Eternal damnation and punishment is more painful than any multiple physical, mental or emotional experience we have here on Earth as humans. The purer we are the more likely we will be with God upon death. This is why Mama Mary was taken up to Heaven because she's full of grace and so pure!

Unless we repent and avail of the Sacrament of Confession, we will never enter Heaven after dying. ^{(Revelation 21:27)} At best you'll get to Purgatory but still it really depends on how holy we lived our life until the end. God will be the judge of that. All we can do is do our best in following His commandments and carrying our crosses like Jesus did.

This is why saints say it is better to die than commit mortal sins! If this is still too hard to understand then it means your demons have done their job at keeping you blind and deaf from God's Word.

A Truly Repentant Person Will Choose Death Than Mortal Sin

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Okay let's not get overly dramatic here. There aren't many instances where we will be forced to sin or whatever. It is mostly ourselves who choose to deliberately commit a crime or evil activity rather than it being forced on us.

Yeah yeah we can blame the urgings and temptations from the devil but demons can never force us to do anything. They can only suggest and tempt and that's it. What we do next is our own choice and not theirs. Just ask any Catholic exorcist priest if you don't believe me. Or read the Gospel of Mark 7:23.

However, a truly repentant person will pray to God to never ever let himself/herself commit a mortal sin ever again. Why? Because, if you've already done your best to clean yourself up (in this case your soul), would you want to get dirty again?

Let me put it this way. Do you deliberately put your clean clothes in mud before you wear them? Would you rather eat some puke or animal poo instead of newly cooked food for sustenance? Similarly a pious person would rather die than commit mortal sins!

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This is why the Sacrament of Reconciliation was given to us by Jesus Christ thru His apostles. In His infinite mercy and love, He understood our humanity and gave us a way to keep our souls clean! All we have to do is ask for God's mercy and forgiveness everytime we fall from grace. (Of course we also must resolve never to sin again, do penance and gain plenary indulgence afterwards to remit the consequence of our forgiven sins.)

Heck, St. King Louis IX went to confession 2 to 3 times a week! Who are we to argue with such a pious leader? He's also said to be the most Christian king ever.

Lately I've been leaning into their "old-fashioned" saintly thinking. Hey I'm far from being a saint but there's literally no harm in aspiring to be one! 🙏 Better to strive to be a holy person than causing more harm and spreading pain in the world.

It's always our choice what we do. Let's choose Heaven instead of staining our souls! What do you think?

XOXO,
@artgirl

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