It seems in the sight of the unwise that the servants
of God die with sorrow, and unwillingly, even as the worldly do ; but no, for
God knows well how to comfort His children when they are dying ; and amidst the
pains of their death, He makes them feel a certain incomparable sweetness, as a
foretaste of that Paradise, which within a short time He will bestow upon them.
Like those who die in sin, who even upon their death-bed experience certain
foretastes of hell, such as remorse, fear, and despair; so on the contrary do
the saints, by the acts of love which at that time they often make towards God,
by the desire and by the hope that is in them, of very soon enjoying God, begin
even before death to feel that peace which they will afterwards fully enjoy in
heaven. Death to the saints is not a punishment, but a reward.
--St. Alphonsus Liguori, Preparation for Death
