Flower of Devotion

In the apparitions of St. Mechtilde there is a beautiful account of the death of a nun, which we give below:
A certain nun, who had served God devoutly and zealously all her life, began to fall ill; and when St. Mechtilde was once praying fervently for her, she saw the soul of the sick woman kneeling before the Lord, who showed her His rosy wounds. The soul greeted Him with a prayer that the saint had never heard before:
“O salvation bringing, the wounds of my beloved Bridegroom Jesus Christ, hail! Hail ye in the omnipotence of the Father, who has permitted you to be inflicted upon the Most Holy Body of His Son, in the wisdom of the Son who suffered you, in the goodness of the Holy Spirit, who through you has accomplished the work of our redemption.”
When the sick woman was about to receive the Sacrament of Extreme Unction with holy oil and the religious congregation gathered in the chamber where the sick woman was lying, St. Mechtilde saw two angels carrying a pelvis. The water in the basin signified mercy and truth, in which the soul of the
sick was to be washed of all spots, according to the words: “Mercy and truth shall precede Thy face” (Psalm 88/15). Then she saw four angels spreading a red canopy over the sick woman’s bedside, signifying the merits and dignity that the dying woman was to receive after this life. For as long as the soul is in the body, it cannot know the glory with which God wills to crown it in heaven.
Now St. Mechtilde began to grieve that the Lord was not with the soul of her beloved; for the presence of angels could not comfort her. And as she sought with the eye of her heart Him whom she loved, looking from one angel to another, she found the Lord according to the desire of her heart, standing in the middle of the chamber in a shining robe, on which glittered golden shields. This radiance signified the purity of the sick woman; and the constancy of her patience, in which, for the love of the Lord, she patiently endured a multitude of sufferings and sicknesses. Therefore the Lord adorned Himself with these garments in honor of His bride.
And the Lord sat down with the sick woman in the place of the priest, and the Blessed Virgin Mary sat at the end of the bed, where the sick woman had her head. As the priests read the litany, the Lord crossed the dying woman three times with the sign of the Cross, saying: “I bless you for the health of your soul and for the sanctification of your body!” And when the Name of the Virgin Mary was pronounced in the litany, the Blessed Virgin lifted up the sick woman and said: “Behold, my Son, I give you this bride as an eternal possession!” All the saints, too, at the invocation of them in the litany, prayed to the Lord, kneeling, for the soul of the sick woman, and passed by her bed in procession; among them were the holy virgins who walked closest to the Saviour. When the anointing with holy oils was thus performed, the Lord said to His Blessed Mother: “Behold, I commend this soul to Thee, that Thou mayest offer it unblemished to My Face.”
As the hour of her blessed death drew near, and the sick woman lay in her last breaths, Saint Mechtilde, moved by compassion, prayed to the Lord even more fervently. And it seemed to her that an innumerable army of saints was coming. The martyrs lined up in their heads; They were dressed in red robes and had golden shields on them. And they said to each other, “Let us move our shields!” And when they moved them, they made such a sweet sound that the sick woman’s sufferings were changed into joy and gladness. And the most faithful Spouse of the soul, the Lord Jesus, stood before the sick woman’s bedside, and His Blessed Mother stood beside Him. Then blessed is the soul of the dying, having freed herself from the bonds of the flesh, she flew joyfully into the hands of the Blessed Virgin, so that, freed from all suffering, she might be crowned for ever. After all, Mary gave it to her Son. He took her into His hands with wonderful tenderness and held her to His breasts to rest there until Mass was celebrated for her and the Easter Lamb was offered.
The Lord instructed the person who had seen all this to make an effort to celebrate Mass for the deceased earlier. And so it happened and the Holy Mass was celebrated before matins. The Lord put on Himself, in honor of His new bride, a white robe with eagles on it. The white color signified the purity and innocence of the sick woman; and her heart is inclined to meditate on eagles. When the Mass began, the Supreme Pontiff and True Bishop himself celebrated the Mass for the deceased. On the altar was placed a precious treasure, namely, all the good that the Son of God had done on earth for the salvation of men; the Lord offered this treasure to His heavenly Father for this soul, to complete its merits.
Then the Blessed Virgin Mary brought the soul to the altar and gave it a golden cupboard in which was also deposited the treasure of all the virtues and good works which the Blessed Virgin had done on earth, as well as the departed nun’s own good works, in which she had rejoiced during her life, so that she might offer all this to God for all her negligence. At the Gospel the Lord took her by the hands and said: “I promise you, my beloved, that your body, which has been completely consumed in my service, will come out of the tomb gloriously on the day of the future resurrection.”
And the soul, adorned as beautifully as a bride, had in her hand a ring, the stone of which represented a human face, while her soul shone like a transparent mirror. And when the Lamb of God was sacrificed for her, the light came forth from the Divine Heart with such brightness that it enveloped the whole soul, so that it could not be seen. Thus radiant with the splendor of the Divinity, filled with the wondrous sweetness of the Holy Spirit, and adorned with all the heavenly gifts, she became, as it were, one soul with God through the bond of inseparable union.
As the body was being carried to the tomb, St. Mechtilde heard the sweet song of the saints in honor of the funeral of the bride of the immortal King. They sang: “You are blessed, and you will be well, glorious bride of Christ; for thou shalt rejoice with the saints, and thou shalt rejoice with the angels forever.” A multitude of candles, which emitted strong flames, preceded the body; they signified the good works which the nun had done with the help of God during her life, and which now preceded her soul in order to prepare for her eternal reward.
Then the King of kings and Lord of lords received His bride and embraced her in His arms. Thus the Lord ushered His beloved into His heavenly kingdom with unspeakable joy, followed by the whole glorious army of saints.
And St. Mechtilde saw this happy soul shining in an ineffable ornament in the presence of the Most Holy Trinity. For the Lord bowed down to her and said, “Arise and throw yourself as a daughter into your Father’s arms,” and the soul embraced the Lord with joy in her hands. And the Lord said, “This embrace signifies the union by which this soul is united to Me in an eternal bond of indissoluble love.”