Some years ago, our family visited the Capuchin church (also known as The Bones Church) in Rome. At first, it just seemed creepy as the crypt is decorated with the bones of 4000 different friars between 1528 and 1870. Visitors are welcomed with the phrase, “What you are we were; what we are you will be “. BUT, we were so intrigued by this place and over the years I have thought about what these monks and their bones ask us to remember…the fleeting nature of our lives here on earth.
Through the ages, actual skulls have served as visual reminders of the brevity of life. Skulls were often included in art, and people were encouraged to regularly meditate on their own mortality. Memento Mori is Latin for “remember you must die”. In his book, Practicing the Way, John Mark Comer writes, “monks would go into their cells and kneel on prayer benches with three items spread before them: a portion of Scripture, a candle…and a skull.” It sounds rather gloomy and macabre to us today, doesn’t it?! And although we likely won’t be trying to procure real skulls, an acceptance of this truth helps us receive life as both brief and beautiful. In the famous words of the poet Mary Oliver, “Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?”
Memento Mori, by Gayla Irwin
In closing, consider the prayer of Moses from Psalm 90, that God would teach his people to “number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom”. The next time you see a skull (and since Halloween is close, you will likely see some) remember Memento Mori and ask for the grace to live your life as the treasured gift it is.