Remember You Are Dust

Most of us know that we will die. Far fewer of us live as though that truth could clarify what deserves our attention today.

Remember You Are Dust is a sober, hopeful Catholic companion for readers who want to face mortality without morbidity and prepare for eternity without falling into fear. Rooted in Sacred Scripture, the Four Last Things, the sacraments, and the wisdom of the Church, Dominic Avelmere shows how the ancient practice of memento mori can awaken repentance, reorder priorities, and teach us to live with greater courage and love.

Across eighteen chapters arranged around the six weeks of Lent, this book examines the parts of life most easily postponed:

• the confession you keep meaning to make;

• the forgiveness you are waiting to offer;

• the vocation or responsibility you are afraid to accept;

• the people you love but rarely speak to plainly;

• the time and possessions entrusted to your care;

• the practical and sacramental preparation that can spare your family confusion when death comes.

Each chapter concludes with four practical movements: Remember, a Catholic truth to carry with you; Examine, questions for honest reflection; Act, one concrete step to take; and Pray, a short prayer for grace.

You will also learn about Anointing of the Sick, Viaticum, the Apostolic Pardon, Catholic end-of-life principles, prayer for the dead, purgatory, burial, and the communion of saints. Practical appendices help you record your sacramental wishes and begin an end-of-life plan consistent with Catholic teaching.

This is not a book about becoming preoccupied with death. It is about letting the empty tomb change how you live before death arrives.

Read it during Lent, after a loss, during a season of discernment, or whenever you need to stop postponing what matters most.