What ever happened to Ars moriendi?

Our Western society is focused on eternal life ... in this world only. We use health clubs and health foods to Botox, plastic surgery and organ transplants in order to enhance and prolong our earthly existence. Where is the focus on our spiritual existence? All religious denominations have suffered a decrease in fervor, understanding and practice. This focus on mere earthly existence has created new societal questions on how to face death, in an age which does everything to postpone it.

Now bioethics is forcing society to look at the "Art of Dying Well", and what that means? Could this mean legalizing euthanasia? Could this mean rationing in medicine? Could it mean altering what it means to be human? Just what are the ethics regarding these questions, and what is their main focus?

All of these questions led us to look up a long forgotten Latin text called Ars moriendi ("The Art of Dying"), dating from the Middle Ages and written within the historical context of the effects of Plague and the consequent social upheaval of the 15th century, which it caused. It was very popular, translated into most Western European languages, and the first in a Western literary tradition of guides to death and dying. It consisted of 6 chapters, which sums up the dichotomy between today's focus on death and dying, as opposed to the late Middle Ages.

The chapters speak for themselves:

1.) Explains that dying has a good side, and serves to console the dying man; that death is not something to be afraid of.
2.) Outlines the five temptations that beset a dying man, and how to avoid them .. ie .. lack of faith, despair, impatience, spiritual pride and avarice.
3.) Lists 7 questions to ask a dying man, along with the redemptive powers of Christ's love.
4.) Expresses the need to imitate Christ's life.
5.) Addresses the friends and family, outlining the general rules of behavior at the death bed.
6.) Includes appropriate prayers to be said for a dying person.

Compare the focus of these chapters to today's end of life concerns, and you will find a marked contrast between the two.