“NOTHING DIES”

Neither the sun nor death can be gazed upon. The reason is clear: the sun, with its excessive brightness, dazzles, while death confronts us with its impenetrable darkness. Death is a destiny that dwells within us. Therefore, it is not before us, but is at the heart of life itself, awaiting us there. Remove it? We try, but it is an illusion. Death must simply be faced. But facing it seems reckless. We have only one option: faith, faith in Christ dead and risen. This is the meaning of today’s celebration in which we commemorate in love all the deceased. But what is death for a Christian? A gateway, yes, a gate that God opens in us, that He must open in us to take us into Himself. Certainly, death seems like an incurable weakness in us humans. A mortal weakness. But Christ was able to transform into a life-giving factor what in itself is only a force of weakening and destruction, so that those who die in Him are actually alive in Him. Here I would like to recall a great Italian poet, Giuseppe Ungaretti. In the ninth sequence of “The Last Choirs of the Promised Land,” he reveals his long-standing habit of attentively observing reality, even the smallest (for example, the tiny blossoming of the mimosa). And he discovers that while he is preparing for the great silence of death, everything around him speaks to him of a life that goes beyond appearances. Yes, nothing dies because love has conquered death and everything miraculously blossoms again.

Last Choirs for the Promised Land
Rome, 1952-1960

Every year, as I discover that February
Is sensitive, and, out of modesty, turbid,
The mimosa bursts forth with tiny yellow blossoms.
It frames itself at the window
Of that former home of mine,
Of this one where I spend my old years.

As I approach the great silence,
Will it be a sign that nothing dies
Do appearances always return?

Or will I finally know that death
Has a kingdom only above appearances?

Commentary by b. Sandro Carotta, osb
Abbazia di Praglia (Italy)

Translation by f. Mark Hargreaves,
Prinknash Abbey