The kindest sentence at a hospital bedside can be the most dangerous one. St. Alphonsus Liguori warned about the devil’s final trick before you die in his book Preparation for Death, then went through something close to it himself. This video follows what he wrote about the last hour, and how his own ended.

SOURCES:
St. Alphonsus Liguori’s own writings and accounts:
Preparation for Death (1758), Consideration VI, “The Death of the Sinner” (also titled “Anguish of the Dying Sinner”).
Preparation for Death, Consideration IX, “The Peace of the Just at Death”
Preparation for Death, “The Delusions the Devil Suggests to Sinners”.
Preparation for Death, “Means of Preparing for Death”.
Sermon, “The Anguish of Dying Christians Who Have Been Negligent During Life about the Duties of Religion”.
Redemptorist biographical accounts of his final years and death at Pagani (1787).

2. Other saints’ works (as cited by Alphonsus):
   St. Augustine on God’s promise of pardon, not of tomorrow.
   St. Ambrose on the bitterness coming from sin, not from death.
   St. Hilarion’s words to his own soul.

3. Catechism of the Catholic Church:
   CCC Paragraph 1014 (preparing for the hour of death).
   CCC Paragraph 2091 (despair).
   CCC Paragraph 2092 (presumption).

4. Scripture, Gospel:
   Luke 23:43.
   Scripture, remaining.
   Revelation 12:12.
   Wisdom 3:1.
   2 Kings 6:17.

Exact wording varies by edition, so please verify passages in your own copy.

DISCLAIMER:
This video is for educational and spiritual reflection purposes only. It is not advice of any kind, it is not meant to hurt anyone’s beliefs or feelings, and it respects people of every faith and perspective. The phrase “final trick” is this channel’s own summary of themes in St. Alphonsus’s writings, not his title.