The passport to eternal life

Abstract

鈥淓veryone will admit that the art of dying well is the most important of all the arts,鈥� writes St Robert Bellarmine in the preface to his De Arte Bene Moriendi, published in the second decade of the 17th century. Yet, how is a good death ensured? What are the necessary steps and measures that, taken during one鈥檚 lifetime, assist the soul鈥檚 safe passage to heaven? What are the ways, if any, that ascertain as short a stay as possible in the flames of purgatory? These are a few of the questions explored by Frans Ciappara, from the University of Malta鈥檚 International Institute of Baroque Studies, during a well-attended public lecture delivered at the Inquisitor鈥檚 Palace in Vittoriosa, which was introduced by the director of the Institute, Denis De Lucca.