These are among the numerous themes associated with skull imagery. Later, Puritan tomb stones in the colonial United States frequently depicted winged skulls, skeletons, or angels snuffing out candles. This became a fashion in the tombs of the wealthy in the fifteenth century, and surviving examples still create a stark reminder of the vanity of earthly riches. Perhaps the most striking to contemporary minds is the transi or cadaver tomb, a tomb that depicts the decayed corpse of the deceased. The most obvious places to look for memento mori meditations are in funeral art and architecture. A Biblical injunction often associated with the memento mori in this context is In omnibus operibus tuis memorare novissima tua, et in aeternum non peccabis (the Vulgate's Latin rendering of Ecclesiasticus 7:40, "in all thy works be mindful of thy last end and thou wilt never sin.") This finds ritual expression in the rites of Ash Wednesday, when ashes are placed upon the worshipers' heads with the words, "Remember Man that you are dust and unto dust you shall return." To the Christian, the prospect of death serves to emphasize the emptiness and fleetingness of earthly pleasures, luxuries, and achievements, and thus also as an invitation to focus one's thoughts on the prospect of the afterlife. In the Christian context, the memento mori acquires a moralizing purpose quite opposed to the nunc est bibendum (now is the time to drink) theme of classical antiquity. All memento mori works are products of Christian art. The thought was then utilized in Christianity, whose strong emphasis on divine judgment, heaven, hell, and the salvation of the soul brought death to the forefront of consciousness. Memento mori has been an important part of ascetic disciplines as a means of perfecting the character by cultivating detachment and other virtues, and by turning the attention towards the immortality of the soul and the afterlife. It is related to the ars moriendi ("The Art of Dying") and similar Western literature. Memento Mori is the medieval Latin Christian practice of reflection on mortality, especially as a means of considering the vanity of earthly life and the transient nature of all earthly goods and pursuits. Wikipedia has this to say about Momento Mori: Today, keeping a real human skull on one's desk definitely would not be appropriate according to Catholic teaching as human remains should be buried.Ĭatholicism: Memento Mori in Christianity? If real skulls were ever used to meditate on death, I assume they were kept respectfully as relics and not used as mere props. Saint John Fisher reportedly kept a skull on his desk and his table when he ate. Pope Alexander VII commissioned a marble skull from Bernini to keep on his desk. I have found evidence of a couple other people in the history of the Church who kept skulls on their desks as a memento mori. The founder of my religious order, Blessed James Alberione, also keep one on his desk (also not real) to remind him of his inevitable death. I keep a skull on my desk (ceramic) to remind me of my death and started tweeting about it last year. Memento Mori, or remembering one's death/mortality in order to live well, is definitely a Christian tradition rooted in Scripture (see Sirach 7:36, Psalm 90:12, Luke 9:23).Īs for the skull on the desk, I think Father Schmitz is probably referring to something that I started on Twitter.
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