Saint Galdinus died in a pulpit. 

He had just completed the sermon of his life, against the Cathars—a heresy that identified the God of the Old Testament as evil. 

His last sentence of that sermon turned out to be his last breath. He might have known his end was coming at that moment, or he might not have. But he knew that he was going to die at some point, so he made sure to make his life count.

You are going to die. I know it's not a very uplifting idea, but it's true. You are going to die, and everyone you know is going to die. From the moment we are born, we are living with a death sentence. We don't know when we will die or how, but we do know we will die.

When was the last time you paused to really think about your life? One of the most effective ways to do this is to pause and reflect upon death. The reality of death rearranges our priorities. 

If you ask a hospice nurse what the most common regrets of the dying are, you are likely to get one of the following responses:

• I wish I'd had the courage to just be myself.
• I wish I had spent more time with the people I love.
• I wish I had made spirituality more of a priority.
• I wish I hadn't spent so much time working.
• I wish I had discovered my purpose earlier.
• I wish I had learned to express my feelings more.
• I wish I hadn't spent so much time worrying about things that never happened.
• I wish I had taken more risks.
• I wish I had cared less about what other people thought.
• I wish I had realized earlier that happiness is a choice.
• I wish I had loved more.

These are the regrets of dying people, people who were out of time. Each of them contains a powerful lesson for those of us who are still living.

It is good and healthy to think about death from time to time. It puts things in perspective and reminds us what really matters. The perspective that death is inevitable reminds us to get busy living.



Feast Day: April 18

Patron Saint of: Milan

Also Known As: Saint Galdino

Canonized By: Pope Alexander III