"...for the brief course of this life will soon be ended"

Finally, my beloved child, I intreat you by all that is sacred in heaven and in earth, by your own Baptism, by the breast which Jesus sucked, by the tender Heart with which He loves you, and by the bowels of compassion in which you hope—be stedfast and persevere in this most blessed undertaking to live a devout life. Our days pass away, death is at hand. “The trumpet sounds a recall,” says S. Gregory Nazianzen, “in order that every one may make ready, for Judgment is near.” When S. Symphorian was led to his martyrdom, his mother cried out to him, “My son, my son, remember life eternal, look to Heaven, behold Him Who reigns there; for the brief course of this life will soon be ended.” Even so would I say to you: Look to Heaven, and do not lose it for earth; look at Hell, and do not plunge therein for the sake of this passing life; look at Jesus Christ, and do not deny Him for the world’s sake; even if the devout life sometimes seems hard and dull, join in Saint Francis’ song,

“So vast the joys that I await,
No earthly travail seemeth great.”

Glory be to Jesus, to Whom, with the Father and the Holy Ghost, be honour and glory, now and ever, and to all Eternity. Amen.

St. Francis de Sales, Introduction to the Devout Life (Part 5, Chapter 18)