3-098-600 - Heritage Art/Heritage Images

Last Moments of Friar Charles Climaque, 1862. Friar Charles Climaque died in the Trappist monastery of Santa Susana de Maella, Zaragoza. The catalogue of the National Exhibition of Fine Arts of 1862 gives an excerpt from Chateaubriand's "Genius of Christianity": "I remember that, as he lay upon the bed of ash and straw where he offered up his final sacrifice, he raised himself up; and, taking the hand of our Reverend Father Abbot, he spoke with a tone of love and tenderness that deeply moved the community gathered there: "How great is my happiness, and how much I owe you in gratitude, my Father! You are the author of my salvation, for in opening the doors of the monastery to me, you opened the gates of eternal glory; without your protection, I would have been miserably lost in the world. I shall pray to God that He may reward your charity.'"