Thanks to both of you for your posts about being in danger of death. I’m glad you offered them and it helps me to understand many things.
I, too, have been in such a situation. In fact, I had a “near-death” experience.
It remains as clear to me this day as when it happened.
I can assure you that just because some people on this forum have described the “agonized death” of Catholic friends/relatives/etc. doesn’t make it a universal experience by ANY means. Anyone who has worked in hospice and with Catholic dying patients will refute the generalization that the typical Catholic death scene is one of agonized fear. In fact, they would be very likely to tell you that such a scenario is atypical.
Could someone let Markbsnr know that it's not presumptive or wrong to know you will be with the Lord in heaven before you die? I don't think he is alone in thinking that we won't know until we face "the judge" whether we will be saved or not.
My husband was a firefighter for over twenty years and he said he always could tell who was a real Christian by how they faced death and he saw a lot of death. It is called "blessed assurance" for a reason. Thanks for sharing.