Prayer Booklet of the Brotherhood of the Happy Death

A rare bilingual devotional booklet originally printed for the Bruderschaft vom Guten Tod (Brotherhood of the Good Death), a Catholic confraternity dedicated to St. Joseph, patron of a holy and peaceful death.

First issued by St. Mary’s Church, Cleveland, Ohio, this booklet guided members of the Happy Death Society (Bona Mors) through the prayers, litanies, and obligations of their monthly meetings — helping the faithful prepare their souls for a blessed end.

This restored facsimile preserves the full German and English texts, including:

Zweck und Uebungen (Purpose and Exercises of the Brotherhood)

Weiheformel (Formula of Consecration)

Prayers to the Five Sacred Wounds of Christ

Devotions to the Sorrowful Mother, St. Joseph, and St. Barbara

The complete Litany of St. Joseph

Rules, indulgences, and prayers for the dying

German hymns (Nach der Ansprache, Nach dem Segen) and English counterparts

Originally printed in elegant blackletter German type and English translation, this small prayer book captures the tone of early immigrant Catholic piety — humble, penitential, and filled with hope in Christ’s Passion and Mary’s intercession.

A meaningful devotional for daily reflection, or a valuable addition to any collection of historic Catholic and German-American religious texts.