Holy Living and Dying: Rules and Exercises for a Devout Life and a Peaceful Death

Written during the turbulent years of the English Civil War while Taylor was living in Welsh seclusion, this paired spiritual classic offers practical counsel for navigating both the duties of everyday life and the inevitability of death. Originally published as two complementary treatises—The Rule and Exercises of Holy Living (1650) and The Rule and Exercises of Holy Dying (1651)—the work transformed personal piety into an art of deliberate, sanctified awareness.

In Holy Living, Taylor provides direct, humane instruction on cultivating temperance, humility, and faith amid worldly distractions, urging the reader to consecrate each action and hour to God. The companion volume, Holy Dying, confronts the transience of human existence with piercing moral clarity, counseling the soul on how to face sickness, fear, and final departure with calm courage and spiritual composure.

Celebrated for its ornate, poetic cadence—earning Taylor the enduring moniker of the “Shakespeare of Divines”—the text balances intense theological conviction with psychological realism. His imagery of morning mists, fleeting sunbeams, and fragile breath turns abstract doctrine into an intimate meditation on human fragility and grace.

Enduring across centuries as a cornerstone of Anglican spirituality and English prose, Holy Living and Dying remains essential reading for seekers, scholars, and anyone seeking a timeless manual on the art of living well and dying faithfully.