A spiritual testament is a devotional practice for Catholics. Based on the generic format of a legal document ("last will"), the texts record their authors' allegiance to Jesus Christ and the Roman Catholic Church, willingness to repent of their sins, and desire to remain faithful until they die, come what may. Ideally, believers would sign it while in good health, seeking to ensure that even if they recanted under delirium on their deathbed, God would know of their true intentions. Reading and meditation upon spiritual testaments composed by saints was widely practiced.
One of the most famous spiritual testaments is that of Saint Charles Borromeo (originally titled The Testament or Last Will of the Soul). The bishop wrote it during an epidemic and designed it as a sort of spiritual insurance policy to declare his true faith to God and protect his soul from the devil if he were to die suddenly or lose his mental faculties before receiving the last rites.
Frequent tropes are: readiness for death, forgiveness of enemies, and pre-emptive rejection of any deathbed temptations or doubts.