photo credit - tldm
Blessed Faustina Is Shown Hell
Sister Faustina, the beatified
[canonized April 30, 2000] Polish nun was shown Hell in 1936. Here is her
account from her Diary (741): "Today, I was led by an angel to the chasms of
hell. It is a place of great torture; how awesomely large and extensive it is!
The kinds of tortures I saw: the first torture that constitutes hell is the loss
of God; the second is perpetual remorse of conscience; the third is that one's
condition will never change; (160) the fourth is the fire that will penetrate
the soul without destroying it-a terrible suffering, since it is a purely
spiritual fire, lit by God's anger; the fifth torture is continual darkness and
a terrible suffocating smell, and, despite the darkness, the devils and the
souls of the damned see each other and all the evil, both of others and their
own; the sixth torture is the constant company of Satan; the seventh torture is
the horrible despair, hatred of God, vile words, curses and blasphemies. These
are the tortures suffered by all the damned together, but that is not the end of
the sufferings. There are special tortures destined for particular souls. These
are the torments of the senses. Each soul undergoes terrible and indescribable
sufferings, related to the manner in which it has sinned. There are caverns and
pits of torture where one form of agony differs from another. I would have died
at the very sight of these tortures if the omnipotence of God had not supported
me. Let the sinner know that he will be tortured throughout all eternity, in
those senses which he made use of to sin. (161) I am writing this at the command
of God, so that no soul may find an excuse by saying there is no hell, or that
nobody has ever been there, and so no one can say what it is like. I, Sister
Faustina, by the order of God, have visited the abysses of hell so that I might
tell souls about it and testify to its existence. I cannot speak about it now;
but I have received a command from God to leave it in writing. The devils were
full of hatred for me, but they had to obey me at the command of God. What I
have written is but a pale shadow of the things I saw. But I noticed one thing:
that most of the souls there are those who disbelieved that there is a hell.
When I came to, I could hardly recover from the fright. How terribly souls
suffer there! Consequently, I pray even more fervently for the conversion of
sinners. I incessantly plead God's mercy upon them. O my Jesus, I would rather
be in agony until the end of the world, amidst the greatest sufferings, than
offend You by the least sin."
Sister Josefa Menendez's Description of Hell
One of the greatest mystics of
this century was Sister Josefa Menendez, who died in 1923 at the age of 33. This
young Spanish sister, who had a short religious life of great suffering,
experienced revelations throughout much of her life, compiled in The Way Of
Divine Love. More than once, she was taken to Hell to witness and feel the
suffering first-hand. Sister Josefa was reluctant to write on the subject of
Hell, and did so only to conform to Our Lord's wishes. Sister Josefa repeatedly
dwelt on what she described as the greatest torment of Hell, namely, the soul's
inability to love. One of these damned souls cried out: "This is my
torture...that I want to love and cannot; there is nothing left me but hatred
and despair. If one of us could so much as make a single act of love...But we
cannot, we live on hatred and malevolence..." (March 23, 1922).
She records, too, the accusations
made against themselves by these unhappy souls: "Some yell because of the
martyrdom of their hands. Perhaps they were thieves, for they say: 'Where is our
loot now?' ...Cursed hands... Others curse their tongues, their eyes...whatever
was the occasion of sin... 'Now, O body, you are paying the price of the
delights you granted yourself!...and you did it of your own free will...'"
(April 2, 1922).
"I saw several souls fall into
Hell, and among them was a child of fifteen, cursing her parents for not having
taught her to fear God nor that there was a Hell. Her life had been a short one,
she said, but full of sin, for she had given in to all that her body and
passions demanded in the way of satisfaction..." (March 22, 1923).
"My soul fell into abysmal
depths, the bottom of which cannot be seen, for it is immense...; Then I was
pushed into one of those fiery cavities and pressed, as it were, between burning
planks, and sharp nails and red-hot irons seemed to be piercing my flesh. I felt
as if they were endeavoring to pull out my tongue, but could not. This torture
reduced me to such agony that my very eyes seemed to be starting out of their
sockets. I think this was because of the fire which burns, burns ... not a
finger nail escapes terrifying torments, and all the time one cannot move even a
finger to gain some relief, not change posture, for the body seems flattened out
and [yet] doubled in two. Sounds of confusion and blasphemy cease not for an
instant. A sickening stench asphyxiates and corrupts everything, it is like the
burning of putrefied flesh, mingled with tar and sulphur ... a mixture to which
nothing on earth can be compared... although these tortures were terrific, they
would be bearable if the soul were at peace. But it suffers indescribably... All
I have written," she concluded, "is but a shadow of what the soul suffers, for
no words can express such dire torment." (September 4, 1922).
"Today, I saw a vast number of
people fall into the fiery pit . . . they seemed to be worldlings and a demon
cried vociferously: 'The world is ripe for me . . . I know that the best way to
get hold of souls is to rouse their desire for enjoyment . . . Put me first . .
. me before the rest . . . no humility for me! but let me enjoy myself . . .
This sort of thing assures victory to me . . . and they tumble headlong into
hell.' " (October 4, 1923)
"Tonight I was transported to a
place where all was obscure. . . Around me were seven or eight people; I could
see them only by the reflections of the fire. They were seated and were talking
together. One said: 'We'll have to be very careful not to be found out, for we
might easily be discovered.'
"The devil answered: 'Insinuate
yourselves by inducing carelessness in them . . . but keep in the background, so
that you are not found out . . . by degrees they will become callous, and you
will be able to incline them to evil. Tempt these others to ambition, to
self-interest, to acquiring wealth without working, whether it be lawful or not.
Excite some to sensuality and love of pleasure. Let vice blind them . . . As to
the remainder . . . get in through the heart . . . you know the inclinations of
their hearts . . . make them love . . .love passionately . . . work thoroughly .
. . take no rest . . . have no pity. Let them cram themselves with food! It will
make it all the easier for us . . . Let them get on with their banqueting. Love
of pleasure is the door through which you will reach them . . .' " (February 3,
1923).
The Fatima Children Are Shown Hell
In 1917,
during World War I and that "hell on earth," the Virgin Mary appeared to three
children at Fatima, Portugal on the 13th of the month from May through October.
During here appearance on July 13th, 1917, she showed these three young
children, ages 7 to 10, a vision of Hell. Lucia, who is still alive today
[R.I.P. Feb. 13, 2005], the Blessed Virgin Mary opened her hands, and "rays of
light seemed to penetrate the earth, and we saw as it were a sea of fire.
Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent
burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the
conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within
themselves together with great clouds of smoke, now falling back on every side
like sparks in huge fires, without weight or equilibrium, amid shrieks and
groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear.
(It must have been this sight which caused me to cry out, as people say they
heard me.) The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repellent
likeness to frightful and unknown animals, black and transparent like burning
coals. Terrified and as if to plead for help, we looked up at Our Lady, who said
to us so sadly: "You have seen Hell where the souls of poor sinners go. Thus,
when you say the rosary, say after each mystery: O my Jesus, forgive us our
sins, save us from the fires of Hell and lead all souls to Heaven, especially
those most in need of Thy Mercy." After this vision, the children lived dramatic
lives of sacrifice and penance for sinners so that sinners might be converted
and saved from the fires of Hell that God had shown them through His Heavenly
prophetess.Boy Raised from the Dead by St. John Bosco
A fifteen year old boy in Turin
was about to die. He called for Don Bosco, but the saint was not able to make it
in time. Another priest heard the boy's confession and the boy died. When Don
Bosco returned to Turin, he set out at once to see the boy. When told that the
boy was dead, he insisted that it was "just a misunderstanding." After a moment
of prayer in the room of the dead child, Don Bosco suddenly cried out: "Charles!
Rise!" To the utter amazement of all present, the boy stirred, opened his eyes,
and sat up. Seeing Don Bosco, his eyes lit up.
"Father, I should now be in
Hell!" gasped the boy. "Two weeks ago I was with a bad companion who led me into
sin and at my last confession, I was afraid to tell everything . . . Oh, I've
just come out of a horrible dream! I dreamt I was standing on the edge of a huge
furnace surrounded by a horde of devils. They were about to throw me into the
flames when a beautiful Lady appeared and stopped them. 'There's still hope for
you, Charles,' she told me. 'You have not yet been judged!' At that moment I
heard you calling me. Oh, Don Bosco! What a joy to see you again! Will you
please hear my confession?"
After hearing the boy's
confession, Don Bosco said to the boy, "Charles, now that the gates of Heaven
lie wide open for you, would you rather go there or stay here with us?" The boy
looked away for a moment and his eyes grew moist with tears. An expectant hush
fell over the room. "Don Bosco", he said at last, "I'd rather go to Heaven." The
mourners watched in amazement as Charles leaned back on the pillows, closed his
eyes, and settled once more into the stillness of death.
The Old General and The Count
In Russia shortly before the
horrible military campaign between Napoleon and Russia in 1812, two high-ranking
military men, one a Count and the Military Governor of Moscow and the other a
General, were scoffing over drinks about the existence of God, life after death
and Hell. They made a mocking "pledge of honor": if there were a Hell, the first
there would come to inform the other of it. A few weeks later, the General
departed for the front. One morning, while the Count was lying in bed, the
General suddenly appeared before him, pale, with his right hand on his breast,
declaring: "What do we do now? There is a Hell and I am there! What do we do
now?" He then disappeared. The Count ran to friends, eyes wild, hair on end, and
exclaimed what had just happened. Two weeks later, word was received in Moscow
that the General had died in battle - on the same day and at the very hour he
appeared to the Count. He had kept his word of honor: Hell exists.
The Young Lord and His Mistress
In London during the winter of
1847-1848, a wealthy young widow in here late 20's suddenly found herself in an
illicit relationship with a young Lord. Late one night as she was falling
asleep, a glimmer of light started to grow and expand at her door. To her
astonishment the door started to slowly open, and there was the young lord. He
approached, grabbed here left wrist, and hissed: "There is a Hell." The pain in
her wrist was so great she lost consciousness. When she came to, she had a
terrible burn into her wrist down to her bone. The carpet also was scorched
where his footsteps had come and gone. The next day she learned that the night
before, her lord had been found drunk and had died in his servants' arms. She
apparently lived the rest of her life with her charred scar as a reminder.
The Young Harlots
Rome, 1873. A prostitute dies
late one night at the local hospital. At that instant, one of her "co-workers"
back at the brothel starts screaming, waking up the entire neighborhood and
bringing the police. Why? Because her friend at the hospital had suddenly
appeared to her in flames, stating: "I am damned!" At daybreak, the poor girl
left. Word followed of the death the night before of her friend at the hospital.
Word then spread all over Rome of these events. As always, the wise listened,
the foolish laughed.
Revelations of St. Teresa of Avila, Mystic, Confessor, and one of the Doctors of the Church
"While
I was at prayer one day, I found myself in a moment, without knowing how,
plunged apparently into Hell. I understood that it was Our Lord's will that I
should see the place which the devils kept in readiness for me, and which I had
deserved by my sins. It lasted but for a moment, but it seems to me impossible
that I should ever forget it even if I were to live many years.
"The entrance seemed to be by a
long narrow pass, like a furnace, very low, dark, and close. The ground seemed
to be saturated with water, mere mud, exceedingly foul, sending forth
pestilential odors, and covered with loathsome vermin. At the end was a hollow
place in the wall like a closet, and in that I saw myself confined. All this was
ever pleasant to behold in comparison with what I felt there. There is no
exaggeration in what I am saying.
"But as to what I then felt, I do
not know where to begin if I were to describe it; it is utterly inexplicable. I
felt a fire in my soul but such that I am still unable to describe it. My bodily
sufferings were unendurable. I have undergone most painful sufferings in this
life, and, as the physicians say, the greatest that can be borne, such as the
contraction of my sinews when I was paralyzed, without speaking of other ills of
different types - yet, even those of which I have spoken, inflicted on me by
Satan; yet all these were as nothing in comparison with what I then felt,
especially when I saw that there would be no intermission nor any end to them.
"These sufferings were nothing in
comparison with the anguish of my soul, a sense of oppression, of stifling, and
of pain so acute, accompanied by so hopeless and cruel an infliction, that I
know not how to speak of it. If I say that the soul is continually being torn
from the body it would be nothing - for that implies the destruction of life by
the hands of another - but here it is the soul itself that is tearing itself in
pieces. I cannot describe that inward fire or that despair, surpassing all
torments and all pain. I did not see who it was that tormented me, but I felt
myself on fire, and torn to pieces, as it seemed to me; and I repeat it, this
inward fire and despair are the greatest torments of all.
"Left in that pestilential place,
and utterly without the power to hope for comfort, I could neither sit nor lie
down; there was no room. I was placed as it were in a hole in the wall; and
those walls, terrible to look on of themselves, hemmed me in on every side. I
could not breathe. There was no light, but all was thick darkness. I do not
understand how it is; though there was no light, yet everything that can give
pain by being seen was visible.
"Our Lord at that time would not
let me see more of Hell. Afterwards I had another most fearful vision, in which
I saw the punishment of certain sins. They were the most horrible to look at,
but because I felt none of the pain, my terror was not so great. In the former
vision Our Lord made me really feel those torments and that anguish of spirit,
just as if I had been suffering them in the body there. I know not how it was,
but I understood distinctly that it was a great mercy that Our Lord would have
me see with my own eyes the very place from which His compassion saved me. I
have listened to people speaking of these things and I have at other times dwelt
on the various torments of Hell, though not often, because my soul made no
progress by the way of fear; and I have read of the diverse tortures, and how
the devils tear the flesh with red-hot pincers. But all is as nothing before
this: It is a wholly different matter. In short, the one is a reality, the other
a description; and all burning here in this life is as nothing compared with the
fire that is there.
"I was so terrified by that
vision - and that terror is on me even now as I write - that though it took
place nearly six years ago, the natural warmth of my body is chilled by fear
even now when I think of it. And so, amid all the pain and suffering which I may
have had to bear, I remember no time in which I do not think that all we have to
suffer in this world is as nothing. It seems to me that we complain without
reason. I repeat it, this vision was one of the grandest mercies of God. It has
been to me of the greatest service, because it has destroyed my fear of trouble
and of the contradictions of the world, and because it has made me strong enough
to bear up against them, and to give thanks to Our Lord who has been my
Deliverer, as it now seems to me, from such fearful and everlasting pains.
"Ever since that time, as I was
saying, everything seems endurable in comparison with one instant of suffering
such as those I had then to bear in Hell. I am filled with fear when I see that,
after frequently reading books which describe in some manner the pains of Hell,
I was not afraid of them, nor made any account of them. Where was I? How could I
possibly take any pleasure in those things which led me directly to so dreadful
a place? Blessed forever be Thou, O my God! And oh, how manifest is it that Thou
didst love me much more than I did love Thee! How often, O Lord, didst Thou save
me from that fearful prison! And how I used to get back to it contrary to Thy
will.
"It was that vision which filled
me with very great distress which I felt at the sight of so many lost souls,
especially of the Lutherans - for they were once members of the Church by
Baptism - and also gave me the most vehement desires for the salvation of souls;
for certainly I believe that to save even one from those overwhelming torments,
I would willingly endure many deaths. If here on earth we see one whom we
specially love in great trouble or pain, our very nature seems to bid us
compassionate him; and if those pains be great, we are troubled ourselves. What,
then, must it be to see a soul in danger of pain, the most grievous of all
pains, forever? It is a thought no heart can bear without great anguish. Here we
know that pain at last ends with life, and that there are limits to it, yet the
sight of it moves us so greatly to compassion; that other pain has no ending,
and I know not how we can be calm when we see Satan carry so many souls daily
away.
"This also makes me wish that, in
a matter which concerns us so much, we did not rest satisfied with doing less
than we can do on our part - that we left nothing undone. May Our Lord vouchsafe
to give us His grace for that end."
Dear fellow Christians, Father
Lombardi, in his public debate with Italian Communist leader Velio Spano in
Cagliara on December 4, 1948 stated, "I am horror-struck at the thought that if
you continue in this manner, you will be condemned to hell." Spano replied, "I
do not believe in hell." Father Lombardi replied, "Precisely, and if you
continue, you will be condemned; for to avoid being condemned, one must believe
in hell." Hell is a grave reality that is easily forgotten in today's God-less
and apathetic society. This is all the more reason why we should fear for our
salvation and do all that we can to make sure that we are one of the elect. St.
Leonard of Port Maurice said, "To be saved for all eternity, to be damned for
all eternity, and to not make your every effort to avoid the one and make sure
of the other, is something inconceivable." Do not let your life pass before
it is too late; focus on saving your soul to the exclusion of all other things,
lest you find yourself forever in the eternal fires after your judgment. O, my
Jesus, forgive us our sins! Save us from the fires of Hell!
“There is blindness much worse than loss of physical sight, the blindness of heart. So many are heading for the flames blindly. Man seeks to destroy the evidence of Hell, but he will learn the truth soon enough. Hell exists and Heaven exists. The sins of the flesh send more souls to hell." - Jesus, October 2, 1970
Source: tldm
