Stories of Hell in the lives of the Saints

Stories of Hell- How the holy fear of hell has made countless Saints

St Padre Pio (1887-1968) was once asked what he thought of people who did not believe in hell. He wisely replied: “They will very well believe in hell when they get there.”

God wills that we all be united with Him in heaven for all eternity. Yet, in the Gospels, Jesus often spoke of hell and eternal punishment, speaking of a place of “…external darkness where there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.” (Matt 8:11-12) and of eternal punishment of those uncompassionate and uncharitable persons placed on His left at the Judgement, stating to them: “Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels.” (Matt 25:41) or again “If your hand or foot causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life maimed or crippled than with two hands or two feet to be thrown into eternal fire. And if your eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter into life with one eye than with two eyes to be thrown into fiery Gehenna.” (Matt 18:7-9)---and this is to name just a few of the many occasions Jesus spoke of hell.

Additionally, the teaching of hell is an infallible Dogma of the Catholic church. It is one of the “four last things” —heaven, hell, death and punishment-- which the Church presents to each of us to contemplate upon. In short, both Jesus and His Church have always encouraged a salutary fear of hell. And those who have studied the lives of the Saints and other devout persons have found that the majority of them had a very healthy and beneficial fear of hell that inspired and encouraged them to fight the evil temptations that came their way. Next, we will present a few stories to illustrate this important point, that we too may imitate and emulate them.

Stories of hell and its punishments –The Blessed Virgin Mary saves a soul from going to hell
We will begin with the testimony of Blessed Richard of St Ann- A Franciscan priest who was martyred by being burned at the stake in Nagasaki, Japan in 1622. This celebrated apparition of a damned soul which we are about to relate was attested by Blessed Richard as the primary reason which prompted him to enter the Franciscans. The testimony is related in three works: Adrian Lyroeus documented it in his “Trisagium Marianum, Book III"; Saint Alphonsus Liguori, who also cites the same facts in his “Glories of Mary”, and lastly the same occurrence is related in the authentic documents known as “The Annals of Franciscan Missions, for the years 1866-67.”

While Blessed Richard was living in Brussels in 1604 there were two young students who instead of applying themselves to study, thought only of how to live in pleasure and sin. One night, among others, when they had gone to indulge in sin in a house of prostitution, one of the two left the place after some time, leaving his companion in sin behind him.

Having reached home, he was about to lie down in bed, when he remembered that he had not recited that day the few “Hail Mary’s” which he had the habit of saying every day since childhood in honor of the Holy Virgin. As he was overpowered by sleep, it was very difficult for him to recite the short prayers; however, he made an effort and said them, although without devotion; then he fell fast asleep. Not long afterwards he heard a sudden, a rude knocking at the door; and immediately afterwards he saw before him his companion, disfigured and hideous. "Who are you?" he said to him. "What? Don't you recognise me?" replied the unhappy youth. "But how are you so changed? You look like a devil?" "Oh, take pity upon me, for I am damned!" "How is that?" "Well, know that upon leaving that accursed house a evil person sprang upon me and strangled me. My body has remained in the middle of the street, and my soul is in Hell. Know, moreover, that the same chastisement awaited you, but the Virgin preserved you from it, thanks to your practice of reciting every day the three Hail Mary’s in her honor. And blessed are you if you know how to profit by this information, which the Mother of God gives you through me."

While finishing these words, the damned soul partly opened his garment, allowed the flames and evil spirits that were tormenting him to be seen, and he vanished. Then the young man, sobbing uncontrollably, threw himself on his face on the floor and prayed for a long time, thanking the Holy Virgin Mary, his deliverer. Now, while he was praying in this manner he began reflecting upon what he ought to do next to change his life, and at that moment he heard the Matins bell ring at the Franciscan Monastery.

That very moment he cried out, "So there is where God is calling me to do penance."

Very early the next morning he went to the convent and begged the Father Guardian to receive him. The Father Guardian, who was well aware of his bad life, was not at all interested in accepting him. The young student, shedding a torrent of tears, related to him all that had taken place. The good priest immediately sent two religious to the street indicated, and there they found the corpse of the wretched youth. The young man was soon admitted as a postulant among the Brothers, whom he soon edified by a life completely devoted to penance and reparation.

It was these terrible facts that struck a deep chord of both the holy fear of hell, and the devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary into Blessed Richard himself, so he too immediately consecrated himself entirely to God and the Blessed Virgin Mary in the same Order into which the young student, so wonderfully protected by Mary, had just been received.

A burning handprint from hell -A lifelong reminder
The next incident is from an honorable priest and superior of a religious community. This priest had the particulars of the story from a close relation of the lady to whom it had happened. At the time of the writing, Christmas Day, 1859, this person was still living and was roughly forty years old, therefore no name is mentioned in the recording of this event to protect the persons identity.

The woman concerned in this story was living in London in the winter of 1847-1848. She was a widow, about twenty nine years old, quite rich and worldly. Among the young men who visited her there was young lord of bad conduct who courted her and of whom she eventually committed a variety of sins with.

Late one night she was in bed reading a novel when one o'clock struck on the clock; she blew out her taper and was about to fall asleep when, to her great astonishment, she noticed strange glimmer of light coming from the door of the drawing-room, which spread by degrees into her chamber. Stupefied at first and not knowing what this meant, she began to get alarmed, when she saw the drawing-room door slowly open and the young lord, the partner of her disorders, enter the room. Before she had time to say a single word, he seized her by the left wrist, and with a hissing voice, said to her in English: "There is a Hell!”  The pain she suddenly felt in her arm was so great that she immediately passed out.

When she came to again about a half an hour after she immediately rang for her chambermaid. The latter, on entering, noticed a strong smell of burning. Approaching her mistress who was frantic and could hardly speak she immediately noticed on her wrist a burn so deep that the bone was laid bare, and the flesh almost consumed. Moreover, she remarked that, from the door of the salon to the bed, and returning from the bed to that same door, the carpet bore the imprint of a man's steps, which had burned through the fibers. By the directions of her mistress, she opened the drawing-room door and there she found more tracks on the carpet.

The following day, the unhappy lady learned, with a terror easily imagined, that on that very night, about one o'clock in the morning, her friend the lord had been found dead-drunk under the table, and that his servants had carried him to his room, and that he had died of alcohol poisoning in their arms.

I do not know for certain, added the Priest-Superior, whether that terrible lesson converted the heart of that unfortunate lady, but what I do know is that she is still alive and that, to conceal from sight the traces of her ominous burn, she wears on the left wrist, like a bracelet, a wide gold band, which she does not take off day or night. I repeat it: I have all these details from her near relation, a serious Christian, in whose word I give the fullest belief. She states that this story is never spoken of, even in the family; and that she only confided it to me, suppressing every proper name.

Notwithstanding the anonymity beneath which this apparition has been revealed and must be enveloped, it seems impossible, states a writer, to call into doubt the dreadful authenticity of the details.


'I am damned! And if you do not wish to be like me, leave this place of infamy and return to God.'
Here is a third fact related by the writer Monsignor de Segur in his book “Opuscule on Hell”:

"In the year 1873," he writes, "a few days before the Assumption (August 15), there occurred again one of those apparitions from beyond the grave, which so efficaciously confirms the reality of Hell. It was in Rome. A brothel, opened in that city after the Piedmontese invasion, stood near a police station. One of the unfortunate girls who lived there had been wounded in the hand, and it was found necessary to take her to the hospital of Consolation. Whether her blood, vitiated by bad living, or brought on an infection of the wound, or from an unexpected complication, she nonetheless died suddenly during the night. At the same instant, one of her companions, who was completely ignorant of what had happened at the hospital, began to utter shrieks of despair to the point of awaking the inhabitants of the locality, creating a frenzy among the wretched creatures of the house, and provoking the intervention of the police. The dead girl of the hospital, surrounded by flames, had appeared to her and said: 'I am damned! And if you do not wish to be like me, leave this place of infamy and return to God.'

"Nothing could quell the despair of this girl, who, at daybreak, departed, leaving the whole house plunged in confusion, even more so when the news of the death of her companion at the hospital was made known.

"Just at this period, the mistress of the place, an exalted Garribaldian and known as such by her family and friends, fell sick. She soon sent for a priest to receive the Sacraments. The ecclesiastical authority deputed for this task a worthy prelate, Mgr. Sirolli, the pastor of the parish of Saint-Saviour in Laura. He presented himself and exacted of the sick woman, before all, in presence of many witnesses, the full and entire retraction of her blasphemies against the Sovereign Pontiff and the discontinuance of the sinful trade that she was managing. The unhappy creature did so without hesitating and consented to purge her house, then made her confession and received the Holy Viaticum with great sentiments of repentance and humility.

"Feeling that she was dying, she besought the good pastor with tears not to leave her, frightened as she always was by the apparition of that damned girl. Mgr. Sirolli of course was unable to satisfy her request on account of the public scandal spending the night in such a place would certainly cause, he therefore requested from the police two men who remained until the dying woman had breathed her last.

"Very soon, all Rome became acquainted with the details of these tragic occurrences. As usual in such circumstances, the ungodly and lewd ridiculed them, taking good care not to seek for any additional information about them; however the good profited by them and became more devout and more faithful to their duties.”

To doubt the existence of hell is foolish bravery
In his book on Hell, Father F.X. Schouppe, S.J. relates the following:

“Natural reason confirms the dogma of hell. An atheist was once boasting that he did not believe in hell. Among his hearers, there was a sensible young man, modest, but who thought that he ought to shut the silly speaker's mouth. He put to him a single question: "Sir," he said, "the kings of the earth have prisons to punish their wicked subjects; how can God, the King of the Universe, be without a prison for those who outrage His majesty?" The atheist of course had not a word to answer. The appeal was presented to the light of his own reason, which proclaims that, if kings have prisons, God must likewise have a hell.”

Pascals wager and fire insurance
Additionally there is the well known story of  “Pascal’s wager”. Blaise Pascal was a seventeenth-century French philosopher, mathematician and physicist. Unlike many men of science and knowledge these days, he used his gift of reason to support his faith and belief in God, heaven and hell, and he developed a logical presupposition commonly known as “Pascal’s wager” which states thus:

If one believes in God, yet upon death one discovers that God does not exist, ones loses absolutely nothing in life or in death, whereas if God exists, and one believes in God, one gains everything upon death (eternal reward in heaven).

However, if one disbelieves in God, and finds upon death that God does not exist, one gains nothing in life or in death, whereas if one erroneously disbelieves and shuns God, and upon death finds that God exists, one loses everything (eternal damnation in hell).

In short, Pascals Wager operates under the very logical presupposition that it does not harm one to believe in God and to fear hell. But to not do so, one takes a very grave risk; a risk of potentially devastating consequences for all eternity. We take out fire insurance on our property—would it not be wise to do at least the same for our persons, especially when in this case the insurance costs absolutely nothing, and while in reality such faith in God normally makes one a more caring and compassionate person?

More on Saints and the beneficial fear of Hell
Some Saints and devout souls, like St Teresa of Avila and Sr. Josefa Menendez where taken in spirit to hell. Others like St Gemma Galgani were shown horrible vision of the devil and the demons: Writing to her spiritual director Gemma says: "...Come quickly, Father, or at least make the exorcism from a distance. The devil has pursued me in every possible way. Oh, if you only knew how I have suffered. How pleased he was this night. He seized me by the hair and dragged me about exclaiming, 'Disobedience, disobedience, now there is no more time to begin again. Come, come with me,' and he tried to carry me off to Hell. He tormented me like this for more than four hours, and thus I passed the night."  (More on St Gemma's heroic battles with the demons here)

The three children of Fatima, Blessed Jacinta Marto, Blessed Francisco Marto and Sr. Lucia Dos Santos where shown by the Blessed Virgin Mary a terrifying vision of hell when they were only ages 9 and 10 years old- and this frightening vision completely changed them to their deepest inner spirit. Even though they were but young children, after the vision given them by the Blesssed Virgin, they would not hesitate in the least bit to make great sacrifices to prevent souls from going to hell. Among other things that the Blessed Virgin Mary and the angel of God taught them was this important prayer:
“Oh my Jesus; forgive us our sins. Save us from the fires of hell. Lead all souls into heaven, especially those most in need of Thy mercy”.

_______________________________________
“When I see Jesus weep, my own heart is pierced with sorrow; I think of how by my sins I have added to the oppression in which Jesus suffered in the Garden. At that time Jesus saw all my sins, all my omissions, and He saw the place I should have occupied in Hell, if Thy Heart, oh Jesus, had not granted me forgiveness” –St Gemma Galgani

36 comments:

Joseph said...

On June 19 and 20, 1962 the young visionaries at Garabandal were also shown hell by the Blessed Virgin Mary. The local townspeople called these two nights "the nights of the screams" because the young visionaries cried out in terror at the moments that they were shown hell. And afterwards, like the visionaries at Fatima, they were always looking to make sacrifices and reparation to keep sinners from going to hell. (Note though that unlike Fatima, Garabandal has not yet been oficially approved by the Catholic church)
-Joseph

Deussolus9.wordpress.com said...

Yet it is said that the next day most of the women and some of the men in the town had confession.

Deussolus9.wordpress.com said...

Here is my powerpoint presentation on Garabandal. Anyone interested in having me do this presentation for their group or church contact me at garabandalg@gmail.com

http://www.slideshare.net/capturado_gt/stations-of-the-pines

Anonymous said...

When I bought that book: The Dogma of Hell, Plus How To Avoid It, the lady who owned the store asked me if I was going to read it. I said yes and asked her why? She said that most people could not finish it because it is so terrifying. Indeed it was, and I did finish & would recommend to your family or friends that might be in danger of losing their soul.

Anonymous said...

So I guess the story of Lazarus was all a lie according to Catholic faith. Seems to me the word of god made it infallibly clear that the dead are not allowed to warn the living about he'll when Lazarus begged that his brothers be given the same warning. Mary does not deliver anyone from hell only the blood of Christ.

Anonymous said...

Luke 16:19-31. Lazarus may not go to hell from heaven because of the great gulf. He need not go to earth from heaven to convert the wicked because "They have Moses and the prophets..." which Lazarus would be no better than. The statement that "..the dead are not allowed to warn the living..." is untrue as shown by Samuel warning Saul, "Tomorrow you and your sons will be with me..." 1 Samuel 28:19.
Perhaps my understanding of scripture is not "infallibly clear" since I am not among those empowered by the Holy Spirit to make infallible pronouncements esoecially regarding scripture. Jesus specifically empowered the apostles to interpret scripture Lk 24:45. So it seems the Catholic faith led by the present day apostles can say what is a lie according to scripture and what is not. In humility one should accept them as one accepts Christ Mt 16:19.

Anonymous said...

The stories of Hell I heard during my 13 years of Catholic education made me crazy.

Joseph said...

Dear Anonymous of March 11 at 1:45pm:

I think by your comments its pretty obvious you posted just troll--to "pick a fight" so to speak.

I suggest you get a better understanding of interpreting the meaning of scripture. You should know that the PARABLE of Lazarus (first point, its a PARABLE and not meant to be understood as real persons or events) has nothing to do with defining whether souls from hell can go visit those of earth--this is not at all the point or meaning of the parable. The teaching and meaning of the parable is concerning the rich man's lack of charity towards Lazarus, and how he was punished for it at his judgement. It is not meant to be a teaching on whether souls from hell can visit earth, no more than the "faith the size of a mustard seed" parable would be a teaching on how to move a mountain.

As far as your comment on Mary -well obviously you are baiting with this comment also so I will not waste my time with replying.
-Joseph

Glenn Dallaire said...

To Anonymous who said:
"The stories of Hell I heard during my 13 years of Catholic education made me crazy."
--------------------
Sorry, but I highly doubt your memories concerning this. It is very unlikely that the Catholic dogma of hell would be taught or spoken about for any significant depth or length of time in any Catholic school in the past 50 years. In fact the majority of Catholics would surely agree that the opposite is true--hell and its punishments are practically never spoken of or preached about in Catholic schools or from the pulpit. So I am sorry but I doubt that your memory/recollections are true.
In fact, embarrassing as it is, the Protestant churches speak more about hell than the Catholics do, even though in the Catholic church it is a dogma with well defined doctrine.

May God bless you and your loved ones,
Glenn Dallaire



Anonymous said...

And again this hell that Dante invented, begs the question do we love God or do we only love him because the thought of burning for eternity with no hope. This dogma if infinite punishment for a finite existence has been a stumbling block to my entire Christian faith! I am not a catholic, because i still can find no solid evidence for Peter starting the Church, however there concept of purgatory seems to make some sense!

Anonymous said...

Children are impressionable and the Church. has a way of ,unfortunately, emphasizing a fear of hell instead of a love for God. The bible says that God is long suffering not wanting that any should perish but that all should turn to repentance. Jesus said,"If you love Me keep my commandments"St.Paul said His commandments are not burdensome. It is not always easy to not succumb to the pleasures of sin but devotion to the Blessed Virgin and Jesus placing Jesus first in one's life is wise spiritual direction. Hell is a place for hard hearted souls who prefer love of self to love of God.

Anonymous said...

Glenn Dallaire said... "So I am sorry but I doubt that your memory/recollections are true."

Really? So you were in my Catholic classrooms in the 1950s, or has the Holy Spirit granted you the ability to go inside others' minds? That's quite a gift.

I was taught and raised on the old Baltimore Catechism. I assure you, Hell as a lake of endless fire, with crackling, burning, perpetually tortured bodies was alive and well in the 1950s.

Perhaps, in the future, you should rain in your judgment of things you do not know. May God bless you and your family as well.

Glenn Dallaire said...

Well, my point simply was that although I wasn't there I doubt very highly that the catechism teachers spent all that much time talking about the dogma of hell. In other words I think what your recalling from memory is simply because the subject matter of hell is so grave and serious that it "sticks out" most in your memory.
Irregardless, it is good that the subject of hell did (and hopefully still does) get taught because such would therefore be a warning for us to hopefully avoid going there. Jesus preached it, the Saints preached it, and so so the catechists of our day.

May God bless you,
Glenn Dallaire

Anonymous said...

I wish that everyone who wrote on this post to know, thought since I'm responding so late no one may read it, that Garabandal is demonic.

Unknown said...

Well aren't you the ignorant little monkey! I had 8 years of Catholic schooling in NJ in the late 70's and 80's and the hellfire stories the nuns told us would keep us up at night. Who are you to insult anothe posters memory or make blanket statements about what was or wasn't taught in EVERY Catholic school in the Country. Your probably not even Catholic- just another little instigator..

Anonymous said...

Unity Publishing has an interesting page on Garabandal. They believe it to be demonic.

Anonymous said...

On this topic, here is a critical analysis of the visions of heaven and hell from an eschatological point of view:

http://reflexionsjesus.wordpress.com/2014/08/07/the-christian-eschatological-visions-put-into-question/

Anonymous said...

I too was taught in the Catholic Schools with the Daughters of Charity for 12 years and was taught about Hell on a regular basis and that we are held accountable for our mortal sins and damned to Hell if we die in a state of Mortal sin. As a Religious Education teacher in the Catholic Church I teach to 3rd graders. Children are taught accountability in the Catholic Church more so than in the Protestant Church where children are raised to think if they accept Jesus as their Savior no matter what they do in life they will still go to Heaven Not true You must live your life according to the teachings of Jesus Christ confess your sins on a regular basis and be an example to others and evangelize We are here to know love and serve God here so that we can be with Him forever in Heaven God help us all

DJR said...

"Additionally, the teaching of hell is an infallible Dogma of the Catholic church. It is one of the “four last things” —heaven, hell, death and punishment--..."

The four last things are death, judgment, heaven, and hell.

Anonymous said...

The torments of hell are an example of God's infinite mercy. They, the torments, have been placed as a distraction from the realization of awareness of God's existence and that the damned will never see the beatific vision.

desert fox said...

If you want good "fire insurance", accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. Confess your sins to the Lord directly and to the brethren, as scripture dictates. The confessing to the brethren part will have a very chilling effect on committing sin (especially the embarrassing ones).

Unknown said...

So you as an adult are now focused on love of God alone or illusions to excuse your life choices? All people live what they believe. Sometimes in secret but truly what they believe. The supposed nun in your story may have been addressing a misbehaved child. Maybe that was you or you were simply near enough to hear. In any event look into the life lived by the child she was addressing. How did that kid end up?

Unknown said...

Peter did NOT start the Church. Clearly Jesus Christ did and He installed Peter as the principal stone among many to build His Church. That process did NOT stop. There has been and is nothing like it on the earth. Hundreds of variants have died off or compromised with the world I nto oblivion. Years ago while reading a phone book in Denver I saw over 5 pages of Christian churches. Few survived. It is remarkable that the Catholic Church ever existed let alone survived. There have been Judas types inside the Catholic Church throughout history. Probably still at 1 in 12 ratio. Lots of people look for the Judas and fail to see or listen to the 11 others.

dreath said...

HOW CAN ANYONE TRULY BE A CHRISTIAN , KNOWING THAT FAMILY MEMBERS AND PERHAPS FRIENDS THAT HAVE PASSED ON ARE CURRENTLY BURNING IN HELL, IN A TORMENT THAT IS BEYOND ANYTHING WE CAN IMGAINE FOREVER. How can a finite life= infinite punishment. I am a christian and this has always bothered me about my faith, sometimes i wonder if i am a christian purely out of fear of hell. It should not be this way. but it is!

Glenn Dallaire said...


Hi Dave,
Well, the strong evidence we have been given over the centuries along with Scripture itself really points to the likely fact that God does not send people (souls) to hell---it is the person himself/herself that willfully chooses to separate himself from God. And so hell is first and foremost a place where God (and therefore the mercy and love of God) is completely and totally absent, and certain people freely choose to go there because for whatever reasons do not want to love God or be with God.
May God bless you and your loved ones,
Glenn Dallaire

Anonymous said...

May I add that Protestantism and all other branches of Christianity all spread from the Catholic church?. I am sorry but Protestantism was created just to go against the catholic church and then from there other branches of christianity spread..as you see so many different non Catholic churches in the world today. So it is basically a Man made religion just to go against Catholictism the only true and apolistic church...It really saddens me when I see so many non catholic christians bashing the catholic church of our Holy Mother and taking EVERYTHING out of their bible saying that Mary is not in the bible that we worship her etc etc...SO PLEASE BEFORE YOU DECIDE TO BASH KNOW THE HISTORY OF THE CHURCH FIRST AND KNOW WHAT ROLE MARY AND THE SAINTS PLAY IN OUR CHURCH. And btw this is off topic?..but you claim to love Jesus and say He is the Only way to heaven..which is true BUT you ppl pay no respect to the saviours Mother the One who brought Him into the world....

Marian said...

In late January, 2002, I was "taken" to Hell. I had fainted, and still can't figure out why I fainted. Nevertheless, I could not see who brought me to Hell, and during the experience, didn't realize exactly where I was.

I was taken to a massive dark cave and was placed on a large, high, dark gray rock. In this position, I was able to look out over a great distance. I saw a sea of naked people; although, I will say that their nakedness wasn't like looking at something pornographic. Instead, it was like looking out over a flock of sheep, and their nakedness was part of their suffering.

I saw a sea of sulfur, constantly boiling. The odor was horrible...no, it was overwhelming! In fact, I can say there was a lack of fresh air. The people were standing on a floor of black rock. There was great sobbing, crying and screaming.

Closest to me, there was a man who was being tortured by a demon. The demon stood upright and had a tail. The demon would continuously take an iron of metal, heat it in the lake of sulfur, then burn the man on his thigh. His flesh would burn, then it would happen over again. The other people were also being tortured by demons, but I couldn't see all of it.

Amazingly, in that place, I felt somewhat clean and apart from the others. I placed my hands over my eyes and said, "I can't stand to look any longer. Please take me out of here." At that point, I awakened on the floor of my kitchen.

Was this a dream? I don't think so. Dreams are often forgotten, but I distinctly remember every detail of this experience. I believe I was shown this as part of God's plan, that I might tell others what Hell is like.

Anonymous said...

Unity Publishing is wrong about Garabandal - it has never been condemned, and about La Salette as well - all Our Lady of La Salette's words had the bishops Imprimatur until the Masonic bishops put her most helpful and revealing words on the Index.
However Unity does an excellent job on Medjugorje and shows how the root of the problem is disobedience to the bishops.
~Tina in Ashburn

Unknown said...

http://catholicexchange.com/how-can-one-be-happy-in-heaven-knowing-a-loved-one-is-in-hell

Unknown said...

Vision of Saint Teresa on the Consequences of Bad Confessions

The saint was in prayer, when she suddenly saw a deep abyss opening up before her eyes, all filled with fire and lit in vivid flames, where the miserable souls precipitated, as winter snowflakes. Amazed the saint looks up to the sky and exclaims:
- "My God, my God!, what does this mean? - Who are all these poor souls? Surely they are poor wretches, pagans, Turks, Jews. . . "
"No, Teresa," God answers. “Know that the souls you see now rushing into hell, by my permission, are all souls of Christians like you.”
"But surely they are souls of people who neither believed nor practiced religion, nor frequented the sacraments.”
"No, Teresa, no." All these souls are of Christians, baptized like you, who, as you, believed and practiced the Christian faith ..."
"But, surely, they never went to Confession, not even at the hour of death..."
- They are souls who did go to Confession and who confessed in the trance of death...
"How then, my God, are they condemned?”
- They are condemned because they confessed badly!... Go, Teresa, tell everyone what you saw and urge all bishops and priests to never get tired of preaching about the importance of Confession and against badly made confessions, so that my beloved Christians do not turn medicine into poison and harm themselves with this sacrament, which is the sacrament of mercy and forgiveness.

Taken from: "Confesss Well"

Catholic TRUTH said...

Wake up Anonymous before it's too late..GOD WILL NOT BE MOCKED!!

TheOuroboros said...

Is the spirit finite?

You think God doesn’t know your claim to faith is a lie, and that you’re merely an egoist who fears the event of your death? You don’t recognize your own evil and you don’t recognize that death is a constant in our terminal condition. You were essentially born yesterday and will be gone tomorrow, yet have this undue pride in your vain notions of self. You didn’t even create yourself!

You only care about the fate of your so-called family members and friends, as if by virtue of having a relationship with you, their sins should hold less weight. I’d love to see how you did this arithmetic. Good thing God is a fair judge, not partial to vainglory.

Those that will be condemned to hell love “money” more than God. They love laboring for their arbitrary ends more than walking the path consisting of confidence in God alone, chastity, charity, and philosophy. I won’t pretend to know what hell is “like,” but I’d imagine it’s the knowledge that the kingdom of heaven is the only acceptable sacrifice man seeks to emulate as he acts on behalf of his character. The only acceptable sacrifice that satisfies inquiry, theory, superstition, and philosophical matters. And attaining to the only acceptable sacrifice (a heart of good faith) is out of reach for lovers of gain.

Joseph J. said...


Hello TheOuroboros,
I'm just wondering to what comment or to whom your comment is directed to? It seems you were replying to someone but its hard to tell by what you wrote.

Unknown said...

. A person sins by complacency, when he does not desire to commit the sinful act, but delights in it as if he had committed it.

Unknown said...

Should the temptation continue it will be very useful to make it known to your confessor. St Philip Neri used to say, that”a temptation disclosed is half conquered.” In assaults of impurity, some saints have had recourse to very severe mortifications. St. Benedict rolled his naked body among thorns. St. Peter of Alcantara threw himself into a frozen pool. But I consider the best means of overcoming these temptations to be, to have recourse to God, who will certainly give us the victory. ”Praising, I will call on the Lord,” said David, ”and I shall be saved from my enemies.” (Ps. xvii. 4.)

Unknown said...

A Vision of Hell On Friday, July 13, 1917 Our Lady appeared at Fatima and talked to the three seers. Our Lady never smiled. How could She smile, for it was on this day that She was to show the children the vision of Hell?


She said "Pray, pray very much because many souls go into Hell." Our Lady opened Her hands and suddenly the three children saw a hole in the ground. That hole, said Lucy, was like a sea of fire in which we saw the souls in human forms, men and women, burning, shouting, and crying in despair. Lucy said demons looked like ugly and unknown animals. The children were so terrified that Lucy screamed. She was so afraid that she thought she would die. Mary said to the children: "You have seen Hell where sinners go when they do not repent." Another Roman Catholic dogma, Hell.

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