Darkness.
Physical agony.
Emotional agony
Pure torment.
It’s fiery.
Plus, I’m sure it is quite
embarrassing showing up there!
But the Church teaches us
that the worst pain experienced in hell is the pain of loss, the pain of
eternal separation from our loving God, “in whom alone
man can possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which
he longs.” (Catechism 1035)
Souls entering hell are
immediately tormented by the realization they will be deprived of our loving
God forever, and the realization of how they have hurt a God who is all good,
all just, a God who loved them and showered them with graces, and who suffered
for them so they could be with Him forever. Meanwhile, they will also be aware
of the elect going on to eternal glory.
I’m pretty sure the scenario
in hell would also involve drowning in a river of flowing lava, at a
temperature of a thousand degrees, but with not being allowed to die no matter
how bad it burns you and how loud you scream. Hell is a constant state. One can
never escape this prison.
Believe it or not, many
theologians believe Hell is located in the core of the Earth. If I had known
this, I never would have tried to dig a hole to China from the Ocean City beach
when I was little!
( What? You say I would have
wound up in the Indian Ocean and not China? Well, fortunately, I was aware of
that, so I, um, took out my protractor and angled the hole accordingly)
It is passages in Scripture that lead these theologians to
theorize about hell’s location in the Earth. For example, some Old Testament
people and their families were swallowed up live into hell when the ground
split open and the earth closed over them (See Numbers 16: 30-34). This
occurred right after Moses announced God would punish them in this way for
being schismatic.
So far, the Church has not
formally defined the location of hell, since She is much more concerned with
leading sinners to conversion and to God in heaven.
Hell is for people who die
while loving themselves more than others. It for those who refuse to care for
the poor and suffering on Earth. From
the earliest centuries, the Catholic Church and our Church Fathers have taught
that hell is for those who die while still refusing to repent of their mortal
sins. How many mortal sins does it take to get to hell? Just one.
For just a buck and a half,
you can get a 23-page booklet called “What Will Hell Be Like?” by
St. Alphonsus Liguori. I never would
have even known about this cute booklet if Santa hadn’t left it in my stocking
as a reward for learning how to read. http://www.marianland.com/hell015.html
If you want a more thorough
book, try the 488-page “The
Dogma of Hell” by Fr. F.X. Schouppe, S.J.
It includes handy tips you and the whole family can really use, such as
“How to Avoid Hell.” (http://www.marianland.com/hell005.html)
But let us not jest. Believe
me, there is nobody laughing in hell; just tears, screams, cries, and shrieks
with no relief.
-claire
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HELL REFERENCES IN
THE BIBLE
The Bible contains hundreds of references to
hell, so I’ll just list a few off the top of my head (and then I’ll, umm, type
out some of my favorite quantum physics theorems also from the top of my head,
and, well, maybe I’ll just look it all up)
In Matthew 5:28-29, the Bible makes it clear that
the punishment for adultery is being thrown into hell. “But I say to you,
everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her
in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it
away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole
body thrown into Gehenna.”
"And if thy hand scandalize thee, cut it
off; it is better for thee to enter into life, maimed, than having two hands to
go into hell, into unquenchable fire; where their worm dieth not, and the fire
is not extinguished" (Mark 9:42)
"[A]nd the devil who had deceived them was
thrown into the lake of fire and sulphur where the beast and the false prophet
were, and they will be tormented day and night for ever and ever."
(Revelations 20:10)
And if thy hand, or thy foot scandalize thee, cut
it off, and cast it from thee. It is better for thee to go into life maimed or
lame, than having two hands or two feet, to be cast into everlasting
fire”(Matthew 18:8)
“A fire that is not kindled shall devour
him.” (Job 20:26)
“A fire is kindled in my wrath, and shall burn
even to the lowest hell.” (Deut 32:22)
Which of you can dwell with devouring fires?
Which of you shall dwell with everlasting
burnings (Isaiah 33:14)
“Their worm shall not die, and their fire shall
not be quenched, and they shall be a loathsome sight to all flesh. (Isaiah
66:24)
“He will give fire, and worms unto their flesh,
that they may burn, and may feel forever.” (Judith 16:21)
“I am tormented in this flame” (Luke 16:24…where the rich man in hell cries
out to Lazarus)
“Let him pass from the snow water to excessive
heat, and his sin even to hell.” (Job 24:19)
“we have erred from the way of truth, we wearied
ourselves in the way of iniquity and destruction and have walked through hard
ways. What hath pride profited us? Or what advantage hath the boasting of
riches brought us?…Such things as these the sinners said in hell.” (Wis.
5:6-14)
“Before I go and return no more, to a land that
is dark and covered with the mist of death: a land of misery and darkness,
where the shadow of death, and no order, but everlasting horror dwelleth.” (Job
10:22)
“Depart from me into everlasting fire.” (Matthew
25:41).
“The wicked shall be turned into hell, all the
nations that forget God.” (Ps 9:18)
“It were better for him, if that man had not been
born.” (Mt 26:24….Christ speaking of Judas)
“In those days men shall seek death and shall not
find it: and they shall desire to die, and death shall fly from them.” (Rev.
9:6)
FROM THE BOOK OF
REVELATIONS
“And I saw a great white throne, and one sitting
upon it, from whose face the earth and heaven fled away, and there was no place
found for them. And I saw the dead, great and small, standing in the presence
of the throne, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is
the book of life; and the dead were judged by those things which were written
in the books, according to their works . . . .
…And whosoever was not found written in the book
of life, was cast into the pool of fire.” (Rev 20:11-12, 15)
************************************************************
For the latest breaking developments on hell, see:
http://www.cin.org/users/james/questions/q103.htm
(Did Jesus descend into hell?)
http://www.cin.org/users/james/questions/q095.htm
(Can souls in hell hurt us?)
http://www.catholic.com/library/Hell_There_Is.asp
(Church Fathers on Hell)
http://www.catholic.com/library/Mortal_Sin.asp
(Church Fathers on Mortal Sin)
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Rhodes/3543/hells.htm
http://www.marianland.com/hellbooksec.html
(books on hell, hell quizzes)
http://www.unitypublishing.com/Apparitions/DoorTheWideRoad.html
(Mary granted the children at Fatima a vision of hell)
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THE FOLLOWING IS STRAIGHT
FROM THE CATECHISM OF THE CATHOLIC CHURCH http://www.vatican.va/archive/ccc_css/archive/catechism/p123a12.htm#1033
IV. HELL
(Catechism)
1033 We cannot be united with God
unless we freely choose to love him. But we cannot love God if we sin gravely
against him, against our neighbor or against ourselves: "He who does not
love remains in death. Anyone who hates his brother is a murderer, and you know
that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."612 Our Lord
warns us that we shall be separated from him if we fail to meet the serious needs
of the poor and the little ones who are his brethren.613 To die in
mortal sin without repenting and accepting God's merciful love means remaining
separated from him for ever by our own free choice. This state of definitive
self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed is called
"hell."
1034 Jesus
often speaks of "Gehenna" of "the unquenchable fire"
reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be
converted, where both soul and body can be lost.614 Jesus solemnly
proclaims that he "will send his angels, and they will gather
. . . all evil doers, and throw them into the furnace of fire,"615
and that he will pronounce the condemnation: "Depart from me, you cursed,
into the eternal fire!"616
1035 The teaching of the Church
affirms the existence of hell and its eternity. Immediately after death the
souls of those who die in a state of mortal sin descend into hell, where they
suffer the punishments of hell, "eternal fire."617 The
chief punishment of hell is eternal separation from God, in whom alone man can
possess the life and happiness for which he was created and for which he longs.
1036 The affirmations of Sacred Scripture
and the teachings of the Church on the subject of hell are a call to the
responsibility incumbent upon man to make use of his freedom in view of his
eternal destiny. They are at the same time an urgent call to conversion:
"Enter by the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is easy, that
leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is
narrow and the way is hard, that leads to life, and those who find it are
few."618
Since we know neither the day nor the
hour, we should follow the advice of the Lord and watch constantly so that,
when the single course of our earthly life is completed, we may merit to enter
with him into the marriage feast and be numbered among the blessed, and not,
like the wicked and slothful servants, be ordered to depart into the eternal
fire, into the outer darkness where "men will weep and gnash their
teeth."619
1037 God
predestines no one to go to hell;620 for this, a willful turning
away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end.
In the Eucharistic liturgy and in the daily prayers of her faithful, the Church
implores the mercy of God, who does not want "any to perish, but all to
come to repentance":621
Father, accept this offering
from your whole family.
Grant us your peace in this life,
save us from final damnation,
and count us among those you have chosen.622
1861 Mortal sin is a radical possibility
of human freedom, as is love itself. It results in the loss of charity and the
privation of sanctifying grace, that is, of the state of grace. If it is not
redeemed by repentance and God's forgiveness, it causes exclusion from Christ's
kingdom and the eternal death of hell, for our freedom has the power to make
choices for ever, with no turning back. However, although we can judge that an
act is in itself a grave offense, we must entrust judgment of persons to the
justice and mercy of God.
1862 One
commits venial sin when, in a less serious matter, he does not observe
the standard prescribed by the moral law, or when he disobeys the moral law in
a grave matter, but without full knowledge or without complete consent.
1863 Venial sin weakens charity; it
manifests a disordered affection for created goods; it impedes the soul's
progress in the exercise of the virtues and the practice of the moral good; it
merits temporal punishment. Deliberate and unrepented venial sin disposes us
little by little to commit mortal sin. However venial sin does not break the
covenant with God. With God's grace it is humanly reparable. "Venial sin
does not deprive the sinner of sanctifying grace, friendship with God, charity,
and consequently eternal happiness."134
While he is in the flesh, man cannot
help but have at least some light sins. But do not despise these sins which we
call "light": if you take them for light when you weigh them, tremble
when you count them. A number of light objects makes a great mass; a number of
drops fills a river; a number of grains makes a heap. What then is our hope?
Above all, confession.135
1864
"Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but
the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven."136
There are no limits to the mercy of God, but anyone who deliberately refuses to
accept his mercy by repenting, rejects the forgiveness of his sins and the salvation
offered by the Holy Spirit.137 Such hardness of heart can lead to
final impenitence and eternal loss
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VISION OF HELL GRANTED TO CHILDREN IN 1917
The
Portuguese children to whom the Lady of Fatima (Mary) appeared in 1917 were
granted a vision of hell, so they would know how vital it was to pray for
souls. They were told many souls would go to hell because they had nobody to
pray or make sacrifices for them. As
you may recall, the Lady of Fatima performed the Miracle of the Sun where
80,000 people saw the sun zig-zag, plunge and rise.
One
of the children, Lucia, is now in her 90s and is a cloistered nun. The
following is a transcript of Sister Lucy’s description of Hell as she saw it
(http://fatima.org/hell.html)
"She opened Her hands once more, as She had done
the two previous months. The rays [of light] appeared to penetrate the earth,
and we saw, as it were, a vast sea of fire. Plunged in this fire, we saw the
demons and the souls [of the damned]. The latter were like transparent burning
embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, having human forms. They were
floating about in that conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames
which issued from within themselves, together with great clouds of smoke. Now
they fell 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 fright (it must have been this sight which caused me
to cry out, as people say they heard me). The demons were distinguished [from
the souls of the damned] by their terrifying and repellent likeness to
frightful and unknown animals, black and transparent like burning coals. That
vision only lasted for a moment, thanks to our good Heavenly Mother, Who at the
first apparition had promised to take us to Heaven. Without that, I think that
we would have died of terror and fear."
The whole Fatima story is at http://fatima.org/story1.html
A
tidbit for art buffs and hell trivia collectors: Salvador Dali’s
painting “Vision of Hell” was inspired by the Lucia’s description of her vision
of Hell. To see Dali’s painting “Vision of Hell”, go to http://www.hammondgallery.co.uk/view_pic.php3?pid=2140&aid=44
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