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Hell – Pain of Sense

Fear of the Lord is the beginning of Wisdom

"Then the Judge will say to them that shall be on his left hand: Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting
fire, which was prepared for the devil and his angels." -- (Matt 25:41.)

St. Ingnatius now wants us to meditate on hell and the grave reality of its torments. “With the eyes of the
imagination observe the length, width and depth of hell.”

St. John Chrysostom – “We must descend into Hell before death, if we do not want to go
down there after death.”

All those who die in personal mortal sin, as enemies of God, and unworthy of eternal life, will be severely
punished by God after death.

First Prelude – Composition of Place: length, breadth, and depth of Hell

Second Prelude – Grace: Sense of pain which damned suffer. If I forget God’s love, at least the
fear of pain will help me avoid sin.
a.
Meditation – Imagine that you are standing before the judgment seat of God and you here Him read out
with a dreadful expression “Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire, which was prepared for the
devil and his angels." – What words – What a sentence.
Imagine you are lead by your guardian angel to that place of eternal torments.
As you are lead forth all begins to grow dark. You are taken to the summit of a high mountain. Beneath you is a
deep valley, and the earth opens so that with your gaze you can see hell in the cavity of it. Picture it as a prison
situated in the center of the earth, many leagues down, all full of fire, hemmed in so impenetrably that for all
eternity not even the smoke can escape.

We go down to Hell and feel its effects. We apply the senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste,
smell. Do not think that you cannot go to Hell. Many, many go there and you could too.
There is already a place prepared; exceptional if everyone in the room went to Heaven.
II. Children of Fatima – Our Lady gave them a vision of Hell. They were immediately
transformed, the sight was so terrible. The only thing that could console them was Our
Lady’s promise that they would go to Heaven. Jacinta and Francisco performed
terrible penances before they died: prayers, fastings, hairshirts, cords, no amusements,
little food and water. “Save us from the fires of Hell … lead all souls to Heaven.”

Sin is terrible – Man, a finite creature, can perform actions of infinite consequences. This is
especially true when man offends the infinite God. Sin is serious and terrible!

Hell Exists –
It is of faith (de fide) that Heaven exists for the good and Hell for the wicked. Our Faith teaches that the pains of
Hell are eternal, and it also warns us that one single mortal sin suffices to condemn a soul forever because of the
infinite malice by which it offends an infinite God. With these principles in mind, I don’t hesitate to say that to
think and speak of hell is one of the greatest acts of charity we can perform towards ourselves and our neighbor
(spiritual work of mercy). This reality of Hell is so constantly mention by Our Lord. He speaks far more often
about Hell than He does about heaven since this is precisely what He came to save us from. This is the reason
for which we call Him “Savior”. He saved us by His redemption from the eternal torments of the everlasting
fires of Hell to which we would have been all destined had it not been for his incarnation and redemption.

St. Padre Pio wants retorted to a man who said “I don’t believe in Hell”, that “You will when you get there!”

St. Theresa of Avilia in her works recalls that one of the greatest graces she was given by God was to see the
place in Hell that the devil had prepared for her. It made her think of the consequences of sin and real purpose
for this life. Yes, if anything I hope this meditation should allow you to think about purpose of this life so that
you can put all things in the perspective of eternity. St. Alphonsus says on this “If the soul be lost all is lost, if
the soul is saved all is saved.”

On the number of dambed?

The teaching of theologians is that most men are damned. St. Thomas Aquinas affirms, the same thing. St.
Augustine didn’t hesitate to say that “it is certain that few are saved. St. Lucia of Fatima said the same thing no
so longer after the apparition she was given of hell. Our Lord himself “Shall few be saved” – Our Lord
responds, “Strive to enter by the narrow gate, for many shall strive to enter but shall not be able” – Lk 13

Narrow is the gate that leads to life, but broad is road that leads to destruction.
St. Peter tells us that “scarcely shall the just man be saved”.

The devil on that day will be our accuser, he will point to the day and the hour in which we sinned.

All senses shall be tormented. St. Martin tells us that the devil appeared to once and when he left he left behind
him such an abominable stench that he began to wonder what it was like in hell with the same stench of millions
of devils.
Torment of thirst, hunger.
St. Bede – Tells us of the life of a man who saw hell.
Sight – Smoke is everywhere – St. John tells us this in the book of the Apocalypse -

The great saints of the desert who we often read about often left all things to lead a life poverty, humility and
prayer in order to obtain heaven and avoid the fires of Hell. How many saints are now in Heaven because they
meditated on the awful truth of Hell? We can be sure that there are quite a few.

Hell is indeed real, it a place in creation. As Our Lord said it is a place that was created originally for the devil
and His angels (those that followed in the rebellion). When speaking of Hell Our Lord seems to indicate that it
is in the centre of the earth. A great number of the Church Fathers seem to indicate the same (Expound on this
point).

Meditation – Mental representation

The Pains -
First, the fire is all-extensive and tortures the whole body and the whole soul. A damned person lies in hell
forever in the same spot which he was assigned by divine justice, without being able to move, as a prisoner in
stocks.
The fire in which he is totally enveloped, as a fish in water, burns around him, on his left, his right, above and
below. His head, his breast, his shoulders, his arms, his hands, and his feet are all penetrated with fire, so that he
completely resembles a glowing hot piece of iron which has just been withdrawn from an oven. The roof
beneath which the damned person dwells is fire; the food he takes is fire; the drink he tastes is fire; the air he
breathes is fire; whatever he sees and touches is all fire....
But this fire is not merely outside him; it also passes within the condemned person. It penetrates his brain, his
teeth, his tongue, his throat, his liver, his lungs, his bowels, his belly his heart, his veins, his nerves, his bones,
even to the marrow, and even his blood.
"In hell," according to St. Gregory the Great, "there will be a fire that cannot be put out, a worm which cannot
die, a stench one cannot bear, a darkness one can feel, a scourging by savage hands, with those present
despairing of anything good."

A most dreadful fact is that by the divine power this fire goes so far as to work on the very faculties of the soul,
burning them and tormenting them as though the fire had a sort of intelligence to know where to burn.

This fire is far more dreadful than man can imagine. The natural fire that we see during this life has great power
to burn and torment. Yet this is not even a shadow of the fire of hell. There are two reasons why the fire of hell is
more dreadful beyond all comparison than the fire of this life.
The first reason is the justice of God, which the fire serves as an instrument in order to punish the infinite wrong
done to his supreme majesty, which has been despised by a creature. Therefore justice supplies this element with
a burning power which almost reaches the infinite....

The second reason is the malice of sin. As God knows that the fire of this world is not enough to punish sin as it
deserves, He has given the fire of hell a power so strong that it can never be comprehended by any human mind.
-- Now, how powerfully does this fire burn?
It burns so powerfully, that, according to the saints, if a mere spark of it fell on on a ball of bronze, it would melt
it in an instant as if it were wax. If it landed on a frozen lake, it would make it boil in an instant.

You now begin to understand why the martyrs were willing to undergo all torments in order to avoid the eternal
torments of Hell.

The sensation of pain in hell is essentially very dreadful. For this reason the prophet Isias long ago asked
"Which of you, can dwell with devouring fire? Which of you shall bear everlasting burnings?" – Isaias 33:
54.

The thirst of all the damned will be so great that not even all the waters of the ocean could quench it. We see
this in the story of Lazarus (Luke 16:19 – Read and Expound on this point).

What do you hear in hell? Our Lord tells us what one will hear “weeping and gnashing of teeth” – (Matt 8:11).
What else will you hear ? Cursing and blasphemy. The damned hate each other, the presence of others add to
their torments. They shall also be tormented by devils. The most tormented in hell are those who once had the
faith. There character of Baptism and confirmation shall be a special cause for torment, for this character tells of
a conformity to Christ which they out to have had but now they hate Christ. The devils will thus torment them
most grievously since they belong while on earth to the Church the ark of salvation but now they are lost for all
eternity. There screaming will ring throughout hell for all eternity. To add to this is the abominable stench of hell
since all the senses shall be tormented in hell for it is by them that we sinned on earth and so it is by them that
we shall be tormented as we read in the book of Wisdom “By what things a man sins, by the same also he is
tormented.” (11:17).
The fires of Hell are eternal. Our Lord constantly warns us about the reality of this fact "And if thy foot
scandalize thee, cut it off; it is better for thee to enter lame into life everlasting than having two feet, to be
cast into the hell of unquenchable fire. Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not extinguished.” -
Mark 9: 42

I don’t see how He could have been more explicit out this. Think of all the diseases in the world; those that
affect the eyes, the teeth, the chest, the neck. To all these diseases of the body add the mental torments of Hell:
despair, gloom, sadness, hatred... And to these continuos torments, add the lack of sympathy from others. No-
one will care, everyone in Hell will be full of hatred for the others. Not a moment of comfort. There is no rest,
there is no sleep... every moment is an agony from which there is no escape--- the worst of torments; and this
for eternity, for eternity, for eternity . . .

Eternally rebellious against everything, these souls will long for annihilation, not in itself, but as cessation of
suffering. In this sense Jesus says of Judas: "It were better for him if that man had not been born." For it’s better
to not exist than to exist in constant torments which is a state of perpetual violence.

Speaking on the eternity of Hell St. Anthony Mary Claret states “Picture in hell a place where there are
three reprobates. The first is plunged in a lake of sulphuric fire, the second is chained to a large rock and
is being tormented by two devils, one of whom continually pours molten lead down his throat while the
other spills it all over his body, covering him from head to foot. The third reprobate is being tortured by
two serpents, one of which wraps around the man's body and cruelly gnaws on it, while the other enters
within the body and attacks the heart. Suppose God is moved to pity and grants a short respite.
The first man, after the passage of a thousand years is drawn from the lake and receives the relief of a
drink of cool water, and at the end of an hour is cast again into the lake. The second, after a thousand
years, is released from his place and allowed to rest; but after an hour is again returned to the same
torment. The third, after a thousand years, is delivered from the serpents; but after an hour of relief, is
again abused and tormented by them. Ah, how little this consolation would be -- to suffer a thousand
years and to rest only one hour.

However, hell does not even have that much relief. One burns always in those dreadful flames and never
receives any relief for all eternity. He is forever gnawed and stricken with remorse, and will never have a
rest for all eternity. He will suffer always a very ardent thirst and never receive the refreshment of a sip
of water for all eternity. He will see himself always abhorred by God and will never enjoy a single
tender glance from Him for all eternity. He will find himself forever cursed by heaven and hell, and will
never receive a single gesture of friendship.

It is an essential misfortune of hell that everything will be without relief, without remedy, without
interruption, without end, eternal.

St. Leonard of Port Maurice: 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.

Hell is eternal – Everything in this world passes. Hell is constant and eternal torment. No
more to time to satisfy for sins.

Prayer:
 Colloquy of Mercy [71] – Consider the damned of the past: BC, during the life of OLJC,
and AD. They are all dead and gone to their eternal damnation. I, however, am still alive,
even after committing so many sins. What a great mercy of God! I can still repent, because
God has been patient with me. Thank God. Resolve to avoid Hell at all costs. Repent for
your sins.

The grace to see the reality of Hell. The grace to avoid sin. The grace to understand what the malice of your sins
have truly deserved. Ask for the graces to live a life transformed by grace so that you may truly be conformed to
Christ as your character of Baptism and confirmation say you are. Pray also for the grace to be willing to
undergo all privation and torments rather than to offend God. Pray also for the grace to use your time wisely –
for the greater glory of God. For idleness if the mother of all sins.