Hell is for Real!

A while back I posted about Purgatory and its reality after death. In this article today I want to talk about Hell and it's reality since in todays way of thinking, many seem to believe that there is some universal salvation system in which everyone is going to Heaven. This is not true, nor does the Church teach this as true. Hell is a real place and if you die in the state of mortal sin, you will go to Hell. St. Teresa of Avila tells us how God showed her her place in Hell indicating that without God's grace and without us following and cooperating with His will during our time on Earth, that there is a place for all of us waiting in Hell. So this idea that all are saved, is not always the case.

Hell by definition is the place were souls are sent for all eternity because during their life on Earth, they choose a life without God… And therefore that's what they got. What we can also know about the sufferings of Hell, we can know from our own nature and from justice. Since with God the punishment fits the crime. Which means that in different levels of Hell people suffer differently based upon the particular crimes they committed on Earth. In this life the amount of suffering we can withstand is based upon the limitations of the flesh. Not so however in Hell. In Hell we are incorruptible and therefore the sufferings are even more intense, and not to mention… They are forever. So when we consider the nature of man, we can consider the different ways in which man can suffer. One of those ways is with the sense of touch, and with touch comes the sense of pressure and temperature. The saints tell us how in Hell there is a great feeling of pressure; of being pinned, crushed or trapped and unable to escape. There is also the feeling of burning in Hell, not just exteriorly, but throughout the whole body. There even some places in Hell that the saints say that it is freezing cold, and so the souls of the damned will go from the burning to the freezing. Yet when they enter into the cold, they freeze and so they find that they can never find relief. 

Then there is sense of taste. If you can imagine drinking the foulest sewer water, this is nothing compared to what your sense of taste will experience in Hell. In the case of the sense of smell, the saints often describe the smell sulfur and brimstone existing in Hell. With sight, those who are in Hell see all the others who are suffering in Hell, as well as Devil and all his demons. Therefore you see the entire horror of Hell. There will also be a great darkness in Hell, since light is a gift from God, and therefore it doesn't exist in Hell.

Besides the suffering of all your exterior senses, the there is also the discussion of the interior senses that will suffer as well. The first of these is the common sense, which helps to bring order all the senses. In Hell, your common sense will go away and therefore all the senses will come at once causing great confusion. Also you will not be able to control your imagination. On Earth we have the ability to control our imagination to some degree, but in Hell it will be uncontrollable and we will be face with the images of horrific things. It is also said that in Hell, the Devil and his demons, along with some of even the damned will be able to play with your imagination and forcibly cause you to see even more horrific things that we would never be able to comprehend in this life. We will have a great anger at God and those who caused us or helped us to end up in Hell, and there will be a great despair in knowing we can never be saved.

Hell is nothing to joke about. It is a real place and we all have the opportunity of ending up there if we do not seek the help and grace of God in this life. Believing that one will be saved just for being a good person is foolish. There is even a story of St. Bruno in which a horrible event took place at Paris before he left the city. A Doctor, who had always been considered very learned and at the same time very pious, died. His death seemed a very happy one, as it followed soon after his having received the holy Sacraments. But when the corpse was brought to the church, for the funeral ceremonies and the usual prayers, behold! the dead man arose during the Office of the Dead, to the great horror of all present, and cried, with a terrible voice: " The Justice of God has accused me! " On the second day, when the clergy had reached the same lesson in the Office, the body again moved, and cried in the same fearful tones: " The Justice of God has rejected me!" On the third day, the same happened : the dead sitting up, cried with a still more awful voice: "The Justice of God has condemned me!" The feelings of all present may easily be imagined. There was not one among them who did not turn pale, and all left the Church in fear and trembling.

Again the moral of this story is to remember that our salvation is not guaranteed! We must strive always to do God's will, receive the Sacraments, do good to our neighbors and always live piously. 

God love you all! Pray the Rosary Daily!