Dominica XXIV et ultima post Pentecosten - The Four Last Things (Hell)

PRESENTATION: St. Teresa’s terrifying vision of Hell

St. Teresa of Avila is known to have experienced some of the most ecstatic experiences of God’s presence ever recorded, but she also received visions of the opposite.

St. Teresa writes in her autobiography about a frightening vision she had of Hell and how it haunted her the rest of her life. When writing the vision down she experienced the same bone-chilling feelings run throughout her body.

One day, while I was in prayer, I found myself, as I thought, plunged right into Hell. I realized that it was the Lord’s will that I should see the place which the devils had prepared for me there and which I had merited for my sins. This happened in the briefest space of time, but, even if I were to live for many years, I believe it would be impossible for me to forget it. The entrance, I thought, resembled a very long, narrow passage, like a furnace, very low, dark and closely confined; the ground seemed to be full of water which looked like filthy, evil-smelling mud, and in it were many wicked-looking reptiles. At the end there was a hollow place scooped out of a wall, like a cupboard, and it was here that I found myself in close confinement. But the sight of all this was pleasant by comparison with what I felt there … My feelings, I think, could not possibly be exaggerated, nor can anyone understand them. I felt a fire within my soul the nature of which I am utterly incapable of describing … I had been put in this place which looked like a hole in the wall, and those very walls, so terrible to the sight, bore down upon me and completely stifled me. There was no light and everything was in the blackest darkness.

Today, then, we bring to a close our sermon series on the Four Last Things, by considering the fate of the unrepentant sinners, the reprobate and wicked souls that choose to reject God in mortal sin, and are unhappily not reconciled to His grace before death, the everlasting punishment of Hell.

EXPLANATION: The torments of Hell

The Scriptures are very clear on both the existence of Hell, and its torments. Our Lord Himself spoke of it many times in His teachings. Today there seems to be a trend to redefine what has been taught about Hell, even to the point where certain senior churchmen apparently believe that Hell does not exist, rather the souls of the unjust are merely sent into oblivion, they cease to exist. This, however, would contradict both God’s love for His creation, and His divine justice which requires that infinite offenses (mortal sins) require infinte punishment.

The most well known punishment of Hell, the one that is most often depicted in artistic renderings, is fire. Of course, it is not a physical fire, as that would not touch the spiritual soul, rather, as St. Teresa describes, it is a spiritual fire, that burns hotter than any physical fire ever could because it is enflamed by divine justice. St. Bridget declares in her revelations, “The heat of hell-fire is so great that if the whole world were wrapped in flames, the heat of the conflagration would be as nothing in comparison with it.”

The souls of the damned are not just punished by fire, but are harrowed by many other sufferings. While those in Hell lack physical form, at least until the General Judgement, nevertheless, they are plagued by constant hunger and thirst for which there is no relief. St. Luke records Our Lord’s well-known parable about Lazarus and the Rich Man, the latter of which cries out from Hell for a single drop of water, a request that goes unanswered.

Again, as St. Teresa relates, and as affirmed by the Prophet Isaiah and St. John, Hell is filled with the most foul and stiffling odour which would suffocate a living person. Venerable Bede recounts a story of a man, Trithelmus, who had been granted a glimpse of Hell during a severe illness in which certain souls were not only tormented by fire, but plunged into icy cold, and then back into fire, then to cold, then again to fire. St. Teresa, affirmed by the words of Our Lord, speaks of the thick darkness that holds sway and never gives place to light, and while sight may be impossible, sinners are never relieved of the horrible sound of the weeping and howling of tormented souls, and the laughter of their demon tormenters.

As terrible and horrifying as all of these punishments seem, they are as nothing compared to the principle suffering of Hell, the loss of the Beatific Vision. It is impossible for mortal man to understand how great an affliction this will be for the damned. In this world the vision of God is shrouded from our eyes, yet at our deaths we will perceive to some degree the supreme and infinite goodness that is God in Himself, at which such an eager desire will take possession of our souls that we will be irresistibly drawn to God and long to contemplate His ineffable beauty.

As we have seen, every part of the soul is tormented in Hell, the pain of sense afflicts the sensible appetites of the soul, the pain of loss afflicts the intellect, and afflicting the memory will be the ‘worm that dieth not’. This torment will not be an actual worm, it is a metaphor for the constant remorse of conscience which will give the damned soul no rest. The sinner will remember how many graces and means of salvation he had at his disposal during life, how God sent him so many holy inspirations, how he received so many good instructions, how he had the grace of prayer within his power to enable him to practice the virtues of his state, to overcome temptation, and to keep the Commandments.

IMPLICATION: Saving our soul, and the souls of others

You might be wondering to yourself, is it really that useful to fill our minds with such horrible thoughts as these. Let us return to St. Teresa, and see if her vision of Hell was to her benefit.

[T]his vision was one of the most signal favors which the Lord has bestowed upon me: it has been of the greatest benefit to me, both in taking from me all fear of the tribulations and disappointments of this life and also in strengthening me to suffer them and to give thanks to the Lord, Who, as I now believe, has delivered me from such terrible and never-ending torments.

She understood that if she hadn’t turned away from vice and embrace a life of virtue, this would have been her fate. St. Teresa was grateful to God for the many graces she received and for His mercy in sparing her such torment.

Furthermore, this vision moved St. Teresa to experience great sadness over those people who were drawing near to that destination, through their deliberate choices.

It also inspired me with fervent impulses for the good of souls: for I really believe that, to deliver a single one of them from such dreadful tortures, I would willingly die many deaths. After all, if we see anyone on earth who is especially dear to us suffering great trial or pain, our very nature seems to move us to compassion, and if his sufferings are severe they oppress us too.

Instead of experiencing satisfaction at the justice of those souls being eternally damned, she wanted to save them, offering herself as a living sacrifice.

Hell is a very real place, and while it shouldn’t be our only reason for choosing virtue over vice, it is a good starting point and should lead us to a life united to God. Our choices matter, and the good news is that we can change our lives, no matter how far we have gone down the wrong path.

Today, when Our Lord comes to us in Holy Communion, let us pray for a true hatred of sin, and that Hell’s torments may serve as a warning to us to embrace virtue, penance, and holiness, and pray for the salvation of souls.