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| The Scream (1893) by Edvard Munch |
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| The Scream (1895) by Edvard Munch |
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| The Scream (1910) by Edvard Munch |
Vision of hell according to Saint Faustina Kowalska:
Today, I was led by an angel to the chasms of hell. It is a place of great torture; how awesomely large and extensive it is! The kinds of tortures I saw:
The first torture that constitutes hell is: the loss of God.
The second is: perpetual remorse of conscience.
The third is that one’s condition will never change.
The fourth is the fire that will penetrate the soul without destroying it. A terrible suffering since it is a purely spiritual fire, lit by God’s anger.
The fifth torture is continual darkness and a terrible suffocating smell, and despite the darkness, the devils and the souls of the damned see each other and all the evil, both of others and their own.
The sixth torture is the constant company of Satan.
The seventh torture is horrible despair, hatred of God, vile words, curses, and blasphemies.
These are the tortures suffered by all the damned together, but that is not the end of the sufferings.
There are special tortures destined for particular souls. These are the torments of the senses. Each soul undergoes terrible and indescribable sufferings related to the manner in which it has sinned.
There are caverns and pits of torture where one form of agony differs from another. I would have died at the very sight of these tortures if the omnipotence of God had not supported me.
Let the sinner know that he will be tortured throughout all eternity, in those senses which he made use of to sin. I am writing this at the command of God, so that no soul may find an excuse by saying there is no hell, or that nobody has ever been there, and so no one can say what it is like. How terribly souls suffer there! Consequently, I pray even more fervently for the conversion of sinners. I incessantly plead God's mercy upon them.
—Diary, 741
Of the seven tortures, which one is the worst?
The pain of loss is the same for the souls in hell and in purgatory.
Moreover, in a manner similar to that of the chastisements of the damned, the souls in purgatory suffer the pain of the senses particular to the sins they had committed on earth but have not yet fully expiated.
However, the dividing difference between the sufferings of the damned and those of the imprisoned in purgatory is that the latter are temporary. The punishment of the damned is permanent, unending, and without mitigation, and because their wills are fixed in moral evil, they cannot repent of any of their sins.
Although both the damned and the temporarily imprisoned suffer the pain of loss and accessory punishments, the sojourners in purgatory know that their sufferings will end at some point in the future. So the essential difference between the two is that in purgatory there is hope. Souls in purgatory are absolutely certain that they are saved, and this knowledge mitigates their suffering.
We submit that however unspeakable are the punishments of hell, its worst torment is the perfect knowledge of the damned that their punishment never ends, so that despair is the worst torture of hell.
Abandon all hope, those who enter.—Dante Alighieri, Inferno, III, 9
No “GET OUT OF JAIL FREE” card is ever dealt in hell.
Hell: no way out.
ATTRITION DOES NOT SAVE UNLESS IT IS EXERCISED IN THE SACRAMENT OF CONFESSION
ReplyDeleteThere are two kinds of sorrow for sin: contrition and attrition, which are called also perfect contrition and imperfect contrition. Perfect contrition does not mean the perfect degree of contrition, but the perfect kind of contrition—that is, sorrow for sins based on charity, or supernatural love of God. Imperfect contrition is sorrow for sin based on anything other than charity (such as being sorry for our sins because we fear the punishment of hell and God’s wrath).
Perfect and imperfect contrition are not mutually exclusive. A person can have both at the same time. Both perfect and imperfect contrition assume the resolve to sin no more. Even with this resolve, it is possible to commit the same sin in the future. What is important is that at this moment in time we make a firm resolution to turn away from mortal sin.
Under normal circumstances, for a mortal sin to be forgiven, it must be confessed in the sacrament of penance. If the penitent has perfect or imperfect contrition for his sin, confesses all his mortal sins since his last good confession, resolving not to commit the sin again, and receives absolution from the priest, his mortal sins are forgiven.
What happens if confession to a priest is impossible, and one is close to death or in danger of dying? Provided a person, finding himself in this situation, has perfect contrition for his mortal sins, and resolves not to sin again and receive sacramental confession as soon as possible, his mortal sin is forgiven. Imperfect sorrow is not contrition under these circumstances.
https://www.catholic.com/qa/is-it-possible-for-a-person-with-a-mortal-sin-still-on-his-soul-to-die-and-go-to-heaven
—Jan Wakelin, “Is it possible for a person with a mortal sin still on his soul to die and go to heaven?” Catholic Answers
Perfect contrition is sorrow for one’s sins based on the selfless motive of love for God and sorrow for having offended him. Attrition is sorrow for one’s sins based on the fear of punishment. For someone in the state of mortal sin (1 John 5:16-17), either kind of sorrow suffices to bring about forgiveness and reconciliation with God in Confession. Perfect contrition necessarily includes the resolution to confess one’s mortal sins to a priest, but it brings God’s forgiveness even before the penitent receives absolution from a priest. Attrition is insufficient to bring about forgiveness apart from the ministry of the priest in Confession.
—Catholic Answers Staff, “What's the difference between contrition and attrition?” Catholic Answers
Fear of hell alone is insufficient to save a soul, with the exception that it is sufficient when the soul’s mortal sins are confessed in the sacrament of Confession.
A reprobate life does not dispose a soul to show contrition at life’s end, so that some reprobate souls are indeed lost in this way, dying in utter terror of hell.
In passing through death into eternity, a soul ends up in hell because of a reprobate will that has been rendered unresponsive to grace, normally the result of a lifetime of repudiating grace. Eternal damnation is a slippery slope.
A remedy for this condition is daily conversio mores—one of the reasons why the regular celebration of the sacraments, which is done in a spirit of conversion, and the daily examination of conscience are so important and necessary.
Gonzalinho