Some idea of the terror we will feel if condemned to Eternal Hell
3 min • Digitized on April 15, 2022
#Bible Commentary #Example #Four Last Things #Hell #Justice
From The Sinner’s Guide, page 89
By Venerable Louis of Granada
Consider also the terror of the sinner when this terrible sentence resounds in his ear: “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels.” *
How will the reprobate bear these terrible words? “Seeing,” says holy Job, “that we have heard scarcely a little drop of His word, who will be able to behold the thunder of His greatness?” *
When this dread sentence will have gone forth, the earth will open and swallow in its fiery depths all those whose lives have been spent in the pursuit of sinful pleasures.
St. John, in the Apocalypse, thus describes this awful moment: “I saw another Angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was enlightened with his glory. And he cried out with a strong voice, saying: Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every unclean spirit, and the hold of every unclean and hateful bird.” *
And the holy Evangelist adds: “And a mighty Angel took up a stone, as it were a great miil-stone, and cast it into the sea, saying: With such violence as this shall Babylon that great city be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all.” *
In like manner shall the wicked, represented by Babylon, be cast into the sea of darkness and confusion. What tongue can express the torments of this eternal prison?
The body will burn with a raging fire which will never be extinguished; the soul will be tortured by the gnawing, undying worm of conscience. The darkness will resound with despairing cries, blasphemies, perpetual weeping and gnashing of teeth. The sinner, in his impotent rage, will tear his flesh and curse the inexorable justice which condemns him to these torments.
He will curse the day of his birth, crying out in the words of Job: “Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said: A man-child is conceived. Let that day be turned into darkness, let not God regard it from above, and let not the light shine upon it. Let darkness and the shadow of death cover it, let a mist overspread it, and let it be wrapped up in bitterness. Let a darksome whirlwind seize upon that night, let it not be counted in the days of the year, nor numbered in the months. Why did I not die in the womb, why did I not perish at once when I came out of the womb? Why was I placed upon the knees? Why was I suckled at the breasts?” *