The holy Pope Pius IX said one day to Cardinal Place: “ One of the first causes of all our current misfortunes is that we no longer preach about hell (Cf. Opinions of day on punishments beyond the grave, by Father Tournebize, SJ, in fine). » He also said to a priest who gave numerous missions in France: “ Preach a lot the great truths of salvation. Preach above all about hell... say very clearly, very loudly, the whole truth about hell. Nothing is more capable of making poor sinners think and bring them back to God (Cf. Mgr de Ségur: L'enfer; Paris, 1876, p. 138). »
The memory of eternal punishments is no less necessary for pious people and consecrated souls than for sinners, and the saints themselves frequently remembered them. Indeed: “There are coming days,” writes Saint Thérèse, “when those very people who have made an absolute gift of their will to God and who, rather than committing an imperfection, would allow themselves to be tortured and suffer a thousand deaths, need to help themselves of the first weapons of prayer. They see themselves attacked by temptations and persecutions so violent that, in order to avoid God's offense and keep themselves from sin, they must consider that everything ends, that there is a heaven and a hell, attach themselves finally to truths of this kind” (Life written by herself; Bouix-Peyré edition, ch. XV).
What is surprising, since, says Mgr Gay very well: “We are so made that the imminence of a toothache sometimes has more power, to keep us on a slope, than the memory of the presence of God or the sight of our crucifix (Of Christian life and virtues, t. I, Of your Fear of God, § 1). » Much more effective is undoubtedly, for most souls, the memory of the tortures of hell. If Our Lord, as Saint John Chrysostom observes, spoke to us more often about hell than about heaven in the Gospel, it is because he knew that the fear of his torments has a greater hold on the masses. of Christians, than the hope of heaven or the love of God (Expositio in psalm. VII, n. 12. [Cf. Migne: Patr. gr., t. 55, col. 99]).
In these pages, we first propose to awaken the holy fear of hell, by relating the apparitions of the damned. “Examples,” says Saint Thomas, “touch us more than words (Magis movent exempla quam verba — 1. 2. q. 34, a. 1). »
We then propose, and in a special way, as the title of this brochure indicates, to respond to the following objection of many unbelievers: There is no hell: no one is in it. income.
Whatever the demands of modern criticism,the facts that we will relate deserve complete credibility.
It will perhaps be objected to us that we will not convert anyone by recounting the apparitions of the damned, since Jesus Christ said in the Gospel, speaking of the five brothers of the poor rich man: “If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets , even if someone rises from the dead, they will not believe (Luke, XVI, 31). »
We answer:
1° By speaking in this way, Our Lord proposed to teach his disciples that, despite his miracles, the Pharisees would not convert (Cf. Knabenbauer: Evangelium secundum Lucam, Parisis, 1896 , p. 478). —
2° It is certain, as we will see later, that the apparitions of the damned can do the greatest good to souls, either by converting sinners or by determining the righteous to live holyly. May the Lord grant to all those who read these pages, as well as to the one who wrote them, the grace to fear hell so much that they do not descend there when they leave this life. “He who constantly fears hell,” says Saint John Chrysostom, “will not fall prey to its flames, because he will be kept in duty by this salutary fear (Ad populum antiochenum Homit. V, a. 3. [Migne; Patr . gr., t 49, col. 73]). »
Let us often pray this prayer which was familiar to Saint Alphonsus de Liguori: “Lord, do not send me to hell (Life of the saint by Villecourt, Tournai, 1864, t. 4, I. 5, ch. 19)! »
Hell according to the Gospel and theology
We read in the life of Father Faber, the greatest of the ascetic writers of the nineteenth century, that his penultimate sermon ended with this remarkable passage: “The The most fatal preparation of the devil for the coming of the Antichrist is the weakening of men's belief in eternal punishment. Were these words the last that I would ever say to you, remember that there is nothing that I would like to impress more deeply in your souls, no thought of faith, after that of the Precious Blood, which would be more useful to you and more profitable, than that of eternal punishment "Life and letters of Father Faber" by Father Bowden. L 2. ch. 7, p. 389). » It is because of this capital importance of the memory of eternal punishments, that we consider it expedient, before relating the apparitions of the damned, to briefly remind our readers of the teachings of the Gospel and of theology on hell.
1. — It is believed that hell exists, as many passages of the Gospel prove.
2. — It is believed that the damned will suffer the double punishment of damage and sense. At the last judgment, Jesus Christ will say to the reprobate: “Depart from me, you cursed, into the eternal fire (Matt. XXV, 41). » It is certain that the fire of hell is a fire, not metaphorical, but real, because, says Saint Thomas, only corporal punishment can adapt to the nature of the bodies of the reprobate (Supplem. q. 97, a 5). On April 30, the Sacred Penitentiary decreed that a confessor cannot absolve the penitent who persists in thinking that the fire of hell is metaphorical, and not real.
3. — It is believed that the penalties of hell will not be equal for all the damned, but will be proportionate to the gravity and number of their sins. This truth was defined by the Council of Florence (Cf. Denzinger: Enchiridion symbolorum, ed. 10, n. 693).
4. — It is believed that hell is eternal. Jesus Christ tells us in the Gospel: “These (the reprobate) will go to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life (Matthew, XXV, 46). » If hell were not eternal, God would not have sufficiently sanctioned his law, because, a modern theologian says very well: “Man is so made, that the definitive and the eternal alone succeed in containing the violence of his passions (Souben, OSB: New dogmatic theology: The Last Ends, ch. 2; n. 5). »
5. — It is of faith that all adults without any exception will be saved or damned, because all men will be resurrected at the end of the world and will be judged by Jesus Christ; after which: “These (the reprobate) will go to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life (Matthew, XXV, 46)”. By righteous we must understand only those who will enjoy sanctifying grace. As we see, there is no intermediate place between heaven and hell except for children who die without baptism.
6. — It is of faith that the souls of all those who die in a state of mortal sin, even if they had committed only one serious fault, will immediately descend into hell. This truth was defined by Pope Benedict XII (Cf. Denzinger, loc. cit., n. 531).
All the preceding truths are terrible; but is it nothing to seriously offend the most high and holy majesty of God, to trample underfoot the blood of Jesus Christ, to desecrate the temple of the Holy Spirit and to expel him from it unworthily, to abuse grace, to prefer the creature to God, to respond to his benefits with the blackest ingratitude, and not to achieve the end for which our soul was created? Let us flee sin; let us immediately return to grace with God, when we have had the misfortune of offending him; let us strive to live holy, and we will avoid hell. Our Lord said one day to Saint Thérèse: “My daughter, no one will be lost without knowing it (Life written by herself, Bouix-Perré edition: Additions, p. 597). »
May the Lord, dear readers, grant us all to sing of His infinite mercies eternally in heaven!
Prince damned for his impenitence
During the heat of wars of which the Peninsula was the scene, in the 16th century, between the Italians, the French, the Spanish and the Germans, Blessed Catherine de Racconigi, Dominican, multiplied her prayers in favor of peace . Our Lord appeared to him one day and said to him: “I have come from heaven to earth to bring there the seeds of peace; but men reject them and provoke my punishments by their misconduct, their pride and their obstinacy. — O my hope! replied the humble girl, you could convert them and bring them back to you. — What you say is true, but this process does not suit my justice, and I respect their free will. Resisting all my advances, they make themselves unworthy of receiving the fullness of my mercy. And so that you recognize the truth of my word, I want you to rebuke such a prince on my behalf, and to announce to him his imminent death and his damnation, if he is not in a hurry to change his life. » At that very moment, an invisible hand lifted her and carried her across, with the speed of lightning, a space of one hundred and sixty miles. The prince was walking alone in a room when the blessed woman appeared before him. “In the name of the Savior Jesus,” she said to him, “please stop fueling the fire of discord and war in the Christian republic. » Seeing a woman suddenly enter and speak to him in this way, the prince was troubled, and thinking that he was dealing with a supernatural spirit: “Are you not the devil, come to tempt me? " he said to him. “Neither the devil, nor any spirit,” replied Catherine, “but a simple girl sent from God to warn you of your eternal ruin, if you do not stop on the path you are running. » With that, she disappeared, leaving him filled with terror. Far from taking advantage of the warning, the prince persevered in his bad dispositions and died unrepentant. The saint was given the opportunity to witness the operations of divine justice on this damned man. Transported to this unfortunate man, she saw him in the torments of hell. “Do you recognize me?” » she told him. — “Yes, you are Catherine de Racconigi: it was you who announced to me my imminent death and the damnation that I am suffering as punishment for my unrepentance — O unfortunate person,” she continued, “if you had done what I told you in the name of Jesus Christ, you would now be in the kingdom of the elect
"Dominican Year". Lyon, 1900, t. 17, p. 143 and following! »
“I am now burning in hell. »
We read in the life of B. Richard de Sainte-Anne: “It happened in the city he lived in (the contemporary historian does not cite it, but there is no doubt that it was Brussels), it happened that two students, dissolute and scandalous, planned to go with some companions to a house of bawdy. They spent a notable part of the night there. One of them said to his companion: “Let's go back, I've had enough. “And me, not yet,” replied the other. The first leaves him, returns to his apartment, and, about to go to bed, remembers the daily homage he paid to the Blessed Virgin. Although he was more inclined to sleep than to pray, he carried out his devotional practice as best he could. He had barely gone to bed when he heard a knock on his bedroom door. A second, a third time, he hears knocks without wanting to open, when, suddenly, the door remaining closed, he sees his companion of debauchery enter, whom he had just left in the house of scandal. Seeing her, he remains silent, so overcome is he with astonishment: “Do you recognize me? » asks the unfortunate man, after a moment of silence. “Truly, seeing your face and hearing your voice, you are the companion I left a while ago; but your sudden and surprising appearance made me doubt it. » The mysterious visitor lets out a long sigh. — “Know,” he said, “that while we wallowed in the mud of our fornications, stripping away all fear of God, Satan brought us a trial in the divine tribunal, and demanded against us both a sentence of damnation. The Sovereign Judge granted him this sentence, and it was only a question of carrying it out, but the Virgin, your advocate, intervened in your favor, especially since at that very moment, you you are duty-bound to invoke it. Also your judgment is deferred, but mine is executed, because, leaving this house where I committed my crimes, the devil suffocated me and, tearing my soul from my body, dragged me into hell where I am burning now! » So saying, he uncovers his breast and shows it eaten away by worms and devoured by fire. Then, leaving behind him a horrible stench, he disappeared. The young man was in a stupor and remained half dead at this spectacle. Coming to his senses, he prostrated himself on the ground, gave thanks to his august Lawyer, wept bitterly for his errors and promised to seriously mend his ways from now on. At the same time, he heard the bell ringing Midnight Matins at the neighboring convent of the Friars Minor (1), and making grave reflections until morning on the kind of life of these angels of the earth who pray and atone for others , he plans to go there at daybreak. As soon as it was light he ran there,and throwing himself at the feet of the Father Guardian, related to him the event and insistently requested the favor of being admitted into the Order. We first decided to go and check the fact in the place where it had happened. There, in fact, they found the body of the unfortunate man, hideous, repulsive, lying on the ground. He was dragged to the dump to be buried there like the corpse of an animal. The young convert was then received into the Order of Saint Francis, giving rare examples of virtue and particularly devotion to the holy virgin Mary. This event happened in 1604; Blessed Richard, who was then nineteen years old, was, he said, a spectator, and it was he himself who later told the story to Father d'Andreda, theologian of the Society of Jesus, who he met in Spain. This was the spur that stimulated him and determined him to become a Récollet Brother-Minor. He received the Franciscan habit in the same year, 1604, at the convent of Nivelles. He was martyred in Japan in 1622. This trait is cited by Father Bouvier in the life of the Blessed, which he published only fifty years after his martyrdom. Father Sébastien Bouvier, born in Fosses, in the province of Namur, died at the Récollets convent, in Namur, on April 3, 1681.
"Life of Blessed Richard of Sainte Anne d'Ham sur-Heure, of the Brothers-Minors, martyred in Japan", by Father Bouvier, retouched and completed by Father Lejeune, C. SS. R.; Society of Saint Augustine, 1899; ch. 2, p. 20 et seq .
(1) This convent was located on the current location of the Stock Exchange.
“There is a hell, and I am there! »
Mgr de Ségur relates the following story:
“It was in Russia, in Moscow, shortly before the horrible campaign of 1812. My maternal grandfather, Count Rostopchine, military governor of Moscow, was closely linked with the General Count Orloff, famous for his bravery, but as impious as he was brave. One day, following a fine supper, washed down with copious libations, Count Orloff and one of his friends, General V., a Voltairian like him, began to make terrible fun of religion and especially of religion. hell, “And if, by chance,” said Orloff, “if by chance there was something on the other side of the curtain?... — Well! replied General V., “the one of us who leaves first will come back to warn the other. Is this agreed? - Excellent idea ! » replied Count Orloff, and both, although half drunk, they very seriously gave each other their word of honor not to fail in their commitment. A few weeks later, one of those great wars broke out such as Napoleon had the gift of instigating; the Russian army entered the campaign, and General V. was ordered to leave immediately to take up an important command. He had left Moscow two or three weeks ago when one morning, very early, while my grandfather was washing, the door to his room suddenly opened. It was Count Orloff, in a dressing gown and slippers, his hair standing on end, his eyes wild, pale as death. " What ! Orloff, is that you? at this hour ? and in a suit like that? So what do you have? What happened ? “My dear fellow,” replied Count Orloff, “I think I’m going crazy. I have just seen General V. — General V.? So he came back? — Well, no, resumes Orloff, throwing himself on a sofa and pressing his head with both hands, no, he hasn't come back! and that's what terrifies me. » My grandfather didn't understand anything. He tried to calm him down. “Tell me,” he said, “what happened to you and what it all means. » Then, trying to control his emotion, Count Orloff related the following: “My dear Rostopchine, some time ago, V. and I had sworn mutually that the first of us to die would come and tell the other if there is something on the other side of the curtain. Now, this morning, barely half an hour ago, I was quietly in my bed, awake for a long time, not thinking at all of my friend, when suddenly the two curtains of my bed suddenly opened, and I see, two steps from me, General V., standing, pale, with his right hand on his chest, saying to me: “There is a hell, and I am there!” » and he disappeared. I came to find you right away. My head is leaving! What a strange thing! I do not know what to think ! » My grandfather calmed him as best he could. It was not an easy thing. He spoke of hallucinations, nightmares, perhaps he was sleeping. There are extraordinary, inexplicable things; and other banalities of this kind, which are the consolation of strong minds. Then he had his horses harnessed and taken Count Orloff back to his hotel. Now, ten or twelve days after this strange incident, an army courier brought my grandfather, among other news, that of the death of General V. The very morning of the day Count Orloff had seen him and I heard, at the same time that he had appeared to him in Moscow, the unfortunate general, who had gone out to reconnoitre the enemy's position, had had his chest pierced by a cannonball and had fallen dead! “There is a hell, and I am there!” » These are the words of someone who “came back from it. »
This fact is recounted by Mgr de Ségur in his little work entitled: “Hell” 4th edition, n. 1, p. 34.
Burned on the wrist by a damned person
In 1859, the following fact was told to Mgr de Ségur by a distinguished priest, Superior of an important religious community. “Here is what I knew from a reliable source, two or three years ago, from a very close relative of the person to whom this thing happened. At the time I speak to you (Christmas 1859), this lady is still living; she is a little over forty years old. » She was in London, in the winter of 1847 to 1848. She was a widow, aged about twenty-nine, very worldly, very rich and very pleasant of face. Among the elegant people who frequented her salon, we noticed a young lord, whose assiduities compromised her singularly and whose conduct, moreover, was nothing less than edifying. » One evening, or rather one night (because it was after midnight), she was reading some novel in her bed, waiting for sleep. An hour came to strike on his clock; she blew out her candle. She was about to fall asleep when, to her great astonishment, she noticed that a pale, strange glow, which seemed to come from the living room door, was spreading little by little into her room and increasing from moment to moment. Stunned, she opened her eyes wide, not knowing what that meant. She was beginning to get frightened when she saw the living room door slowly open and the young lord, accomplice in her troubles, enter her room. Before she could say a single word to him, he was near her, he grabbed her left arm at the wrist and, in a shrill voice, he said to her in English: “There is a hell! » The pain she felt in her arm was so great that she lost consciousness. » When she came to, half an hour later, she rang for her maid. When she entered, she smelled a strong burning odor; approaching her mistress, who could barely speak, she noticed a burn on her wrist so deep that the bone was exposed and the flesh almost consumed; this burn was the width of a man's hand. Furthermore, she noticed that from the living room door to the bed, and from the bed to this same door, the carpet bore the footprints of men, who had burned the fabric from side to side. By order of her mistress, she opened the door to the living room. No more marks on the carpets. » The next day, the unfortunate lady learned, with an easily understood terror, that that very night, around one o'clock in the morning, her lord had been found dead drunk under the table, that his servants had brought him to his house. room, and that he had expired there in their arms. » I do not know, added the Superior, if this terrible lesson completely converted the unfortunate woman; but what I know is that she still lives; only, to hide from view the traces of its sinister burn,On her left wrist, as a bracelet, she wears a large gold band, which she never takes off day or night. » I repeat, I get all these details from his close relative, a serious Christian, to whose words I attach the most complete faith. In the family itself, or never talks about it; and I myself only entrust them to you without mentioning any proper names. » Despite the veil with which this apparition was and must have been shrouded, it seems impossible to me to cast doubt on its formidable authenticity. Certainly, it is not the lady with the bracelet who needs someone to come and prove to her that there really is a hell.
Mgr de Ségur reports this fact in his little book: “Hell” 4th edition, no. I, p. 37.
“This is where I am now!” »
In the village of Alèn, on the banks of the Mpiri River, which there, under the Equator, flows lazily through the great African forest, lived, a few years ago, an old chief named Olane. There was once, it was said in the evenings at home, an illustrious warrior, renowned for his fierce courage and extreme cunning; in the midst of many dangers, he had led his people from the great marshes of the interior to the banks of the Ogowé, and in the midst of the tribes he had crossed, women and children pronounced his name with terror. Women and children, alone, because the warriors had all succumbed, either in combat or as prisoners; one by one, victims in terrible feasts, they had passed into the teeth of the chief and his principal warriors; in the evening, on dark nights, we heard, as black theology dictates, we heard their souls wandering, plaintive, condemned to long torments, for lack of the funeral honors which they would never have. When I knew him, Olane was an old chief, and for many years his hair and beard had turned completely white. Through contact with Europeans and especially missionaries, little by little its former ferocity had disappeared, or almost. When we came to his village to do catechism, and the case was almost daily, because barely two hours by canoe separated the village of Alèn from the mission, he generally welcomed us well, and when after the instruction, we hired with him a bit of conversation, barely a flash of regret still crossed his eyes at the memories of the prowess of yesteryear. Little by little, all the children of the village came to listen to our instructions, some were already at the mission, and among the men, many, when they thought they had nothing better to do, came to listen to us. Olane was among them. Rarely at first he came there, then more often, and finally, he never missed it. He would have done so willingly to receive baptism, because at his age, the pleasures and glories of earth no longer counted for much.He would have done it willingly without an obstacle: his brother Etare, village witch doctor. As brother of the chief, charged, as often happens, with religious functions, Olane's brother had seen with increasing irritation his credit diminish greatly, because we were making significant progress, and on many occasions, his ill will for had manifested itself to us. Without much rash judgment, one could easily attribute to him two or three stolen canoes, the start of a fire at the mission, two or three attempted poisonings... To see him, one would have taken him for a scoundrel, and one would not have been mistaken in any way! Many times, Olane had urged him to come and listen to us: he had done so, but only to make fun of our beliefs and our rites in fetishistic assemblies. Hell, in particular, and the role of demons had, on several occasions, been the object of his sarcastic taunts; and such was, despite everything, his empire over his brother, that he daily threatened with the wrath of the angry gods, that Olane, for fear of the taunts, of seeing himself deprived of his rank, and especially of the poison, hesitated and promised to become a Christian, but later, much later. Now, that evening, it could have been midnight. A furious tornado had prevented us from going to the village during the day. After the annoying heat of the storm, sleep was slow to come. Enjoying with delight the restful coolness of the night, we were under the veranda of the house, when suddenly wild cries, funeral lamentations broke out in the path which led to the mission, torches waved, and soon a group of natives, led by Olane, appear. “Father, a great misfortune! Etare died, and we saw him again: he came back to tell us: “This is where I am now” and he was burning everywhere; he put his hands on the door, and the door is burned! — Father, we don't want to go with him! Baptize us quickly! - Oh ! Oh ! I exclaimed, very surprised, “that's a quick job! And I don't quite understand. Sit there on the floor and don't talk all at once. You, Olane, speak. What happened ? And Olane begins: “Behold, Father! This morning, my brother Etare went fishing. You saw the storm today! He was caught by the wind, and a wave capsized his canoe; from the village, we saw him fall, but it was impossible to go to his aid: the wind and the rain were too strong, and we did not know what had become of him. I had retired to my hut, well, with this one, and this one again. And he showed me two natives who nodded in agreement. We were talking about Etare, when suddenly we saw him near the door... - You saw him ? — We saw it, as I see you, near the door, all red, like a coal taken from the fire, all red and it didn't burn! — Did he speak to you? — Yes: “This is how I am now,” he told us, “and I really hope that you will come and join me soon!” » And he came forward, and he poked his finger on my chest, here, where you see a black hole. » And, in fact, on Olane's chest was a round mark, the trace of a deep burn. — “I threw myself back, uttering a cry of terror: Oh! my brother Etare! And he was gone; but on the door, near the handle, as well as on my chest, you will be able to see the traces of his fingers. » And the others confirmed by gesture and word: “We have seen. Not wanting, of course, to go join him, we left in haste to come here, when, on the edge of the river, do you know what we encountered? the corpse of Etare, all cold, all icy, which the flood had just pushed onto the bank. The women won, and here we are. » The next day, with Olane and his companions, reassured and definitely converted, I took the road to Alèn. I wanted to see for myself the blackened marks of the passage of a damned person. But when we arrived there, a large fire was burning on the edge of the village, near the sacred grove dedicated to idols: the remains of Olane's hut had provided the materials, because they did not want to keep, agreement with all indigenous traditions, the place where a dead person had appeared. A large fire was burning, and in the middle a corpse was finally consuming: it was Etare, it was the sorcerer; so he could not return to torment the living. And while we were there, in front of the funeral pyre, a grimacing head detached itself and rolled at our feet, its jaws half open in an infernal grin. Olane's mark has never faded. He received baptism; the village is now Christian, and the memory of these facts will not soon fade away. Everyone knows Olane by this name: The Brother of the Accursed. This terrifying apparition is recounted by Father H. Trilles, in the Messenger of the Holy Spirit, January 1910, page 11 and following.
The examples we have just cited should not discourage anyone. Let us strive to serve God well; let us carefully avoid mortal sin , as well as venial sin; let us return to grace with God as soon as we have had the misfortune of mortally offending him ; let us faithfully honor the most holy Virgin, and we will certainly avoid hell. Let us not forget these words of Saint Alphonsus of Liguori:“It is morally impossible for a servant of Mary to damn himself, provided that he serves her faithfully and recommends himself to her” (The Glories of Mary).
Sweet Heart of Mary, be my salvation
(300 days of indulgence each time. [Pius IX. September 30, 1852]).
