Saints Who Saw Hell

  • Thread starter Thread starter JimG
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
From the article; (bold mine)
In times past, heretics dismissed the reality or eternity of hell: Universalism was their creed.
In our day, some Catholics have tried what I call a “backdoor” approach to universalism: They admit there is a hell, but they question whether anybody is actually there. “Therapeutic Catholicism” seems to flip “dare we hope all men can be saved?” into an implicit presumption that they are.
Click to expand...
How many times I’ve witnessed this on these forums in the countless threads on hell. Catholics denying the existance of hell, or they deny that anyone is actually in hell. I thought that Our Lord made it abundantly clear.

Enter ye in at the narrow gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way that leadeth to destruction, and many there are who go in thereat. How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it!
 
While hell is real I really take with a grain of salt every single "visit to hell " whether protestan or Catholic
 
The Church teaches that Hell exists but make no statement of who may or not be there.
 
The thought of going to hell should chill all of us. Far too many Catholics, including priests and bishops seem to think that most will be saved. That unless you’re Hitler or Stalin, you’ve got it made. This to me is a very dangerous line of thought! If you look at the thoughts of the Doctors of the Church, including Aquinas, Jerome and Augustine, you would find that many believed that very few would be saved. Now that’s what I call chilling!!!
 
Last edited:
From the webpage, “Convert Paul Thigpen has gathered private revelations from the writings of eight individuals honored by the Church who experienced visions of hell. They are: Sts. John Bosco, Teresa of Avila, Hildegard of Bingen, Catherine of Siena…”

Just as a corrective to those on CAF who ‘know with certainty’ that some folks will depart to Hell and stay there forever, two of the saints mentioned above had the most appropriate attitude toward Hell. I quote them below for your edification.
“This is what makes me so sad for all the souls who have fallen into disgrace. I want to help them return. Especially those who have been baptized and are already lovers of Christ. I would willingly suffer a thousand deaths if it meant I could set even one such soul free from such terrible torture.
Click to expand...
This vision also makes me wish that we would all do everything in our power to avoid this outcome for ourselves. Let us neglect nothing. And may it be the Lord’s will to give us the grace to serve him in all ways.” (Theresa of Avila, The Book of My Life, XXXII)
Click to expand...
“How could I ever reconcile myself, Lord, to the prospect that a single one of those whom, like me, you have created in yοur image and likeness should become lost and slip from your hands? No, in absolutely no case do I want to see a single one of my brethren meet with ruin, not a single one of those who, through their like birth, are one with me by nature and by grace. I want them all to be wrested from the grasp of the ancient enemy, so that they all become yours to the honor and greater glorification of your name.
If only your truth and your justice were to reveal themselves, then I would desire that there no longer be a hell, or at least that no soul would go there. If I could remain united with you in love while, at the same time, placing myself before the entrance to hell and blocking it off in such a way that no one could enter again, then that would be the greatest of joys for me, for all those whom I love would then be saved.” Dialogues of Catherine of Siena
Click to expand...
These magnificent saints maintained a disposition that was light-years removed from the “I got my golden ticket to paradise–sucks to be you, if you don’t” attitude. Such an attitude has no place in the Christian ethos. Saints Teresa and Catherine, pray for us!
 
Feanor2 said:
The Church teaches that Hell exists but make no statement of who may or not be there.
Click to expand...
To be more precise, other than knowing that Satan is in Hell, the Church has no official discernment mechanism in place to determine who is/are in Hell, nor it is within the Church’s jurisdiction to make that judgment—never was, neither now nor ever. It entirely belongs to the judgment of God.

Hell is a place for condemned souls that rejected God. Hell is there for that reason. God gave us free will to either accept or reject Him. In His infinite love and mercy, God allows Heaven for those that He deems worthy. The same is true for Hell for those that God deems so. It is neither logical nor merciful, in light of God’s gift of free will, that God would force Heaven upon souls that rejected Him. The truth is: there are unfortunately souls that reject God. To this point, it is logical to believe that there are condemned souls in Hell.
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top