St Theresa of Avila's Vision of Hell
"A
long time after the Lord had already granted me many of the favors
I've mentioned and other very lofty ones, while I was in prayer one
day, I suddenly found that, without knowing how, I had seemingly been
put in hell. I understood that the Lord wanted me to see the place the devils had prepared there for me and which I merited because of my sins.
This experience took place within the shortest space of time, but even
were I to live for many years I think it would be impossible for me to
forget it.
The entrance it seems to me was similar to a very long and narrow alleyway, like an oven, low and dark and confined; the floor
seemed to me to consist of dirty, muddy water emitting foul stench and
swarming with putrid vermin. At the end of the alleyway a hole that looked like a small cupboard was hollowed out in the wall; there I found I was placed in a cramped condition. All of this was delightful to see in comparison with what I felt there. What I have described can hardly be exaggerated.
"But
as to what I then felt, I do not know where to begin if I were to
describe it; it is utterly inexplicable. I felt a fire in my soul but
such that I am still unable to describe it. My bodily sufferings were unendurable.
I have undergone most painful sufferings in this life, and, as the
physicians say, the greatest that can be borne, such as the contraction
of my sinews when I was paralyzed, without speaking of other ills of
different types - yet, even those of which I have spoken, inflicted on
me by Satan; yet all these were as nothing in comparison with what I
then felt, especially when I saw that there would be no intermission
nor any end to them.
"These
sufferings were nothing in comparison with the anguish of my soul, a
sense of oppression, of stifling, and of pain so acute, accompanied by
so hopeless and cruel an infliction, that I know not how to speak of it.
If I say that the soul is continually being torn from the body it
would be nothing - for that implies the destruction of life by the
hands of another - but here it is the soul itself that is tearing itself in pieces.
I cannot describe that inward fire or that despair, surpassing all
torments and all pain. I did not see who it was that tormented me, but I
felt myself on fire, and torn to pieces, as it seemed to me; and I
repeat it, this inward fire and despair are the greatest torments of
all.
"Left
in that pestilential place, and utterly without the power to hope for
comfort, I could neither sit nor lie down; there was no room. I was
placed as it were in a hole in the wall; and those walls, terrible to
look on of themselves, hemmed me in on every side. I
could not breathe. There was no light, but all was thick darkness. I
do not understand how it is; though there was no light, yet everything
that can give pain by being seen was visible.
"Our Lord at that time would not let me see more of Hell. Afterwards I had another most fearful vision, in which I saw the punishment of certain sins.
They were the most horrible to look at, but because I felt none of the
pain, my terror was not so great. In the former vision Our Lord made
me really feel those torments and that anguish of spirit, just as if I
had been suffering them in the body there. I know not how it was, but I
understood distinctly that it was a great mercy that Our Lord would
have me see with my own eyes the very place from which His compassion
saved me. I have listened to people speaking of these things and I have
at other times dwelt on the various torments of Hell, though not
often, because my soul made no progress by the way of fear; and I have
read of the diverse tortures, and how the devils tear the flesh with
red-hot pincers. But all is as nothing before this: It is a wholly
different matter. In short, the one is a reality, the other a
description; and all burning here in this life is as nothing compared
with the fire that is there.
"I
was so terrified by that vision - and that terror is on me even now as
I write - that though it took place nearly six years ago, the natural
warmth of my body is chilled by fear even now when I think of it.
And so, amid all the pain and suffering which I may have had to bear, I
remember no time in which I do not think that all we have to suffer in
this world is as nothing. It seems to me that we complain without
reason. I repeat it, this vision was one of the grandest mercies of God.
It has been to me of the greatest service, because it has destroyed my
fear of trouble and of the contradictions of the world, and because it
has made me strong enough to bear up against them, and to give thanks
to Our Lord who has been my Deliverer, as it now seems to me, from such
fearful and everlasting pains.
"Ever
since that time, as I was saying, everything seems endurable in
comparison with one instant of suffering such as those I had then to
bear in Hell. I am filled with fear when I see that, after frequently
reading books which describe in some manner the pains of Hell, I was
not afraid of them, nor made any account of them. Where was I? How could I possibly take any pleasure in those things which led me directly to so dreadful a place?
Blessed forever be Thou, O my God! And oh, how manifest is it that Thou
didst love me much more than I did love Thee! How often, O Lord, didst
Thou save me from that fearful prison! And how I used to get back to
it contrary to Thy will.
"It
was that vision which filled me with very great distress which I felt
at the sight of so many lost souls, especially of the Lutherans - for
they were once members of the Church by Baptism - and also gave me the
most vehement desires for the salvation of souls; for certainly I
believe that to save even one from those overwhelming torments, I would
willingly endure many deaths. If here on earth we see one whom we
specially love in great trouble or pain, our very nature seems to bid us
compassionate him; and if those pains be great, we are troubled
ourselves. What, then, must it be to see a soul in danger of pain, the
most grievous of all pains, forever? It is a thought no heart can bear
without great anguish. Here we know that pain at last ends with life,
and that there are limits to it, yet the sight of it moves us so
greatly to compassion; that other pain has no ending, and I know not
how we can be calm when we see Satan carry so many souls daily away.
"This
also makes me wish that, in a matter which concerns us so much, we did
not rest satisfied with doing less than we can do on our part - that
we left nothing undone. May Our Lord JESUS CHRIST give us His grace for
that end."
Cry out to JESUS CHRIST, tell him of your sins
Cry out to JESUS CHRIST, ask for HIS forgiveness
Cry out to JESUS CHRIST , repent of your sins
Cry out to JESUS CHRIST and HE will answer you
Cry out to JESUS CHRIST and HE will Save You
Cry out to JESUS CHRIST and You will be forgiven
Cry out to JESUS CHRIST and HE is EVER faithful to luv You
Cry out to JESUS CHRIST, tell him of your sins
Cry out to JESUS CHRIST, ask for HIS forgiveness
Cry out to JESUS CHRIST , repent of your sins
Cry out to JESUS CHRIST and HE will answer you
Cry out to JESUS CHRIST and HE will Save You
Cry out to JESUS CHRIST and You will be forgiven
Cry out to JESUS CHRIST and HE is EVER faithful to luv You
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