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A Soul From Hell

A widow who was a sleazy slumlord and porno dealer for 30 years became a God-fearing pillar of society overnight – after her husband paid her a visit from Hell! "I'm a changed woman," trembling Sophia Neri, 53, told reporters in Rome, Italy. "I've had a glimpse of Hell through my husband's eyes, and I'll do anything to keep from joining him there." 

Before her eerie encounter, the widow operated a small empire of rat-infested slum apartments outside Rome and ran an underworld porno ring that produced magazines for sale overseas. "My husband Sal and I ran the business together before he died last year," Sophia recalled. "We lived in style, but we were living off the misery and appetites of others. After Sal died, I took over the entire operation myself and was pleased with the life I was leading." 

But all that changed the day Sal appeared in Sophia's bedroom. His eyes burning like coals. "He stood before me a shrunken, broken soul, so different from the cocky, confident man I knew for 30 years," the reformed porno queen told reporters. "He told me he had been condemned to a life in Hell. He said it was far worse than anything he had imagined – and he warned me I would be joining him there if I didn't mend my ways. 'To live in Hell is to have a body that is constantly on fire,' he said. 

Then he pressed the palm of his hand against a heavy wooden door and his palm burned into the wood like a branding iron. A moment later he vanished leaving his handprint behind as a reminder of his warning. But believe me, that terrifying message burned itself into my mind as clearly as his handprint had burned into the door. I wasn't about to forget." 

That night, Sophia visited a priest to confess her sins and beg for forgiveness. "She took me to her home and showed me the handprint on the door" [now at the Purgatorial Museum in Rome], said Father Angelo Macchi. "After seeing that and hearing her story, I have no doubt her husband paid her a visit from Hell." The next day, the shaken lady disbanded her illegal pornography operation and began turning her run-down tenement into luxury apartments, which she gave to the city to be used as low-rent housing for the poor.

"Sophia made a full confession of her activities to the police," Father Macchi said. "But so far nothing has come of it because she is living the life of a model citizen. She has given her money to charity and lives in a tiny apartment right next door to my church. She is a woman who truly has found God – and probably just in the nick of time." 

The Young Lord and His Mistress 

 In London during the winter of 1847-1848, a wealthy young widow in her late 20's suddenly found herself in an illicit relationship with a young lord. Late one night as she was falling asleep, a glimmer of light started to grow and expand at her door. 

To her astonishment the door started to slowly open, and there was the young lord. He approached, grabbed her left wrist, and hissed: "There is a Hell." The pain in her wrist was so great she lost consciousness. When she came to, she had a terrible burn into her wrist down to the bone. The carpet also was scorched where his footsteps had come and gone. 

The next day she learned that the night before, her lord had been found drunk and had died in his servants' arms. She apparently lived the rest of her life with her charred scar as a reminder.

St. Francis Jerome and the Obstinate Sinner

 In the year 1707, St. Francis. Jerome was preaching, as was his wont, in the neighborhood of the City of Naples. He was speaking of Hell and the awful chastisements that await obstinate sinners. A brazen courtesan (prostitute), who lived there, troubled by a discourse which aroused her remorse, sought to hinder it by jests and shouts, accompanied by noisy instruments. As she was standing close to the window, the Saint cried out: "Beware, my daughter, of resisting grace; before eight days God will punish you." The unhappy creature grew only more boisterous.

Eight days elapsed, and the holy preacher happened to be again before the same house. This time she was silent; the windows were shut. The hearers, with dismay on their faces, told the Saint that Catherine (that was the name of the bad woman) had a few hours before died suddenly. "Died!" he repeated. "Well, let her tell us now what she has gained by laughing at Hell. Let us ask her." He uttered these words in an inspired tone, and everyone expected a miracle. 

Followed by an immense crowd, he went up to the death chamber, and there, after having prayed for an instant he uncovered the face of the corpse, and said in a loud voice, "Catherine, tell us where art thou now." At this summons, the dead woman lifted her head, while opening her wild eyes; her face borrowed color, her features assumed an expression of horrible despair, and in a mournful voice, she pronounced these words: "In Hell; I am in Hell." And immediately, she fell back again into the condition of a corpse. 

"I was present at that event," says one of the witnesses, "but I could never convey the impression it produced on me and the bystanders, nor that which I still feel every time I pass that house and look at that window. At the sight of that ill-fated abode, I still hear the pitiful cry resounding: 'In Hell, I am in Hell.'" With fear and trembling work out your salvation (Philip. 2:12).

The Old General and The Count

 

In Russia shortly before the horrible military campaign between Napoleon and Russia in 1812, two high-ranking military men, one a Count and the Military Governor of Moscow and the other a General, were scoffing over drinks about the existence of God, life after death and Hell. They made a mocking "pledge of honor": if there were a Hell, the first there would come to inform the other of it. A few weeks later, the General departed for the front. 

One morning, while the Count was lying in bed, the General suddenly appeared before him, pale, with his right hand on his breast, declaring: "What do we do now? There is a Hell and I am there! What do we do now?" He then disappeared. 

The Count ran to friends, eyes wild, hair on end, and exclaimed what had just happened. Two weeks later, word was received in Moscow that the General had died in battle – on the same day and at the very hour he appeared to the Count. He had kept his word of honor: Hell exists.

Your Time is running Out!!! 

How many days do you have left?  

Are you guaranteed tomorrow? 

The Poor Souls killed in the Oklahoma Tornadoes on 5-20-2013 surely never thought on that Sunny morning that it was their last day on earth.  

JESUS CHRIST suffered and died on the Cross so that NO ONE should have to suffer the eternal fires of Hell.

Ask JESUS CHRIST to be your Savior RIGHT NOW!!! Its this easy...

"JESUS I am a sinner. Please be my Savior."

If you take one step toward the Lord JESUS CHRIST He will do the rest.   

GOD is in the Details

Inspiration comes in many forms.  In the past I have tried to shine a light on the positive stories — the resilient chameleon nature of humanity.  I often choose to highlight individuals who transcend personal adversity to achieve tremendously empowering feats.  But perhaps I am guilty of slanting the scales too hard toward the sublime.  When it comes to inspiration information, I tend to focus on the incredible results people have accomplished while ignoring the equally incredible (and many times more inspiring) journey it took to achieve that happy end.

People like Rosie Pope Swale — who at 60 years young ran the entire circumference of the globe — but would have never embarked on this 5 year endurance marathon if her lifelong partner and husband hadn’t tragically died of cancer.  Or Dick Hoyt — the overweight dad who would have never learned how to swim, let alone race in nearly 1000 traithlon events if not for the joy of pushing his cerebral palsy disabled son ahead to give him that momentary feeling of “flying”… free from the limitations of his locked-in body.

Life is not all sunshine and rainbows.  It is a constant flux, a pendulum swinging wildly through the many shades of human emotion.  And it is important to remember that sometimes the greatest inspiration comes from the moments of deepest despair.  In the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. “The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

For this reason, I choose to highlight a story this week with perhaps some darker elements.  Bear with me… I believe the end result well merits the sad beginning:

Meet Kevin Hines. At age 16 he was diagnosed with severe bipolar disorder — characterized by dramatic mood swings and waves of paranoia and depression.  Intensive psychiatry  and cocktails of mood stabilizers alleviated some of the emotional downspins, but not all.  His parents got divorced.  His favorite drama teacher committed suicide.  He started hearing voices.  His girlfriend broke up with him.

At 19, Kevin just couldn’t face the thought of living anymore.  So Monday morning he boarded the 28-19th avenue bus to the foot of the Golden Gate Bridge…

At almost 9,000 feet long and 746 feet high, the bridge is an engineering masterpiece — a symbol of San Francisco and America recognized around the world.  Yet for many, the bridge carries a darker side.  Since it’s 1937 construction, more than 1,250 people have chosen to end their lives here (an average of 24 per year).  More than any other destination in the world.

Kevin stood in the park lot for a long time, the voices taunting him, “you are a burden on on those whole love you.  You can’t go back.“  Finally he walked out onto the span, crying the whole way.  Nobody stopped to ask what was wrong.  He found a perfect spot mid-bridge.  No railing separating him from the blank void of oblivion.  No pylons to interrupt his downward fall.

Still he waited.  A bike cop pedaled past without pause.  Two construction workers drove right by the sobbing youth with barely a side glance.  40 minutes passed.  “Doesn’t somebody, anybody care?” Kevin thought in despair.  And then a hand tapped his shoulder.  He turned, tears streaming down his cheeks, to find the glamorous smile of a beautiful woman.  She lowered her Breakfast at Tiffany’s shades, and extended a small camera.  And in a deep German accent she brightly asked, “Do you mind taking my picture?”
“This is it,” Kevin thought. “no clearer sign than that.”  He snapped the photo, and the second the woman walked away… he took three hurtling steps and dove headfirst off the Golden Gate Bridge.
At over 800 feet, it takes a 6 second eternity to plummet, falling at over 120 miles per hour — near terminal velocity.  But it only took Kevin the fraction of a blink, in that space between his foot leaving the edge and the ocean filling his future, to decide he had made a terrible mistake.  He didn’t want to die.  And in the next blink he begged God to let him live.

They say when you fall from great heights, you black out before you hit ground.  You brain simply short-circuits – the final kill-switch of self-preservation.  In Kevin’s case this wasn’t true.  He managed to flip himself mid-air to a sitting position, the gray Pacific fast approaching.  He knew he only had one chance – so he threw his head back, planted his feet… and hit the water like a watermelon hitting concrete.
The impact instead broke his back and shattered his vertebrae.  He sank down into the frigid depths, his aerial freefall nothing compared to the enveloping darkness of his forty foot dive.  But the indescribable pain kept his survival senses sharp — he was still ALIVE.  And kick by kick he clawed his way back toward the surface and the light.

And here is where the miracle happened.  Yes it was a miracle the impact didn’t instantly kill him.  It was a miracle he managed to reach surface with a broken back.  But now, with hypothermia fast approaching and wet jeans and heavy boots dragging him back under, Kevin was still very much alive and still very much a goner.  And as his head slipped back under the green waters, something large and sleek brushed his legs.  “Perfect,” Kevin thought, “I survived the bridge only to be eaten by a shark!”
Only it wasn’t a shark, but a large seal, who circled Kevin for the next 10 minutes until the Coast Guard finally arrived.  Pushing him up from beneath and keeping his afloat.  The seal protected him, saved his life.  And to this day and forever Kevin believes it was God, his guardian angel, sent to give him a second chance, a whole new life purpose.

Today Kevin is a motivational speaker and Mental health advocate.  He has talked to over 250,000 people suffering mental disorder and suicidal tendencies.   He’s on the forefront of a campaign to build a simple suicide barrier on the bridge, a measure which has already drastically reduced — and often eliminated — suicides at landmarks such as the Eiffel Tower, the Empire State Building,  and Australia’s Sydney Harbor Bridge.  And he continues to work with suicide prevention hotlines, military veterans, and mental health clinics.  In 2009 he won the Voice Award for his inspiring message of “Living Mentally Well.”
After one of his motivational speeches a man came up to him and said, “You saved my life. I was going to kill myself before I heard you make a speech.”  It is a reaction Kevin gets often and it is the reason he keeps fighting his own bipolar battles, keeps staying positive and happy, keeps getting up on that stage to share his heart-heavy story.  In his own words: “I do it for that, not to get attention. To help other people.” 

For me there is great inspiration in Kevin’s courage to speak.  To share his journey into hell and back again.  To shine a light on the depths of human suffering, in order to show the many paths that lead to recovery and life.

Sorrow, despair, loneliness, suicide — these words we don’t mention in public.  These feelings we keep firmly locked away; we dare not discuss… though their currents run through all of us in varying ebbs and flows throughout the course of life.  Just as hope and passion and happiness and love all run together as well.  I believe it doesn’t make us weaker to admit these lulls.  As the tea box so eloquently said: “acceptance is the first step toward happiness.”  Don’t fight the flow.  But don’t let it drag you under and hold you down either.

When you’ve leapt off that metaphorical bridge, when you’ve reached the darkest depths of your inner ocean, just remember to keep kicking for the light at the surface.   Or better yet, take Kevin’s lesson to heart — We don’t need to jump at all.  We just need to learn how to swim.

Glory to Almighty GOD who is never to late...

Our Father who Art in Heaven

The return of our Lord JESUS CHRIST draws very close... These words were given to a woman from the Lord recently.
 

“Come my children, come and enter into my rest. The end of your sufferings near, worry not of things of this world. 

Time spent here is but a speck of dust compared to the everlasting vastness of all eternity.

In my rest, these tribulations will be remembered no more, there will be no more pain or tears for you will be purified by fire and refined by gold wearing the white robe of righteousness and a crown of glory adorned with many jewels each representing the overcoming and victory of the trial. 

Well done my good and faithful servants"

THE CHAPLET TO THE DIVINE MERCY

(The DIARY of Saint sister Faustina) VILNIUS, Lithuania "September 13, 1935.
In the evening, when I was in my cell, I saw an Angel, the executor of divine wrath.
He was clothed in a dazzling robe, his face gloriously bright, a cloud beneath his feet. From the cloud, bolts of thunder and flashes of lightning were springing into his hands; and from his hand they were going forth, and only then were they striking the earth. When I saw this sign of divine wrath which was about to strike the earth, and in particular a certain place, which for good reasons I cannot name, I began to implore the Angel to hold off for a few moments, and the world would do penance. But my plea was a mere nothing in the face of the divine anger.
(...) At that very moment I felt in my soul the power of Jesus’ grace, which dwells
in my soul. When I became conscious of this grace, I was instantly snatched up before the Throne of God.

(...) I found myself pleading with God for the world with words heard interiorly.
As I was praying in this manner, I saw the Angel’s helplessness: he could not carry out the just punishment which was rightly due fors sins. Never before had I prayed with such inner power as I did then. The words with which I entreated God are these: Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ for our sins and those of the whole world; for the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us.
The next morning, when I entered chapel, I heard these words interiorly: Every time
you enter the chapel, immediately recite the prayer which I taught you yesterday.

When I had said the prayer, in my soul I heard these words:

 This prayer will serve to appease My wrath. You will recite it for nine days, on the beads of the rosary, in the following manner: First of all, you will say one OUR FATHER and HAIL MARY and the I BELIEVE IN GOD. Then on the OUR FATHER beads you will say the following words: Eternal Father, I offer You the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Your dearly beloved Son, Our Lord Jesus Christ,in atonement for our sins and those of the whole world.
On the HAIL MARY beads you will say the following words: For the sake of His sorrowful Passion, have mercy on us and on the whole world.
In conclusin, three times you will recite these words: Holy God, Holy Mighty One,
Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us nad on the whole world" (Diary, 474-476).

---

"Oh, what great graces I will grant to souls who say this chaplet (...) Write down these words, My daughter. Speak to the world about My mercy; let all mankind recognize My unfathomable mercy. It is a sign for the end times; after it will come the day of justice. While there is still time, let them have recourse to the fount of My mercy; let them profit from the Blood and Water which gushed forth for them" (Diary, 848) .

"Say unceasingly the chaplet that I have taught you. Whoever will recite it, they will receive great mercy at the hour of death. Priests will recommend it to sinners as their last hope of salvation. Even if there were a sinner most hardened, if he were to recite this chaplet only once, he would receive grace from My infinite mercy" (Diary, 687). 

This is my favorite prayer which I pray often and with great love.  I have read the Diary of  Saint Faustina and it is a awesome testimony of Almighty GOD'S love for HIS children. JESUS CHRIST promises all who pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, even if it is only 1 time HE will save that Soul from Hell.  JESUS also promised that if you pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy in the room of a sick person who is unconscious. HE will accept that the Chaplet of Divine Mercy as if the sick person had prayed it them self.  

The Divine Mercy of JESUS CHRIST knows NO bounds. Ask the Holy Father for HIS Divine Mercy and Forgiveness and HE will be faithful to give it.

Trust in Our Holy Father Who Art in Heaven! 

Hallowed be HIS Holy name forever and ever. 

THE DIARY OF SAINT FAUSTINA Part 2

 

Part 2

"This firm resolution to become a saint is extremely pleasing to Me. I bless your efforts and will give you opportunities to sanctify yourself. Be watchful that you lose no opportunity that My providence offers you for sanctification. If you do not succeed in taking advantage of an opportunity, do not lose your peace, but humble yourself profoundly before Me and, with great trust, immerse yourself completely in My mercy.
In this way, you gain more than you have lost, because more favor is granted
to a humble soul than the soul itself asks for..." (Diary 1361).

"I seek and desire souls like yours but they are few. Your great trust in Me forces Me to continuously grant you graces" (Diary 718).

"...Let three virtues adorn you in a particular way; humility, purity of intention and love" (Diary 1779).

"I want to hold you in My hand as a pliant tool, perfectly adapted to the completion of My works" (Diary 1359).

"I demand of you a perfect and whole-burnt offering; an offering of the will. No other sacrifice can compare with this one. I myself am directing your life and arranging things in such a way that you will be for Me a continual sacrifice and will always do My will. And for the accomplishment of this offering, you will unite yourself with Me on the Cross. I myself will give you many orders directly, but I will delay the possibility of their being carried out and make it depend on others (...) but know, My daughter, that this offering will last until your death." (Diary 923).

"Outwardly, your sacrifice must look like this: silent, hidden, permeated with love, imbued with prayer. I demand, My daughter, that your sacrifice be pure and full of humility, that I may find pleasure in it (...). You shall accept all sufferings with love.
Do not be afflicted if your heart often experiences repugnance and dislike for sacrifice. All its power rests in the will, and so these contrary feelings, far from lowering the value of the sacrifice in My eyes, will enhance it" (Diary 1767).

"...every conversion of a sinful soul demands sacrifice" (Diary 961).

"...I need sacrifice lovingly accomplished, because that alone has meaning for Me. Enormous indeed are the debts of the world which are due to Me; pure souls can pay them by their sacrifice, exercising mercy in spirit" (Diary 1316).

"...but write this for the many souls who are often worried because they do not have the material means with which to carry out an act of mercy. Yet spiritual mercy, which requires neither permissions nor storehouses, is much more meritorious and is within the grasp of every soul. If a soul does not exercise mercy somehow or other, it will not obtain My mercy on the day of judgment. Oh, if only souls knew how to gather eternal treasure for themselves, they would not be judged, for they would forestall My judgment with their mercy" (Diary 1317).

---

"I was led by an Angel to the chasms of hell (...). 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 (...). I noticed that there are most souls that did not believe hell exists. I could hardly recover from the fright. How terribly souls suffer there!" (Diary 741).

"In a moment I was in a misty place full of fire in which there was a great crowd of suffering souls. They were praying fervently, but to no avail for themselves; only we can come to their aid (...) their greatest torment was longing for God. I saw Our Lady visiting the souls in Purgatory. The souls call her "The Star of the Sea". She brings them refreshment" (Diary 20).

"...I was in heaven and I saw its inconceivable beauties and the happiness that awaits us after death. I saw how all creatures give ceaseless praise and glory to God. I saw how great is happiness in God, which spreads to all creatures, making them happy; and than all the glory and praise which springs from this happiness returns to its source; and they enter into the depths of God, contemplating the inner life of God (...). This source of happiness is unchanging in its essence, but it is always new, gushing forth happiness for all creatures" (Diary 777).

"I rarely have such visions. But I more often commune with the Lord in a more profound manner. My senses sleep and, although not in a visible way, all things become more real and clearer to me than as if I saw them with my eyes. My intellect learns more in one moment than during long years of thinking and meditations, both as regards the essence of God and as regards revealed truths, and also as regards the knowledge of my own misery" (Diary 882).

"There are, in my life, times and moments of spiritual insight; that is, Divine illuminations, when the soul receives inward instruction about things it has not read in any book and has not been taught by any person. These are times of great inner knowledge that God himself imparts to the soul. These are great mysteries"
(Diary 1102).

"God approaches a soul in a special way known only to himself and to the soul (...). Love presides in this union, and everything is achieved by love alone. Jesus gives himself to the soul in a gentle and sweet manner, and in His depths there is peace. He grants the soul many graces and makes it capable of sharing His eternal thoughts. And frequently, He reveals to it His divine plans" (Diary 622).

"...If the Lord demands something of a soul, He gives it the means to carry it out, and through grace He makes it capable of doing this. So, even if the soul be utterly miserable, at the Lord’s command it can undertake things beyond its expectation, because this is the sign by which it can be known that the Lord is with that soul; if God’s power and strength, which make the soul courageous and valiant, is manifested within it" (Diary 1090).

"God imparts himself to the soul in a loving way and draws it into the infinite depths of His divinity, but at the same time He leaves it here on earth for the sole purpose that it might suffer and die of longing for Him. And this strong love is so pure that God himself finds pleasure in it; and self-love has no access to its deeds (...) and because of this, the soul is capable of great deeds for God" (Diary 856).

"Chosen souls are, in My hand, lights which I cast into the darkness of the world and with which I illumine it. As stars illumine the night, so chosen souls illumine the earth. And the more perfect a soul is, the stronger and the more far-reaching is the light shed by it. It can be hidden and unknown, even to those closest to it, and yet its holiness is reflected in souls even to the most distant extremities of the world" (Diary 1601).

"...There are souls living in the world who love Me dearly. I dwell in their hearts with delight. But they are few. In convents too, there are souls that fill My Heart with joy.
They bear My features (...). Their number is very small. They are a defense for the world before the justice of the Heavenly Father and a means of obtaining mercy for the world. The love and sacrifice of these souls sustain the world in existence"
(Diary 367).

THE DIARY OF SAINT FAUSTINA Part 1

SAINT FAUSTINA

The DIARY of sister Faustina, written in the form of a journal, records the last four years
of her life. It reveals the depths of her spiritual life and illustrates the picture of the high degree
of her soul’s union with God. The Lord endowed sister Faustina with great graces: the gift
of contemplation, a deep knowledge of the mystery of the mercy of God, visions, revelations,
the hidden stigmata, the gift of prophecy and of reading into human souls, and also the rare
gift of mystical espousal (Diary Introduction, p. 10, Polish Edition).

"Secretary of My most profound mystery, know that yours is an exclusive intimacy with Me. Your task is to write down everything that I make known to you about My mercy, for the benefit of those who by reading these things will be comforted in their souls and will have the courage to approach Me. I therefore want you to devote all your free moments to writing" (Diary 1693).

"These rays of mercy will pass through you, just as they have passed through this Host, and they will go out through all the world" (Diary 441).

"My Heart overflows with great mercy for souls (...). If only they could understand that
I am the best of Fathers to them and that it is for them that the Blood and Water flowed from My Heart as from a fount overflowing with mercy. For them I dwell in the tabernacle as King of Mercy. I desire to bestow My graces upon souls, but they do not want to accept them (...). Oh, how indifferent are souls to so much goodness, to so many proofs of love! (...). They have time for everything, but they have no time to come to Me for graces" (Diary 367).

"Oh, how miserable are those who do not take advantage of the miracle of God’s mercy! You will call out in vain, but it will be too late" (Diary 1448).

"Tell sinners that no one shall escape My Hand; if they run away from My Merciful Heart, they will fall into My Just Hands. Tell sinners that I am always waiting for them, that I listen intently to the beating of their heart... When will it beat for Me? Write that I am speaking to them through their remorse of conscience, through their failures and sufferings, through thunderstorms, through the voice of the Church. And if they bring all My graces to naught, I begin to be angry with them, leaving them alone and giving them what they want" (Diary 1728).

 

"God never violates our free will. It is up to us whether we want to receive God’s grace or not. It is up to us whether we will cooperate with it or waste it" (Diary 1107).
 
"...I saw two roads. One was broad, covered with sand and flowers, full of joy, music and all sorts of pleasures. People walked along it, dancing and enjoying themselves. They reached the end without realizing it. And at the end of the road there was a horrible precipice; that is, the abyss of hell. The souls fell blindly into it; as they walked, so they fell. And their number was so great that it was impossible to count them. And I saw the other road, or rather, a path, for it was narrow and strewn with thorns and rocks; and the people who walked along it had tears in their eyes, and all kinds of suffering befell them. Some fell down upon the rocks, but stood up immediately and went on. At the end of the road there was a magnificent garden filled with all sorts of happiness and all these souls entered there. At the very first instant they forgot all their sufferings" (Diary 153).

"...How fleeting all earthly things are, and everything that appears great disappears like smoke, and does not give the soul freedom, but weariness. Happy the soul that understands these things and with only one foot touches the earth" (Diary 1141).

"...If a soul loves God sincerely and is intimately united with Him, then, even though such a soul may be living in the midst of difficult external circumstances, nothing can disturb its interior life; and in the midst of corruption, it can remain pure and unsullied; because the great love of God gives it strength for battle, and God also protects in a special way" (Diary 1094).

"The Lord gave me much light to know His attributes. The first attribute that the Lord gave me to know is His holiness. His holiness is so great that all the Powers and Virtues tremble before Him(...). The holiness of God is poured out upon the Church of God and upon every living soul in it, but not in the same degree. There are souls who are completely penetrated by God, and there are those who are barely alive. The second kind of knowledge that the Lord granted me concerns His justice. His justice is so great and penetrating that it reaches deep into the heart of things, and all things stand before Him in naked truth (...).
The third attribute is love and mercy. And I understood that the greatest attribute is love and mercy. It unites the creature with the Creator. This immense love and abyss of mercy are made known in the Incarnation of the Word and in the Redemption [of humanity], and it is here that I saw this as the greatest of all God’s attributes" (Diary 180).

 

"All that is great and beautiful is in God (...). O you sages of the world and you great minds, recognize that true greatness is in loving God!" (Diary 990).

"Jesus, You have given me to know and understand in what a soul’s greatness consists: not in great deeds but in great love. Love has its worth, and it confers greatness on all our deeds. Although our actions are small and ordinary in themselves, because of love they become great and powerful before God." (Diary 889)

"True greatness of the soul is in loving God and in humility" (Diary 427).

"As the soul continues to immerse itself more deeply into the abyss of its nothingness and need, God uses His omnipotence to exalt it. If there is a truly happy soul upon earth, it can only be a truly humble soul. At first, one’s self-love suffers greatly on this account, but after a soul has struggled courageously, God grants it much light by which it sees how wretched and full of deception everything is" (Diary 593).

"The floodgates of heaven are open to a humble soul, and a sea of graces flows down upon it (...). God refuses nothing to such a soul; it is all-powerful and influences the destiny of the whole world. God raises such a soul up to very throne, and the more
it humbles itself, the more God stoops down to it, pursuing it with His graces and accompanying it at every moment with His omnipotence" (Diary 1306).

"God, who is Light itself, lives in a pure and humble heart, and all sufferings and adversities serve but to reveal the soul’s holiness" (Diary 573).

"...Humility is nothing but the truth. There is no cringing in the true humility. Although
I consider myself the least (...). I enjoy the honor of being the beloved of Christ"
(Diary 1502).

"O my Jesus, You know what efforts are needed to live sincerely and unaffectedly with those from whom our nature flees, or with those who, deliberately or not, have made us suffer. Humanly speaking, this is impossible. At such times more than at others, I try to discover the Lord Jesus in such a person and for this same Jesus, I do everything for such people. In such acts, love is pure, and such practice of love gives the soul endurance and strength. I do not expect anything from creatures, and therefore I am not disappointed..." (Diary 766).

"Jesus, my most perfect model, with my eyes fixed on You, I will go through life in Your footsteps, adapting nature to grace, according to Your most holy will and Your light which illumines my soul, trusting completely in Your help" (Diary 1351).

Saint Faustina's Vision of Hell

  "THE DIARY OF SAINT SISTER FAUSTINA" is the book all these excerpts are from.

"I, Sister Faustina Kowalska, by the order of God, have visited the Abysses of Hell so that I might tell souls about it and testify to its existence...the devils were full of hatred for me, but they had to obey me at the command of God, What I have written is but a pale shadow of the things I saw. 





But I noticed one thing: That most of the souls there are those who disbelieved that there is a hell." (Diary 741)

"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.

Indescribable 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.


I would have died
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.

No One Can Say There is No Hell
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. O My Jesus, I would rather be in agony until the end of the world, amidst the greatest sufferings, than offend you by the least sin." (Diary 741)

The Sad State of America