Truth of Hell

Saint Catherine of Siena

2019-June-5   . . .   By: ncdm

Saint Catherine -[1347-80, Italy]-, was born to a middle class family of Lapa and Giacomo Benincasa, a dye maker. She was the 23rd child but eleven of her older brothers and sisters had already died. She grew up as an intelligent, cheerful, and intensely religious child, who frequented a cave near her home to pray. At about age five, she claimed to have seen a vision of Jesus with Apostles Peter, Paul, and John. Then at age seven she announced to her parents her determination to live a religious life, so they gave her a small room in the basement of their home that served as her ‘hermitage’.

Catherine wanted to help the poor and sick, but she did not want to be a nun. At age 16 she joined the Dominican Order of Penance, an organization of religious lay people mostly widows who lived at home, wore distinctive dress, and directed their own activities in sacrificial service to the poor and sick.. These Dominican Sisters taught her how to read and write.

Catherine lived austerely, but had the habit of giving away clothing and food to people in need without asking permission and this cost her family significantly, but she requested nothing for herself. She did not even want their food, referring to the table laid for her in Heaven with her real family. For many years she accustomed herself to a rigorous abstinence relying almost solely on the Holy Eucharist which she received daily.

FYI:- Relying solely on the Holy Eucharist for sustenance, not just for days and weeks but for months, is the distinctive mark of Saints, as with Padre Pio, Faustina of Poland, and Anne Catherine Emmerich of Germany. They were taken cared of by the Angels.

This extreme fasting must have affected Catherine’s health. From the beginning of 1380, she could neither eat nor swallow water. On February 26 she lost the use of her legs. She died on 1380-April-29, with her last words: “Father, into Your Hands I commend my soul and my spirit.”

God taught, and have shown, Catherine about heaven, purgatory and hell. The following, her vision of hell, was taken from Vision of Hell by St. Catherine – Father Carota [traditionalcatholicpriest.com]

” I tell you, in hell there are four principal torments and all the others are offsprings of these. “

“.. The first is that these souls are deprived of seeing ME. This is so painful for them that if they could they would choose the sight of me along with the fire and excruciating torments, rather than the freedom from their pains without seeing me. “

“.. The first suffering revives the worm of conscience, and this is their second torment. For when they see that their sinfulness has deprived them of me and of the company of the angels and made them worthy instead of seeing the demons and sharing their fellowship, conscience gnaws away at them constantly.”

“.. The sight of the devil is their third suffering, and it doubles every other torment. At the sight of me the saints are in constant exaltation, joyfully refreshed in reward for the labors they bore for me with such overflowing love and to their own cost. But it is just the opposite for these wretched little souls. Their only refreshment is the torment of seeing the devil, for in seeing them they know themselves better: that is, they recognize that their sinfulness has made them worthy of him. And so the worm gnaws on and the fire of conscience never stops burning. “

“.. Their suffering is even worse because they see the devil as he really is – more horrible than the human heart can imagine. You will recall that when I once let you see him for a tiny while, hardly a moment, as he really is, you said (after coming to your senses again) that you would rather walk on a road of fire even till the final judgment day than see him again. But even with all you have seen you do not know how horrible he really is. For my divine justice makes him look more horrible than still to those who have lost me, and this is in proportion to the depth of their sinfulness. “

“.. The fourth torment is fire. This fire burns without consuming, for the soul cannot be consumed, since it is not material (such as fire could consume) but spiritual. But in my divine justice I allow my fire to burn these souls mightily, tormenting them without consuming them. And the tremendous pain of this tortuous burning has as many forms as the forms of their sins and is more or less severe in proportion to their sins.”

This is GOD to St. Catherine.

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OTHER SOURCES:
Saint Catherine of Siena – [christianitytoday.com]
Saint Catherine of Siena – Catholic Online [catholic.org]

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1 thought on “”

  1. “fire”Matt 7:19, 13:40, 25:41” everlasting fire”Matt 18:8, 25:41″eternal damnation”Mark 3:29″hell fire”Matt 5:22, 18:9, Mark 9:47 “damnation”Matt 23:14, Mark 12:40, Luke 20:47″shall be damned “Mark 16:16″damnation of hell”Matt 23:33″resurrection of damnation”John 5:29” furnace of fire”Matt 13:42, 50″the fire that never shall be quenched”Mark 9:43, 45 “the fire is not quenched”Mark 9:44, 46, 48″Where their worm dies not”Mark 9:44, 46, 48″wailing and gnashing of teeth”Matt 13:42, 50″weeping and gnashing of teeth “Matt 8:12, 22:13, 25:30″torments”Luke 16:23″tormented in this flame”Luke 16:24 “place of torment”Luke 16:28″outer darkness”Matt 8:12, 22:13″everlasting punishment”Matt 25:46

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