B Y T H E S A ME AU T H O R .

Il lu st ra ted Life of C h ris t . With fin e half

to n e I ll us tration s. xz m o, l h
c ot ,

Ex p la nat i on of th e H oly Sa c ri fi c e of the

Mm . e e by Right R
P r f ac ev . C P
. . Mac s,

D D. . l th
x z m o, c o ,

BENZlG ER B R OTH ERS

N z w YO R K , CIN CINNA T I , C H I CA G O .
 BY

FATHER MARTIN V ON CO C HEM,

e e
R m mb e r thy la t en d , a n d h hl ee
t ou s a t n v r sin .
”

NW YO R K , C I N CIN N A N ‘
, C u ra cao.

B E N Z IG E R B R O T H E RS

Q
r m n a s TO T H ! P U B L I SH E R S 0 ?
n ow
'
A P O ST O L I C as : 1 n u z xc n s M AG AZ I N L

m emenusm v mu f
, 9
‘
x
flib il a b stat .

T H O MA S L . K I N K E A D,

1! mp rtmatut
4 . M I C H A E L AU G U S T IN E ,

N E W Y O R K, O ctobe r 5 , 1 8 99
.

C opy righ t, 1 8 99, b y B e n zige r B ro thers .

 C O NTENTS .

PART l —O N DEATH . .

ca n . n o:

I . On the T e rro rs of D ea th 7
II . O n the A ssa u l ts of Sa ta n a t the H o u r of Death . 14

II I . On the A pp a riti o n o f the Spi rits o f Dark n ess 19

IV . O n the F ea r o f H e ll 22

V . O n the J u dgm e n t 25

PART l| . LAST JU DG MEN T

-
THE .

I . On the Signs that sh all P re c e de the Last J u dgm en t .

33
II . O n the R esu rrecti on of the D ea d 40
I II O n the M an n e r i n whic h th e G o o d and th e Wick ed
will b e C on d u cted to the P l a c e of J u dgm en t .

IV . H ow al l Men wil l A w ai t C h rist s

’
C o m in g in the
Vale of J osap hat
V On the C ross in the
’
. A p p ea ra n ce of C hrist s

VI . O n the A d v en t o f the J u dg e
V II . O n the Man n e r in whic h C hrist w il l ta k e H is P la c e

o n th e J u d gm en t sea t-
. 2

V I II O n the R e aso n the

’
. w hy C h rist s A p pe a ran ce on

D ay of F in al J u dgm e n t will b e T e rrib l e, an d o n

the H ein ou sn ess o f M o rtal

6 Con tm ts .

can .

IX . On the M an n er in which the F i n al Judgmen t will

86
X . On the Le n gth o f Tim e th at the F inal J u dgm en t

O n the P u b l ica tio n of the Se n ten ce P a sse d u pon

the G o o d and the B ad .

H o w the D a m n e d will ask in Vain fo r M e rcy, and

wil l b e cast d ow n in to H el l
X III . H ow the B le sse d will go up in to H ea v en afte r the
J u dgm en t QO O O O O Q O O Q O O O O O O 0 . 0 . 0 . 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

PART [ IL—ON HELL .

I On the F ire
. Of H eII O O O Q O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O Q O O O O O

II . O n the H u n ge r a n d Thirst S u ffered in

I II . On the Vi l e O d o rs o f H ell

IV . So m e O the r T o rm e n ts of

V . O n the C o mp an y of H ell .

VI . O n the Loss o f the B ea tific Vision of G od

V I I T he
. Wo rm tha t D ie th
VIII . o n E te rn ity . ’

PART lV .
—ON HEAV FN .

I . On the N a tu re
II . O n the J oys o f H ea v en . .

I II . On th e J oys o f H ea v en
IV . On the N u mbe r of the Sav ed .
 TH E F O U R LAST TH IN GS .

P AR T 1 .

ON DEAT H .

C H A P T ER I .

ON TH E T ERR O R S OF DEA T H .

Ir '
appears to me unnecessary to say m uc h about
the terrors of death The subj e ct has been su fii
.

c ie n tly enlarged upon by various writers besides ,

every one knows and f e els for himself that life is

swe et and death is bitter H owever old a man may
.

be however broken in health however miserable his

, ,

cir c umstances the thought of death is an u n wel

, ,

come o n e There are three pri ncipal reasons why

.

all sensible people fear death so much

F irst because the love of life the dread of death
, ,

is inherent in human nature S econdly be c ause .

,

every rational being is well aware that death is bitter ,

and the separation of soul and body cannot take place

8 On D ea tfz .

without inexpressible suff ering Thirdly because .

,

no on e knows whither he will go after death or how ,

he will stand in the D ay of Judgment .

I t will be well to explain the second and third of

these reasons rather more fully in order on the one ,

hand that those who lead a careless life may per

haps be awakened thereby to a fear of death and ,

learn to avoid sin and on the o ther that each one

,

of us m ay be warned to prepare for death lest we be ,

overtaken by it unawares E very one shrinks ih

.

stin c tiv e l from death because it is bitter and pain

y , ,

ful beyond description to human nature T he soul .

of man is subj ect to many anxieties apprehensions ,

and sorrows and the body is subj ect to pain and

,

sickness of all kinds yet none of these pains can be

,

compared to the agony of death A man who loses .

his good name and his property feels a c ute grief ,

but he does not die of it A ll suff ering and sick

.

ness all grief and anguish however terrible is less

, , ,

bitter than death H ence we see death to be a

.

mighty m onarch the most cruel the most relentless

, , ,

the mos t formidable enemy of mankind L ook at a .

man wrestling with death and you will see how the
,

tyrant o v erpowers d isfig u re s prostrates his victim

, . .

N ow why is death so hard so terrible a thing ?

,

I t is because the soul has to separate itself from the

body Body and soul were created for each other
.
,

and so intimate is their union that a parting between

them seems almost impossible T hey would end ure.
 On til e Ter r or : f
o D ea f/z .
9

almost a nything rather than be torn asunder .

The soul is fearful of the future and of the unkn ow n ,

land to whi c h she is going The body is conscious .

that as soon as the soul departs from it it will beco m e ,

the prey of worms Cons equently the soul cannot

.

bear to leave the body nor the body to pa rt from ,

the soul Body and soul desi r e the ir u nion to

.

remain un broken and togeth er to en j oy the sweets

,

of life
.

I n one of his epistles to St A ugustine St Cy r il .

,
.
,

B ishop of J e rusalem relat e s what was told him by

,

a man who had been raised from the dead Amongst .

other things he said

, The moment w hen my so u l
left my body was one of such awf ul pain and distress
,

that no on e c an imagine the anguish I th e n endured .

I f all conceivable suff ering and pain were put

‘

together they wo ul d be as nothing in comparison

with the tortur e I underwent at the separation of
”
soul and body A nd to emphasi z e his words he
.
,

added addressing St Cyril

,
Thou knowest that .

thou hast a soul but thou knowest not what it is

,
.

Thou knowest that beings exist called angels but ,

thou a rt ignorant of their nature Thou knowest .

als o that there is a God but thou canst not c om ,

prehend H is being So it is with everything that

.

has not co rporeal shape o ur understanding cannot

grasp these things I n like m anne r it is impossible
.

for thee to un derstand how I could suff er such in

tense agony in one short moment .
”
1 o 071 B ewi li .

A nd if some people apparently pass away m o st

peacefully this is because n ature exhausted by
, ,

s u ff ering has
,
no longer the force to struggle with
death We know from the testimony of O ur R e
.

deemer Himself that no agony is like the agony of

death Although throughou t the whole c o ur se of
.

His sorrowful P assion H e was to rtured in a terrible

,

manner yet all the martyrdom He endured was not

,

to be compared with what H e suffered at the mom ent

of H is death T his we gather from the Gospels
. .

N owhere do we find that at any period of His

life the greatness of t he pains He bore exto rted
from O u r L ord a cry of anguish But when the .

moment came for Him to expire and the ruthles s ,

hand of death rent H is Heart asunder we read that ,

H e cried out with a loud voi c e and gave up the ,

ghost Hence it is evident that at no period of the

.

P assion did Christ suff er so acutely as at the most

painful separation of His sacred soul from H is
blessed body .

I n order that mankind m ight at least in som e

measure understand how terrible was the death
Christ died for us H e ordained that we at our
, ,

dissolution should taste something of the bitterness

,

of His death and experience the truth of the follow

,
’
ing words of P op e St Gregory . Christ s conflict
with death r epresented our last confli ct teaching us ,

that the agony of death is the ke enest agony that

man has ever felt or will e v er feel I t is the will of .
 072 tire fl r ror s f D ea f/z
o . 1

God that man should suffer so intensely at the close

of his life in order that we may r ecogni z e and
,

’
appreciate the magnitude of Christ s love for us the ,

inestimable benefit H e has conferred on us by

enduring death for our sakes F or it would have .

been impossible for m an fully to know the infi nite

love of God unless he too had dru nk to some extent
,

”
of the bitter chalice which Christ drank .

I n this passage from the writings of the holy P ope

Gregory we a re taught that Christ ordained that
all men in the hour of their dissolution should suff er
the like pains which Christ suffered for us in H is
last agony in order that they may gain som e knowl
,

edge by their own experienc e of the terrible n ature

, ,

of the death H e endured fo r us and the great ,

price H e paid for our ransom How painful how .

,

terrible how awful death will be fo r us if our death

, ,

’
is in any degree to resemble Christ s most agoniz ing
dea th 1
How severe a conflict is before us po or mortals !
What torments await us at our last hour ! O n e
is almost inclined to think it wo u ld have been
preferable n ever to have been born than to be born ,

to suffer such angu ish But it is thus that heaven

.

is to be won and through this narrow gate alone

,

can we enter into paradise Wherefore 0 Christian

.
, ,

accept your destiny cheerfully and form a stea dfast

,

resolution to bear unmurmuringly the bittern ess of

’
death For it is a great merit to yield up one s life
.
1 a On D ea f/i .

— the life every man loves so well — and submi t with

a ready and willing mind to the pangs of death .

And for the purpose of encouraging you to gain

merit in your last moments let me counsel you to
,

make the following determination to s uffer death

bravely .

RESO LUTION .

0 God of all justice who hast ord a ined that since

,

the F all of our first parents all men should die and ,

also that it should be the lot of many amongst us to

taste in their death something of the pains T hy Son
endured at the hour of His death I submit most ,

willingly to this Thy stern decree A lthough life .

is sweet to me and death appears most bitter yet

, ,

out of obedience to T hee I voluntarily accept death

with all its pains and am ready to yield up my soul
,

whenever wherever in what way or manner soever

, ,

it may please Thy divine p rovidence to appoint .

A n d since Thou hast made death so bitter to man in ,

order that w e may feel to a ce rtain extent by our

o wn exp e rience how painful a death Thy beloved

S on underw ent for our sakes I willingly accept the

,

penal ty of death that I m ay at least at my latter

,

end know something of the pains my blessed L ord

s u ffered on my account I n honor therefore of
.
, ,

His bitter P assion and death I now c heerf ul ly sub

,

j e c t myself to whatever s u fferings I may be called

upon to pass through at the moment of my depart
 On {11 5 Ter r or s qf D ea ta . 1
3

u re ,
declare my determination to bear the m with
and

a ll the constancy of whi c h I am c apable I pray .

that this resolution on my pa rt may be pleasing in

Thy sight and that Thou wilt give me gra c e to bea r
,

my last agony with pa ti en c e A me n

‘

. .
 C H A P T ER I I .

A SSAU LTS ATAN AT HOU R DE ATH

‘

O N TH E OF S TH E or .

ALTHOUGH death is in itself most bitter yet its ,

bitterness is not a little enhanced by the vivid remem

bran c e of the sins of our past life by the thought ,

of the j udgment to come of the eterni ty before us

, ,

and by the assaults of S atan These four things .

fill the soul with such terror that it would infallibly

,

despair unless strengthened by the help of God .

We will enter into some expla n ation of each of these

fo ur thi ngs and also indi c ate some means of com
,

bating the fears they inspire .

With regard to the assaults of S atan know that ,

the all j ust God permits him to have great pow e r to

-

assail us at the hour of death not indeed for our

perdition but for ou r probation Before expiring
, .

the Christian has yet to prove that nothing can avail

to mak e him fo r sake his God F or this reason the
.

evil enemy e mploys all the power he has rec e ived ,

and brin gs all his for c es to bear upon a man when he

is dying in the hop e of c ausing him to sin and
, ,

thrusting him down to hell D uring our whole .

lifetim e he atta c ks u s fi e r cely an d n egl ects n o m eans

,

I 4
 On Me A ssa u lts of Sa ta n at tfie [ You r f
o D ea t/z . 1
5

whereby he may deceive us But all these pers e .

c u tio n s do not bear comparison with the final o u

sla u ght with which he endeavors to overcome us at

the last Then he raves and rages like a roaring

.
,

lion seeking whom he may devour

,
.

This we learn from the following passage in the

A po c alyps e (xii 1 2 ) Woe to the earth and to the
.

sea b ecause the devil is c ome down unto you having

, ,

great wrath knowing that he hath but a short time

, .

Th e se words bear a special appl ication for the dying ,

against whom the devil conceives a great wrath and ,

whom he makes every eff ort to seduce F or he .

knows full well that if he does not get them into his
po wer now he will never again have the chan c e of
,

doing so H ear what St Gregory says on this

. .

point Consider well how terribl e is the hour of

death and how appalling the remembrance of our
,

evil deeds will b e at that time F or the spirits of .

darkness will recall all the harm they have done us ,

and remind us of the sins which we hav e committed

at their instigation They will not go to the death
.

bed of the godless only but they will be present,

with the elect striving to discover some thing sinful

,

whereof to accuse them A las ! how will it fare .

with us hapless mortals in that hour and what can ,

we say for o ur s elves seeing how inn umerable are

,

the sins to be laid to our charge ? What can we

answer to our adversaries when th ey place al l our sins
,

befo re u s with the obj ect of r ed ucing us to despai r

,
1 6 On D ea f/i .

The evil spirits will tempt their unhappy victim

at the moment of death on various points but ,

especially in regard to the sins in to w hic h he has

‘

m ost fre quently fallen I f during his lifetime he

.

has cherished hatred towards any one they will ,

c on j ure up before his dying eyes the image of that

pe rson rehearsing all he did to inj ure him in order
, ,

to reviv e the flame of hate towards that enemy or ,

ki n dle it anew O r if any on e has transgressed

.

against purity they will show him the accomplice

,

of his sin and strive to awaken the guilty passion

,

felt fo r that individual I f he has been troubled with

.

do ubts concerning faith they recall to his mind the,

arti c le of belief which he had di ffi culty in ac c epting ,

repres enting it to him as untrue I f a man has a .

t enden cy to pusillanimity the evil spirits encourage ,

it in him that they may per c hance rob him of his

,

h0 pe of salvation T he man who has sinned through

.

pride and boast e d of his good works they seek to

, ,

ensnare by flatt ery assuring him that he stands high

,

in the fa v o r of God and all he has done cann ot

,

fail to se cur e him a place in h e aven Again if in .

,

his lifetime a man has gi v en way to impatience ,

allowing hims elf to be angry and irritated by every

tri fle they make his illness appear most irksome to
,

him that he may b ec ome impatient and rebel against ,

God for having sent upon him so painful a malady .

O r if he has been tepid and indevout without fer ,

v o r in pray e r o r assid u ity in his religious ex ercis e s

1 8 On D ea ta .

battle with his spiritual adversaries he stands a ,

poor chance of preva iling against them at the

moment of death I f he does so it will be only
.
,

through the assistance of almighty God of our ,

blessed L ady of his guardian angel or of one of

, ,

the saints F or our m erciful God and H is angels

.

and blessed saints do not abandon the Christian in

the hour of his direst need ; they hasten to his help ,

”
that is provided he is deserving of their aid
,
In .

’
order to prepare one s self b efo re o n e s last illness
’
'

to combat these temptations it will be advisable to ,

recite with due devotion the following prayer

0 Jesus compassionate R edeemer of mankind
, ,

I recall to mind the threefold temptation Thou didst

undergo from the evil e n emy and I pray Thee ,

through the glorious v i ctory Thou didst obtain over

him to stand by me in my last conflict and fortify
,

m e against all his tempta tions I know that in my .

own strength I cannot contend against so powerful

a foe and I must assuredly be van q uished unless
,

Thou or Thy blessed saints grant me timely assist

, ,

ance Therefore I now earnestly implore Thy help

.

and that of Thy saints a n d propose to arm myself

,

to the best of my ability by Thy grace to meet the ,

temptations that await me I promise now before .

,

Thee and the holy angels and blessed saints that ,

I will ne v e r voluntarily expose myself to any temp

ta tio n of whatever nature it may be but with the help
, ,

of Thy gra c e I will combat it v igorously A men . .

 C H APT ER III .

ON TH E A PPA R ITION OF TH E S P I R I TS or D A R KN E SS .

B E SI DES what has been already mentioned the ,

terrible appearance of the evil Spirits makes death

yet more alarming to us I t is the opinion of many
.

of the F athers that every one when expiring sees

, , ,

the evil enemy at any rate at the moment of draw

,

ing his last breath if not befor e How appalling

,
.

this sight is and with what terror it must inspire

,

the dying exceeds the pow er of words to declare

, .

I t is related of B rother Giles that one day when he ,

was praying in his cell the devil appeared to him in

,

so frightful a shape that the Brother lost the powe r

,

of speech and thought his last hour had come A s

, .

his lips could not utter a sound he rais ed his hea rt ,

in humble supplication to God and the apparitio n ,

vanished Af terwards when relating what had

.
,

befallen him to his brother monks he trembled from -

head to foot as he described the hideous aspe ct

of t he adversary of mankind Then going to St . .

F rancis he asked him this q uestion :

, F ather have ,

you ever seen anything in this world the sight of

which was so horrible that it was eno ugh to kill o n e
I
9
20 On D ea t/z .

to behold it A nd the Saint r eplied : I have

ind e ed seen such a thing it is none other than the
devil whose aspect is so loathsome that no one could
,

ga z e upon it even for a sho rt time and live unl ess ,

”
God specially enabled him to do so .

St Cyril also writi n g to St Augustine says that

.
,
.
,

one of the three men who were raised from the dead
told him A s the ho u r of my departure drew nigh ,

a m u ltitude of de v ils countless in number came

, ,

and stood about me Their forms were more hor

.

rible than anything imagination can c onceive O n e .

would rather be burnt in the fire than be com

p e lle d to look upon th e m These demons ranged
.

themselves around me and reproached me with all

,

the misdeeds I had ever done thinking to drive ,

me to despair A nd in fact I should have given way

.

before them had n ot God in His mercy come to my

,

succor .

Here we have the testimony of one who actually

had learnt by his own experience how frightful the
a ppearance of the evil enemy is and who declares ,

that nothing can be more horrible than the form the

devil assumes .

O my God ! how overwhelming the terrors that

will take possession of the hapless individual who
lies at the point of death when the infernal dragon
appears full of rage and threatening to swallow
, ,

him up in his fiery j aws .

I n this hour of supreme distress send my gua r d ,

On tfi c App a r i tion f
o tb e Sp ir its f
o D a r kn ess . 21

ian angel to me O God I pray T hee that he may

, , ,

drive away the evil enemy otherwise I shall in fal

,

lib ly fall into despair and lose all hope of my sal

vation.

0 most blessed V irgin M ary ! who didst c rush

the head of the serpent be with m e in the hour of
,

my death and do not permit the presence of the

cruel adversary to cause my eternal perdition .
 C H A PT E R IV .

ON TH E F EA R OF H ELL .

D E ATH is re ndered yet more bitter to us by the

fea r of h ell and the clear view of eternity befo re us .

F or wh en we are dangerously ill and death stares ,

us in the fa c e the terror whi c h fills us at the p ros

,

p ec t of e te r nity is so o v erwhelming that w e a re ,

filled with fear F or w e see plainly th at in a few

.

days— a few hours perhaps— w e m u st ent er eternity ,

and we know not what awaits us the r e The dread .

lest we should be lost everlastingly is so great as to

cause us to shudder .

M oreov er the alarm that tortures us is not a littl e

,

augmented by the remembrance of the sins whereby

we hav e oftentimes deserved hell for no man c a n
be certain whether he has done pe nance aright and ,

whether he has r e ally obtain e d pardon This is .

explained by a passage from the writings of the

aforementioned P ope St Grego ry who describes
.
,

this fear in the following words

The j ust man who is truly c oncern e d about his
eternal sal v ation will from time to time think of his
future J u dge H e will meditat e b efore death o v er
.

22
 On Me F ea r f
o H ell . 23

takes him upon the account he will have to give of

his life I f there are no great sins wherewith his
.

conscience reproaches him he still has cause for ,

alarm on account of the daily sins of which he per

haps tak e s little heed F or how often do we not
.

sin in thought ? I t is comparatively easy to avoid

e v il deeds but it is a far more d iffic u lt m atte r to
,
~

’
keep one s heart free from inordinate thoughts Y et .

we read in Holy S cripture Woe to you that devise

that which is unprofitable and work e v il in your
thoughts ( M ich ii I ) . A nd again
. . I n yo ur
heart you work iniquities ( P s lvii . .

“
Hence the j ust are e v er in fear of the awful
j udgments of God for they are c onscious that all
,

these secret sins will b e brought to j udgment as St ,

.

P aul says : I n that day God shall j udge the secrets

of men ( R o m ii . A
. nd although all his lif e
long a good man will walk in fear of the j udgm ent ,

y et this fear will n otably increase as he draws

near to the end of his days I t is said of O u r .

L ord that when the time of H is death approached

, ,

H e began to be sorro wful and to fear and being in ,

an agony H e prayed the longer

,
W as not this in .

tended to teach us how it would be with us in our

latter end and what dist re ss and angu ish would
,

ove rwhelm us
Such are the words of P ope St Gregory c al cu late d .
,

to inspire not only sinners but also the j ust with ,

fear since as the saint says even those who are

, , ,
24 On D ea l/i .

not conscious of having c ommitted any gr i evous

sins are yet full of appreh ension in rega r d to the
,

sentence that will be passed on them I f the j ust .

are not devoid of ala rm what c an we poor Sinners

,

do wh o kn ow ourselves to be guilty of many and

,

man ifold transgressions and who every day add sin

,

to sin What will become of us What can we do

I s there no means we can employ to obtain mercy
of God I know no better couns el than that whi c h
Christ Himself gives us in the words Watch ye
therefore praying at all times that you may be
, ,

accounted worthy to es c ape all thes e things that are

to come and to stand before the Son of man
,

( L uke xxi .

Sin c e Christ points out to us prayer as the best

and easiest means let each one faithfully follow this
,

exhortation an d d iligently call upon almighty God

and H is Blessed M other a n d all the sa ints im plor
, ,

ing them day by day to prot ect him and c o mm end ,

ing to th em his latt er end .

26 On D ea l/z .

Again St P aul says

. I am not c o n s c io us to myself
of anything yet am I not h ereby j ustified ; but H e
,

that j udgeth me is the L ord ( I Cor iv We ”

. .

read also in the lives of the F athers that the holy

Abbot Agathon was overwhelmed with fear as his
end drew ne ar His brethren said to him
. Why
shouldst thou be afraid reverend F ather thou , ,

hast led so pious a life But he answered them

T he j udgments of God are very di ff erent from the
”
j udgments of man The holy Abbot Elias used
.

likewise to say : T here are three things that I

fear F irst I dread the moment wh en my soul has
.

to leave my body ; secondly the moment when I ,

must stand before the tribunal of God thirdly the ,

”
moment when sentence 1 8 passed upon me No .

one can fail to concur in the saying of this saintly

man for indeed beside the general j udgment there
, , ,

is nothing so much to be apprehended as these three

things A ll good and holy men have feared them
.
,

all do fear them Those who do not fear them

.
,

prove that they know very little about them or have ,

meditated scarcely at all upon them F or the benefit .

of one who may be so unenlightened I will give a ,

brief ins truction on the subj e ct .

Consider first of all what a strange new sensa

, ,

tion it will be for thy soul when she finds herself ,

separated from the body in an unknown world , .

Hitherto she has kno wn no existence apart from the

b od y now t he is sudd enly separated from it .
 On t/ze J u dgmen t . 27

H itherto she was in tim e ; n ow she has pas sed into

'

e ternity
.

N ow for the fir st time her eyes are opened and ,

she sees clearly what etern ity is what sin is what , ,

virtue is how infinite is the being of the D eity and

, ,

how wondrous is her own n ature .

A ll this will appear so ma rv ellous to he r that she

will be almost pet rified with astonishment Afte r .

the first instant of wonder she wi ll be c onducted

,

before the tribunal of God that she may give an ,

account of all her actions and the t error that will

then sei z e upon the unhappy so u l surpasses o ur
po wers of conception .

N o wonder the hapl ess sinner shrinks fro m

appearing before a tribunal where he will b e c on
v ic te d of all his misdeeds and severely punish ed fo r

them I Would he not rather b e thrown into a da r k

dungeon an d b e fed on bread and wat er than have
, ,

to stand before this j udgment seat and b e put to

open shame
I f it is so hateful to a criminal to b e brought
b efore an ea rthly m agistrate well may the poor soul
,

quake with fear when she is introduced into the pres

ence of God the stri ct and omniscient J udge and
, ,

re q uired to give the most accurate a c co u nt of all the

thoughts words deeds and omissions of h er past
, ,

life Holy Job acknowledges this when he says

.

Who will grant me this that Thou mayst prote ct

,

m e in hell a n d hide m e till Thy wr ath pass (Job

,
28 On D ea a .

xiv I. O bserve that even the patient Job woul d

rather lie in a dar ksome pit and be co n c eale d in a
,

g loomy so m bre
, cave than appe
, a r befor e the
co u ntenan ce of an angry God .

There are six things which strike terror into the

soul when she is s umm o n ed to the pa rti c ular j udg
,

ment .

( )
I The
‘
soul fears because she knows her Judg e

to be omniscient ; that nothing can be c on c e aled

‘

from Him nor can H e be in any way de c eived

, .

( )
2 Because her Judge is omnipotent ; n othing c an

withstand Him and no one can es c ap e from H im

, .

(3) Because her Judge is not merely t he most j ust ,

b u t the most strict of judges to whom sin is so hat eful

,

that H e will not allow the slightest transgression to

pass unpunished (4) Because the soul knows that
.

God is not her judge alone but als o her accuser ,

she has provoked H im to anger she has offended ,

against H im and H e will defend H is honor and

,

avenge every insul t off ered to it (5 ) Be c aus e the .

soul is aware that the senten ce on ce utt ered is irrev

o c a b le ; there is no appeal fo r her to a high er
court it is us eless for her to compl ain of the sen
,

tenc e I t can n ot b e r ev ersed and whethe r advers e

.
,

or fa v orable she m ust n eeds acc ept it (6) T he .

m ost powerful r easo n of all why the soul f e a rs to

appear before the j udgment seat is because she
knows not what the sentenc e of the Judge will be .

S he has far more ca u se to f e a r than to hop e An d .

 On tne ju dg men t . 2
9
all thought of help is now over F o r e v er fo r e ve r .
,

lost ; forever forever d a m n ed l These six points

,

fill the soul with such unspeakable anguish and ter

ror that were she mortal instead of immo rtal She
, ,

would be willing to die the most cruel and violent

death as a means of escape .

Consider fu rthermore in what form thou wilt

, ,

appear before thy Judge and how thou wilt be put ,

to confusion on a cc o unt of thy sins I f a man in .

punishment of his evil deeds were sentenced to be

stripped to the skin in presence of a whole multitude ,

how greatly ashamed he would feel ! But if some

loathsome and disgusting sore upon his body were
thus disclosed to sight he would be still more ,

ashamed Thus will it be with thee when thou

.
,

standest b efore thy Judge in the presence of m any

hosts of angels N ot m erely will all thy wrong
.

doings thy thoughts words and works be revealed

, , ,

but all thy evil propensities will be made man ifest to

thee and tho u wilt b e put to terrible shame becaus e
,

of them Thou canst not deny that th e se evil pro

.

c liv itie s c ling to thee for a rt thou not given to anger

, ,

impatienc e revenge hatred envy pride vanity

, , , , , ,

sensuality sloth greedin ess self love avarice world

, , ,
-

, ,

lin e ss and all malice ? Th e se and other bad te n

d en c ies cleave to thy soul and d isfigu re it so fright ,

fully that after death thou wilt be ala rmed at the

,

sight of thy own soul and hea rtily ashamed of all ,

the stains upon it .

3 0 On D ea th .

N ext con sid er in what manner thy holy Judge will

r eceive thee when thou a pp e are st before H im not
,

merely laden with a countless multitude of sins but ,

in a state of indescribable impurity Thou wilt .

stand before Him in the greatest confusion not ,

k nowing which way to look Beneath thy feet hell

.

lies ; above thee is the angry countenance of thy

J u dge Beside thee thou seest the demons who
.

are there to accuse thee I n thy own interior tho u

.

beholdest all thy sins and misdeeds I t is im .

possible to hide thyself ; and yet this exposure is

intolerable .

This would be a fitting time to expound how the

evil enemy w ill accuse thee how he will bring a ll
,

thy sins to light and c all down upon them the v en

e a n c e of God and also how the j ust God will
g
demand the most accurate account of all thy actions .

But this has so often formed the theme of preachers ,

that for the sake of brevity I will not enlarge on this

, ,

part of my subj ect but conclude with the following

,

anecdote .

Two intimate friends agreed together that which

ever of the two should die first should appear to ,

the surv ivor provided he was permitted by God to

,

do so When at length one was removed by death

.
,

faithful to his promise he appeared to his friend but ,

with a sad and woebegone aspe ct saying N0 ,

man knows I no man knows no man knows l .

W hat is it that no one knows his friend ask ed .

 On tfie ju dgm en t .
3 1

A nd the spirit a nswered N o one knows how

strict are the j udgments bf God and ho w severe H is ,

chastisements
These things being so what does it behoove us to
,

d o in order not to fall into the hands of a wrathful

,

J udge I can give the e no better coun sel than this

R epent of thy sins make a sincere confession amend
, ,

thy ways and begin to think seriously about thy

,

etern al salvation W hilst thou a rt still in good

.

health think sometimes of death and prepa r e thyself ,

for it Do not postpone this until old age comes

.

upon thee or a mortal sickn ess overtakes thee

, .

There is no gre ater no more important art upon

,

earth than the art of dying a good death U pon .

this thy whole eternity depends an e ternity of sur

passing felicity o r of unutterable torment O nly .

one trial is accord ed thee if thou dost not stand

this one trial all is lost an eternity of misery is
, ,

before thee A nd if thou hast not learned this all

.

impo rtant art in thy lifetime when thou art well and ,

strong ho w canst thou practise it to thy etern al gain

,

when upon thy death bed I t will be utterly im p o s

-

sible for thee to do so unless God works a miracle

of mercy on thy behalf Thou canst n o t reckon .

upon this God has not promised it nor hast thou

deserved so great a favor Therefore let me entreat
.

thee to follow my friendly c ounsel and prepare ,

thyself fre q uently for death whilst in full health a n d

strength for this is the only means whereby tho u
3 2 On D ea t/z.

mayst hOp e to become pro fi cient in the a rt of dying

well and pass successfu lly through the one trial that
,

awaits thee by whi c h thy et ernal destiny will b e

,

dete rm in ed
.
34 Tlze L a st ju dg men t .

beginning of the world until now neither S hall be , .

A nd unless those days had been shortened no flesh ,

”
should be saved What an awful announcement !
.

What a terrible prophecy !

Could there be any more terrible prediction made
to us than this which co m es from the lips of eter
nal Truth ? When God was about to destroy the
ci ty of J erusalem H e announced its downfall by
,

several signs A comet resembling a fiery sword

.
, ,

bla z ed over the city and hosts of armed warriors

,

were seen contending in the air J erusalem might .

at the last moment have interpreted aright these S igns

and done penance unto salvation But J erusalem .

knew not the time of its visitation I f God caused .

such wondrous signs to appear before the d e str u c

tion of one single city will H e not announce the ,

app roaching end of the world and the chastise ,

men ts that are to come upon it by awful and terri ,

fi c signs ? There is therefore every reason to b e

lieve that a considerable time before the L ast Day
, ,

fea rful S igns will appear in all lands in the

heavens This C hr ist appears to indicate in the
.

“
words : There shall be signs in the sun an d in the ,

moo n and in the stars ; men withering away for

,

fear and expectation of what Shall come upon the

,

”
whole world These signs will become more n u
.
,

m erou s day by day and men will be struck with

,

such terror that if God did not shorten those days

, ,

even the v ery elect would begin to des p ai r Then .

,
 Tlze S ign s tna t s/za ll P de tae L a st ju dg m en t
r ece .
35

as St J erome says the heavens will be overcast

.
,

with heavy clouds and a dreadful temp est will arise

, .

The force of the w m d will carry the inhabitants of

the earth o ff their feet and whirl them aloft in the
,

air ; trees will be uprooted houses unroofed L ong , .

peals of thunder will resound in the heavens the ,

flashes of lightning like serpen ts of fire will light

, ,

up the sky and with their forked tong u es playing

, ,

about the dwellings of mankind will kindle a gen ,

eral c o n flagration amid the crash of thunder The

,
’

waters of the ocean will be so agitated that their

waves will rise mountain high towering almost to -

the clouds The roaring and raging of the storm

.

swept billows will last for some time A ll the beasts .

of the earth will lift up thei r voice and their dismal ,

howls will fill the air so that the hearts of men will
,

stand still for terror .

Y et this is but the beginning of sorrow O u r L ord ,

tells us What will next occur H e describes in these

.

“
words : I mmediately after the tribulation of those
days the sun shall be darkened and the moon shall
‘

, ,

not give her light and the stars S hall fall from
,

”
heaven and the powers of heaven shall be moved
, .

This darkening of the sun will take place in the

ful l light of midday A nd as its golden rays e n
.

lightening the face of nature rejoi c e both man an d

beast so the sudden withdrawal of its light w il
, .

cause sorrow and distress to the whole of creatio n

A nd this all the more because the moon will ceas e
,
3 6 Tli e L a st ju dg men t .

to shine and her gentle peaceful light wi ll no longer

, ,

illumin ate the shades of night A ll the stars also .

which bespangle the fi rm a m en t and cast a gl i mm e r

ing to eart h will disappear from their accustomed
,

place This awf u l darkness will strike such alarm

.

and anguish to the heart of all living creatures both ,

men and brutes that the mourning and lamentation

,

will be universal With the wail of distress ascend

.

ing from the dwellers upon earth the howls of the ,

‘

evil sp i ri ts in the air will mingle in hideous concert ,

for they will perceive from these signs that the Day
of J udgment is at hand ; they kn ow that they will
soon have to appear before the rigorous tribunal of
God ; they know they will be cast down to hell for
all eternity Hence thei r fury their rage and
.
, ,

frantic raving .

Here we may repeat the words S poken by Christ

”
This is but the beginning of sorrow and we may ,

add there will be no end to it F or aft er the ter

,
.

r ifi c darkness all will be upset and in disorder and ,

the elements will be let loose so that men will fear

,
:

lest the heavens S hould fall and the earth sink from
beneath their feet This is what Christ means
.

when He says : The powers of heaven shall be

“

moved and the stars shall fall from heaven F or .

in accordanc e with the divine will the fi rm a m en t ,

with all its stars the sun with its attendant planets
, ,

the at mosphere with its veil of clouds will be so ,

mightily shak en and made to tremble that appalling ,

T/ze S ign s tna t sb a ll P r ecede tue L a st ju dg men t .
37

sounds of crashing breaking fearful explosions will

, , ,

everywhere be heard T he stars will be driven

.

from their orbits and thus the great powers of

,

heaven will conflict with one another .

What will the feelings be of the man who lives

through events such as these ? How all mankind ,

all created beings will mourn ! Christ H imself

,

tells us this will be so : U pon earth will be distress

of nations by rea son of the confusion of the roaring
of the sea and of the waves ; men withering away for
fear a n d expectation of what S hall come upon the
,

”
whole world ( L uke xxi 2 5 A nd in another
.
,

place H e says : T here shall be then great trib u la

tion such as hath not been from the beginning of
,

the world until now neither shall be A nd unless

, .

those days had been shortened no flesh Should be ,

saved (M att xxiv 2 1

. .O u r L ord could
,

have used no stronger expression to describe the

u tter misery of unhappy mortals than by saying , ,

they shall wither away for fear and apprehension of ,

the things that are yet to come upon the world .

H ow is it possible for the m e n who shall be alive at

that time not to despond not to despair in pres , ,

ence of such fathomless m isery ? Even the faith

and courage of an apostle would be sorely tried
to bear up against such unspeakable wretchedness .

All men will have the appearance of one who has

seen a ghost T heir hair will stand on e n d their
.
,

knees w ill strike together they will quake wit h ,

3 8 Tli e l a st ju dg men t
.

fear their terror will deprive them of the power of

,

speech their hear ts will die within them for tribu

,

lation they will lose reason and consciousness no

, ,

one will help his neighbor no one will comfort ,

his neighbor no one will so much as exchange a

,

word with his neighbor ; only they will all unite in

weeping and wailing and fly to hide themselves in ,

the caves of the earth .

When this lamentation has lasted for a time the ,

God of j ustice will put an end to their misery and ,

all that is beneath the fi rm a m e n t of heaven shall be

destroyed by fire F or fire will fall down from
.

heaven and ignite everything with which it comes

,

in conta ct I n many places also flames will spring

.

up out of the ground and terrify unhappy mortals ,

to such an extent that they will not know how to

escape from them Some will seek shelter in cel.

lars and caverns others will immerse themselves in

,

rivers and lakes The devou r ing flames will spread

.

so fast that the forest s will be set on fire a n d the ,

towns and villages will be in c luded in the d e stru c

tion At length the whole earth will be on fire a n d
.

a general c on flagra tio n will ensue such as ne v er ,

has been seen or heard of The heat of the raging .

flames will be so intense that the stones and rocks

will melt and the sea and all waters upon the ea rth
,

will boil and hiss A ll men then living every beas t

.
,

upon the land and every fish in the sea will be de

stro y ed in thi s U niversal c o n fla g ra tio n Th us the .
Tne S ign s t/za t s/za ll P r ecede the L a st ju dg men t
.
39

whole world will be brought to a terrible end and ,

everything on this earth will be either consumed

or purified by the fire After this has happened
.
,

the appearanc e Of the earth will b e c ompl etely

c hanged .
 C H AP T ER I I .

ON TH E RE SU RRE CTION OF TH E DEAD .

TH E reader will perhaps not take what has been

said in the preceding chapter much to heart because ,

he cherishes the hop e that he will not be alive

during that awf u l p eriod But what we ar e now
.

about to speak of concern s every one whoever he ,

may be Wherefore let him read it attentively and

.

ponder it seriously .

The first event that will follow upon the end of

the world is the general resurrection of the dead .

All men whoever they may be and whenever and

, ,

wherever they have lived not excepting infants ,

whose existence has been but one brief moment will ,

rise again .

With the solemn blast of a trumpet God will cause

all men to be summoned to the L ast J udgm ent Con .

cerning this Christ says H e shall send H is angels

with a trum pet and a great voice and they shall
gather together H is elect from the four winds from ,

the farthest parts of the heavens to the utmost bounds

of them (M att xxiv . And St P aul says
. .

W e shall indeed all rise again but we shall not ,

40
42 l e L a st ju dg men t .

T hey cannot choose but must obey the v oice of

,

the trumpet T he general resurrection begins while

.

its sound still t e—echoes over the whole globe DO .

not pause to ask how this can be for we know that ,

it will be so on the irrefragable authority of God s

,
’

omnipotence and His word which cannot deceive .

However long ago the body of a man may have

crumbled into dust whatever changes it may have
,

passed through every portion and every particle will

,

uni te to form again the same body which was his

during his lifetime A nd the sea gave up the
.

dead that were in it and death and hell gave up

,

their dead that were in them (A poc xx I . .

Consider this solemn truth 0 Christian for it con , ,

cerns thee closely A s certainly as thou now livest

.
,

so certainly wilt thou one day rise again from the

grave P lace this awful moment vividly before thee
. .

Even if thou wert pio u s and shouldst end thy days ,

in the grace of God yet according to the testi , ,

mony of Holy Scripture and of the Catholic Church ,

f ear and trembling will lay hold upon thee Con

'

sid e rin g how inconceivably rigorous God will be in

His j udgment of men even the just will have cause

,

to fear in appearing before Hi s tribunal a s we shall ,

presently show A nd if good and j ust men are

.

afraid what will be the fear that thou poor sinner

, , ,

wilt feel when the trumpet calls thee to j udgment

,

Wherefore amend thy ways and make thy peace ,

now with thy strict Judge by works of p enan c e , ,

 On til e R esu r r ection f
o tile D ea d .
43

while there is yet time N ow in order that thou

.

mayst prepare thyself for that terrible hour of r esur

rection we will describe first the resurrection of the
,
‘

good and then that of the reprobate

, .

Awakened by the solemn sound of the trumpe t

all the souls of the j us t will come down from heaven ,

and accompanied by their gua rdian angels betake

, ,

themselves to the spot where their remains were

interred T he graves will be open and in them the
.
,

bodies will be seen lying incorrupt but yet lifeless

, .

T he body of every good man will rest in the grave

as if he were asleep it will be blooming as a rose ,

fragrant as a lily Shining as a star fair as a n

, ,

angel and perfect in every member What will the .

soul say when She beholds the body appertaining to

her lying before her in such beauty S he will say
Hail blessed and beloved body how I rejoice
, ,

once more to rejoin thee How lovely thou art how ,

'
glorious how pleasing how fragr ant ! Come to me
, , ,

”
that I may be wedded to thee for all eterni ty Then .

through the power of God the body will be reunited

to the soul and in that same instant return to life
, .

0 my God what will be the astonishmen t of the

,

body when it finds i tself alive again and moulded ,

in so beauteous a form ! Soul and body will greet

each other lovingly and embrace each other aff ec
tio n ate ly wi th heartfelt emo tion The soul will Speak
.

thus to the body : How earnestly I have longed for

thee how I have desired to see this day
, N ow I w ill
44 Tlze L a st ju dg men t .

conduct thee to the regions of heavenly bliss that we

”
may rej oice together for evermore A nd the body
.

will answer : Welcome dearest soul ; it is indeed

,

a heartfelt j oy to me to b e with thee again The .

greater the pain our past separation caused me the ,

greater the delight our present reunion aff ords .

”

T hen the soul will speak again and say to the ,

body : Blessed be thou my chosen companion

, ,

who hast been so faithful to me Blessed be thy .

senses and all thy members for they have ever

,

”
abstained from evil And the body will reply
Be thou rather blessed O dearest soul for it was
, ,

by thy instigation I did so and thou dids t incite me

,

to all that was good I t is to thee that I owe my

.

present felicity theref ore I praise and magnify thee

, ,

”
and I will praise and magnify thee to all eternity .

Thus body and soul will re j oice together with in ex

pressible satisfaction .

Then the holy guardian angels will congratulat e

these b lessed beings and exult with them over th eir
joyous resurrection I n all cemeteries and places
.
,

where many pe rsons are buried the blessed will ,

arise first with resplendent glorified bodies That .

they will take the precedence over the others may

’
be gathered from Christ s words when H e says ,

Wonder not at this for the hour cometh wherein ,

all that are in the graves shall hear the v oice of the
Son of God And they that have done good things
.

shall come forth to the resurre ction of life but they

 -
Ou Me R esu r rection of tire D ea d .
45

that have done evil unto the resurrection of j udg

,

ment (John V 2 8
”
.
,

A nd as in every graveyard ther e are many per

sons to rise again and amongst these a considerable
,

proporti on will be good and j ust imagine the pleas ,

ure it wil l be to them to see one another again ,

arrayed in such shining glorious bodies .

God grant that I be counted amongst the number

of these happy individuals ! How heartily will I
thank Him if H e grant my request !
The resurrection of the wicked will follow imme
diately upon that o f the j ust ; but oh how di fferent ,

w ill it be ! I n every burying ground all the lost

-

souls will assemble whose bodies have been interred

there and they will be compelled again to assume
,

them and reun ite themselves to them But what .

will be the r eluctance the disgust wherewith they

,

will do this ! When the soul sees her own body ,

Sh e will shrink back from it with the utmost re p u l

sion so hideous will it be and she will feel that she

, ,

had rather go straight to hell than again unite her

self to it F or the bodies of the reprobates will
.

resemble devils more than men so frightful so , ,

loathsome so o ffensive will they be Y et however

, .
,

the soul resists and opposes the reunion with her

body now so hideous she must submit to it for
, , ,

God compels her to it .

Who can depict the despair that takes possession of

the body when r eanimated by the return of the soul
, ,
46 Tb e L a st ju dg men t .

it awakens to a consciousness that it is lost foreve r .

With a shriek of rage it will exclaim : Wo e is

me woe is me to all eterni ty ! Better were it for
,

me a thousand times never to have been born than ,

tdhave come to this resurrection of misery ! Then

“
the soul will rejoin : Thou accursed body I have ,

already for several hundred years had to endure the

torments of hell and now I must return wi th thee
,

to the everlasting burning Thou art to blame for

.

all this misfortune ; I gave thee good counsels but ,

thou wouldst not follow them T herefore thou

.

art forever lost . A las for me unhappy soul ,

that I am ! A las for me now and for ever ,

more l Thou hast been the means of bringing me

to this endless misery Therefore I execrate the
.

”
ho ur in which I first came to dwell with thee .

A nd then the body will answer the soul after this

manner : O accursed soul what right hast thou to
,

anathemati z e me when thou art thyself the cause of

,

all this wret c hedness ? Thou shouldst have ruled

me more firmly and held me back from evil for it ,

was with this obj ect that God united thee to me .

I nstead of associating thyself with me in works of

penance thou didst revel wi th me in sinful pleasures
, .

I t is for me therefore to curse thee to all eternity

, , ,

because thou art the one w ho hast brought us both to

”
everlasting perdition . Th u s soul and body will
mutually anathemati z e each other .

Such are the unhappy c ircums tanc es that will

 On t/ze R esu r r ection f
o Me D ea d .
47

attend the resurrection of the bodies of the dam ned

in all graveyards and cemeteries when they leave
the grave and enter upon a second life .

A nd n o w reader endeavor to imagine the shame

, ,

and confusion which will weigh those poor crea

tures to the ground when first they see each other
again H usband and wife will meet brothers and
.
,

sis ters parents and children friends and ac q uaint

, ,

a n c es ; those who have li v ed in the same town or

the sam e village and have known each other from

childhood Their sham e will b e so overwhelming
.

that they would prefer to endure any physical torture

than be exposed to it And their bodies will be so
.

hideously ugly so disgusting in appearance that

, ,

they will shudder at the sight of one ano ther Who .

can describe the mourning and lamentation that will

prevail amongst these hapless creatures ! Their
mise ry is indeed unutterable .

Bethink thyself whoever thou art who readest or

,

hearest this what awful despair would sei z e upon

,

thee if thou wert amongst the number of these lost

souls I n what piteous tones thou wouldst bewail
.

wi th them thy hapless fate “

A las ! what have we
.

done ? Woe to us most miserable ones ; would that

we had never been born ! C ursed be thou my wife , ,

who didst pro k e me to sin ! Cursed be you my ,

children who are the cause of my damnation !

,

C u rsed be you my friends and acquaintances for

, ,

you wer e the occasion of this calamity that has come

48 Tli e L ast ju dg men t
.

upon me ! C u rsed foreve r be all those who have

h t en partners of my life and partners of my sin
Think over this 0 sinner and let your hard heart
, ,

be softened .

Whenever you pass by the c emetery of the place in

which you live remember that perchance thou m ayst
,

ere long be laid there to rest in the grave until the

general resurrection .

Wherefore make such good use of the brief period

O f life that thou mayst be numbered a mong the
,

j ust and arise with them to everlasting felicity and

, ,

not with the reprobate to everlasting torments .

P ray Often thus in thy heart : 0 most compassion

a te L ord Jesus I implore Thee for the sake of T hy
,

bitter P assion and death an d through the L ast Judg

,

ment at which Thou wilt be the Judge of the whole

world grant me grace to live in such a ma n ner that
,

at the resurrection I may arise wi th j oy and not

with sham e Am e n
.
”
.
5 0 Tile L a st ju dg men t .

probable theatre Of the L ast Judgm ent it d oe s n ot ,

necessarily follow that all mankind will be crowded

into that narrow space .

We will n ow consider in what manner we shall be

assembl e d fo r the final j udgment I f the good and .

the evil are found together in the graveyards and else

where that will come to pass which O u r L ord pre
,

dicted : S o shall it be at the end of the world : the

angels shall go out and shall separate the wicked
,

from among the j ust (M att x iii F or since the . .

good are laid to rest amongst the wicked it follows ,

that at the resurrection they will be found amongst

the wi cked A ccordingly after the General R esur
.
,

rection the holy angels will come and Separate the

ele ct from the reprobate St P aul speaking of
. .
,

this says : F or the L ord Himself shall come down

,

from heaven with commandment and with the voice ,

of an archangel and with the trumpet of God ;

and the dead who are in C hrist shall rise first .

Then we who are alive who are left shall be taken ,

up together with them in the cloud sto meet Christ

into the air ( 1 Thess iv 1 5 All the good
. .
, ,

that is to say will be carried on the clouds with

,

splendor and great glory by the angels to the place

of j udgment .

N ow imagine to thyself what a beautiful sight it

will be when the saints with their glorified bodies
, ,

shining like burnished gold in the sunlight will be ,

transpo rted through the air escorted by their guar d ,

 At Me P lace of ju dg men t .
5 1

ian angels I With what exultation and rej oi c ing will

they pass on their tri u mphal way l
A nd when they all come toge ther in the valley of
Josaphat they will greet one another lovingly and
, ,

embrace on e another with mutual joy .

Think for a moment 0 Christian ho w tho u

, ,

wouldst rejoice if thou we rt so fortunate as to find

thyself amongst the nu mbe r of the blessed This .

happiness is yet with in thy reach ; if thou dost

really desire it with all the strength of thy will thou ,

wilt be counted in this happy company Bestir .

thyself to fulfil all thy duties well and faithfully and ,

tho u too shalt one day join in that gloriou s and

triumphant procession .

We will now consider how the wi c ked shall be

transported to the v alley of Josaphat and what will ,

await them there A las their doom is so sorrow

.

ful that I can scarcely venture to describe it in

,

detail What will these unhappy sinners think

.
,

what will they say when they see the holy angels
,

taking the elect from their midst and car rying them
with glory and splendor through the air The Wise
M an gives us an insight into their thoughts when he
tells us These seeing it shall be troubled with
, ,

terrible fear and shall be ama z ed at the suddenness

of the unexpected salvation of the just saying
within themselves repen ting and groaning for a n
,

guish of spirit T hese are they whom we had some

time in derision and for a parable of r ep r oach We
, .
5 2 7 7m L a st ju dg men t .

fools esteemed thei r life madness and their end

without honor . Behold how they are n umbered
among the childr en of God and their lot is among ,

the saint s ( Wisd v 2 . How it will gr ieve th em

.

to behold those who m they formerly despised so

utterly now honored an d beloved by the angels of
God and conducted by them in glory and triumph
,

to meet Christ A nd they who once made such a

.

display of their ri ches who despised all their fellow

,

creatures in their arrogant pride now stand amongst ,

the fall en angels poor m iserable contemned

, , , .

When the angels have esco rted all the elect to

the valley of Josaphat they will proceed to drive all
,

the reprobate thither with the evil S pirits that are

,

mingled with them They will cry with a loud

.

voice A way with you away to j udgment ,T he

Judge of the living and the dead commands you to
”
appear before Him .

What a piercing c ry of anguish these unhappy

creatures will utter They will do their utmost
to resist the behest of the angels but they wil l ,

struggle in vain ; they must obey the command

of God s messengers Together with the evil spirits
’
.

the damned will be forcibly driven to the place of

j udgment What an awf u l journey
. The air is rent
with c ries of rage The spirits of darkness with
.
,

diabolical malice and cruelty already vent their ,

spite in tormen ting the hapless creatures whom sin

has m ade th eir vi ctims H ear the shriek of despair
.
 A t tne P la ce of ju dg men t
.
53

wrung from the wretched beings F ools that we

were though tless fools Whither has the path of
transgression led us A las it has bro ught us to
the severe the terribly severe tribunal of God
,

L isten 0 sinner to the sorrowful lamentations and

, ,

self accusations of these poor creatures Beware

-
.

lest thou too shouldst be of their n umber P ray .

God to prese rve you from so shocking a doom and ,

say M ost merciful God remember at how great

,

a pri c e Thou didst purchase me and how much ,

Thou didst suff er for me F or the sake of that

.

inestimable price do not permit me to be lost rescue ,

me number me amongst the sheep of Thy fold

, .

With them I will then praise and magnify Thy loving

”
kindn ess to all eternity .
 C H A P T ER IV .

’
H ow ALL ME N W I LL AWAIT CH R I ST S COMI N G IN TH E

VA LE O F J OSA P H A I’ ‘
.

LET us now c ontemplate the m u ltit ud e s gathe red

together in the place of j udgm ent A ll mankind .
,

every human being who has ever liv ed upon ea rth ,

as well as all the rebellious spirits who w ere c ast out

of heaven will be c omp ell ed to app ea r h ere befor e
,

the j udgment seat of Christ .

Who can attempt to en u m erate thes e countl e ss

’
multitudes The number of the earth s inhabitants
living at this pres ent mom e nt amounts to about
This vast multitude will have dis
appear ed in l e ss than half a c entury and anothe r ,

generation no less numerous will have taken

, ,

their place and filled the ea rth anew So it will .

go on and on u ntil the L ast D ay What countless .

hosts there will b e a rr aign ed before the j udgm ent

seat of Christ
The good will be all together r ejoi c ing in the ,

ce rtainty of their etern al salvation They are .

adorned with glorious apparel and shine like the

,

stars of heav en They know on e another th ey

.
,

54
 H ow a ll M en w i ll A w a it C/zr ist
’
s Coming .
55

g reet one another and exchange ,mutual c o n gra tu

la tio n s respecting their happy lot .

N ot so the wicked The good stand on the right

.

hand and they upon the left U nfo rtunately the num
,
-

ber of the wicked is far far larger than that of the,

good Both before a n d a fter the c oming of Christ

.
~

the prince of darkness held sway over a much

greater number of subj ects than Chr ist H imself .

Al as ! my God what an immense multitude there

,

will be on the left hand 1 The mourning and misery

amongst th em will be so unparalleled that the good
who are on the right hand would were it possibl e , ,

be deeply touched with compassion .

F or all these countless millions of human beings

will pour out their ex c essive sorrow and anguish in
piteous lamentations A waiting the coming of the
.

sup r eme Judge they stand together apa rt from the

, ,

j ust full of confusion at their own hid eousness and

, ,

esp ecially at their sinfulness now evident to all , .

-
Y et above and beyond all this misery is the c on
Stern a tio n that prevails on a c count of the c oming Of

the Judge it is beyond the power of words to

express F or now these u n happy creatures first
.

become fully aware how terrible are the j udgments

of God which they during their lifeti m e heed e d so
,

little N ow for the first time th ey recogniz e what a

.

fearful disgrace it is for them to have their sins

made manifest in the presence of all the angels and
saints in the presence likewise of the devils and of
,
5 6 H e L a st ju dg ment .

the lost N ow fo r the first time they are co n scious

.

of the awful nature of the sente n c e that will be

passed on them by the Judge whom they have often
insolently set at naught Th es e and m any other
.

things contribute to imbue them with such an unut

terab le dr ead of the coming of their Judge that they ,

quake in every limb with terror and almost swoon ,

away with apprehension and alarm They will say to .

one another in plainti v e tones A las what have we ,

don e How terribly we have deceived ourselves

F or the sake of the few and transito ry j oys of ea rth ,

we must undergo an eternity of anguish What .

good are all the ri c hes the voluptuous pleasures

, ,

the pride the hono r s of the world to us n ow ? W e

,

fools have trifle d away c elestial and eternal goods

for the poo r and paltry things of earth A las what .
,

will be c om e of u s when our Judge appears ! Y e

mountains fall on us and ye hills co v er us for truly
, , , ,

it would be less intolerabl e for us to be c rushed u m

der your weight than to stand b efore the whole
,

world covered with shame and confusion and behold ,

the wrathful countenan c e of the j ust Judge 1

U nhappy sinner whoever thou art who read est
,

this book do not flatter thyself with the v ain hope

,

that this d escription of the misery of the lost is ex

a ge ra te d They will complain a thousand times
g .

mor e loudly and their pain and misery will be unut

,

te rab le
. Av ail thyself of the short and pre c ious
seaso n of thy earthly existenc e do p e nan c e do now
, ,
 C H A P T ER V .

ON T H E A PPEA RANC E o r C H R IST s C R OSS ’

IN TH E

H EAVE N S .

W H E N all mankind are assembled in the v alley of

Josaphat the prediction of O u r L ord will be fulfilled
,

M en withering away for fear and expectation of ,

what Shall come upon the whole earth F or they .

will be in su c h anxiety and terror in anticipation of

the approaching j udgment that if such a thing ,

were possible they would faint away They will

,
.

look up to the heavens continually with fear and

trembling and every moment that the coming of the
,

dreaded Judge is delayed will serve to increase their

appr ehension O f this ad v ent At length the b eav
.

ens will be opened and the S ign of Christ s triu m

,
’

phant vi ctory the S ig n of the holy cross will be

, ,

carried down by a host of angel s and exhibited to

the whole world .

’
These are O u r L ord s words in regard to this
“
mystery : The powers of h e aven shall be moved ,

and then shall appear the S ign of the Son of m an in

heaven and then shall all tribes of the earth
,

m o urn (M att xxiv 2 9 The Catholic Church

‘

. .
,

5 8
l e f
App ea ra n ce o Cler ist
’
s Cross in Me H ea v ens .
59

teaches us what this sign will be which is t o appear ,

in heaven : The S ign of the cross will appear in

heaven when the L ord shall come to j udgment
, .

All the F athers concur in interpreting this S ign

which will be displayed in the heavens as the cross
of Christ A lthough the cross whereon O u r L ord
.

suff ered is now divided into innumerable little pieces ,

into particles even y et by divine power it will once

,

more form a complete whole I t will be carried .

do wn from heaven by the angels with solemn pomp

and the angels who bear it will be followed by
others who as the A ngelic Doctor St Tho m as
, , ,
.

A quinas maintains will carry all the other in stru

, ,

ments of the P assion ; that is to say the pillar , ,

the lance the scourges the hamm er the iron

, , ,

glove the dice the scarlet rob e the white robe

, , ,

the seamless tunic the holy winding sheet the ,

-

vessel containing myrrh and all the other in

str u m e n ts that were employed during the P assion ,

and the Ob j ect of this will be to make m anifest to

the whole world how many and man ifold were the
pains Christ su ff ered for our sakes .

N ow when all mankind behold the holy cross and

all the other sacred instruments of the P assion shin
In
g like the sun at midday for the cross of Christ ,

will gleam with a light of unexampled brilliance ,

those who are waiting below will stand in trembling

fear and woeful lamentation F or the sight of the .

holy c ross and the other instruments of to rt u re will

60 Tb e l a st ju dg men t .

recall to their mind all the grievous pains t hat O u r

L ord endured and indeed in so forcible and vivid
,

a manner that His whole P assion will seem to be

,

re enacted before them

-

Then the bitt erest remorse

.

will fill the hea rt of the wicked But this remorse .

,

how g reat and how deep soever it may be will be ,

futile . I t comes too late This remorse is the .

companion of despair I n their anguish O f soul and

.

their despair they will exclaim with Cain the frat ,

r ic id e : M y ini q ui ty is greater than that I may

deserve pardon ; or with Judas who betrayed his ,

“
L ord and M aster I have sin ned in betraying ,
”
innocent blood Y es all the lost will c oncur in
.
,

“
exclaiming A las ! we have sinned in betraying
,

innocent blood We have tortured we have cruci

.
,

fi e d we have put the Son of God to death by our

,

”
sins . Then all the tribes of the earth will mourn ,

for they will perceive how grievously they hav e

o ff ended against God but the cries of mourning and
,

despair prevailing every where will be in vain .

What will the unfortunate heathen say who have ,

’
never heard never known anything about Christ s
,

P assion ? They will bitterly bewail and lament their

ignorance saying ,
A las we unhappy ones had we ,

but known this we should never have come to this

,

misery .
’
H ad w e but k n o wn that the great and
infinite God did and s u ffered so much for us how ,

grateful we should have been to Him how willingly ,

we would have served Him ! We were deluded by

 f
’
Tne App ea r a n ce o Car ist s C r oss in t/ze [ f ea r/en s . 61

our false gods We saw in them no V irtues only

.
,

v ile and vicious deeds Against the promptings of .

conscience we imitated their vices and hence we ,

are damned We cannot complain or think our

.
,

selves wronged by the holy and j ust God because ,

we are amongs t the reprobate I f only we had he a rk .

ened to the voice of our conscience this would not ,

have been our fate .

But what will those say who put Christ to death ?

P ilate C aiphas A nnas the high priest as well as
, , , ,

“ “
the Jews who cried : Crucify Him ! and H is
”
blood be upon us and upon our children all who ,

took part in the cruel atrocious crime of crucifyin g,

their God wi ll at the S ight of the sacred instruments

,

of the P assion shriek aloud in despair and desire to

be annihilated Execrated and cursed even by the
.

damned they will stand there branded as deicides

, , ,

obj ects of abhorrence to the whole world .

I t is not my intention to discuss what bad Chris

tians who have blasphemed the Son of God by
,

word or deed will feel at that time ; for brevity s

,
’

sake I leave thee reader to meditate upon it for

, ,

thyself O nly one thing I would ask of thee ; r e

.

fle ct upon this what thou wouldst say what thou

, ,

wouldst most deeply regret if thou wert amongst ,

the n umber of the damned and didst then perceive ,

that thou hadst been the cause of Christ s su ff erings

’

and hadst crucified Him by thy sins Couldst .

thou now feel in thy hea rt something of the contri

62 Tue L a st ju dg men t .

tion which would then pierce thy soul assuredly ,

thou wouldst never again for the remainder of thy

life commit any heinous sin Couldst thou now
.

mourn over the suff erings of Christ with expressions

of such poignant sorrow as would then rise to thy
lips thou wouldst infallibly obtain the remission O f
,

thy sins Wherefore fre q uently adore thy crucified

.
,

S aviour call to mind H is su ff erings for thy sake

, ,

and recite the following prayer

O faithful R edeemer of the world who didst endure
,

such unspeakable suff erings for me a miserable ,

sinner I pray Thee let not Thy bitter P assion and

,

Thy de ath upon the cross be u navailing for me .

I mpress the remembrance of them deeply upon my

heart that I may have them ever before my mind
, ,

and may avoid S in which was the cause of Thy su f

fe t ing Th us when Thy cross shall appear bright
.

and shining in the heavens on the D ay of J udg

ment may it not be to me a S ign of damnation but
, ,

of salvation a S ign of Thy mercy and of Thy love

, .

Amen .
 CH A P T E R VI .

ON TH E A DVE NT OF TH E JU D G E .

W HAT we have hitherto heard 0 Christian reader , ,

is indeed most fearful and terrible but it is nothing ,

in comparison with what we are now about to con

sider Fo r the coming of the J udge will be so
.

awful so dreadful that all that is in heaven or upon

, ,

earth will tremble and q uake The power an d .

maj esty wherewith H e will come is beyond the

power of words to describe I n order that we may .

kn ow something concerning it and be able to form ,

some conception of it Christ has Himself foretold H is

,

coming in these words When the Son of man

shall come in His maj esty and all the angels with ,

H im then shall H e sit upon the throne of His maj

,

esty and all nations shall be gathered together b e

,

fore Him (M att xxv 3 I . A nd again. They

,

shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of

heaven with much power and maj esty (xxiv .

Thus we see O ur L ord twice asserts that H e will

come in the clouds of heaven attended by all His ,

angels in great might and maj es ty

, .

Who can depict the greatness of that power ,

63
64 H e L a st ju dg men t .

the splendor of that maj esty the countless number ,

of those angelic hosts L isten to what the P salmist

“
says on the subj e ct : A fire shall go before H im
and shall burn His enemies round about H is light .

mings have shone forth to the world the earth saw ,

and trembled The mountains melted like wax at the

.

presence of the L ord at the presence of the L ord of

,

the whole earth The heavens declared H is j us tice

.

”
an d all people saw His glory ( P S xcvi 3 A nd . .

“
in another psalm we read : O u t of Sion the love
lin e ss of His bea uty shall shine forth A fire .

shall burn befor e H im a nd a mighty te mpest shall ,

be round about H im (xlix T he prophet I saias.

also predicts the advent of the Judge in the follow

ing terms Behold the L ord will come with fire
, ,

and H is chariots are like a whirlwind to render H is ,

wrath in indignation and H is r ebuke with flames of

”
fire ( I s lxvi
. M oreover
. Christ H ims elf ,

declares A s lightning cometh out of the east and ,

appeareth even into the west : so shall also the com

ing of the Son of man be (M att xxiv . .

I f such be the manner in which the J udge shall

come if flames of fire proceed from His c o u n te
,

nance if H e descends from heaven in a fiery char

,

lot armed with wrath against sinners who but

, ,

must tremble at His coming ! We shall in f a ct all ,

falter and be afraid Besides the terrors of the .

Judge Himself the sight of the innumerable com

,

pany of angels that will descend with H im will in ,

.
66 H e L a st ju dg men t .

the wr ath of God the almighty A nd H e hath on .

H is garment and o n H is thigh written : King of

”
kings and L o r d of lords ( Apoc xix 1 1
,
. .

How we all shall t r e mble O my God when we , ,

behold these hosts of celestial spirits with thei r

ki ngly leader !
The prophet D aniel on c e saw an angel and he ,

was so terror struck at his appearance that he fell

-

to the ground like one dead I f such an eff ect was

.

produced on him by the sight of a single angel ,

whose errand was one of comfort and consolation ,

what will become of us when so many hundreds of

,

thousands of heavenly princes draw n igh to us

with wrathf ul countenances ? St Eph r em speak .
,

ing of this says The angels will stand there with

a m enacing mien their eyes flashing with the sacred
,

fi re of j ust indign ation rous e d by the iniquities of

,

m ankind
”
.

N ow if the sight of the angels alone who will ,

com e to j udgment with the divine J udge is so ter ,

r ible what will be the fear and dread inspired by

,

the Judge Himself when H e comes in all the wrath

,

of o ff ended j ustice A s in heaven there is no

greate r delight than the contemplation of God so ,

at the L ast Ju dgment ther e will be no greater pain

than to look upon the angry Judge Before .

entering upon an explanation of this let us see ,

with what maj esty Christ wi ll come to j udgment .

T he ad v ent of Ch r ist will be so t e rribl e that

 T/i e A dv en t of tne ju dge
. 67

n either m a n n o r a ngel is capable of describing it

aright F or all that is most calculated to appal the
.

sinner will be here seen and nothing will he want

,

ing that c an enhance the ma j esty of Christ When .

a monar ch makes his entry into a to wn what ,

pomp and splendor is displayed there ! Strains of

lively musi c mingle with the more solemn peal of
bells salutes are fired the whole population is astir
, , ,

every one straining his eyes to see the monarch ;

fi rst come his servan ts then his counsello r s then
, ,

the n obles of the land lastly he comes himself ,

s urrounded by a v ast mul titude of people .

Y e t what is all this magnificenc e the world can

offer when c o m pared with the maj esty which will

attend the co m ing Of the King of kings ! Compar e

a poo r ragged begga r boy with a sovereign prince
-

who enters riding in a chariot of gold and we have ,

a feeble and insuffi cient image of the di ff erence that

e xists between the pomp and splendor of this world

a n d the glory wherewi th Christ will come to j udgment .

Y et H is advent will not merely be grand and

glorious beyond measure it will likewise be awful ,

in its nature I f the graves opened at the blast of

.

the angel s trumpet and the sound of that trumpet

’
,

r e echoed throughout the whole world what a pani c

-

o f fear will seiz e upon mankind when the angels

who precede Christ s tri umphal car cause the sound

’

of thei r trumpets to be heard

,
”
What asks St A ugustin e . will b ec o m e of u s
,
68 Tne L a st ju dg men t .

on that dreadful day the Day of J u dgment when the

, ,

L ord shall descend with His angels with the sound

of trumpets and the whole earth shall tremble with
,

fear
When God came down of old upon M ount S inai ,

we read in Holy Scripture N ow the third day

was come and the morning appeared ; and behold
thunders began to be heard and lightning to flash , ,

and a very thick cloud to cover the mount and the ,

noise of the trumpet sounded exceeding loud and ,

”
the people that was in the camp fea r ed A nd when .

all the people heard the thunder and the sound of the
tr umpet and saw the lightning and the smoke aris
,

ing from out of the mount they were terrified and

, ,

“
withdrew to a distance saying to M oses : Speak
,

thou to us and we wi ll do all things that the L ord

hath commanded but let not the L ord speak to us
,

lest we die ( Exod xx . .

I f all this happened when God c ame do wn from

heaven to give His law to the H ebrew nation and ,

adopt them as H is children what thinkest thou 0 , , ,

C hristian will be the case when H e com es to re q uire

,

an account of the manner In which H is command

ments have been kept ? I f the children of I srael
were so terrified at the giving of the law that they
thought they should die of fear what cau se Shall ,

not we mortals we Christians especially ha v e to

, ,

tremble sin ce we ha v e so ofte n wilfully transgress e d

,

the co mm andm ents of God !

 I lze A dv en t of tire ju dge . 69

O God almighty Judge of all men Thou wilt

, ,

descend from heaven at the L ast Day with great

power and maj esty to act in Thy chara cter of J udge
, ,

and the thought of Thy coming caus e s me to qu ake

with fear I nspire me now I besee c h Thee with
.
, ,

salutary fear so that I may avoid sin and may not

, ,

merit to be c rushed by Thy j ust anger Am en . .

 CH A P T E R V II .

ON TH E MANN ER IN WHICH CH R I ST WI LL TAK E H IS

PLAC E ON T H E JU D GM E NT SEAT -
.

P Avheed 0 reader to what is now coming and do

, , ,

not imagine that it concerns thee not Thou wilt .

most assuredly witness it all one day with thy bodily

eyes and all will be a thousand times mo re t e rrible
,

than my pen can depict it .

When Christ in H is chariot of fire ha s r e ached

, ,

M ount O livet H e will pause in the air at such a

, ,

height that H e c an be clearly seen by all m en until ,

the angels have prepared the throne of j udgment .

The prophet D aniel th us portrays the scene I

beheld till thrones were placed and the A ncient of
,

days sat ; H is garment was white as snow and the

hair of His h e ad like clean wool H is throne like
flames of fire the wheels of it like a burn ing fire A
, .

swift stream of fire issued forth from before Him ;

thousands of thousands ministered to Him and ten ,

times a hundred thousand stood before H im : the

j udgment sat and the books were O pened (Dan .

V ii .
9,
But Christ will not sit in j udgment alone ; the
7 0
 ’
C/zr ist s ju dg men t sea t
-
.
7 1

twelve apostles will be with Him according to the ,

promise H e gave them A men I say to you that ,

you who have followed M e in the regeneration , ,

when the Son of ma n shall S it on the seat of H is

maj esty you also shall sit on twelve seats j udging
,

the twelve tribes of I srael (M att xix . .

Who can give any idea of the magnificence of

Christ s throne ? I t beggars all description
’
.

We read that King Solomon caused a wonderfully

beautiful thron e to b e constructed out of ivory ,

richly adorned with gold and precious ston es This .

throne was so magnificent that the inspired writer

says of it that in no kingdom of the world had any
such work been made I f the j udgment seat of
.
-

King Solomon was composed of such costly mat erial

and fashioned so skilfully what will be the splendo r
,

of the j udgment seat of the King of kings on which

-

H e will sit in His maj esty to j udge the whole world

O u r L ord speaks of this j udgment seat as a throne -

of great splendor when H e says : When the Son

,

of man shall come in H is maj esty and all the angels ,

with H im then shall H e sit upon the seat of His

,

majesty (M att xxv . .

Some idea of what the appearance of this throne

will be may be gathered from the words which have
j ust b een q uoted from the prophet Daniel and also ,

“
this description given by St John : There was a .

rainbow round about the throne in sight like un to an ,

emerald . And from the throne proceeded light

7 2 Tlze L a st ju dg men t .

n in g s,
and voices and thunders and there were seven
,

lamps burning before the throne (Apoc iv 3 . .

S uch are the images whereby Holy Scripture

portrays the j udgment seat of Christ Who of all
-
.

mankind can venture to raise his eyes to this fiery

throne Wil l it not be more da z z lingly bright than
the lightnings and fiery flashes of a tempest
The divine J udge will seat H imself upon this
thron e and H is grave countenance will be visible to
men and ang els A ll created beings will tremble
.

with awestruck reverence St John declares this . .

“
in the Apocalypse : I saw a great white throne ,

and O n e sitting upon it from whos e face the earth

,

and heaven fled away and there was no place found

,

for them (Apoc xx 1 I ) I n these words the prophet

. . .

of the N ew Tes tament appears to indicate that the

heavens and the ea rth will n ot be able to bear to
meet the eye of their Judge that all rational beings ,

both angels and men will q uake at the S ight of His

,

stern countenance .

That the angels also will fear and tremble is ,

asserted by St A ugust i ne In the following passage

.
,

from his writings : When O u r L ord says that the

powers of heaven shall be moved H e allud e s to the , ,

angels ; for so terrible will the j udgment be that ,

the angels will not be exempt from fear ; they too

will tremble and b e afraid F or j ust as when a .

j udge S its in judgmen t his grave countenan c e not

only strikes terror into the culprits before him b u t ,
74 I 7ze L a st ju dg men t
.

the Day of Judgment when they behold C hrist in

,

H is awful maj esty and are called upo n to give to

H im a n ac c ount of thei r whole lif e ? A nd 0 poor ,

sinner ho w will it then far e with th ee and w ith all

, ,

the reprobate if even the angels and saints tre mble

,

at the coming of the Judge ? Words c annot ex press

the terror and dismay of evil spirits and u n repentant
sinners when they S hall behold their divine Judge
,

on the throne of H is maj es ty and know that H e ,

will rigorously j udge and c ondemn th e m to hell fo r

all eternity .

I n order to give som e idea of the terrible drea d

an d alarm of the fallen angels and of unhappy sin

ners let us hear what Holy S cripture says concern

,

ing the appalling exterior of the Judge and the

greatness of His anger in the first chapter of the ,

A pocalypse where St John tells us : I saw the

, .

Son of man clothed in a garment down to the feet

and gi rt about the breast with a gold en girdle H is .

h ead and H is hairs were white as white wool and as

snow and His eyes were as a flame of fi re and H is
, ,

fe et like unto fi ne brass as in a burning furnace , .

And H is voice as the sound of many waters A nd .

from H is m outh came out a sharp two e dged sword -

and H is face was as the sun shineth in H is power .

U po n H is head were many diadems and H e was ,

c lothed with a garment sprinkled with blood H e .

tre adeth the wine press of the fi erc en ess of the wrath
-

of God the alm ighty and H e hath on H is garm ent

,
 Olt r ist s ju dg men t sea t
’

75
-
.

and H is thigh written : King of kings an d L ord of

”
lords .

M editate upon these wondrous words 0 Chris ,

tian and pi c ture to thyself thy future J udge in

,

vivid colors How could His maj es tic appearance

.

be described more forcibly than in the words we

have j ust q uoted
W hat must be the S plendor of th at co untenan ce
which is said to shine as the sun at its m eridian !
what must be the brilliance of those eyes which
glow with holy fervor like flames of fi re ! what
the force of that voice which has the so u nd of a
volume of waters ! what must be the keenness
of that t ongue which cuts like a two edged sword -

what a glorious head that must be which is

adorned with many costly diadems ! How terrible
that garment must be to look upon which is
sprinkled with blood ! A nd what the dignity of
that regal name : The King of kings and L ord of
lords ! How frightened we all shall be what fea r ,

and woe will overtake us when our Judge looks

upon us ! A nd imagine what the feelings of the
damned will be when they behold the Judge of
,

all thei r wi cked d eeds ; how they will quail and

q uake ben e ath H is gaz e in the hour of H is j ust
wrath I
We shall perhaps form a better c onception of
what the wrath of God is if we liste n to what the
,

prophet I saias says concerning it

7 6 l e L a st ju dg m en t
.

Behold the na m e of the L ord cometh from afar

“
,

His wrath burne th and is heavy to b ear His lips are

,

filled with indignation and His tongue as a devour ,

ing fire ; H is breath as a torr ent overflowing even

to the midst of the neck to destroy the nations ,

”
into nothi n g (I s xxx 2 7 . .
,

These a re of a truth terrible words Do th ey .

not clearly indi c ate with what great wra th Christ

will manifest Himse lf to the world ? Well may all
unhappy S inners be overwhelmed with terror and
dismay and anguish ; well may they cry to the
mountains to fall on them and the hills to c over
them .

N ow wh en the J udge is seated upon the throne

of His maj esty all who a re assembled in the val
,

ley of Josaphat angels and devils the redeemed

, ,
‘

and the lo st w ill all have to ador e Christ as St

, , .

P aul says : We shall all stand before the j u dg

“

ment seat of Christ F or it is written : A s I live

-
.
,

saith the L ord eve ry knee shall b o w to M e and

, ,

e very tongu e shall conf e ss to God ( R om .

x iv 1 0
.
,

How solemn and how s ublim e a s c ene will then

be ena cted O my God when all the millions
, ,

and thousands of millions of angels tog ether with ,

the blessed in visible form will prostrat e them

,

selves upon the ground and the evil spirits with ,

thei r unhappy victims and all the damned will be , ,

forced against the ir will to adore C h rist a n d a c

 ’
Ck r ist s ju dg men t sea t -
.
77

knowle dge H im as thei r God an d J udg e ! These

wretched c reatures will fall On thei r knees and bend ,

their heads down to the e ar th not daring to raise ,

their eyes lest they should e ncounter the angry

,

glance of their J udge They will lament a n d .

bewail filled with unutte r able consternation and dis

,

may Gladly would they hav e the earth open and

.

swallow th em up nay they would if it were pos

, , ,

sible cast themse lves down into a bottomless

,

abyss rathe r than suffer su c h hum iliation .

P ause and consider 0 sinner what thy feelings, ,

would be if thou we rt a mid the number of these lost

souls ; thou wouldst be ove rwhelmed with so rr ow
and distress .

St V in c ent relates that a young m an of disso

.

lute life once dreamed that he was arraigned before

the judgment seat of God and required to give
-

an account of his ill sp e nt life His terror was so

-
.

great that it tu rned his hair pe rfectly white I f the .

terrors of the L ast J udgment experienced only in a

dream w ere su ffi cient to t urn the color of that
’
young man s hair what thinkest thou will be the
, , ,

effec t they will produce on thee and on me when we ,

are present not in a dream but in reality at the L ast

, , ,

J udgment and with our bodily eyes we b ehold our

,

Judge in all His holy indignation

0 most j ust Judge look down I bes ee ch Thee , , ,

from Thy throne in heaven upon me a poor sin n er , ,

an d fo r the sak e of Thine i n fi nit e c ompassion be

7 8 Tne La st ju dg men t
.

mercif ul to me in the day of final j udgm ent . I

know that I shall not be able to stand in that dread
day but by Thy j ust sentence I shall be c ondemned
,

to e ternal damnation Y et I know also that if a

.

sinner implores mercy of Thee in the time of grace ,

it will not be denied him Therefore I entreat

.

Thee with deep humility and contrition through,

Thy bitte r P assion that Thou wouldst pardon my

,

sins and p ass a lenient sent ence u pon me in the Day

o f J udgm en t
. Am en .
 C H AP T ER V I I I .

ON TH E RE ASON WH Y CH R I ST S A PPEA R A N C E ON
’
TH E

DAY O F FINA L JU DGM E NT W I LL BE T ERR I BLE , AN D

ON TH E H E INOU S N ES S O F MO R TA L SIN .

TH E reader may per c hance be in c lined to ask

, ,

the r eason why Chr ist the s am e Christ who liv ed

,

amongst us on ea rth in all gentlen e ss and m e ek

n ess should wear so
,
terrible an aspe c t when H e
comes to b e o ur Judge ? There are a gr e at many
reasons why Christ in this capa c i ty sho u ld j udge
m ankind with such awful s everity T he pr i ncipal .

one is be c ause He has bee n m ost gri evously out

raged by the sins of men .

Theologians assert th at ev e ry mortal sin is in

itse lf an infinite evil and is an infinite aff ront to
,

the di vine maj esty I t is an off ence of such mag

.

n itu d e that neither the to n gu e of angels nor of men

is capab le of describing it I t will be understood.

,

therefore that as in every m o rtal sin there is mali ce

,

of so deep a dye it must deeply wo u nd the D i v ine

,

H ea rt of J esus and provoke H im to j ust ange r

,

aga in st the indi v idual who has been gui lty of that
S in . A nd in order that it may be more apparent
how j ust the ire of G od is when rous ed by mo rtal
,

79
80 Tlze L a st ju dg men t .

sin it will be well to explain more clearly how

,

great is the in sult o ffered to God by wilful sin .

I magine the three divine persons of the M ost Holy

Trinity to be on one side with their infinite treas
,

ures of grace and glory and on the other side the

,

Spirit of evil with all the punishments and torments

of hell ; and a man standing in the midst betwixt

the two debating within himself whether he should
,

show honor to God by doing H is will or whether ,

he should act in V iolation of H is will and thereby ,

cause the devil to rejoice I f the man commits the

.

sin he acts towards God and God regards his

, ,

action exactly as if he utt e red these blasphemous

,

words or others of the same nature

,

I do indeed believe O God that I was c reated

, ,

by Thy almighty power redeemed by Thy mercy

, ,

made a child of predilection by Thy bo u nty I know

that Thou hast promised m e eter nal life all the ,

sweetest bliss of hea v en I am also well aware that

.

this ac c ursed S atan Thy great enemy and mine is

, ,

prepared to strip me of all that is good and hurl ,

me down into everlasting p ef d itio n A nd yet b e .

cause S atan tempts me now because he suggests ,

to me a thought of unchastity a desire for revenge , ,

a movement of envy I choose rather to yield to this

,

impulse and thereby render myself deserv ing of

everlasting punishmen t than resist and repel the
,

evil suggestion and thus merit heaven hereafter a n d

Spiritual graces now Th erefore I delib erately
.
,
82 H e L ast ju dg men t .

c old a n d all manner of hardships for my sake

, ,

whilst S atan has done nothing of the sort for me

on the contrary he pursues m e day and night and
,

strives to ensnar e m e I n spite of this I pref er to

.

belong to him rathe r than to Thee I prefer to .

please him and grieve Thee

, .

I t it true 0 my R edee mer that for my sake Thou

, ,

wast torn with scourges crowned with thorns fast , ,

ene d with nails to the cross and put to death a m id

bitter tortures ; yet for all t his I off er Thee no
thanks N ay more although I kn ow that by my
.
,

sins I scourge Thee I crucify Thee I put Th ee to

, ,

death anew yet I will not forsake my sins ; I will

,

trample upon Thy p r ecious blood I will ado re S atan ,

instead of Thee I will make him my dearest fri end

”
and do my utmost to give him pleasure .

Again I a sk are not these utterances b lasp he

,

mo us in the extreme D o they not Show the black

est ingratitude on the part of the sinner towards his
S aviour ? O n e can scarcely imagine that a Christian
wo uld g rieve his R edeemer in so shamef u l a manner .

And yet there are many thousands who if n ot in ,

words yet in deeds address such language to thei r

, ,

S aviour .

I n the third pla c e the audacious sin n er outrages

,

and defies the Holy Spirit of God for his a ctions ,

“
are e q uivalent to expressions su ch as these : Thou ,

O Holy Ghost hast certainly san c tified my soul

, ,

cleansed it in the blood of Christ and b e a utifi e d it

 f M
'

I li e H ei nou sn ess o or ta l S in . 83

by Thy grace I know that Thy sanctifying grace

.

is so p r ecious that ev e ry so ul which is adorned by

it the reby be comes a da ughter of the heavenly
F ather a sister of the divine Son a spouse of the
, ,

Holy G host th e dwelling place of the M ost H oly

,
-

Trinity a temple of the sov ereign Godhead an heir

, ,

of et ernal felicity a friend of angels and saints

, ,

yet what d o I tr ouble myself abo ut these exalt ed

prer ogatives what do I care for th is priceless pear l
, ,

this costly j ewel ? Away with them ; I will cast this

pearl this j ewel to the dogs an d s w ine to wit my
, , ,

evil passions I will sa c ri fic e all to them I will

.
,

”
se rv e sin and li v e in sin .

S e est thou n ot now 0 r eade r how hat ef ul sin is

, , ,

how shoc ki n g the n atri re of the sinne r how infinite ,

the o ffen c e against God the contempt of God which

,

is ins eparable from sin ? A rt thou n o t convinced

that God has j u st cause to feel holy indigna tion
against sin and the slaves of sin and to c o n demn ,

the sinner to everlasting damnation

And if the wrath of G od who is in fi nite in sa n c
,

tity and j usti c e is aroused to such an extent by one

,

single mortal sin how greatly must H e the j ust an d

, ,

holy O n e be an gered and o ff ended by the millions

,

upon millions of shameless and shameful sins dai ly

committed not o n ly by Jews a nd heath ens but also ,

by Christians ! All this ange r all t his s ens e of out,

raged dignity at insult off ered which the si n n e r ,

arouses within the H eart of G od is treasured up ,

84 7 72e L a st ju dg men t .

until the Day of J udgm ent T he holy sa c ri fic e of

.

the M ass and the pow erf u l intercession of the saints

as yet r estrains the divin e arm from e x e cu ting ven
ea n ce
g .

But wh en mankind ha v e filled up the m e asu re of

their i n iquities the day of wrath shall come
, No .

one c an form a conception of how awful the out

po ur ing of the wr ath of God upon sinners will be .

“
I n the P salms we read Who knoweth the power
of Thy a n ger and for Thy f ear can n umber Thy
,

wrath ? ( P S lxxxix . .

Woe then to us poor sinn ers Th en for the first

, ,

time we shall appreciate aright what we have done

and how deeply we have off ended God by our
grie v ous Sins The wrath of God is so bound
.

less that n e ither the M other of God nor all the ,

angels and saints have any power to diminish or

restrain it it will turn with holy z eal and mete out
to every man his deserts with rigorous j ustice Hear .

what the Judge H imself says of this His wrath by , ,

the mouth of the proph et Ez echiel : N ow thou son ,

of man is an end co m e upon thee and I will send

, ,

M y wrath upon thee and I will j udge thee accord

,

ing to thy ways and I will set all thy abominations

,

against th e e and M y eye shall not spare thee a n d I

, ,

will S how thee no pity ( E z ech V ii 3 . .

,

These are truly terrible words and the threat ,

they c ontain is most appalling O h how unsparing .

,

will be the j udgm ent to which God who h as been ,

 Tlze lifein ou sn ess f
o M or ta l S in . 85

off ended by transgressions so innumerable wi ll ,

summon all mankin d .

Alas for me and for the e if we fin d ou r selves

,

amid the countless multitude of sinners and God ,

cannot in justice spare us ! What shall we do that ,

we may not fall into the hands of the angry J udge ?

We must abandon the way of ini q uity and now , ,

while there is yet time make our peace with the

,

Judge whom we have o ff ended L et us awak en from

.

time to time sincere contrition for o u r S ins employ ,

ing these or similar expressions of sorrow

M ost j ust Judge of the living and the dead I ,

acknowledge before Thee that I have sinned often

and grievously I have forsaken my F ather in
.

heav en ; I have crucifi ed Thee my R edeemer ; ,

I have grieved the Holy Spirit an d f rifled away

His grace I have do n e this by the c ountless
.

sins I have c ommitted in thought word and d e ed , .

Through my transgr essions I have incurred the

penalty of everlasting death But S ince Thou will
.

est not the death of the sinner but rather that he ,

should do penance and live let m e experience her e

,

the eff ect of Thy justice which is ever wedded to

,

mercy A ll the trials that Thou send e st me in this

.

life I will thankfully receive from Thy hand and ,

ki ss the rod whereby Thou dost chastise me with

paternal severity in order that at the D ay of Judg
ment I may find mercy and Thou mayst gra n t m e
,

a pla c e in the ranks of Thine el e ct Amen . .

 C H A P T ER IX .

ON TH E MA N NE R IN W HICH TH E FI N A L J U DGM E NT
W I LL BE COMM E NC ED .

W HI LST the angels and saints besid esall the com ,

pany of the devils and the damned are prost r ate ,

b efor e thei r Judge in lowly adoration H e will ope n ,

H is lips and with a loud v oic e utt er these or similar

,

“
words : L isten ye heavens to M y voice ; listen O
, , ,

earth to the words that I shall speak ; listen

, ye ,

a ngels listen ye demons listen also all ye sinners

, , ,
-

, , ,

for I a n noun c e to each and all of you that 1 J esus ,

Christ the true S on of God and of the V irgin M ary

, ,

y o ur Creator your R ed e emer your sovereign L o r d

, , ,

am about to exercise my offi c e of Judge .

W ith in fi nit e patience I hav e born e with your

inn um erabl e iniquiti es the tim e of gra c e is now
past the time of j ustice has come Every one shall
,
.

be rewarded according to his works Those who .

have done good shall presently go with M e into

eternal life and those who have don e evil shall be
,

c ast into the abyss of everlasti n g torm ent and

anguish All creation shall see and acknowledge
.

that I a m a j ust God that I j udge n ot a c c ording to

,

86
 Tire F in a l ju dg men t Com men ced 87

appearan c es but ac c ording to the meas ur e of that

,

”
which each man has deserved .

Some such words as these will proceed out of the

mouth of the Judg e and they will be prono u nc ed
,

with su c h maj esty that all men will q u ake and

tre mble A ll miserable sinners will begin to weep
.

and wail afresh so that the very e arth might be

,

moved with compassion Alas for us poor .

”
wretches they will exclaim with one voice how
, ,

can w e stand before the face of our J udge ! M oun

tains fall on us and rocks cov e r us and hide u s
, , , ,

from the face of Him that sitteth upo n the throne ,

and from the wrath of the L amb F or the great .

day of their wrath is c ome and who sh all b e able ,

to stand
An d since at every tribun al an a ccu s e r must be
present to bring charges against the i n dividual who
,

i s to be j udged so at this ge n eral j udgm ent the

,

angels and the d evi ls will b e the a c cusers of m an

kind St M ichael will first stand fo rth and say
. .

M ost j ust Judge I bring an acc u sation against these

,

millions of sinners who d efiled the earth to such an

,

extent by their mi sd eeds that Thou in Thy holy i n ,

dignation didst see fit to purify it by fir e ; I call

upon Thee now to p un ish thes e transgr esso r s a c
”
cording to Thy justice .

Then L ucifer speaking in the n ame of all the evil

,

spirits will rais e his voice with a roar like that of a

,

lion an d a ccuse all mankind in a b ody : Most j ust

,
88 Tthe L a st ju dg men t .

J u dge o f the living and the dead I bring a cha rge ,

against all the h um an beings ass embled here .

S ince it seemed right to Thy stern j ustice to banish

me and all the ang els who join e d with me from
heaven on account of one single sin and to con ,

d e m n us to e verlasting damnation it is only fair ,

that Thou shouldst include all mankind in the same

c ond emnation with myself and cast all m en here ,

present into the abyss of hell F or there is not one .

single individual here who has not committed sin ,

”
and tra n gressed Thy law .

Then Christ will answer the ac c usation in this

wise I t S hall be done as you request 0 ye angels ,

and ye demons ; all m en must appear before M y

j udgment seat and each one shall receive that which
-

is his due c hastisement to the wicked re c ompense ,

”
to the good .

When all those whom Christ has chosen to share

with Him His o ffI c e of Judge shall have taken their
seats His apostles having the preceden c e of all
,

others the j udgment will commence I t appears

,
.

from what the A postl e St P aul says that no per .

son not even the saints will be exempted from this

, ,

ordeal .We shall all stand before the j udgment

seat of Christ (R om xiv . .

T his standing before the j udgm ent seat of Christ -

will fill every one with fear N o one will b e free .

from it ; even the j ust will feel it to a certain degree ,

as well as the unhappy sinner Even though the j ust .

9 0 an L ast judg men t .

with th em in blissf ul j ubilation An d how all w ho

.

are yet waitin g for their sen tence will m a rv el at the

g i o r
y that is thei,rs and long to sha r e it with them .

M ost bo un tifu l Jesus in the nam e of all the

,

sai n ts and e l e ct whom Thou dost d estin e to the en

,

j oy m en t of et ernal felicity I besee c h Thee of Thy

,

in finite lov m g kind n ess that I may stan d a mongst

,

Thy saints in the Day of Ju dgm ent I a m I ndeed .

unwo rthy of this favor but for the gr eat er honor

,

and praise that will be ascribed to Th ee I pray ,

The e let Thy boundless mer cy be manifest ed to

wards me cast me not away poor sinner that I am
, .

A nd I entreat you saints of God to help m e to a t

, ,

tain to your blessed company I know that y o ur

.

inter c e ssion is powerful enough with God to indu c e

H im to look upon me with compassion and b e in ,
~

finitely m er c if u l to me in H is j udg ment of my IIIC u

 C H A P T ER X .

ON TH E LE N GTH OF TIM E THAT T H E FI N AL J U D GM E NT

WI LL LA ST .

H ow long will the duration of the L ast J udgm ent

b e ? N o definite answer can be gi v en to this ques
tion for it is a matter which no one knows ; y et it
,

m ay be c on j e c tured that it will oc c upy a c onsider

a ble period Some indeed say that it will be o ve r
.

quickly because God could j udge all ma n kind in a

,

single instant Y et this O pinion does not seem to

.

b e held by the F athers of the Church , nor is it s up

ported by Holy Scripture in whi c h we fi nd a day of
,

j udgment invariably spoken of .

St P aul for instance says

.
, God hath appointed
,

a day wherein H e will j udge the world in e quity

( Ac ts x v ii .A nd we read in the prophe c ies of
I saias : B ehold the day of the L ord shall come a ,

cruel day and full of indignatio n and of wrath and

”
fury (I s xiii . I n thes e and many oth er pas
.

sages of Holy Writ the L ast Day is spok en of as a

day not an instantaneous judgment The prophe t
,
.

Jo el indicat e s that the day will be a long on e wh e n ,

,

he says : The day of the L ord is great and v ery

t e rrible ; an d who c an stand it (Joel ii 1 A n d .

1
9
9 2 Tlze L a st ju dg men t
.

of this sa me day St John the prophet of the N e w

.
,

D ispensation also says :

,
“
The great day of thei r
wrath is come and who shall be abl e to stand it ?
,

(Apo c vi
. .

I n many other passage s of Holy S c ripture we

find simila r e xpressions the Day of Judgment
being called a g r ea t day which probably m e ans a ,

long day . St Jerome held this opinion for he

.
,

“
says : The day of the L ord will be a great day
”
because of the eternity following upon it St . .

A ugustine when spe aking of the d ur ation of the

,

“
final j udgment e xpresses himself thus : O ver how
,

m any days the j udgment will extend we have n o

means of asce rtaining ; yet we know that a con
sid e rab le period is often designated in Holy S c rip
”
tur e as a day St Thomas A q u inas agre e s with
. .

St A ugustine on this point ; he brings forward

.

several argum ents to prove that the final j udgm ent

will be of lo n g duration .

And wh erefore should God shorten that day ?

There is ab undant reaso n why H e should rather
prolong it For it is the day of Christ s greatest
.
’

triumph ; the day whereon the saints attain their

greatest glory and the dam n ed are put to the gr eat
est shame .

I t is the day of Christ s great e st tri um ph because

’
,

H e will not only be adored by all the angels and

saints but also by the wicked Spirits and lost souls
, ,

and ackno wledged by all to be their Judge O n that .

 H ow L ong tlte F ina l ju dg men t If Vi ll L a st .
93

day all His en e mies will be beneath H is feet ; on

that day all H is foes will be forced to confess their
off ences against Him the divine A rbiter They
, .

will then and there be c ompelled to own His div

inity His infinite charity the countless bene fi ts H e
, ,

has bestowed on them in return fo r whi c h they per

,

se c u te d Him blasphemed Him

, put Him to a cruel ,

death S econdly the blessed saints will on that

.
,

day attain th eir greatest glory because they will be ,

held in honor and esteem by all mankind as well ,

as by God and by the angels F or Christ will then .

make m anifest to all present how faithfully they

served Him with what self sa c rifi c in g z eal they
,
-

labored for the conversion of sinners H e will .

then make manifest the secret penances they per

formed the fi er c e temptations they resisted H e
, .

will then make manif e st the pitiless persecutions

they endured from the children of this world and ,

how all mann e r of evil was spoken against them

unjustly Thus Christ will crown them with the
.

honor that is their due and all their adversaries

,

will be c onfound ed .

Thirdly on that day the reprobat e will be put to

,

the great est I gnominy and an guish F o r the Judge .

will reveal all the shameful the abominable chara cter

,

of their misdeeds : He Wi ll reveal in the sight of

angels and saints of the devils and the damned the
, ,

infamous deeds they performed under cover of dark

ness Y es, H e will po ur out the f ull chali c e of H is
.
94 Tne L a st ju dg men t .

i n dignation upon those wretched beings who unde r ,

the mask of their hypocrisy dared to desecrate H is

v e ry sanctuary H e will c ause those who have bee n
.

corrupters of inn oce n ce to be sei z ed and placed

among the evil spirits whose diabolical th r ic e a c
, ,

c ursed wo r k they carried on on earth O n that day .

the div m e Judge will give all the im pen itent sinners
to drin k deeply of the cup of shame and igno m iny ,

as St Basil tells us when he says : The c onfusion

.
,

that will overtake the godless sin n er in the Day of

J udgm ent will be more cruel to rture to him than if “

”
he were cast into a flaming fi re This is in fact .

the r e ason why God has appointed the final j udg

m ent that sinners m ay not only be punished by the
,

pain whi c h will be their po rtion but th at they may ,

also b e put to publi c shame St T homas Aq u inas

. .

says : T he Si nner does not o nly deserve pain he ,

deserv e s disgr ac e and igno miny for this is a pu n ish

,

ment to which hum an b eings only can be subj ected .

The lower ani m als c an be chastised and put to death ,

but th ey cannot know what it is to suff er shame and

”
contempt .

This accounts for the fact that any one who has
a singl e spark of self respect would r athe r s uffer the
-

heavi e st punishment in s ecret than be e x posed to

,

publi c disgrace .

O n all these grounds it will b e surmised that the

final j udgment will stretc h over a considerable pe riod
o f time and hen c e we have all the more r e ason to
,
 L ong tne F in a l ju dg men t L a st
.
95

tr embl e at the prospect of it and earnestly pray God

,

that on that great day H e will not overwhelm us

with shame an d confusion but will grant us a share
.

in His j oy and glory .

 C H A P T ER XI .

ON TH E P U BL ICATION O F TH E S E NT E NC E PASSED
U PON T H E GOO D AN D TH E B AD .

W HAT has hitherto been said concerning the L ast

Judgment is indeed most awful but that which is n o w
,

to c ome is yet more so : we are about to speak of

the s ent e nce pronounced upon the wicked and how ,

they will b e c ast down into hell This is so terrible

.

that nothing in all eternity can be found eq u al to it

in horror .

When the supre me Judge shall have searched the

hearts o f all men and weighed all their actions in
,

the balance of j ustice when all has been made open

,

and manifest to the whole world H e will pass sen ,

tence upon the good and upon the bad He will .

first turn a kindly countenance to His elect (who

stand on the right hand) and address to them the
,

consoling words Come ye blessed of M y F ather

, ,

possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the

foundation of the world F or I was hungry and
.

you gave M e to eat ; I was thirs ty and you gave ,

M e to drink ; I was a stranger and you took M e in ,

naked and you c overed M e sick and you visited M e

,

I was in prison and you came to M e ( M att xxv . .

9 6
9 8 I ke l ast j ud
g men t .

W hat have w e done to entitle us to endless felicity ?

I t is of Thy mercy and infinite charity alone that
Thou dost admit us to T hy kingdom of glory Be .

Thou bles sed for evermo re our mouth S hall c on

tin u a lly extol Thy maj esty !

After this Christ will command H is angels to

,

bring all the saints befor e H im A nd as they come .

up to H is throne H e will array e ach one in a gar

,

ment of glory brilliant and beautiful so that they

, ,

will shine like stars O n their heads H e w i ll p lace

.

golden crowns of surpassing brightness and into ,

their hands H e will give lilies roses palm br anches , ,

-

and a sceptre to betoken the V ictory they have

,

achieved over the world the flesh and the d evil

, , .

The lost will witness the glory an d exaltation of

the saints . They will hear their shout of tri
umph and it will be to them gall and wormwood .

They will gnash their teeth in rage and remorse ;

all the pleasure they felt in their sins will now be
gone They will mourn and lament and say amid
.
, ,

“
sobs of deep despair Alas how unfortunate , ,

how miserable we are What have we done Be

hold those whom once we despised now so happy ,
’

so enraptured so honored and glorified and we

, , ,

who thought scorn of them are now so unhappy , ,

so miserable so disgraced branded forever with

, ,

every sign of reprob atio n l A nd yet we might

have won for ourselves the same glorious destiny
as th ey the toil a n d di ffi c u l ty wo uld not ha v e be en
 fi e Sen ten ce P a ssed .
99

beyond ou r strength But we in our accursed folly

.

have trifle d away the supreme Good and deprived ,

ourselv es of eternal felicity for the sake of worthless

and transient pleasures Oh what folly what mad
.
, ,

ness on our part ! How could we allow ourselves

to be daz z led to such an exte n t by the vile debauch
e ries of the world 1

Af ter these unhappy beings have bewailed their

m isery for a considerable ti m e the trumpet will ,

again send forth a mighty sound This blast of .

the trumpet is to announce the sentence passed

upon the reprobate and it will i mpose silence on
,

every one present Then the J udge will turn to

.

the wicked and looking at them with a c o u n te

, ,

nance kindled with holy wrath H e will say : 0 “

,

foolish O blind sinners ! N ow the dreadful day

,

has come whereof I spoke to you when I was upon

e arth— the day the hour of j udgment
, .

N ow H e stands before you whose enemy you

have always shown yourselv e s I n your arrogant .

presumption you ca used all mann er of pain and in

j ury to M e to M y Church to M y brethren and
, ,

sisters to all the children of God Behold the

, .

wounds you inflicted on M e behold the side which

you pierced ; behold the cross whereon you nailed
Me ; behold the pillar at which you scourged M e ,

and to which in after years you bound M y Church ,

my spotless spouse for century after century lace r

, ,

ating and t earing her fles h with the scourge of you r

I 00 Tb e L a st .
ju dg men t .

insolent m ockery your unbelief your scand als , your

, ,

seductions your infamous deeds of every sort

, .

O u t of love for you I came down from heaven ,

and out of love for you I endured the cruelties of

death ; A nd yet M y love so wondrous in its ex ,

tent awakened no response in your hearts met

, ,

with no love in return on the contrary you thrust ,

M e away with contempt and hatred when I stood at

the door of your heart as a suppliant desirous of ,

gaining admittance there How often did I call to

.

you and you would not listen to M e I stretched

,
.

out my hands to you but you drew back from M y

,

emb r ace I employed threats I visited you with

.
,

many a loving chastisement but you would not ,

bow your proud neck beneath M y s weet yoke Y ou .

deliberately chose to serve the devil as your god ,

and therefore you S hall share his lot now and b e ,

with him in the abyss of damnat i on to all eternity .

I also will laugh at your destruction Beho ld M y ser .

vants all the just shall eat and b e filled whilst you
, , ,

shall hunger everlastingly M y servants shall be giv

.

en to drink in abunda n ce whilst you shall thirst and

, ,

your th irst shall never be q uenched M y servan ts .

shall rejoice and you shall mourn M y servants .

will exult in rapturous bliss a n d you will shriek in

,

agony and despair D epart from M e ye cursed

.
, ,

i nto everlasting fire which was prepared for the

devil and his angels F or I was hungry and you
.

g ave M e not to ea t ; I was thirs ty and you gave

1 02 Tlze L a st J u dg men l .

done and what you would give as the p r ice of your

,

ransom were it possible for you to be liberate d

, .

Well then do now what you would then wish to

, ,

have done Confess and bewail your grievous sins

.

whilst there is yet time and pray God to preserv e

,

you from never ending torment

-
.

0 most merciful God Thou hast told us by the ,

lips of Thy prophet : I n an acceptable time I will

hear thee and in the day of salvation I will help
,

thee . Behold now is the day of salvation where ,

fore I call upon Thee with the utmost confidence and ,

from the bottom of my h ea rt I beseech Thee that

Thou wouldst grant me grace and help in propor
tion to my necessities that I may not finally be cast
,

away F or the dead praise Thee not 0 L ord

.
,

neither those that go down into hell but the living , ,

we who live in Thy presence will e xtol Thy holy ,

name forev e r and ever Am en . .

 C H A P T ER X I I .

H OW T H E DAMN ED W I LL A SK IN VAIN F O R M ER C Y , AN D

W I LL BE CAST D OW N INTO H ELL .

WE know from the testimony of Christ s own ’

words that the damned will be permitted to speak to

Him after they have received their sentence Then
, .

( that is after
, th e sentence has been pronounced )
“
He tells us They also shall answer Him saying
, ,

L ord when did we ev e r see Thee hungry or

, ,

thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison

, , , , ,

and did not minister unto Thee ? ( M att xxv . .

When the lost souls perceive that there is no rem

nant of hope that their terrible sentence of c o n d e m
nation may be mitigated they will ih their despair
, , ,

pour out horrible imprecations Cursed be the par

ents who gave us birth ; cursed be all those who led
us into sin ; cursed be all men who have lived with
us upon this earth ; c u rsed be H e who created us ;
cursed be the blood of Christ wherewith we were ,

redeemed ; cursed be all the saints of God !

What will the divine Judge do when H e hears
them revile God in this shocking manner ? When
H e Himself standing before the Jewish council
, ,

acknowledge d that H e was the Son of God the ,

1 0
3
1 04 Tb e L a st ju dg men t .

high priest Caiphas ren t his garments and cried

“
with a loud voice H e hath blasphemed ; now
”
you have heard the blasphemy what think you ? ,

A nd the people answering said : He is worthy of

death . The same scene will take place now only ,

it will be a thousandfol d more terrible When .

Christ hears these blasphemies H e will exclaim in ,

holy indignation They have blasphemed God ,

they have cursed M e and M y sain ts ! Y ou have

heard it yours elves now what think you ?
,

Thereupon all the angels and saints will answer

They are worthy of eternal death of the ev erla st ,

ing pains of hell ! Away with them to the place of

torment away wi th them into everlasting fire !
,

Then that will be fulfilled which is foretold in

the book of Wisdom T he divine Judge will take
z eal as H is armor and will arm th e creature for the
,

revenge of His enemies He will put on j ustice as .

a breastplate and will take true j udgment ins tead

,

of a helmet H e will take e q uity for an invincible

.

shield and H e will sharpen His severe wrath for a

,

spear and the whole world shall fight with Him

,

against the unwise Then shafts of lightning

.

shall go directly from the clouds as from a bow ,

well ben t They shall be shot out and shall fly to

.

the mark And thick hail shall be cast upon them

.

from the stone casting wrath the waters of the sea

-

shall rage against them and the rivers shal l run to

,

g ether in a terrible manner A migh ty wind shall .

1 06 Tb e L a st ju dg men t .

such violence as this shall Babylon that gr eat city , ,

be thrown down and shall be foun d no m o re at all

,

(A poc x viii . .

D o not thes e words that the angel uttered sign ify

that all the lost souls will go down into hell with the
impetus of a millstone that sinks to the bottom of
the abyss of waters into whi c h it is hurled
O awful fall of the damned
, Who can think of
it without shuddering A las for those for whom i t
is prepared ; better were it for them that they had
never been born
Thus they will descend and hell when they rea c h , ,

it will like a fierce dragon open its j aws to devour

, , ,

them and they will b e engulfed within them a c cord

,
-

ing to the prophecy of I saias Hell hath enlarged

her soul and opened her mouth without any bounds
, ,

and then strong ones and their p eople and their

, ,

high and glorious ones shall go down into it ,

( I s. v .

Who can portray the despair of the damned the ,

r age wherewith in the deep and sombre abyss of

hell they will seek in their fury to tear and lacerate
one another What words can describe the howls
.

and groans that will re echo through that pla c e of

-

torment ? I t is beyond the power of man to con

c e iv e For if Holy Scripture tells us that eye hath
.

not seen nor ear heard neither hath it entered into

, ,

the h ea rt of man what God hath prepared for them

that love Him may it not also be said that man
,
 Tfi e Con dem na tion f
o Me L ost . 1 0 7

cannot form any idea of what God has prepared for

those who have so fre q uently so wantonly insulted
, ,

Him ? A nd if the joys of heaven surp a ss all our

powers of description will not the to rm ents of hell
,

also be inconceivably great

R eflect u pon this O reader reflect upon it often
, , ,

and do not fritter away thy life in idle pleasures ,

but look to it that thou save thy soul Call upo n .

God with all the fervor of thy h e a rt and beg H im to

,

grant thee a favorable sentence in the day of fi nal

j udgment saying
,

M ost j ust God and Judge of all m en ! M any

,

times and grievously I have o ffended The e and I

, , ,

have nought to e x pect from Thy j usti c e but severe

chastisement .

Y et I now confess my misdeeds ; I repent of

them and abhor th em and I firmly purpose from this
,

time fo rth to be ever faithful unto Thee Wh ere .

fore I beseech Thee mercifully to pardon my sins

, ,

in order that I may escape etern al death and m ay ,

attain ev erlasting felicity Amen !

.
 CH A P T E R XIII .

H OW TH E BLE SSED W I LL G O U P I N TO H E AVE N

AFT ER T H E JU D GM E NT .

W H E N the earth has opened and swallowed up

the lost souls then the angels and the blessed will
,

exult and rejoice They will extol the j ustice of

.

God and confess that the reprobates fully deserved

,

their fate .

St John in his A pocalypse gives a beautiful

.
, ,

description of how the bl essed will rejoice a n d

magnify the justice of God .

I saw an angel come down from heaven having ,

great power ; and the earth was enlightened with his

glo ry A n d he cried out with a strong voice say
.
,

ing : Babylon the great is fallen is fallen : and is ,

become the habitation of devils F or he r sins have .

reached unto heaven and the L ord hath remem ,

bered her iniquities R ender to her as she also

.

hath rend ered to you and double u n to her ac c ord

,

ing to her works A s mu c h as she hath glorified

.

hers elf and lived in deli c acies so much torment and

, ,

sorrow give ye to her R ejoice over her thou

.
,

heaven and ye holy apostles and proph ets for God

, ,

hath j udged yo u r judgment on her .

1 08
1 ro Tne L a st ju dg men t .

'

whereon Ch r ist died For the cross and all the

.

other instruments of the P assion will be preserved

—
in heaven a t least such is the O pinion of several
learned theologians .

F ollowing upon these sa cr ed relics will come the

first choir of angels together with those members of
,

the company of the saved to whom the sentence of ,

Christ has assigned a place in the lowest of the

angelic choirs Children who have died in infancy
.
,

and souls who have persisted in sin unto the last ,

and yet have been saved through the infinite mercy

of God and real contrition on their part will be with ,

the firs t choir of angels How fervently they will

.

praise their G od for His unspeakable compassion !

N ex t will come the choir of archangels and with ,

them those saints who have deserved a place in this

second angelic choir God fearing married people
.
-

devout widows besides o ther pious persons who

,

have lived in the world will adorn ed in marvellous

, ,

be auty laud and magnify God with the archangels

,
.

I n the third place wi ll come the choir of powers ,

amongst whom will be all priests who have led a

holy life on earth .

The c hoir of the prin c ipalities will come next ,

with all the saintly bishops and prelates who have

ruled the Ch ur ch to the glory of God and the salva
tion of those who have been subj ect to them .

The choir of virtues will come fifth wi th the doc

tors of the Church and all who by their do ctrine and ,
 27ze B lessed a f ter ju dg men t . 1 r1

preaching have conve rted u n believers and brought

, ,

them to the knowledge of the true faith .

I n the sixth place will come the choir of the dom

in ation s with the confessors who suffered great
,

persecution for the faith and died in misery and

,

de stituti on for Christ s sake ’

.

The choi r of the thrones will follow next with the ,

holy martyrs who shed their blood and gladly gave ,

up their lives for the name of Chr ist .

The eighth choir is that of the cherubim amongst ,

whose ranks will be those holy virgins who have not

merely kept their chastity unsullied but who con , ,

s u m ed by divine charity have led a life of highest

,

perfection .

The ninth and highest of the angelic choirs is

that of the seraphim With them will be the holy
.

apostles and servants of Christ who following in , ,

the footsteps of the R edeemer have lived on earth ,

’
an angel s life .

I n a word every one of the blessed will have his

,

place assigned him in whichever of the angelic

choirs for whose company his virtues render him
most fit .

How glorious will be the procession of the choirs ,

and how melodious the celestial canticles they will

sing ! Words fail us when we attempt to describe it .

And to close the trium phal cort ege the King of

heav en and earth comes crowned with splendor , ,

Ch rist , the fi rst begott en Son of the h e a v enly F ather ,

r r2 Tlze L a st ju dg men t .

accompani ed by H is most blessed M other the V irgin

Mary H e is surrounded with such beauty and
.

maj esty that heaven and earth angels and men are
, , ,

struck with ama z ement I n fact this ascension in to

.

heaven will b e in every respect attended with such

grandeur and glory it will be so inexpressibly
.

sublime and b e autiful that the lips even of an angel

,

w o u ld fa il to give an ade q uate idea of it

'

Consider what will be the rapture of the redeemed

when they soar aloft through the air both soul and ,

body as if they were pure spirits ascending ever

, ,

and ever higher beyond the shining orbs of heaven

,

with their golden refulgen c e approaching nearer ,

and nearer to the heavenly J erusalem the city of ,

God A nd oh 1 what ecstatic j oy will inebriate them

.

when they enter through the golden gates and b e ,

hold the splendor and magnificence of the city of

God W hen the Queen of S aba saw the m agn ifi
.

’
cence of Solomon s palace she was stru c k dumb ,

w i th astonishm ent But a greater than Solomon is

.

there and the maj esty and loveliness of the palace

,

of the King of kings is infinitely great er than

that of any earthly monarch .

H ence we may surmise what the blissful rapture

of the blessed will be when it is granted them to
,

behold what God has prepared for them that love

Him .

D ost thou not desire O pious Christian to dwell

, ,

with the r ede emed a n d en j oy the unspeakable

 P A R T I II .

O N H EL L .

CH A P T E R I .

ON TH E FI RE OF H ELL
.

ALTHOUGH m the pr e se n t day many are found to

deny the e xisten c e of hell or at any rate the eter
, , ,

n ity of punishment we do n ot consider it incumbent

,

upon us to bring forward a number of proofs that

there is such a place as hell I n the case of the
.

Christian reader for whom this book is intended

, ,

evidence of this nature is q uite superfluous because ,

he will not have made shipwreck of his faith I n .

-

deed what further proofs can be re q uired for the

,

existence of hell and the eternity of punishment ,

seeing that the prophets that Chri st H imself that

, ,

the apostles and the F athers of the Ch u rch nay

, , ,

the very Turks and heathens speak of it a s an u n ,

1 1 5
I 1 6 On H ell .

q uestioned fact Those who d eny the ex isten ce

.

of hell must cons e q uently be counted among st the

fools who say in their heart that th e re is no God
who punishes th eir misde eds I t would undoubt .

e dl be very agreeable for thes e p e ople if all things

y
ended wi th this life if there were no day of reckon
,

ing or if at least the infernal regions were some

, , ,

what less intolerable This accounts for their catch

.

ing at any apparent arguments wherewith to delude

themselves and lull to sleep their fear of the eternal
chastisem ents of hell We will not enter upon any
.

e x amination of the wretched S ophisms wherewith

these fools deceive themselves ; for the teaching of
the Catholic Church on this point is all we need .

She teaches that there is a place or state of u n ‘

equalled and n ev er ending pain in reserv e for the

-

damned .

We know that there really is fire in hell from the ,

words Christ spoke to the wicked “

D epa rt fro m
M e ye cursed into e v erlasting fire which was pre
, , ,

pared for the devil and his angels (M att xxv”

. .

T his shows that there is real fire in hell ,

and that in it the damned must burn eternally .

What the intensity of that pa i n W i ll be it is beyond

the pow e r of man to depict F or of all the varied.

kinds of phys ic al suff ering to which man can be sub

there is none so great so cruel so o n iz
j e cte d ,
a g
, ,

ing as that which is caused by fire The rack the

,
.
,

’
wheel amputation of a man s limbs are all terrible
, ,
1 1 8 On l i e/l.

h e ll fire should so far exceed earthly fi re in the in

- .

tensity of its heat there are several r easons which

,

account for this fa ct .

I n the first place every one knows that the larger

,

the fire the greater the heat it throws out T he

, .

flame of a wax taper is not very hot b ut if the whole ,

taper is burning at once the flame arising from it is,

much hotter When a house is on fire the heat in

.
,

th e immediat e neighborhood is very great but if a ,

whole village is in flames the heat of the c o n flagra ,

tion becomes unbearable even at a distan ce I f .

such be the effect produced by the fire of e arth ,

which is comparatively but small in its extent what ,

will the action be of the fire of hell that is imm e a s ,

u ra b l greater than any c on fla ra tio n seen upon

y g
earth !
S econdly a fire that is enclosed in a furnace
,

burns far more fiercely than if it were in the Open

air because the heat being shut in cannot escape
,

and diff use itself or be tempered by the surround

,

ing air I f that is so with what f u ry the flames of

.
,

the huge furnace of hell will rage with what l u ten ,

si ry they will glow Suppose such a misfortun e as

a ma n being thrown into a lime kiln or a furnace -

heated to white heat— how terrible would be his s uf

ferin gs !
The next reason why the fire of hell surpasses
in intensity of heat all other fire is that it is kindled
by the breath of G od For the prophet I saias says :
.
 On tlze F ir e f
o B fell . rr
9

Behold the wrath of the L ord burneth and is heavy

,

to bear His lips are filled with indignation and H is

, ,

tongue as a devouring fire His breath as a torrent .

overflowing even to the midst of the neck to ,

destroy the nations unto nothing And again .

Topheth (hell) is prepared from yesterday deep ,

and wide The nourishment thereof is fire and

.

much wood ; the breath of the L ord as a torrent of

brimstone kindling it (I s xxx 2 7 ”
. .
,

What a frightful descri p tion is here given of hell

and its torturing fire Do not say that in these and
.

other familiar passages of Holy S cripture the expres

sions employed are mere figures whereby the p ro ph ,

ets foretold the divine j udgments about to fall on

sinful nations and not to be taken in a literal sense
, ,

as referring to hell and its punishments .

L et us not deceive ourselves Thes e imag es are .

,

it is true in the i r pr i mary signification to be under

,

stood as indicating the doo m of sinful nations but , ,

in a wider and a higher sense according to the in ,

terp retatio n given of them by the exponents O f

Scripture they are predictions of the j udi c ial chas
,

tisem en t which afte r the final j udgm ent will be the

, ,

portion of reprobate sinners .

“
St Bridget j ustly says in he r revelations : The
.
‘

heat of hell fi re is so great that if the whole w orld

-

were wrappe d in flames the heat of the c on flagr a

,

”
tion would be as nothing in comparison with it .

H enc e we learn that that ea rthly fire bears n o

1 2 o On H ell .

more resemblance to the fire of hell than the feeble

flame of a wax taper to the white heat Of a glow in g
furnace R emember this 0 sinn e r and lay it well
.
, ,

to heart St A ugustine tells us that the most

. .

fearful fire on earth is in comparison with the fire

,

of hell like a painting of fire c ompared to a r eal

,

fire .

When thou seest a fire call to mind the fire of

,

hell A nd since thou couldst not end u re to put thy

.

hand for a single instant into that fire think what ,

the heat of hell fi re must be surpassing as it does

-

so infinitely the small fire thou seest before thee .

I f thou canst not b e ar this how canst thou endure

,

the other ?

I t has n ow b e en mad e clear that the damned

will one day be cast body and soul into the huge
, ,

and awful f urn ace of hell into the immense lake of

,

fire where they will be surrounded by flames There

,
.

will be fire below them fire above them fi re all

, ,

round about them E v ery breath will be the

.

scorching breath of a furnace These infernal .

flames will penetrate ev ery portion of the body so ,

that there will be no part or m ember within or ,

without that is not steeped in fire

,
.

How despairing the cries how agonizing the ,

shrieks that will as c end from this bed of torture !

“
Woe to us miserable creatures ! Woe to us a
thousand times ! We are tortured in this flame !
The excruciating pain pervades e v ery member of
r2 2 On H ell .

cons um mate folly ! God grant that these blind

sinners may be enlightened in order that they may
,

become aware of the unwisdom of their c onduct ,

and may apply themselves in time to the things

which concern their salvation .

O God of j ustice ! how great is Thy wrath and

how all powerful is Thy hatred of sin and of the sin
-

ner ! Woe betide me and all who hav e the terrible

misfortune to commit mortal sin M ay God keep m e
.

from such sin as would be the means of c asting

me into eternal perdition I will gladly suffer all
.

things the greatest temporal troubl e s the acutest

, ,

pains even the cruellest death in order to escape:

, ,

everlasting torment in hell This is my firm pur

.
!

po se ; wherefore grant me Thy gra c e and str engthe n

me in my good resolution .
 C H AP T E R II .

ON TH E HUNG ER AN D THI R ST S UFF ERE D I N H ELL .

J U ST as the crimes whereby the sinn er in this life

provokes the anger of God are of various kinds so ,

the pains of hell whereby those crimes will be pun

ishe d also vary in their nature We know that men
.

often sin through intemperance greedily indulging ,

themselves in food and drink Consequently God .

has appointed a severe pe nalty for this sin in the

next world Christ foretells it ind e ed in the words
.
, ,

Woe to you that are fill ed for you sha ll hunge r

,

(L uke v i
. 2

When O u r L ord utt ers the word W oe H e

“
,
”

always intends to threaten or p redict some great

calamity L et us c onsider for a moment what it
.

really is in this case I t is impossible for us to form

.

a true idea O f the pangs of hunger because we have ,

never felt them I f for a whole day one has nothing

.

to eat the ti m e seems v e ry long and one wants

, ,

some food very much A nd if one w ere deprived

.

of any nourishment for two or thr ee days what ,

misery it would be ! But if a man had nothing what

ever to eat for a whole week and were left a prey
,

to h un ge r what would b ecom e of him

,

1 23
1 24 On H ell
.

I n times of dearth and famine one is horrified to

see what are the e ff ects produced by hunger and ,

what a terribl e visitation the scarcity of food is .

F or to still the intolerable pangs Of hunger people

will devour whatever they c a n lay their hands on
grass leaves unclean and disgusting animals nay
, , , ,

men hav e even been driven to feed on the flesh of

their fellow men mothers to sacrificing thei r children
-

, ,

and some have been known to gnaw their own flesh .

A nd when the poor famished wretches hav e nothing

more they wander about lik e shadows of thei r
,

form er selves p ale and emaciated as death itself

, .

They drag on a lingering existence until all their ,

strength is consumed ; finally through the torture of ,

sta rv ation they lose their sen ses they rave and cry
,

and howl and die the most miserable of deaths

, .

I f su c h are the effects of hunger upon earth what ,

will the h un ger be whi c h shall be expe rienced in

hell
I f want of food fo r a few days only causes such
tortur e what will a continual never ending hunger
, ,
-

be ? Who can think without horror of the hun ger

suff e red in hell ! Woe betide those who have to
endure it The prophet I saias testifies to the ex
.

isten ce of real actual h u nger in hell in this passage

, ,

of H oly Scripture God thus speaks by the mouth

“
of the p rophet : Because I called and you did not
answer I spoke and you did not hear ; behold M y
, ,

serv ants shall eat and you shall be hungry ; behold ,

1 26 On H ell .

and does not heartily repent of it can n ot ho pe fo r ,

eternal felicity What could be more rash and

.

foolish than for so despicable a satisfaction to ex pose

one s self to the danger of eternal perdition !
’

O har dened sinner whither art thou going !

, ,

Think of the unending hunger to b e endured in

hell and have pity on thine own soul !
,

Besides hunger the damned s u ffer the most burn

ing thi r st wh ich it is beyond the power of words to
,

describe Every one knows how terrible are the suf

.

ferin gs caused by thirst they are simply unbearable .

Those who are plagued by thirst will drink from the

most imp ur e sources and if nothing at all can be
,

obta ined to quench their thirst a lingering and ,

painful death is the result The thirst s u ff ered by .

lost so u ls is infinitely greater more intense more , ,

painf u l tha n any thirst experienced on earth how ,

ever great that may be I f a mortal man could feel

.

it even for a bri ef p eriod he would faint away and,

die immediately .

There is never any rest or respite for the damned

they are driven from o n e torment to another u m

c e a sin gly This occasions thirst But the heat of

. .

hell fire wherein they burn day a n d night forever

-

, ,

and ever is the principal cause of the intolerable

,

thirst that consumes them They are immersed in .

flames and never do they obtain the refreshment of

,

a draught of water M y God how great their

.
,

thirst must be ! I t is unbearable and y et they m u st ,

 m If ung er a nd 7 7zi r st f
o H ell . 1 2 7

n ee ds endure it L isten to the piteous appeal of a lost

.

soul earnestly imploring the boon of a single drop of

water : F ather Abraham have mercy on me and , ,

send L az arus that he may dip the tip of his finger in

water to c ool my tongue ; for I am tormented in
24)
this flame ( L uke x vi M ost merciful
. God ,

I ask on ly for water ; I c r ave only one drop

of wat er to give momentary relief to my burning
tongu e Thou wilt not refuse so moderate a re
.

qu est Thou who art praised by all Thy c reatur es

,

as goodness itself But this supplication is in

v ain God turn s a deaf ear to the voice of their
.

entr eaty N ot a single drop of water is given to

.

mitigate their sufferings .

I s it po ssible 0 my God that Thou canst be so

, ,

stern ? F ath er of compassion why wilt Thou not ,

h e ar th eir prayer ? Thy j ustice and Thy hatred of

si n will not allow Thee to yield ; they oblige The e

to punish sin ete rnally and in the most terrible

manner .

But we a r e told that not only are the damned

tormented with excessi v e hunger and thirst they ,

are also fed with flames and given to drink of the

chalice Of divine wrath I f any man shall adore
.

the beast he shall also drink Of the wine of the

,

wrath of God which is mingled with pure wine in

,

the cup of His wrath and shall be tormented wi th,

fire and brimstone: A nd the smoke of their to r

m ents shall ascend up f o reve r and ever ( A poc .
1 28 On H ell. .

x iv
. I n the book of M oses we also read
Their wine is the gall of dragons and the venom ,

of asps which is incurable (D eut xxxii

,
”
. .

R eflect O sinner upon t his indescribable agony

, , .

F ire and brimstone will be the food of the damned ,

’
their drink the win e of God s anger What can .

exceed such torture ? M y God how rigorous Thou ,

art ! How severe are Thy chastisements

Think you sinners who now drink to excess
, , ,

think what is the wine prepared for you hereafter ,

thi n k of the fea rful thirst that will consume you to

all etern ity I f you cannot bear to be thirsty fo r
.

one day how will you bear the burning thirst from
,

which you shall never obtain relief ? R eflect upon

this in yo u r heart and indulge no longe r in your
,

intemperance Give up this vice which will in falli

.
,

bly drag you down to perdition .

St P aul expressly closes the door of h e aven

.

against you when he says ,

D runkards shall not
possess the kingdom of God ( 1 Cor vi t o ) . . .

There you have your sentence pronounced upon ,

you beforehand I f you continue to pursue you r

.

evi l way you cannot plead igno r an c e as to wh ere it

,

wi ll fi n ally c ond emn yo u .

1
3 0 On H ell .

burning brimstone and pitch and every one knows ,

how off ens i ve are the fumes they give out .

The unbelieving and the abominable and mur

, ,

d erers and whoremongers and sorcerers a n d idol

, , ,

ate rs and all liars shall ha v e their portion in the

,

pool burning with fire and brimstone which is the ,

second death (A poc xx i ”

. .

The proph et of the N ew D ispensation here speaks

of a pool full of stagnant foul sti nking water for
, , , ,

which there is n o outlet H e adds that this pool is .

filled with burning brimstone from which a dense

“
smoke ascends as he says elsewhere
, The smoke
of their torm ents shall ascend up forever and
”
ever .

The very bodies of the reprobate are so foul and

disgusting that they emit a most offensive od or ,

worse than any stench in this world A ccording to .

St Bonaventure the body o f a single reprobate

.
,

would so taint the air on earth as to cause the death

of all living beings coming near it .

I f one single body emits so horrible a stench ,

what can the exhalation be that rises from many

millions Of these wretched beings ?
I t is related of the tyrant M ax en tiu s that he was
wont as a punishment to cause a living man to be
, ,

bound to a corpse face to face and limb to limb

, ,

until the unhappy v ictim fainted or even died ,

through contact with the dead and decomposing

body That is i n de ed a to rt ur e of whic h no one c an
.
 On Me Vi le Odors o f H ell
.
3 1

think without shuddering How much worse will it

.

be in hell wh ere the bodies will lie close to one a n

,

other without any hope o f being separated

,
.

Bad as this stench is it is greatly increased by

,

the presence of the devils who naturally are far more

,

offensive to the nostrils than the bodies of the lost .

W e read in the life of St M artin that the evil one

.

appeared to him upon one occasion and the stench ,

that filled the room was so overwhelming that the

saint said to himself : I f one single devil has so
“

disgusting an odor what can the stench be in hell

, ,

”
where there are thousands of devils all together ?
How much suff ering this abominable stench must
cause to the damned ! how it must aggravate their
distress and pain ! F or it must be pestilential b e
yond description arising as it does from so many
,

diff erent sources — hell itself the bodies of the ,

damned the devils the worms and reptiles the fire

, , ,

of pitch and brimstone each and all of which stink

,

in the nostrils of the lost Judge by what has been

.

said how insupportable the combined O dors of all

these things must be .

Alas for the unfortunate beings who are con

d em n ed to breathe such an atmosphere ! A las for
the poor sinners w ho have to dwell in it for endless
ages ! T hey must sink under it th ey must constantly ,

be on the verge of death 0 my God I beseech .

,

Thee by Thy infinite clem ency spare m e from so ,

terrible a fate.
 C H A P T ER IV .

S OM E OTH ER TO R M E NTS or H ELL .

IT is the O pinion of many that some of the repro

bates will be doomed among many other in tolerable
pains to endure a most fearfully intense cold
, .

The v enerable Bede relates the following a n e c

dote of a man whose nam e was T rithelm u s This .

man was dangerously sick and one night he was

,

tho ug ht to be dead The next morning he re c o v

.

ere d consciousness to the astonishment of all who

,

were with him and rose from his sick bed saying
, ,

that God had granted him a prolo n gation of days ,

in order that he might lead a di ff erent life to that

which he had hitherto led .

Af ter dividing his property amongst his children ,

and giving a portion of it to the poor he entered ,

upon an excessively di ff erent mode of life Shutting .

himself up in a small tent beside a river he spent ,

his days and nights in weeping I n Wi nter time he

.

plunge d up to the throat in to the icy waters of the

river and then shivering and benumbed by the
, ,

cold he immersed himself in hot water a proceed

, ,

ing which caus ed him such ago n y that he could n ot

r estrain his cries .
1 34 On ff ell .

slowly to them and their pain see m s doubly weari

,

some T hey count the ho urs and each one appears

.
,

as long as the night What will it be for the deni

.

z ens of hell where thick darkness holds sway and

, ,

night never gives place to daylight ?

I n this horrible darkness the damned lie help
l e ss as blind men or as those who have had their eyes
,

cruelly p u t o u t They see nothing for the acrid

.
,

smoke stings their eyes and the poisonous fumes of

,

sulphur destroy th e ir sight W e know how dense .

this smoke is from the acco u nt given by St John .

To him (S atan) was given the key of the bottom

less pit (hell) A nd he O pened the bottomless pit ;
.

and the smoke of the pit arose as the smoke of a

great furnace ; and the sun and the air were dark
ened with the smoke of the pit (A po c ix A nd . .

again They shall be tormented with fire and

brimstone and the smoke o f their torm ents shall
,

ascend up forever and ever ; neither have they rest

'

day or night (A poc xiv 1 . .

These are indeed terrible threats and this p ro p h ,

c ey foretells in the plainest terms what will be the

fate of those who are servants of sin and of the

devil They shall be tormented with fire and brim
.

stone to such a degree that the smoke of their tor

ment shall ascend forever and ever 0 fearful .

words ! 0 torture inexpressible

Consider O misguided sinner what thy feelings
, ,

would be if thou wert c onfined for one single day

 Some Other Tor men ts o f H ell
. 1
35

in this dark and noisome dungeon Thou knowe st.

how disagreeable pungent smoke is to the ey e s and

nos trils ; in fact no one can remain in it for a q u a r
,

ter of an hour without being asphyx i ated and half

blinded I f this is so on earth what will it be in
.
,

hell ?
The existence of the damned is more like death
than life ; it is a living death an everlasting u n
, ,

limited torture and misery A nd since we are told

.

that the smoke of their torment goes up forev er ,

it follows of necessity that complete darkness must

prevail in hell I n connection with this subj ect
.
,

venerable Bede relates the experiences of the man

T rithelm u s (of whom mention has already been
made) whilst he lay in a trance a n d was supposed
,

to be dead O n recovering conscio u sne ss amongst

.
,

other things he narrated the f o llowing I was con

ducted by a being clothed in shini ng garments
through a c ountry quite unknown to me until we ,

came to a region enveloped in t hick darkness that ,

made me shudder with fear and horror I could .

distinguish no thing but the figure of my guide A s .

we penetrated dee per and de eper into this obscurity ,

I perceived in the midst of the darkness an abyss

of immense extent filled with smoke and a lurid glare ,

the sight of which caused my hair to stand on end

with terror F rom this abyss pro c eed ed piteous
.

wailing which sounded as if a number of men and

,

wome n were being put to cruel torture and death .

1 36 On ff ell .

But the worst was that my guide vanished leaving ,

me a lo n e in this t errible spot I c a nnot describe.

the agoni z ed apprehension that took possession of

me in vain I looked around in the hope of finding

s u ccor or sol a ce The terror I felt was so great
.

that I thought I should hav e died .

“
When I looked down into the black a byss I was ,

afraid les t I should fall into it and be lost body and

, ,

soul F or with the lurid flames that rose not of the

.

abyss there came burning sparks that fell back in to

it with a deafening noise besides masses of sul
,

p h u ro u s smoke like clouds that seemed as if they

-

might at any moment sweep me down with them

into the dep ths of the fiery gulf These were all .

lost so u ls which were driven upwards like sparks

from burning logs by the force of the underground
fire God alone knows what I suff ered ; a cold
.

sweat broke out all over me Whilst I stood there

.

in this agony not knowing which way to turn there

, ,

sounded from far above my head peals of laughter ,

and mingled with the laughter bi tter weeping and

howling A s this noise came nearer I saw a number
.
,

of devils who had with them five helpless souls whom

they were persecuting and tormenting The devils .

were in exultation mocking and laughing ; the souls

,

were in despair uttering lamentations and cries of

,

poignant anguish I magine what my feelings were

.

when I heard their cries and observed that the

,

accursed devils were coming n earer an d n earer .

1
3 8 On H ell .

I n additio n to the sinister obscurity that p rev ails

in hell caused by the stifling smoke that rises in
,

dense clouds from the lake of brimstone there is ,

the presence of frightful demons who in c rease the

pain and torment of the damned .

We read in the legend of St A nthony the H er

.

mit that the demons frequently appeared to him

,

under various forms plaguing and frighteni n g him

,

in indescr ibable ways Sometimes they took the

.

shape of wild beasts lions bears dragons or savage

, , ,

dogs at other times they appeared in human form ,

that of fi e rc e loo k ing men beautiful wome n or mon

-

, ,

ste rs of hideous aspec t .Sometimes they beat and

m altreated him so barbarously that they left him
half dead ; sometimes they caused him such terror
by th eir strange spectral apparitions that had n ot ,

God and his angel guardian come to his aid he ,

would have incontinently expired .

N ow if they did all this to a man of saintly life ,

over whom they had no rightful power what will ,

they not do in hell to the ungodly sinn ers who a re

completely at their mercy ?
D oubtless these diabolical s p ectr e s ass uming the
,

shape of wild animals will fall upon the wret c hed

,

sinners and mishandle them shamefully This will .

be a fresh mis e ry fo r them N o one can i magine

.

what new terrors and torments the ingenuity of these

Spirits of hell will devise to harass the da m n e d a n d

pour out on th e m their devilish malic e .

 Some Otlzer Tor men ts of H ell . 1
39

I f thou dost fear this darkness and all the horrors ,

attending it see that thou fear the works of dark

,

“
ness whereof Christ says : Every one that doe th
,

evil hateth the light and cometh not to the ligh t

, ,

that his works may not be reproved ( John iii .

But if thou lovest darkness and seekest the dark ,

ness that thou mayst sin with greater impunity it ,

’
w ill be no act of inj ustice on God s part to cast thee
into everlasting darkness and at thy death to say
,

to the devils Because throughout his life he has

loved darkness and the works Of darkness bind his ,

hands and his feet and cast him into the exterior
darkness where shall be weeping and gnashing of
,

”
teeth .

Would that all obdurate sinners could see this ,

and consider the frightful torments which await the

careless and indifferent F or in that wherein we
.

have sinned we shall also be punished A nd as in .

our own day there are so many tepid and negligent

Christians who have not the slightest z eal for relig
ion or religious exercises we bid them beware lest
,

they be one day cast into hell fi re at the command -

of Him who calls H imself a j ealous God and who ,

is alone to be feared b e cause H e c an destroy both

body and soul into hell .
”

Wherefore consider O cold and careless Chris

,
'

tians what a fate is before you Truly were you to

, .
,

reflect upon these frightful torments you would a t ,

once enter upon a new life I nstead of being tepid

.
,
1 40 O n H ell .

sluggish lax cold Christians you would quickly b e

, , ,

come z ealo u s active scrupulous fervent servants of

, , ,

God .

A way then wi th all t epidity all indi fference in

, , ,

the great business o f our salvation Whosoever

thou a rt who reades t this resolve to fulfil thy du ties
,

as a Christian wi th all earnes tness Approach the .

sacramen ts more frequen tly than thou hast done

hi therto ; hear M ass more frequently than hither to ,

be more instant and ferven t l n prayer than hither to .

Think more O ften o f God and o f the last things .

Thus thou wilt surmount the indi ff erence the cold ,

ness that has crept over thee thou wil t make God
,

thy friend the hope o f e ternal felicity will rise up

,

w ithin thee and become a blessed certain ty God .

g ran t tha t by His grace i t may be so wi th thee and

wi th me !
1 42 On H ell .

who hates u s with so int en se a hatred that he lo ngs

eve ry mo m e n t to h u rl us do wn into the a byss of
perdition A nd when at length he has got some
.

one into his power he deals Wi th him more barbar

,

o u sl than savage despot ev e r dealt with his dead

y
liest foe .

Al l the envy and hatred which at the tim e of his

fall he conceived against God and which he cannot ,

v ent upon Him he vents upon the damned torment

, ,

ing them with plagu e s the very thought of which

’
m akes a man s blood run cold E ven if he were .

not to do any harm to the damned the mere f act of ,

his dwelling with them for a ll eternity would be such

terrible misery for the unhappy sinners that the ,

horror of their position would be like a contin u al

death to them .

O f all the fallen S pirits not one is so abominabl e

,

as the chief of all the haughty L ucifer whose

, ,

cruelty malice and spite render him an Obj ect of

,

dread not merely to the damned but also to the ,

devils subj ect to him Thi s L ucifer is called by

.

various names in H o ly S criptures all indicating his ,

malignity O n account of his repulsiveness he is

.

c alled a dragon ; on account of his ferocity a lion ,

on account of his malice the Old serpent ; on account

,

of his deceitfulness the father of lies ; on account

,

of his haughtiness king over all the children of

,

pride ; and on account of his great pow er a n d

m ight the pri n ce of this world
, .
 On t/ze Comp a ny f
o H ell .
43

Listen to what the F athers of the Church and

some expositors of Holy S criptur es say of the dread
ful appearance that S atan presents : they apply to
him the description given of the leviathan in the
book of Job : Who c a n discove r the face of hi s
“

garment or who can go into the midst of his mouth

,

Who can open the doors of his face ? his teeth are
terrible round about His body is like molten
.

S hields shut up close with s c ales pressing one upon

,

another O n e is joined to another and not so

.
,

much as any air can com e b etw een them His .

sneezing is like the shining of fire and his eyes like ,

the eyelids of the morning O u t of his mouth go .

forth lamps like torches of lighted fire O u t of his

, .

nostrils goeth smoke like that of a pot heated and

,

boiling His breath kindleth coals and a flame

.
,

cometh forth out of his m on th I n his neck strength .

shall dwell and want goeth before his face H is

, .

heart Shall be as hard as a stone and as firm as a ,

’
smith s an v il When he shall raise him up the
.
,

angels shall fear and being affrighted turn to God

, ,

for protection H e shall make the deep sea to boil

.

as a pot ; there is no power upon earth that can be

co mpared with him who was made to fear no one .

H e beholdeth every high thing ; he is king over all

the children of pride ( Job
I t is the opinion of St Cyril St Athanasius St
.
, .
, .

Gregory and other learned expositors of both the

Greek and L atin Churches that although this d o ,
1 44 On H ell .

scription taken literally is that of a monster of the

, ,

sea yet it is int ended in its mystic sense to apply

, , ,

to L ucifer A nd if one compares what is said of

.

the leviathan with the attributes ascribed to the

p rince of darkness it is impossible
, to deny their
c oincidence ; moreover one knows as a general fact ,

that evil things have their types and figures in the

n atural world as well as good things the one serving ,

us for warning the others for an example

, .

Besides the prince of darkness there a re hundreds

of thousands of inferior devils which though less ,

bad and abominable than himself are yet so wicked ,

a n d horrible that one c ould hardly look upon them

and live .

St A ntony relates that one of the B rothers of his

.

O rder uttered a piercing scream at the sight of a

devil who appeared to him H is fellow monks run .
-

ning to him in ala rm found him more dead than ,

alive A fter giving him something to revive and

.

s trengthen him they asked him what was the matter

, .

Then he told them tha t the devil had appeared to

him and terri fi ed him so that all the life had gon e
,

out of him And on their in q uiring what the devil

.

looked like he answered : That I really cannot

,

say ; I can only say that if the choice were given me

I would rather be put in to a red hot furnace than -

look again at the coun tenance of the de m on .

”

We read much the sa m e thing in the life of St .

C atha r in e of S i en n a She too decla r ed that she ha d

.
1 46 On H ell .

thems elves with the thought : at any rate we shal l

have our fellow men with us in hell and no lack of
-

them either Bewar e how you delude yourselves

.

with this false co mfo rt E very lost soul would fa r

.

rather be alone in hell were the option given him

, .

F or as in hell there is no divine charity so there ,

’
is no love of one s neighbor ; on the contrary all the ,

damned are so embittered on e against the other ,

that they only wish evil to one another and mutually ,

mock at and curse one another in the most unkind

m ann er .

A nd sinc e on earth it is very grievous to be forced

to live with an enemy who does one all m anner of
harm so it is no small a ffl iction to be continually
,

with thousands of people all of whom they hate and,

detest from the bottom of their heart .

W hat thinkest thou would be thy feelings if tho u

wast sorely tormented and maltreated and persecuted
by devils so that thou couldst not refra i n from utter
,

ing loud cries of pain and vexation and yet among ,

all the thousan ds who bore thee company thou

couldst not find one to show thee the slightest sym
pathy but thou wert laughed at and cursed by all
, ,

for every one would rejoice in thy misery Even .

thy father and mother thy w ife and children thy

, ,

brothers and sisters thy friends and relatives would

,

then be thy declared enemies and instead of show ,

ing the e any gratit ud e would only s eek to inj ure

thee .
 On t/ze Comp a ny f
o H ell
. . 1 47

But am ongst all thy en emies the most inveterate

will be those to whom thou hast given scandal by thy
bad example whom thou hast led into sin by counsel
,

or example who owe to thee their perditio n T hey

,
.

will hate and execrate thee so bitterly and torment ,

thee with such animosity that they will appear less

like men than fiends incarnate .

I n connection with this subj ect St Bernardin re .

“
lates the following instance : A wealthy usurer had
two sons o n e of whom enter ed a re ligio us O rder
, ,

whilst the other remain e d in the world with his

father N ot long after the father died and in a
.
,

short space of time he was followed to the grave by

his son to whom he had be q ueathed all his property
,
.

The other son who had become a monk was much

, ,

c oncerned about the fate of his relatives and ear ,

n estl
y implored almighty God to reveal to him
their lot in another world His entreaties at .

length prevailed ; he was one day transported in

S pirit in to hell but al though he looked everywhere
,

around him he could not descry his father and

,

his brother P resen tly he noticed a fiery abyss the

.
,

flames of which rose up to a great height I n this .

i
p t of fire he saw those of whom he was in search ,

rivetted together with iron chains raving and rag ,

ing at one another The father cursed his son

.
,

laying all the blame of his damnation upon him ,

saying : A curse upon thee O wicked son thou art

, ,

alone the cause of my perdi tion F or thy sake to .

,
1 48 On H ell .

make the e a rich m an I practis ed usury ; had it not

,

been for thee I should not now be in this misery

, .
’

Then the son retorted upon his father saying : A ,

curse upo n thee O ungodly father for thou art

, ,

alone the cause of my perdition Hadst thou not .

taken u sury and bequeathed to me thy unj ust gains ,

I should not have been the possessor of ill gotten -

r iches and should not have come to this misery

, .
’

Thus will it be with thee if thou art in any way re

,

sponsible for the loss of a soul Thy wife and .

children will anathematize thee and reproach thee ,

with the occasion s of sin thou didst put in their way .

D ives felt this so keenly that he earnestly besought

F ather Abraham to send L a z arus to his father s ’

house to testify to his brethren of the su fferings he

,

endured lest they should also come to that place of

,

torments This he did n ot do out of lov e for his

.

brothers as St A ntony says but because he was

, .
,

well aware that if they joined him in hell it would ,

greatly aggravate his torment .

But supposing that natural aff ection still existed

in hell especially between those who had sincerely
,

loved one another on earth and who had not been

,

’
the cause of one another s damnation the socie ty of ,

one who was dear to thee would augment rather

than diminish thy pain and this in proportion to
,

the love thou hadst for him F or what anguish it .

would be to thee to see thy dearest friend tortured

and tormented in every possible manner I t would .
1
5 0 On H ell .

F in ally the torment of hell is greatly augm ented

,
'

by the eternal shame whi c h will be its portion .

St Thomas A quinas tells us that the sins of

.

each one will be as fully known to the others as if

they could behold them with their bodily eyes .

Every one can imagine what anguish this must be .

F or what is so painful on earth as to be p u t to open

sh a me
To a m an who has lost his good name life is not
worth living ; it is only a burden to him I n form er .

times in some countries it was customary to brand

, ,

evil doers robbers for instance with a m ark on the

-

, , ,

forehead or the shoulder What ignominy for any.

one who had a spark of self respect ! Whenever -

anybody looked at him he must have blush ed ,

crimson .

The devil will brand all the reprobate with the

mark of shame on their foreheads or on that part ,

of the body wherewith they sinned in order that all ,

the shameful deeds they perpetrated in their life

time may be made known I t is this everlasting .

disgrace which God foretells to the S inner by the

“
mouth of His prophet : I will bring an everlasting
reproach upon you and a perpetual shame which
,

shall never be forgotten ( Jer xxiii ”

L e t the . .

damned do what they will no e ffo rt on their pa rt ,

will ever avail to efface this mark or to conceal it ,

from their fellow sufferers T hus as St Ephrem

-
.
, .

says this Shame and infamy will be more i n su p

,
 On Me f H ell
Comp a ny o . 1
5 1

portable than hell fire itself because it will keep

-

constantly b efore thei r remembrance the sins where

by they d efi le d themselves on earth .

D ionysius the Ca rth usian Sp e aks of one of his

, ,

religio u s brethren in England who after a trance , ,

that lasted three days g ave the following account

, ,

at the earnest request of the monks of what he had ,

seen : I was conducted by my guide a long way

“

u ntil we c ame to a region of gloom and horror ,

where were a co u ntless multitude of men and

women all suffering terrible torments These were
,
.

the persons who had sinned with their bodies ; they

were plagued by huge fiery monsters who sprang ,

u pon them and despite their resistance clasped

, , ,

them and hugged them with their paws till they

shrieked with pain A mongst those who were tor
.

m en te d in this manner I saw a man whom I knew

very well and who had been much esteem e d and
,

respected in the world Seeing me he c ried aloud

.
,

in piteous tones : A las alas ! woe is me that I

‘
,

sinned as I did in my lifetime for now the pain I ,

endure grows greater day by day But the worst .

of all what I feel most acutely is the shame and

, ,

disgrace to which my sins expose me for all know ,

them and all despise me and mock at me on

,

account of them .
’

Hence it will be se en that im m easurable as are ,

the torments of hell what the damned dread yet

,

more than physical torm ents is to be an obj ect of

1
5 2 On H ell .

scorn and derisio n to their fellows on ac c ount of

their sins And thus their misery far from being
.
,

le ssened by the company of others is vastly in

,
‘

creased by it Wherefore think not to console thy

.

self with the thought of the compan i ons tho v

wilt find in hell for their soc i ety is only to be dread
,

ed A nd in order that thou mayst never b l

.

brought into such company beware of associating

,

in this world with any who may lead th e e into sin

and perhaps b r ing thee to perdition .
1
54 On H ell .

to the lowe st hell ; and shall devour the ea rth with

her increase and shall burn the foundations of the
,

mountains I will heap evils upon the tran sgres

.

sors of M y law and will s pend M y arrows among

,

them They shall be consumed with famine and

.
,

birds shall devour them with a most bitter bite ; I will

send the teeth of beasts upon the m with the fu ry of ,

serpents Without the sword Shall lay them waste

.
,

and terror within both the young m a n and the v ir

,

gin the sucking child with the m an in years

,

D 2 2 —2
( eut xxx .ii .

Holy Scripture contains many similar and equally

ap palling menaces There is no doubt that in the .

next world where j ustice not m ercy will rule God

, , , ,

will chastise the insolent violators of H is holy com

m an d m e n ts with an unsparing hand The punish .

ments of eternity will be without number and with

out limit The d amned wi ll be encompassed with
.

trouble and sorrow with agony and torments in ,

numerable St Bernard says the pains of the

. .

damned are countless no mortal tongu e can en u ,

merate them .

Y et of all these pains that which gives the keen ,

est anguish is being deprived of the vision of God .

I t will never be gi ven to the damned to behold the

divine countenance This pain will far outweigh .

all the other torments of which we have spoken .

I t is impossible for mortal man to understand how

this ca n be so great an affliction for the damned .
 f
T/ze L oss o til e B ea t ifi
e Vision . 1
55

Ye t such is the teaching of the F athers ; they all

maintain that there is nothing whi c h the lost bewail
so bitterly as being shut out forever fro m the vision
of God Whilst we live in this world we think b u t
.
,

little of the vision of God and what it would be to us

,

to be deprived of it eternally This arises from the

.

bluntness of our perception which prevents us from

,

comprehending the infinite beauty and goodness of

God and the delight experienced by those who b e
,

hold H im face to face But after death wh en w e

.
,

are freed from the trammels of the body our eyes ,

will be opened and we shall at least to some extent

,

perceive that God is the supreme and infinite Good ,

and the enjoyment of H im our highest felicity .

A nd then such an eager desire will take possession

of our soul to ga z e upon an d en j oy this supreme
Good that she will be irresistibly drawn to God and
, ,

will long with all her powers to contemplat e H is

ineff able beauty A nd i f on account of her sins
.

she is deprived of this b e atific vision it will cause ,

her the most intense anguish N o grief no torture.

,

known in this world can be in any wise likened

to it .

St Bonaventure bears witness to this when he

.
,

“
says : The most terrible penalty of the damned is
being shut o u t forever from the blissful and joyous
”
contemplation of the Blessed Trinity Again St .
, .

John Chrysostom says I know many persons only

fear hell because of its pains but I assert that the ,
1
5 6 On H ell .

loss of the celestial glory is a source of more bitte r

pain than al l the torme n ts of hell .
”

The evil one himself was made to acknowledge

this as we read in the legends of Blessed Jordan
, ,

at one time General of the Dominican O rder F or .

when Jordan asked S atan in the person of one ,

who was possessed what was the principal tor

,

ment of hell he answere d :

, Being excluded from
”
the presence of God I s God then so beautiful to
.

”
look upon ? Jordan inquired A nd on the devil .

replying that H e was indeed m ost beautiful he ,

asked further : H ow great is His beauty ? ”

”
F ool that thou art was the re j o m d e r
,
“
to put ,

such a question to me D ost thou not know that His

? ”
beauty is beyond c ompare Canst thou not
”
s u ggest any S imilitude Jordan ,continued ,

“
which may give m e to some extent at least an idea
of the divine beauty ? Then S atan said : I m ag
ine a crystal sphere a thousand times more brilliant
than the sun in which the loveliness of all the col
,

ors of the rainbow the fragrance of every flower

, ,

the sweetness of every delicious flavor the c ostli ,

ness of e v ery precious stone the kindliness of m en

,

and the attractiveness of all the angels combined ;

fair and precious as t his crystal would be in com ,

parison with the divine beauty it would be u n ,

”
sightly and impure . A nd pray the good monk ,

in q uired what wouldst thou give to be admitted

“
,
”
to the vision of God ? A nd the devil replied :
“
I f there were a pillar reaching from earth to
1
5 8 On H ell .

attractions of ea rth cannot compa r e with it in the

r emot est degree I n fact all celestial happiness
.
, ,

ho w great soever it might be woul d be turned to ,

bitterness if the v ision of God was wanting ; and

the redeemed would choose rather to be in hell if ,

they could there enj oy that b e atific vision than be

.
,

in heaven without it J ust as the privilege of b e

.

holding the divine countenance constitutes the chief

felicity of the blessed the one without which all
,

others would be no h appiness at all so it is the ,

chief misery of hell that the lost souls should for

,

ever be excluded from it O n this subject St John . .

“
Chrysostom says The torments of a thousand
hells are nothing in comparison to the anguish of
being banished from everlasting bliss and the v ision
”
of God .

To realiz e in some measure how great this pain

, ,

of loss is we should bear in mind that we have been

,

created by God to be forever happy This love of .

happiness this yearning for it which every one of

, ,

us feels in his heart will never be destroyed not

, ,

even in hell D uring this life men impelled by

.
,

this desire and blinded by passion seek happiness ,

in riches in honors in sensual gratification These

, , .

vain images of happiness deceive us so long as our

soul is uni ted with our body But after the soul .

ha s severed her connection with the body all these ,

false fl eeting pleasures disappear and Sh e becomes

, ,

aware that God alone is the source of all happiness ,

 '

Tli e L oss f
o til e B ea t i
f ic Vision . 1
59

and that she can find happiness solely in the pos

session of H im N o longer deceived by false a p
.

ea r a n c e s no longer blinded by passion she per

p , ,

c e i v es clearly the ineffable ravishing beau ty of God

,

and His infin ite perfections ; she sees His infinite

power in creating the world His infinite wisdom ,

in gov erning it , H is excessive love for her in b e

coming man in dying for her in giving Himself to
, ,

her as the food of her so u l in the Blessed S acrament ,

in destining her to share His own happiness foreve r

in heaven This knowledge of the grandeur of the
.
,

goodness and loveliness of God will remain deeply

impressed on he r for all eternity She will also see .

the j ustice of the punishments which God inflicts

foreve r in hell upon all those who do not keep His
commandments .

Then the reprobate soul yearning after happiness

, ,

and feeling irresistibly drawn to God who alone can ,

make her happy endeavors to rush to God with all

,

the impetuosity of her nature in order to behold ,

Him to enjoy Him to be united to Him ; but She

, ,

finds herself repelled with infinite force from God ,

and hated by H im on account of her sins Were .

all the riches honors and pleasures of th e world

,

now o ffered to that soul she would turn away from

,

them and would even curse them all for she yearns
, ,

for God alone and can be happy only in God

,
.

T he reprobate soul in hell spurred on by frigh t,

fu l pains looks about her for some alle v iation for

, ,
1 60 On H ell .

some word of comfort ; b u t not even a sy m pathizing

look greets her for she is sur rounded by cruel devils
,

and bitter enemies N ot meeting with any compas

.

sion where she is she raises her eyes to heaven and

, ,

beholds it so beautiful so enchanting so delightful

, , ,

so full of true happiness She remembers that she .

was created and destined to enjoy its bliss and ,

now in the midst of her most excruciating pains she

, ,

longs for its pleasures wi th a still more in d e sc rib

able yearning and makes extraordinary e fforts to go
,

there but she c annot leave her abode of torment

, .

N o one in heaven s eems to take any notice of her .

She sees the throne that God in His goodness , ,

had prepared fo r her n o w occupied by some one

,

else ! There is no longer any room for her in

heaven S he beholds there some of her relatives
.
,

of her companions and acquaintances but they do

not heed her She beholds all the elect in heaven
.

full of joy and gladness They do not even sym .

p a th iz e with her but as the P salmist

,
sings “
the ,

”
j ust will rejoice when he shall see the revenge
( P S lvii
. .

I n vain the reprobate soul calls on the saints on ,

the Blessed V irgin and on our divine S aviour Him

self She feels drawn to God by an irresistible im
.

p u lse and understands that God alon e can q uench

,

her thirst for enjoyment and make her happy She .

longs to se e and possess H i m ; she repeatedly en

d eav ors to spring towards Him but she feels her ,
 C H A P T ER V II .

TH E WO R M THAT D I ETH N OT .

OU R divine Saviour says : I f thy han d s c andal “

iz e thee cut it off it is better for thee to enter i nto

,
[

life maimed than having two hands to go into

, , , ,

hell into the fire that c annot be q uench ed where

, ,

their worm dieth not and the fire is not ex tin ,

g u i sh e d
. A nd if thy foot scan dalize thee cut it Off ; ,

it is better fo r thee to enter lame into life than , ,

having two feet to be cast i n to the hell of u n

,

q uenchable fire where their worm dieth not and

, ,

the fire is not extinguished A nd if thy eye scan .

d aliz e thee pluck it out ; it is better fo r thee with

,

one eye to enter the kingdom of God than having , ,

two eyes to b e cast into the hell of fire where their

, ,

”
worm dieth not and the fire is not extinguished
,

( M ark i x 4 2
.

By th ese words our blessed R ed eemer wished to

imp r ess on our minds the necessity of avoiding the
occasions of Sin and of making even the most pain
ful sa c rifi c e s to avoid sin and thus escape the end
less pains of hell H e moreover wished to e u
.
, ,

ra v e deeply i n o ur m inds the fa c t that two of the

g
1 62
 I 7ze Wor m tlza t D iet/z l Vot . 1 63

m ost fe arf ul to rm ents of hell a r e its u n q u ench able

fi re and its n ev e r— dying worm We ha v e seen in a
.

foregoing c h apter in what consist s the terrible fire

of hell I t n ow r e m ains to u s to ex amine in what
.

”
consists the worm that dieth not .

All the senses of the reprobate ha v e each thei r

pec u liar pu nishm en t ; their reason or intelle ct is , ,

punished by the pa in of loss as we have seen in the

,

pre ceding chapter a punishm ent far su rpassi ng that

,

of the Sen ses . Th e memory of the reprobate is tor s

mented by the worm that dieth not that is by a ,

”

m o st keen and constant r emorse of conscien c e

which will gi v e them no rest .

The lost si nner will r emember how many graces

and means of salvation he had during life to sa v e
his Soul ; how God sent him so many holy inspi ra
tions , how he received so many good in stru c tid n s ,

how he had the grace of prayer wi thi n his power to

enable him to practise the virtues of his s tate to ,

ove rcom e tem ptation to keep the co mmandments of

,

God a nd of H is C hurch ; how his pious friends

e x horted him to lead a good life bo th by their ex
ho rtations but esp ecially by their good example ;
,

ho w he had so many o pportunities of instructing

himself in his obligatio ns by the hearing of the
word of G 06! and the readi n g of good bo oks and of ,

strengthening him self in the discharge of his d uti es

by the rece ption of the sacraments and by the pra e

tic e of de v otion to the Blessed V irgin !
1 64 On H ell .

The lost si n n er will in a wo rd r em em be r with

, ,

how little trouble he might have saved his soul and

avoided hell H e will say to himself : So little
.

effort was re q uired for my salvation ; even after my

numerous sins a good conf ession would have suf
fi c ed .But through shame through human respect, ,

I did not make it H ow foolish I was ! How often

.

did my conscience my family my friends urge me

, ,

to go to confession But it was all in vain O thers .

committed greater sins than I did but they b e , ,

wailed them went to confession and changed their

,

life and now they are enj oying unspeakable happi

,

n ess in heaven A nd as for me I am lost forever , ,

and that through my own fault for I had at my dis ,

p osal a superabundance of means of salvation .

But now repentance is unavailing it is too late ! ,

But let us consider the expressions of regret of

the various lost sinners Their sorrow is v ain for
.
, ,

like that of J udas it is the sorrow of despair

, .

“
D uring life these lost sinners will say to them
,

selves I loved ease and comfort and luxury fine

, ,

g arments costly
,
j ewelry and princely mansions To .

g ain these I did not scruple to defraud my neighbor

in every available way I stole from my employers
.
,

I took false oa ths I joined secret societies I even

, ,

sold my virtue ! I stayed away from M ass I ate ,

meat on forbidden days I neglected the sacraments

, ,

I went so far as to deny my faith I contracted .

marriage before a civil magistrate or before a he ,

1 66 On H ell .

murderers of the most degr aded b e i n gs that have

,

ever lived ! I have no longer a lovi ng parent a ,

loving child a sympathizing fri end N o ; all the

,
.

ties of friendship all the ti e s of nature are forever

, ,

broken forever turned into de v ilish hate Ev e ry

,
.

evil spirit every reprobate insults me curses me

, , ,

tort u r e s me seeks to make me suffer the more I

, .

must subm it to all this bec aus e during life I refu sed
,

to submit to the holy will of God I c o uld so easily .

hav e be e n saved and now I a m lost lost forever

, , ,

and that through my own fault N e ver shall I see

God n ever shall I en j oy the delights of h ea v en
, ,

ne v er mor e shall I be released fro m the se te rr ible

torments I t is now too late !
.

All this and much m o r e will the worm of c on

, ,

sc ience say to the damned stingi ng him with ,

r eproaches so r elentlessly that he will almost be

dri v en crazy with d espair I n fact the d amned .
,

will rave a nd rage as if they w e re posses sed and ,

Wi ll invoke curses on themselv e s But all in v ain ; .

it is too lat e for r epentance This terr ible remorse

.

will do not hing towards atoning for t hei r sins it ,

will only add to their anguish .

Co n side r this , o b durat e sinner who dost sin so ,

bo l dly and ev en when thy con sc ience pric ks t hee

, ,

turnest a deaf ear to its r eproa ches B e ass ur ed .

that one day thy own c on sc ience will be thy tor

mentor and will plague the e m ore pertina c iously
,

th an the demons themselves I f thou d ost desir e to

.
 Wor m tha t D iet/z J Vot
. 1 67

escape thi s never ending misery listen to the voice

-

of conscience now follow its counsel when it bids

,

thee abstain from doing e vil an d urges th ee to d o

,

that whi c h is righ t

.
 C H AP T ER V III .

ON E T ER NIT Y .

IN the preceding pages some slight po rtrayal of

the torments of hell has been placed before the
reader ; now eternity is the subj ect that must occupy
our attention one on which it is not easy to write
,

or S peak The torments of hell are all so ho rrible

.
,

so appalling that they are enough to make the

,

bravest man tremble But the thought of eternity

.

is so awful that the serious consideration of it is

almost enough to deprive one of one s senses F or ’
.

in this world however a fflicted a man may be he

, ,

has one sure source of solace the knowledge that

, ,

sooner or later his misery will end

, .

I t appertains to human nature to get weary of

everything after a time even things that are agree
,

able to our nature and suited to our tas te I f a .

man were forced to S it all day long at table he ,

would get a disgust of the viands before him I f .

on e were made to S leep day and night for a whole

week in the softest and most comfortable bed how ,

long the time would seem to him I f the most ar .

dent lover Of the dance were compelled to continue

this favorite amusement day and night without rest ,

1 68
1 70 On H ell .

of deliverance T his is what rend er s the t orme n t

.

of the damned so im meas urab le ; this is w hat dri v es

them to fury and despair W hat do st tho u i magin e .

that ete rnity really is or wh at its durat ion wi ll be

,
.

Eternity is so methi ng th at has n o b eg in ni ng a nd no

en d . I t is time which is always pr esent and n ever
passe s away T hus the torments of the damned
.

will n ever en d ne v er pass a way

. , W hen a thousa nd .

years hav e gone by another tho usan d wil l co mmen ce

, ,

a nd S0 on for eve rm ore

. . N o ne of the dam n ed can .

reckon how long they have been i n hell, bec au se

.

the r e is no succession of day and night n o d iv is ion ,

of ti me b u t continual an d e te r na l night f ro m the

,

fir st mome nt of t heir entr ance into hell for ev er

mo re A nd if tho u wouldst c oncei v e some fa int
.

i de a of eternity suppose the who le terrestri al glob e

,

to be composed of millet seeds , a nd suppose that

ev e ry year a bir d came a n d pic ke d o ut on e of t hose
,

tiny see ds what an infinite n umb e r of years m ust

,

el ap se b efor e the whole earth was eaten up in thi s

way .N ay how many thousand yea rs m ust pass

,

be for e one littl e hillock wa s con sumed I t i s im ,

possible to mak e any estimate of the n um ber .

T ho u mayst perhaps think that it woul d take all

ete rn ity to destroy the earth by t hat slow p roc ess .

B ut belie v e me it might be des troye d many time s

,

o v e r b efore etern ity c o uld end F o r the eart h m ust .

at last com e to an e n d even if only once in a c en ,

t ury one single grain wa s t aken fro m the wh ole ,

 On E tern ity . 1
71

but ete rnity cannot end for n oth ing c an be t ake n

,

from it .

H ow terr ible is this tho ught ! I t is indeed a p

p alling when o n e at t empt s to r ealize it .

The damned wo uld be joyful t hey woul d give ,

G o d thanks if they c ould hope afte r milli ons and

, ,

millions of y ears of tor me nt to be at last r ele ased

,

from thei r mi se ry .

B ut th ere is no hope at all of their fin al rele ase

from the pains of hell N 0 one who thi nks seri ously
.

O f thi s can fail to be awestru c k a nd horri fie d O .

God how terrible Th ou art

, H ow gr eat is Thy
severi ty ! How canst Thou the F ather of mercie s
, ,

see these u nhappy creatures c on demne d to su ch

punishments forever and e v er ho w can st T ho u h ear
,

unmov ed thei r despairing cries

All this te aches us how grie v ous e v e ry mo rtal sin
mu st be sin c e Thou the all m er ci ful G od canst
, ,
-

sen tence the S inner to ete rn al da mn atio n fo r one

mortal sin O Christian I beseech t hee in the name
.
, ,

of all that is holy do n ot sin so l ightly do n ot t hin k

, ,

so l itt le of mortal sin see ho w drea dful is the c has

,

tisem ent inflict ed up on the u nfo rtun ate sinners It .

m ay perh aps appear scarcely c redible to t he e t hat

God whos e mercie s a re in fi nite c oul d possibly in
, ,

flict upo n one of H is frail c reatures a neve r en ding -

pu nis hm ent for one single mo rt al sin Y et so it is .

a n d it is ev en t rue that a man who has le d a piou s

life will if befor e his death he sho u ld ha ve the un

,
1 7 2 On H ell .

speakable m isfortune to commit a mo rtal sin and ,

die impenitent be c onsigned to eternal perdition

, .

The P salmist co uld not help expressing his aston

ishm e n t at this in fact he appears to think it hardly
possibl e L is ten to his words
. I thought upon
the days of old and I had in my mind the eternal
,

years A nd I meditated in the night with my own

.

hea rt and I was exercised and I swept my spirit

, .

W ill God then cast Off forever ? or will H e never

be more fa vo rable again ? or will H e cut off His
m ercy forever from gen eration to generation ? or
,

will God forget to show mercy ? or will H e in His

anger shut up His m ercies (P S lxxvi 6 I n . .

“
another P salm he answers these questions : M an
S hall not give to God his ransom nor the price of ,

the redemption of his soul ; he shall labor forever ,

”
and still live unto the end that is to say he shall be
,

torment ed forever and yet live on (P s xlviii 9

, . .
,

The reason wherefore the all merciful God pun -

ishes mortal sin with an et ernal punishm ent and ,

nevermore pardons it is because the sinner when he

, ,

is damned will not awaken contrition and sorro w

,

within his heart o r ask forgiveness of God For

, .

if any one dies in mortal sin he is so hardened in ,

it that he will not desist from it to all eternity

,
.

A nd because God has consigned him to perditi on ,

he conceives so intense a hatred against H im that ,

he would inj ure Him in every way that he could .

R ather than humble himse lf before G od and ,

1 74

ju st ic e Of th eir d oom; for this ca u se th ey b egin to

'

desp ai r, an d to c UrSe th emse lves and all that the

hand of God has create d .

Their d e spair only a ugment s their s ufferings .

Thi s we se e frOrn the ex a mpl e of o ur fell ow c r ea

tures on earth if they gi v e Way to de sp air I t is
, .

i mpossi b le to do anything with a m an Who is in de

‘

spair ; no on e c an help or con sol e him no one can ,

c omfort him 01 bring him to reaso n H e looks like .

a spec t re ; he ra Ve s a n d rages like the very devil

hi mself ; he declares he will put an en d to his life,

that he will drown hi ms elf or ha ng hi mse lf ; he d e
stroys e v erything that co m e s in his Way ; he cu rse s
all me n and all t hings This the damned d o in
.

th ei r de sp ai r, and t hereby they torture themselves

e v en mor e tha n the de v ils c a n to rtur e them They .

shriek and howl they c ur s e a n d swear they st orm

, ,

and rag e ; in f ac t the y b eha v e j ust a s if the y we r e

’

fi en ds i nc arn ate .

I n thei r fury and s pi t e th ey atta c k one anothe r

with the fi ercest ani mosity n ay they ende av or by
'

ev ery possib le me ans to st r angle themsel v e s in thei r

frantic d esp ai r .

Th ei r eff ort s are how e v er futile A ll that they

, ,
.

accomplish is to in crease th eir torme nt and infli ct ,

On the ms elves f resh pains .

W ould th at ev ery obdurat e si nn er wo u ld lay this

to hea rt an d take he ed l est one day he b ec o me the
, ,

pr ey of this eter nal d e spair .

 On E lem fly . 1 75

It is a fe arf u l thing to fall into the hands of the

li vi ng God says St P aul (Heb x
,
”
. I f we n ow . .

dread hell we shall not have a ny reason to fear or

,

endure it in the next life Eve ry o n e has su fficient .

grounds for d r eading it The j u st and holy should .

fear hell b ec ause they may y et fall into it So lo ng

, .

as they remain on earth they a re su r rounded by not ,

only e xterior b ut also interior dangers O utside of

, , .

them there is the world wi th its allur em ents its

'

scandals and temptations and human respect , .

Within them dwell v iolent passions a n d a we ak will .

O nly a single mortal sin suffi c e s to cause thei r c on ~

dem n ation to the infernal abyss How many are .

n ow in hell who fer a time were re markabl e for

,

their piety a nd vi r tue but w ho gradu ally grew care

’

les s in the serv i c e of G od and finally fell into mor tal ,

sin and di ed withou t havin g b eco me recon ciled with

God E Ven the great St T er es a was in dan ge r of

. .

damnation fo r God sh owed her the place destin ed

,

for her in hell if she did not give u p c ertain fa u lts

,
.

The greatest sa int s have shudder ed and t r e mbl ed at

‘ ’

the tho ught of the da nger th ey were in of comm it

ting m ortal sin and of b eing co ndem ned for it to
the endless torments of hell St P eter of A lc antara
'

.
.
,

who pe rformed such great penances dreaded e v en ,

in his la st mom ents the da ng er of f alling into hell .

St Augusti ne and St B ernard wer e filled with terror

. .

at the very tho ught of hell and of the danger they

were in of d es e rving it .
I 7 6 On H 2” .

The careless the lukewarm Catholic should above

, ,

all dread hell for he is continually walking on the

, ,

brink of the infernal abyss H e makes little of the .

precepts of hearing M ass of the prescribed abstinence

,

from flesh meat he scruples not neglecting the

,

religious training of his children he associates with ,

persons and frequents places that are to him an oc

casion of sin he yields to impure thoughts commits
, ,

sins of impurity without remorse gives way to his ,

v indictive feelings against his neighbor appropriates ,

to himself the goods of his neighbor indulges to ex ,

cess in eating and drinking neglects prayer and the ,

sacraments N ow is the time for him to be aroused

.

from his life of sin now is the time for him to give
,

up sin and change his life for if he defers doing so it

, ,

may soon be too late This may indeed be the last

.
, ,

warning that God gives him O h if the damned could .

,

come back to life to what penances and austerities

,

wo u ld they not eagerly and cheerfully submit l

T he prophet I saias asks Which of you can
dwell wi th devouring fire ( I s xx xiii Canst . .

thou stand the fearful torments of hell for all eternity ,

thou who art so fond of comfort and so sensitive

to the least pain Which of you has deserved to
dwell in hell E very one of us already deserved ,

immediately after our first mortal sin to be con ,

d em n e d to that abyss of misery and woe ! I t is

owing to the divine mercy that we have not been so
condemned . U nless the L ord had been my helper ,
 P A R T IV .

ON H E AV E N .

CH A P T E R I .

ON TH E NATU RE OF H E AVE N .

WE must not as some do pi cture to o urselves

, ,

h e aven as a purely Spiritual realm For heaven .

is a definite pla c e where not only God is and the

, ,

a n gels now are but where Chri st is also in H is

,

sa c red h um anity and O u r L ady with her human

,

bod y There too all the bless ed will dwell with

.
, ,

their glori fie d bodies after the L ast Judgment I f .

heaven is a definite l ocality it must accordingly be ,

a visible not a spi r itual kingdom ; for a place must

,

in its nature b e to some extent confo rm able to

those who abide in it .

B esides we kn ow that after the L ast Judgm ent

,

*
he saints will b ehold heaven with th ei r bodily ey es ,

I 79
1 80 On H ea v en .

and c onsequently it m u st be a v isibl e kingdom .

We are igno r ant of what the mat erial structure of

heaven will be c omposed we only know that it will ,

be som ething in fi nitely sup erio r to and more costly

than the m att e r o f which the oth er spheres the sun , ,

the moon and other heavenly bodies are formed

, , .

For since God has created hea v en for H im

self and fo r H is elect H e has made it so beau ,

tiful and so glorious that the blessed will never

tire of the c ontemplation of its splendors to all
eternity .

Y et I repeat it is not within the powe r of the

, ,

writer to describe nor within that of the reader to

,

comprehend what it is of which heaven is actually

,

composed Something may perhaps be learned con

.

cerning this from what St Teresa writes Speak . .

ing of herself she says The Blessed M other oi

,

God gave me a j ewel and hung around my neck a ,

superb golden chain to which a cross of priceless ,

value was atta c hed Both the gold and the precious
.

stones thus given to me are so unlike thos e which

we have here in this world that no comparison can
be instituted between them They are beautiful .

beyond anything that can b e conceived and the ,

matte r whereof they are composed is beyond ou r

knowledge F or what we call gold and precious
.

stones beside them appear dark and lustreless as

”
charcoal .

F rom these wo rds we may form some idea of the

1 82 On M a v en .

world , all t hes e innu me rable spher es would n ot fill

the im m ensity of heav en St Bernar d al so says
. .

that we are wa rr ant ed in the b e lief that e v ery on e of

the sa ved will have a plac e and an i n her itan c e
.

of no na r row lim its assigne d him in the c e lestial

c ount ry .

How imme as u rably vast in e xt en t m ust hea v en

then b e ! W e ll may the p rophet B ar u c h e xclai m :
O I s r a el how g re at is the house of G od, an d how
,

v ast is the pla ce of H is poss ession I I t is gr eat an d

ha th n o en d ; it is high and imme n s e ( Ba ru ch iii .

2 4,

W e can r eadily beli eve this for we ha v e be fore

,

our ey es the bou n dl ess r ealm s o f space B ut of the .

natur e of the infinite realm s of heave n we kn ow

nothing a n d y et we can to so me ext ent pictu re them
,

to our i magi nati on . I t wo uld be against common

s ense to think that thes e vast celestial dom ains are
empty and bare tha t the gr eat A rtifice r to who m
, ,

the creati on of worlds is a very little thi n g wo uld ,

lea ve the m u n b e au tifi ed and u nadorne d .

I f prin c es and lords fill every Space and le av e n o ,

corne r in th eir pa laces or their grounds u n e m b e l

lishe d and unadorned shall we suppo se that the

,

grea t King of he aven would permit His regal palace ,

His ce lestial paradise to be la c king in m agn i fi cence

,

and in beauty What would there b e to delight

the senses o f the saints if he aven we re a large

em pty space ? What enjoymen t except the b eatific ,

 07: til e N a tu r e f
o H ea v en . 1 83

vision of God would there be for them if they stood

, ,

all together in a bar r en plain l ike sheep in a pen ,

fold ? Ar e we not j ustified in believing that there

are splendid and sp ac ious mansions in heaven con
struct e d of inco rruptib le m aterials ? N ay more a , ,

l e arn ed e x positor of Holy S cript ure con siders it

probable that by the won dr ous sk ill an d w isdom of
the great Creator these fair pala c es and dwellings
,

are of varie d form and size some bein g lowe r othe r s

, ,

high er some more richly adorn e d than othe r s

,
.

Toweri n g a bo v e all an d surpassing all in grand e ur

,

and magnificen ce the pala c e of the gre at Kin g Je s us

,

C hrist stand s pre eminent ; and n ext in S plen do r

an d di gn ity r anks the abod e of our S ove r eign Lad y ,

the Que en of h ea v en Then c om e the twelv e.

palaces of the twelve apostles whi c h a re so r i ch a nd ,

beautiful that heaven itself m arv els at thei r m agn ifi

cen c e Bes ides thes e are mansions and dwellin gs
.

i n n umer able which render the hea v enly J er u sale m

in de s cr ib ably imposin g an d attr a ctive The se sp len .

did abodes we re creat e d when heav en i tse lf was

made and d estin ed to b e the dwellings of the re
,

dee me d The Church tea c hes us i n the offi ce for

.
,

ma rty rs that ea c h one of the elect will h av e hi s own

,

pla ce in the kin gdom of heav en D abo sa n d zlr met! .

2 n oct A n ti h I de Com pl Ma rtj

( I n .
p . .
) I will . . .

gi v e to M y saints an appointed pla ce in the k in gd om

An d the R oy al P salmist say s :
”
of M y F ather .
1 84 On [ f ea r/m .

T hesaints Shall r ejoice in glory ; th ey S hall b e

j oyful in their b eds ( P s cxlix . .

“’
We have also Christ s words : M ake unto you
friends of the mammon of iniquity ; that when you
shall fail they may receive you into everlasting
,

dwellings ; that is to say spend what you hav e

'
,

over and above on works of charity and b en ev

olen c e that these may prove as friends to you who
, ,

will obtain for you admittance into the eternal and

celestial dwellings (L uke xvi .

“
Again : I n M y F ather s house th ere are many
’

mansions Hence it may be inferred that each

.

one of the redeemed has his separate abode in

heaven F or as a j ust and prudent fath er divides
.

his real and personal property amongst his chil

dren assigning to each one his particular share
, ,

so our heav enly F ather apportions to ea ch of

H is elect a pa rt of His celestial treas ur es both ,

visible and invisible giving to ea c h one more

,

or less ac c ording to the amount he dese rv es to

,

receive .

Who shall describe the maj esty and glory of these

he avenly mansions ? I f the kings and princes
of this world build grand and costly palaces for
themsel v es what must be the S plendor and beauty
,

of the celestial city which the King of kings has

built for Himself and those who love Him and a re
His fri ends ? Hear what St John says conc erning .

“
this city : A n angel show ed m e the holy c ity
1 86 072 [ f ea r/m .

does not c onstitute the whole of the h e a v en ly J eru

salem it is the spe c ial dwelling place of the most
,

high God wherein the s acred h um anity of Christ

,

abides together with many com panies of ange ls and

,

of the most e m inent saints F or be sides this august .

city there a re others innumerable in the heavenly

,

plains wherein the r edeemed dwell in the soc ie ty of

,

angels The more good a saint has done on ea rth

.
,

the grander is the reside nce assign ed him in

hea v en These palaces a nd m ansions a re trans
.

parent as crystal and built of precious sto n es of the

costliest kind A nd we may add on the authority
.

of a learned theologian that the bless ed hold inter

,

course with one another and meet together to lau d ,

and magnify the omnipotence of the M ost High ,

who prepared for them su ch gl or iou s abod es and ,

join in extolli n g H is wisdo m and H is lov e .

Dost thou not 0 my soul feel an intense lon gi ng

, ,

to behold this heavenly city and what is more to , , ,

dwell therein for evermore ? We esteem it a pl e as

ure to visit a fine city renowned for its architectural
,

and other attra ctions ; and m any are the travell ers
who journ ey all over the world to see foreign towns ,

and feast thei r eyes on their beauty What are .

these c ities of earth in comparison with the celestial

c ities ? Could we but look int o it for a fe w mo

me n ts only what wondrous things we should b e

,

hold l We S hould assuredly e x claim in the words ,

of King D avid : How lovely are Thy tabernacl es ,

 On t/ze N a tu re f
o H ea v m
. . 1 87

O L ord of hosts ! M y soul lo ngeth an d fai n teth

for the courts of th e L ord M y hea rt a nd my flesh
'

have rejoiced in the li v ing G od Bl e s se d are they .

that dwell in Thy house 0 L ord ; they shall praise ,

thee fo r eve r and e v er F or be tter is o n e d ay in Thy

.

co u rts above thousands ; I hav e chosen to be an

abj ec t in the hous e of my God rather than to dw ell
in the tabernacles of sinne rs ( P S .

I f we may ve nture to spe ak o f the int er io r of the

ce le stial realm w e may assum e that the v ast im
, ,

m ea u r abl e space of heaven do e s not o n ly c on tain

s
these heavenly cities but m uch m ore be sid e s all of
, ,

which e n hances the delights of that bli ssf ul lan d .

F o r as kings and prin c es on e a rth have ga rde n s a nd

p leasure grounds laid ou t be sid e the i r pal a ces ,

wher e they amu se thems elves in the s um mer seas on ,

so many th eologians assert th ere are he a v en ly pa r

, ,

a d ise s that afford increas e d delight to the b lesse d

, .

F or n ot o nly the souls of the sa v ed but thei r glori ,

ne d bodies also will b e cond u ct ed by the angels of

,

God i nto he aven afte r the Day of Jud gmen t ‘

.

St A ugustine S t A ns elm and many oth er saints

.
, .
,

do not hesitate to maintain that there are in he aven

real trees real fruits a nd rea l flo wers inde s cribably
, , ,

attra ctive and delightful to the sight tast e sm ell , , ,

and to u ch di ff er ent from anyt hing we can imagin e

, .

I n the revelations of the s aints mention is made

of the gard ens in heaven and the flowers that ,

blossom the re ; a n d we know it is re corded in the

,
188 072 1 1 mm ” .

legend of S t Do r othea that S he sent to T heophi

.
,

lus by the hands of an angel a basket of flowers

'

culled in the gardens of the c elestial paradise of ,

such surpassing beauty that the S ight of them led

him to become a Christian and lay do wn his life
,

for the faith of Christ .

We also read in the life of St Did ac u s that on .

,

coming to himself after a trance into which he fell

shortly before his death he cried aloud : 0 what
,

flowers there are in paradise ! what flowers there

are in paradise ! S imilar incid ents a re frequ ently
to be met with m the legends of the saints .

Conside r how delightful it will be fo r thehappy

ones who are saved to wander 1 n the celestial gar
dens and contemplate those fair flowers How
, .

pleasing the lovely blossoms are to the eye how ,

delicious is the fragrance they exhal e ! O f a truth ,

if a man w ere to obtain possessio n of a S ingle one

of the se hea v enly flowers it wo u ld produce on him
,

the same eff e ct as on Th eophilus He would be .

spoiled for all the b e auty of ea rth and would strive ,

with his whole soul aft er the pe rfe ct beauty of

heaven .

M editate oft en th er efore upon the things of

, ,

heaven ; raise thy eyes and thy hea rt to the bright

fi rm a m e n t above and awaken within thy heart by
,

this or other means a keen d e sire to behold the

mansions of the eternal F ath er and to dwell in ,

them for evermore .

 C H APT E R II .

ON TH E JO YS or H EA VE N .

N ow that we have meditated upon the heav en ly

J e ru salem the city of God we wi ll proce ed to c on
, ,

sid er the happiness which the saints who dwell

therein enjoy both in regard to body and soul
, It .

is t ru e as yet th ey have not their bodies as a general ,

rule b ut at the L ast Day they will all have th em

,

a gain and th ose bodies will then be so beauteous

, ,

that nothing in the world can compare with them .

An d this will pr in ci pally be be cause every member

will b e e ndowed with four qualities or attributes ,

n am ely : b ea uty 1 m pa ssib ility agility and subtlety

, , , .

By re ason of its b eauty or glory the body of e a c h

one of the el ect will shine like a star y et as one , ,

star diff ers from another in gl ory so the saints will

,

S hine with greater or less splendor ac cording as ,

their lives upon ear th have been more or less holy .

I n the se gl ori fi ed and radiant bodies the blessed will

b e so ine x p r essibly bea utiful that if a mortal man
,

were now to behold one of these resplendent beings ,

he would be da zz led by its brilliance and be ready

to eXp ire fo r j oy of heart .

1 90
 0a t/ze J ay s 4 H ea v en . 1
9 1

In her revelations to St Bridget the Ble ssed .

,

Mother of God once said The saints stand around

my Son like cou ntless stars whose glory is not to,

b e compar ed with any temporal light Beli eve me .

,

if the saints could be seen shining with the glory they

n o w po ssess no hum a n eye cou ld endure their light ;
,

”
all would turn away d azz led and bli n ded
, .

Think what happin e ss it will be for thee when ,

thy body shin es like the Su n at midday Everything .

that lives and m oves rejoices in the light and warmth

of the su n it gladdens all the face of n at ure
,
In .

lik e m anner thy body will be a j oy and delight to

thyself and all around thee in heaven b ec ause of its ,

bea uty and its glory .

The second attribute is impassibility for the ,

glorifi ed body is incapable of s uffering I t will .

n ev er b e sick or infirm it will not grow old or u n

,

sightly I t will n ev er again be in c onvenienced by

.

hunge r or thirst by heat or c old by draught or

, ,

dampness .I t c an n evermore be burned by fire ,

drowned in water wounded by the sword or crus hed

,

beneath a weight ; it will be immo rtal uncha ngeable , ,

eternally endowed with perfect health and unfailing

strength I f any one on earth c ould purchase this
.

gift of impassibility how gladly would he give all he

,

possessed to obtain it !
The third attribute is agility The glorified body .

will be able to traverse the greates t dis tance with the

speed of though t I n one moment it can c om e
.
1
9 2 On H ea v en .

down from heaven to earth ; in one moment it can

pass from one end of the heavens to the other with ,

out labor without fatigue without di ffi culty W e

, ,
.

often wish that we could fly like the birds that we ,

could speed on our way like clouds on the wings

of the wind that we could follow thought in its
,

rapid flight I f it were possible to purchase this

.

pow er eve ry one would part with all his worldly

,

wealth fo r it if only to obtain it for one single

,

y ear .

How is it then that thou dost take so little troubl e

, ,

to en sure for thyself the possession of this gift for

all eternity
The fourth attribute of the glorified body is sub
tle ty which consists in the faculty of penetrating all
,

matter of p a ssm g m and out wheresoever it will

,
.

N o wall is so thick no iron gate so massive no , ,

mountain so gr eat as to form an obstacle to the

glorified body A s the sun s rays pass through glass
.
’
,

s o the bodies of the redeemed as they are in heaven ,

penetrate all matter however dense and solid it may

,

be They can also make themselves visible or in

.

v isible a t will What wouldst thou not give to be

.

c ome possessed of such a faculty

How great is Thy bounty almighty God towards , ,

Thine elect ! T ho u b e sto w e st upon them precious

v

and s u blime gifts that no amoun t of this world s

,
’

ric hes can purchase Who would not gladly spend .

his life in Thy s ervic e and suff er a fflictions in this

1
94 On [ f ea r/en .

will be so undimmed that they will be able to gaze

without flin c hin g at the sun even were its light a ,

hundredfold more daz z ling Their sight will be so .

keen that no obstacle will offer a hindrance to it .

N ow think what delight awaits thy sense of sight ,

when thy eyes first rest upon the glories of heaven .

F irst they will behold the city itself with its palaces ,

and mansions whereof the Splendor and maj esty is

,

so great that the contemplation of these magnificent

structur e s would aff o rd pleasurable employment for a
whole eternity .

I n the se c ond place thou wilt ga z e with delight

,

upon the fai r flowers the tre e s the gardens and all
, , ,

the oth er bea uteous sights that will arrest the eye in
heaven .

T hirdly it will b e an unspeakable ple asure to

,

the e to behold thyself and all the other saints arrayed

in beauty glory S plendor grace and maj esty far
, , ,

surpassin g anything seen in this world .

F ourthly thou wilt see the incomparable beauty

,

of the angels for it is believed that those celestial

,

Spirits will assume bodies of great loveliness formed

from the air in order to render themselves visible

,

to the blessed This O pinion is held by St A nselm

. . .

A nd if the beauty of an angel immeasurably exceeds

all human beauty wilt thou not rej oice in the con
,

te m p la tio n of so many thousands of angelic beings ,

all of surpassing loveliness fo r all etern ity ,

F ifthly on n othin g will thi n e ey es r est with su c h

,
 On the joy s of H ea v en . 1
95

ke en delight as o n the inexpressible beauty of J esus

and Mary whose glorified bodies are so irresistibly
,

charming attractive beautiful and maj estic that if

, , ,

the damned were permitted to b ehold them they ,

would no lo n ger find hell intolerable .

N ow consider what a fertile sour c e of delight it

will b e to be continually and forever s ur rounded
,

by S ights so enchanting and so sublime O u r n atural .

inclination leads us here belo w to take long journeys

for the sake of seeing some b eauteous S ight to ex ,

pend large sums to obtain some beauteous obj ect ,

and even to imperil our souls in our eager S earch

afte r what is beautiful .

S ince the love of the beautiful is so deeply rooted

in o ur nature how strange that we do n ot yearn
,
!

for the b e auty of heaven Why do we not close.

our eyes to the attractions of earth that we m ay be ,

found wo rthy to open them upon the splendors of

heaven
F ro m sight let us pass on to hearing .

I t would be unwise were we to attempt to describ e

the grati fi catio n it will be to the ear to hear the can
tic le S o f the angels and the soft music of their harps
'

.
,

The nine choirs of angels will sing the praise of

G od and the blessed will j oin them not only in
,

heart fo r th ey will m ingl e their voices also in the

,

swee t harmony Thus the powers of both soul and

.

body will be ex ercis ed and the pra ises of God will

,

asc en d in melodio u s hymns and celestial songs .

1
9 6 On H ea r/en .

F or if we mo rtals are i mp elled by fervent love an d

heartfelt joy to lift our voice in song how much ,

more will the holy angels and blessed saints do so ,

who are all afla m e with the love of God and filled ,

with joy unspeakable Their hymns of praise will re

.

sound without ceasing through the courts oi heaven .

“
I n a prophetic spirit the elder Tobias says : The
gates of Jerusalem shall be built of sapphire and of
emeral d and all the walls thereof round about with
,

precious stones all its streets shall be paved with

,

white and clean stones and alleluia shall be sung

,

in its streets ( Tob xiii . .

These words seem to indicate that the redeemed

will walk at their pleasure with on e another in the
heavenly J erusalem their voices uniting in happy
,

alleluias .

I n wondrous harmony the angels and saints will

praise and magn ify their God What happiness for .

them 0 my God what sweetness what joy

, , If ,

sweet songs rejoice us here and awaken elevated ,

feelings within our breast the canticles of the angels

,

and saints will indeed cause us rapture and delight ,

when we have the felicity to be admitted into thei r

blessed company .

M y God and my a ll how great is the abundance

of the favors Thou hast prepared for them that
love Thee M y heart thirsts for the stream of
celestial joys Truly blessed are they that dwell in
.

Thy ho u se , 0 L o rd ; they shall praise Thee fo rev er

 8 On H ea v en
'

1
9 .

glorified A bove al l the bodies of Christ and of

.

His Blessed M other will exhale so sweet a perfum e

that all heaven will b e p erv aded by it .

How lo v e ly are Thy tabe rn a c les O L ord whe r ein , ,

we shall be invigorated by the aromatic odors that

environ us ! F or if sweet odors refre sh and re vive
us here below the odors of para dise will surely give
,

strength and refreshment to the bless ed .

Even the sense of taste will be gratified in

he av en not it is true by the consumption of ordi
, , ,

nary f ood but in a manner whereof we can as yet

,

form no c onj ecture The blessed will taste a sweet

.

sustenance which will satisfy them as we l e arn from ,

the words of the R oyal P salmist : They shall b e

inebriat ed with the plenty of Thy house Tho u ,

shalt make them drink of the torrent of Thy pleas

ure (P s xxx v . .

The sense of touch will have its own pe c ulia r

enjoyment The more one has morti fi ed himself
.

here on ea rth the greater will b e his bodily well

,

being hereaft er St A nse lm says : I n the future

.
“
.

life the saints will expe rien c e a feeling of untold

co mfort and c ase This pleas ur able sensation will
.

p erv ade every member pr o du c i n g a wondrous sense

,

”
of peace and contentment .

I n fact what can be wanting to the glorifi ed body

,

in heaven ? I t is in the e njoyment of pe r pet

ual health perpetual rest perpe tual happiness so
, , ,

that in the superabundan c e of j oy and satisf a ction

 On tile joy s of [ f ea r/en . 1
99

it can scarce realize how enviable is its condi

tion.

F inally the redeemed will take very great pleas

,

ure in beholding one anoth er in conversing with ,

one another in kindly intercourse and friendly com

,

m u n ic ation .Think how beautiful a sight it will be

to see hundreds of thousands of beings in all the
splendor of their gl o rified state I f on earth we .

est eem it a pleasure to look upon a handsome face ,

we can appreciate in some slight degree what it will

be in heaven the lowliest of whose inhabitants is
,

possessed of a beauty far exceedi ng the personal

attra ctions of any mortal man .

M oreover the redeemed are un ited together by

,

the bond of mutual charity for they love one a n ,

other more clearly than the most affectionate of

brothers and sisters I f they have nev er met on
.

earth yet they know one another better than if they

,

had been brought u p together E ach one will know .

the incidents of his e arthly career .

Each one will be able to see into the other s heart ’

,

and know how great is the a ff ection he feels for

him E ach one will rej oice in the other s glory as ’
.

much as if it were hi s own ; and the lowliest in the

kingdom of he aven exults as m uch in the glory
of the highest as the latter can possibly do This .

was explained to St A ug u stine by St John the

. .

”
Ba ptist in a vision Know he said to him that
.
, ,

on account of the inexpressible charity tha t the

 '

200 On H ea rxen .

blessed have towards one another that each takes ,

no less pleasure in the exaltation of ano ther than if

it were his own N ay more he who is greater
.
, ,

wishes that the lower were e q ual to him and even ,

more honored than himself ; for m his triumph he ,

too would triumph

, .

I n like manner those who are in a lowly place

rejoice in the glory of those who are in the highes t
place ; they do not envy them far from it They , .

would not desire the high posi tion if the o thers had
it not ; they would rather give them a part of their
”
own glory were this possible
,
H ence it may be
.

seen that the saints take pleasure in the S plendor

wherewith their fellows are crowned and entertain ,

for each and all of them a heartfelt aff ection M ore .

especially do they love one who has by word or ,

example helped them on their way to heaven ; to

,

such a one they know not ho w they can suffi ciently

testify their gratitu d e .

E ach one will also feel a particular aff ection for

the saint whom he chose as his patron upon
earth and whom he honored with a special devo
,

tion ; and this aff ection will be reciprocated by the

obj ect of it Those who stood in t his relation to
.

one another will meet together more often ; they

will converse on holy subj ects and mutually relate
their ex p e n en c e s on earth telling ho w marvellously
,

the providence of God saved them from e ternal

perdi tion I n a word the pleasures aff orded to the
.
,
 CH A P TE R 111 .

TH E JO YS or H E AVE N ( Contin u ed ) .

W ITH regard to the spiritual j oys of the rede emed

in heav en they are in such great abundance tha t
, ,

in speaking of them one does not kno w where to

begin or where to end Think of the S piritual con
.

solations granted to eminent servants of God in this

world We know concerning some saints t hat thei r
.

life on earth was more that of angels than of men ,

so fr e quently were they favored with ecstasies v is ,

ions interior lights and divine c onsolations of all

, ,

kinds A nd yet all these favors were but as a drop

.

out of the boundless ocean of celes tial sweetness .

What rapture it will be for holy souls in heaven to

drink from the fountain head and draw fre ely from
-

the ine xhaustible source of all felicity ! A ll the

powers of the mind the understanding the mem
, ,

or
y
,
the will the imagination
,
eve ry thought , ,

every desire the whole intellectual being elevated

, ,

and perfe cted by God Himself will be fully satis ,

he d and will add to and heighten the j oys of the

,

soul .

W ith the understanding the blessed will b e hold

zo z
 On t/ze joy s of [ f ea r/en . 203

all created things in the light of God and tho r ,

oughly penetrate the secrets of nature I t is t e .

“
corded o f King S olomon that God gave to So lo
mo n wisdom and understanding exce ed ing much ,

as the sand that is on the sea shore A nd the wis .

dom of Solomon surpassed the wisdom of all the

O rientals and of the Egyptians and he was wise r ,

than all men H e also spo ke three thousand para

.

bles and his poems were a tho usand and five And
, .

he treated about trees from the c eda r that is in

L ebanon unto the hyssop that c ometh out of the
wall ; and he discoursed of beasts a n d of fowls , ,

and of creeping things and of fishes An d they

, .

came from all nations to hear the wisd om of Sol o

mon and from all the kings of the earth who hear d
, ,

of his wisdom 3, Kings iv 2

9 .

We have never heard of wisdom e q u al to t his ,

nor can we cease to wonder at the wide r ange and

astuteness of this great king s understanding Y et
’
.

compared with the wisdom of the least of the saints

in heaven it ranks n o higher than do es the knowledge
,

possessed by a child of three years old beside the

erudition and wisdom of the most learned of men .

F or all the operations of nature all the powers of

,

the universe are O pen and revealed to the le ast of

the saints in heaven N othing is hidden or my ste
.

rio n s in his eye s H e knows all that the H oly

.

T rinity ha s accomplish ed from all ete r nity in how ,

ma rv ellous a manner the heavens an d the ea rth we r e

.
2 04 On H ea r/en .

created out of nothing how wisely all has been o r

,

de red and main tained from the beginning to the end

of time H e knows how the Son of God was b e
.

gotten of the F ather before all ages ; he kn ows how

the Holy Spirit proceeds eternally from the F ather
and the Son H e knows how Christ was born of
.

an earthly m other without violatio n of her virginity ;

he knows all that O u r L ord did and su ff ered during
H is whol e life and how each saint and servant of
,

God lived fo r God and labored in H is service A ll .

that is mysterious and incomprehensible to us in

the H oly Scriptures the mysteries of religion and
,

of nature he understands wi thout a moment s r e flec

,
’

tion H adst thou been on earth but a simple illi t

.
,

e r a te peasant on thy en trance into heaven thy ey e s

,

would be opened and thou wouldst see clearly and

,

understand all things perfectly What joy what .

,

happiness this knowledge and clear ins ight will be

to thee ! What grateful thanks thou wilt ren der to
God for it !
Secondly in as far as their memory is concerned
, ,

the blessed will also find fulness of joy in heaven ,

for it will like the understanding be enlightened by

, ,

God ; and all the events of their past life wi ll be as

fresh and as distinct to their remembrance as if
they beheld them inscribed on tablets before their
eyes Then they perceive by what a marvellous
.

way God led them to their eternal goal how merci ,

fully He pardoned their transgressions how H e ,

20 6 On H eav en .

divin e c har ity that th eir will resembles a live coal

, ,

glo win g with light and heat until it is absorbed by

,

the fi re of which it is a p a rt So it is wi th the .

saints in heaven imbued with divine charity they ,

burn and shin e in the light of God and reflect His ,

“
im age more and more St John says : We know that
. .

when H e shall a ppear we sha be like to H im b e ,

c ause we S hall see Him as is ( 1 John iii :

I n the love of God and in union with H im they find
such ine ff able delight that inebriated by the sweet
,

ness of divine charity they lose themselves in Him .

There is no greater happiness upon earth than to

love and b e loved and the more tender pure and
, ,

ardent this love is the greater the joy and d elight

,

it aff ords us N ow the love of heaven the lo v e of

.
,

the red ee med for G od and fo r one another is the ,

most tender the most pure the most ardent a ff ec

, ,

tiOn an aff ection infinite and boundless

,
co u se
quently it is a so ur ce of immense delight and happi
ness uns p eakable M ay the God of all grace make
“

us partakers of this love and we shall then know

,

by experienc e that of which words fail to convey an

idea N o on e will b e privileged to partake in this
.

love u nl ess here below he lives in the love of God

, ,

and dies in H is friendship L et us therefore strive

.

to incre a se within us this divine chari ty that we ,

may be admitted hereafter to the full enj oyment of

His love .

The b ea tific v ision of the di v ine co u ntena n ce is a

 On t/ze joy s of M a v en . 207

j
oy above all joys a delight
, far surpassing all the
c elestial pleasures of which we have spoken With .

out this all other joys wo uld lose their savor they ,

would be chang ed to bitterness O n one occasion

.
,

when the devil was spe aki ng by the mouth of a pe r

son who was possess ed he said : I f the whole
,

h eaven s were a S heet of parchment if the whole ,

oc ean were ink if every blade of grass were pen

, ,

and every man on e a rth a sc rib e it would not s uffi ce

,

to descr ibe the intense immeasurable delight which

,

the Vision of God aff ords to the blessed And at .

”

anoth e r time he said that if God would but vouch

safe to grant him the privilege of beholding H is
divine countenance for a few moments he would , ,

if it were possible gladly bear in his o wn person

,

all the torments of hell until the D ay of Judg

m ent . This teaches us that if a man spent his
whole life in works of most severe penance and ,

after his death were pe rmitted only for one

instant to gaz e on the face of God he would ,

have received an ample recompense for all his

m ortifi c a tio n s
.

N ow consider how transcendent must be the bliss

which the sain ts derive from the contemplation the ,

enjoyment the possession of the supreme God ! I f

,

to gaz e on the divine countenance for one passing

moment is a joy beyond all that a life of pleasure
off ers to the worldling what rapture will it be to
,

ga z e for evermore with u ndimmed eyes on H is ih

, ,
z 08 On H ea v en .

finite beauty what rapture to c all this supr e me

,

Good on e s o wn for all eternity

’

God is a being in whom all that is most a dm ir

able and desirable exists in the highest degree I n .

H im is all that most attracts and fascinates us ;

cl em ency beauty j ustice compassion wisdom maj
, , , , ,

esty every sweet an d sublime attribute in its fullest

,

perfe ction F rom God proceeds all grace all that

.
,

we need for our spiritual and temporal welfare all ,

the happin e ss the joy the repose the consolation

, , , ,

all the benefits and blessings which His creatures

en j oy in heaven and on earth A nd when the re .

deemed enter upon the contemplation o f this infinite

Good upon the possession of this source of all that
,

is to be loved and adm ired and longed for their joy ,

will indeed b e full What unspeakable delight it .

will aff ord them to understand the mystery of the

I ncarn ation the mystery of the Holy E ucharist !
,

W hat unspeakable delight it will be to them to

comprehen d how God can be invisible Himself and ,

et se e eve rything ; how H e can Himself be u n

y
moved and yet the source of all motion ; how H e
,

can be Himself immutable and yet the author of all ,

change These and many other mysteries will be

.

made clear to the blessed in the light of God and

, ,

this fount of knowledge will not be exhausted to all

eternity T he more they know God the more will
.
,

their desire to know Him better increase and of ,

thi s kn o wl edge ther e wil l b e no limi t and n o defect .

z1 o On H ea v en .

se rv i c e ; and this I will do in the hop e of w inning

Th e e the infinite and eternal Good and beholding
, ,

for evermore Thy infinite beauty N ay even did I .

,

know that I S hould be lost I would still love Thee , .

F or I do not love Thee because I hOp e for eternal

salvation through Thee but I love Thee b ecause,

Thou art perfect Beauty a n d infinite G oodness ,

worthy to b e the sole obj ect of ou r aff ections and

aspirations .

Thus believin g and thus hoping I desire to live ,

and die and I call the angels and saints to witness

,

to the truth of what I say .

And in attestation of the same I repeat with hea rt

and v o rce

My G o d, I l o v e The e , n ot b eca u se
I ho p e f o r h e a v en th e reb y

N o r b e c a u se the y w h o lov e T hee not

M u st b u rn e te rn a ll y .

N o t wi th the hop e of gai ni n g a u ght,

N o t se eki n g a re w a rd ;
B ut as T hy se lf hast lov ed me ,

O e v e r lo v i n g
-
Lo rd .
 C H AP T ER IV .

ON TH E NUM BER OF TH E AVED

S .

IN the three previous chapters it has be en our

pleasurable task to point out how beauteous is the
celestial paradise how great is the happiness e n
,

joy ed by the re d e emed A nd doubtless in the

.

heart of each one of our readers a fervent desi re has

arisen to g ain a dmission to the realms of eternal
light and become a pa rtake r of its joys P erhaps
, .

each one will feel sure that his hopes in this respect
will be ful fi lled I t is however greatly to be feared
.
, ,

that many a one will come short of the goal and ,

will be forever excluded from the kingdom of heaven ,

as this chapter is intended to demonstrate L et m e .

,

however beg all who peruse it not to allow what is

, ,

said to dis c o ur age them and render them p u silla n

,

im ou s b ut rather to let it increase in them the

,

spirit of h um ility and salutary fear and s timulate ,

them to greater energy and diligence in working out

th eir sal v ation i f this appear to them less easy than
they were incl i n ed to imagine M y only motive in .

writing this chapter is to open the eyes of the reader ,

and Show him his dange r F o r were I not to do th is

.
.

21 1
21 2 On H ea v en .

he m ight go on blindly on the wr o n g r oad and only ,

become awar e that it is the r oad to perdition when

it is too late to retra c e his st e ps when the hand of ,

death d r aws the v e il from his eyes Thereupon I .

con sid er that I Shall do the wande r er a se rv ice if I

enlighten him as to the risk he is incurring and ,

endeavor to dire ct his steps into the path to heaven .

L et me ask thee 0 r e ader what proportion

, ,

thinkest thou of all who live upon thi s earth will be

saved ? H alf or a third part ? or perhaps a
quarter A las I fear and not without good reason
, , ,

that the n umber will not be nearly so large J esus .

C hrist who is eternal Truth His holy apostles and

, , ,

the F athers of the Church all tell us that so it will be

, .

What does Christ say about the number of the

elect ? His words are these : M any are called , b u t
”
few are chosen H e repeats these words when H e
.

speaks of the guest who had not on a wedding gar

ment : Bind his ha n ds and his feet and cast him ,

into the exterior darkness F or many are called but .

,

”
few chosen . Were nothing more to be found to this
intent in the whole of the Scriptures this pa ssage ,

could not fail to alarm u s But there are many .

other similar ones of which I will q uote one or two

, .

I n the Gospel of St M atthew we read that O u r

.

L ord said Enter ye in at the narrow gate for ,

wide is the gate and broad is the way that leadeth

unto destruction and many there are that go in
,

thereat How n arrow is the gate and strait is the

.
2 1 4 On H ea v en .

g at h e r th at those a r e but few in n um be r who fin d

the way to heaven and yet fewer are those who
'

persevere in following it unto the e nd .

N ow be c a u se Christ kn ew that th ese words of

His would be misinterpret ed and understood in a,

false sense by both believ ers and unbelievers on ,

another occasion H e ac c entuated and emphasized

what H e had alr eady said c onc e rning the small n um
b e r of the ele ct F o r when on e of the dis cipl e s
.

asked H im : L ord are they few that Shall b e

,

”
saved ? H e answe r ed and said Striv e to enter
by the narrow gate ; for many I say unto you Shal l
, ,

seek to ent er and S hall not b e abl e (L uke xiii .

L isten to the words of the divine T e ache r H e bids .

us strive take trouble m ake use of all our pow ers

, ,

in order to enter unto the n arrow gate An d what .

is still mor e c alculated to appal H e adds that many ,

shall seek to enter in a n d shall not be able .

I f those who desire and end e avor to enter into

the kingdom of heaven fail to do so what will b e ,

come of those who lead a car eless perhaps an u n ,

godly life and manifest no z eal no interest in what

, ,

concerns their eternal salvation

We have already heard Christ three times declare
to us that the numb er of the ele ct is small ; that in
proportion to the great mass of mankind only a few
will be saved A nd because H e was aware that
.

we should not lay thi s weighty truth to h ea rt as we

o ught He re iter ates it in yet mo re ex plicit language
,
.
 On t/ze N u maer f
o fi re Sa v ed . 21
5

Af ter H e had told a rich man who came to H im

‘

to leave all his p osse ssion s and follow Him and ,

the man had gone away sorrowful H e said ad , ,

dressing His disciples How hardly shall they

that have riches ent er into the kingdom of God !
A nd the disciples were a stom she d at His wo r ds .

But Jesus again a nswering saith : Ch ildren how ,

hard it is for them that trust in riches to e n te r into

the kingdom of God I t is easier for a came ! to
.

pass through the eye of a needle tha n for a ri ch

man to enter into the kingdom o f God Then the .

disciples wondered the more saying among the m ,

selves Who then can be saved ? A n d Jesus look

,

ing on them saith : With men it is i mpossible ,

but not with God ; for all things a re possibl e unto

”
God ( M ark x 2 3 .

Truly these words c oming from the lips of ou r

,

divine M aster are enough to inspire us with pro

,

found alar m they are almost enough to cause us to

despond F or they e xp r essly tell us that the work
.

of our salvation is a work of imm ense diffi culty an ,

al most miraculous a c hievement and that it is well ,

n i h i m o ssib le for po or humani ty to enter into the

g p
kingdom of h e aven I t is in reality as m uch of a
.

mi racl e for a man to escape ev erlasting perdition

and to attain eternal felicity as it would be for on e
,

man single handed to van q uish and put to flight a

-

whol e army F or all the powers of hell are leagued

.

together with the wicked world against us ; all the

21 6 On If ea v en .

powe r s of hell put their forces in a rray in o rde r to

con q uer and enslav e every one of us mortals A nd .

with the awf ul powers of dar k ness the evil crafty ,

world makes common cause and the c on c u p is ,

cences of the flesh do the same for the purpose of ,

compassing our ruin .

N ow since there are so many adv ersaries who

,

assail us adversaries so crafty so strong so fierce

, , , ,

who can deem hims elf sure of victory ? I t is little

S ho rt of a miracle if one escapes the clutches of

foes so numerous and so formidable Who can .

hope in his own strength to triumph over them ?

We must needs acknowledge that all who have over
come the evil enemy the evil world and their own
, ,

evil proclivities have been strengthened by God with

,

His spe c ial assistan c e H ence we see how toilsome

.

and laborious a work it is to win heaven ; and we

learn the truth of O u r L ord s words when H e said
’
,

“
The kingdom of heaven suff ereth v iol en c e and ,

the V iolent bear it away (M att xi . .

F or the consolation and encouragement of the

Christian it must here be remarked that if the n um
ber of his enemies is so appallingly great the num ,

ber of his friends is still greater .

F ear not for th ere are more with us than with

,

”
them . S o spoke the prophet E liseus to his fright
“
ened se rv ant A nd the L ord opened the eyes of
.

the servant and he saw ; and behold the mountain

was full of hors e s and of chariots of fire Kings
2 r8 07: H ea v en .

lux uries : Wo to you that are ri ch fo r you hav e

“
,

your consolation We to you that are fill ed fo r

.
,

you shall hunger ; w o to you that now laugh for ,

you shall mourn an d w e ep Wo to you w h e n men .

s hall bless you that is when m en of bad princi

,
”
,

ples Oppos ed to the m axims of religion applaud

, ,

your words your a ctions your Op inions

, T his , .

’
denunciation from O u r L ord s lips may well fi ll us
with dismay .

What obj ect in life ha v e the gr eat maj or ity of

mankind ? What is it that they strive after and
crave for ?
They desire to b e r ic h to b e prosperous to , ,

live in lux ury and to be praised by their fellow

,

men N obody conside rs this to be a sin A nd yet

. .

O u r L ord declares that ev e rl asting death will be the

doom of such persons and H e denoun c es them in ,

forcible language .

F rom these and similar passages which abo un d ,

in Holy S cripture thou se e st that God is m or e

,

str i ct tha n thou dost imagine and it is a m or e easy ,

m atter to lose thy soul than thou perh a ps think e st .

Wh erefore do not any longer li v e so heed lessly but ,

wo rk out thy salvation with fear an d trembling as ,

the A postle exhorts thee The s a ints did so at all

.

ti mes having the f e ar of God s j u dgments ever b e

,
’

for e their eyes The ungodly on the contrary

.
, ,

were ever wont to say as m any do at the prese n t

,

day : G od is m er c iful H e will not conde mn us so

,
 On til e N u mber: qf tlze Sa v ed 21
.
9

lightly to eternal damnation But re me mbe r what

.

is said in Holy S cripture : B e not wi thout fea r

about sin forgiven and add not sin to sin A nd
, .

say not The mercy of the L ord is gr eat H e will

, ,

hav e m ercy on the multitud e of my sins F or .

mer cy and wrath come quickly from H im and His ,

wr ath looketh upon si nners ( Ec clus v 5 . .

W e also find St C atharin e of S ienna saying : O

.

unhappy sinners do not rely upon the gre atness of

,

’
G od s mercy ; believe me the mor e you pro v oke the
,

anger of this merciful God by wilful sin the de e pe r ,

”
you will be cast into the abyss of pe rdition .

I t is undoubtedly true that we o ught to place o ur

’
trust in God s mer cy ; but what the nature of our
confidence should be we are taught by St G regory
, . .

“
H e says L et him who does all that he can rely ,

firmly upon the m ercy of God B ut fo r him who .

do e s not do all that lies within his power to r ely

upon the m er cy of God would b e simple pr e su mp
”
tion. To each and all of us the A po stle P eter says
L abor the more th at by good wo rks you may ma ke
,

your calling and ele ction sure ( 2 P et i ”

. .

S e v eral of the F athe r s of the Chur ch con sider

that from the fa ct that at the time of the deluge only
eight persons were saved at the destru ctio n of So
,

dom and Gomorrha only four— namely L ot his wife , ,

and his two daught ers— escape d with their lives and ,

of the six h u ndred thousand able men who departed

out o f Egypt not more than two reached the P rom
22 o 072 [ f ea r/en .

ised L and the others all dying in the desert it

, ,

may be concluded that the number of the elect

amongst Christians will be proportionately small .

This agrees with what St John C hrysostom said on

.

one oc c asion when he was preaching in the city of

A ntioch : What think you my hearers how many , ,

of the inhabitants of this city may perhaps be sav ed

What I am about to say is very terrible yet I will ,

not conceal it from you O u t of this thickly p op u

.

lated city with its thousands of inhabitants not a

hundred will be saved ; I ev e n doubt wheth e r there
will be as many as that F or what indi fference we
.

see amongst the aged what wickedness amongst the

,

”
young what impiety amongst all class e s of people
, .

S uch words as these may well make us tremble .

We should hesitate to beli eve them did they not ,

c ome from the lips of so great a saint and F ather of

the Church A nd if it is true that in the first five
.

centuries wh en the z eal and devotion of Chris tians

,

was much more fervent than it is now so small a ,

numbe r attained everlasting salvation what will it be ,

in our own day when c rime and vice prevail to so

,

fearf u l an extent
Since it is impossibl e for any on e to deny or even ,

to doubt that the number of the e le ct is small in

,

proportion to that of the reprobate I beseech thee , ,

0 Christian reader exert thyself to the utmost to

,

accomplish the work of thy salvation Thou know .

est what a n awful thing it is to be damned eternally .

222 On H ea v en .

CONC LU SION .

L et us , my
dear reade r courag eo usly and chee r ,

fully do all unde rtake all sacrifice all that we may

, ,

gain the ineffable happiness of heav en for we never ,

can purchase heaven at too clear a pri ce L et us .

not be disheartened at the difficulties on our road ,

for after all it is not so diffi cult to merit heaven

, , .

Were we to do for heaven ha lf as much as people

do to earn a living to acqui re a little wealth po wer
, ,

or fam e or to e njoy life we would be sure of se c u r

, ,

in g a high plac e am ong the saints A ll we have to .

do to gain heaven is to keep the commandme nts of

G od and of His Church to be ar our little crosses , ,

to dis c ha rge the obligations of our state of life to ,

over c ome temptation and althoug h this is above

o ur n at ural str ength w e ne vertheless can coun t on
,

the grace of G od if we pray earnestly for it and

, ,
’
wi th God s help ev e rything will become compa ra
ti vely easy for as S t P aul says : I can do all
, ,
.

things in Him who stre n gthen eth me (P hil iv . .

Ea rn e st persistent prayer will secure hea v en to us

, .

I now dear reader address to you the words the

, ,

mothe r of the M achab e es addressed to her youn g est

son a m ere boy when he was about to b e tortured
, ,

to death as his six brothers had been be fore him

,

”
M y son I beg thee to look up to heaven
, L ook .

up to heaven every day e specially in time of trial ,

and temptation H eaven is well worth every s uffer

.
 On tire N u mber of tb e Sa v ed . 2 23

in g and e v ery sacrifice and every combat required

of us and even a thousand times more ! L ife is
,

sho rt its trials its suff erings its labors its combats
, , , ,

its crosses also are short and transitory but heaven

and its j oys are in c onceivable satiating every des i re ,

of the heart and never ending l O u r present

-

momentary and light tribulation worketh above

m e as u re ex ceedingly a n eternal weight of glory
2 Co r iv
( . .

M ay God in His mercy grant this happy end to

the write r of this book and all into wh ose hands it
m ay fall .

P i t d by B
r n e g B th
en z i e r ro ers, N ew Y o rk .
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PA S ION OF J ES U S C H RI ST 1 1 2 v l
S t 3 50
M EDI T A T ION S ON TH E M ON TH OF 6UR L ADY F a
. . o s . ne ,

t 0 75 . err n . ne ,

M EDI TA T ION S ON TH E PA SION 0 50 S .

M EDI T A T ION S ON TH E LA ST W ORD S OF O R LORD O N TH E U

CRO SS P . d e r ra u t 0 50
. ne
M EDI TA T ION S ON TH E S U FFERIN G OF J E U S C H RI ST
,

S S .

P i ld
er n a o . et 0 7 S n
M IDDLE A GE S S h h
,

. a t 2 00
an . ne ,

M I S CELLA NY Li g i . u or t 1 50 . ne ,

M OMEN T S B EFORE TH E TA E R AC L R s ll t 0 50 E N E . u se . ne ,

M ON TH L I TT LE OF TH E S OUL IN P UR GA T OR Y
, , t 0 25 S . ne ,

M ON TH OF M AY L I TT LE , t 0 25 . ne ,

M ON T H N W OF TH E H OLY A N GEL S
E , et 0 25 . n ,

M ORAL E SRI St pl t F . a t 1 25e on . ne ,

M ORE S PIRI T UAL R EADIN G S M d m C il i t 1 25 . a a e ec a . ne ,

Mom s C A TH OLI C I ; OR A G E S OF F AI TH H K lm , . . en e
D i gby 4 v l . o s .t 2 5 00 ne ,

M ORAL P RIN C IPLE AND M EDI CAL P RA CT I C E C pp S t 1 00 . o ens . ne ,

M Y F IR T C OM M UNION B h m
S et 0 7 5 . uc an n . n ,

M Y P RAYER B OO K H APPI NE SS I N GO ODNESS L

-
: . asa n c c .

C l th
o ,
L th ea 1 75 e r,
N W T E T AMEN T
E S 24 m fl x ibl l th . t 0 18 o, e e c o , ne ,

L th t l 50 ea er . ne ,

N E W T E ST A M E N T I ll t t d . t 0 60us r a e . ne ,

N E W T E STA M E N T ( I d ia P r r ) et 0 75 n
cioth
. n a e .
,

N E W T E STA M E N T 1 2m et . Leathe r n et 1 5 0 o. , n , , ,

4
ST . AN TH ONY A NE C DO T E S AND E M P L S K ll
. t x A E . e er . ne ,
O
ST . A N TH ONY TH E SAIN T OF TH E WH OLE W ORLD W d
, t . ar . ne ,
0
S AIN T FRAN C I S O F A SI S I SOC IAL R EFORMER D b i St : . u o s . ne , 1
S AN CT UARY B s I LLU STRAT ED MA N U AL M c ll
oY
’
t . c a en . ne 0
E C RE T OF SAN CT I T Y G l
,

S t . t r a sse . ne ,

S ERMON FOR C H ILDREN OF M AR Y Ca ll ri o

S t . e . ne , l
S ERMON FOR C H ILDREN S M A S E S F a i tti
S t
’
S . r ss n e . ne ,
1
S ERMON FOR S UNDAY S Li g i
S t . u or . ne , 1
S ERMON S FOR TH E S UNDAY S AND C H IEF F E ST IVAL S OF
TH E ECC LE S Y EAR 2 v l P ttg i . t . o s . o e sse r . ne ,
3
S ERMON S FROM TH E L A T IN S B xt t . a e r. ne ,
2
S ERMON S F UNER AL , W i th V l I an d I I E h . t r . o s. . ac , ne ,
1
S ERMON S H .lt C m pl t Ed iti
uno 12 v l
. E h o e e on . o s. ac , 2
S ERMON S L EN TEN , W i th . t r . ne 2
Wi th 8 v ol E h
,

S ERMON N E W AND OL D
S, t . r . s . ac , ne ,
2
S ERMON S ON H E B LE ED SA C RAMEN T S h
T L SS t . c eu re r -
a sa n c e . ne , l
S ERMON S ON TH E D EVO T ION T O TH E SA C RED H E AR T Si
~

. x .

B b
ier a u rn . t ne , 0
SERMON S H OR T FOR Low M A SSE S
S, S h pp
, t . c ou e . ne , 1
SERMON S S H OR T , H lt 5 v l W i th E ac h
. t uno . o s . r .
, ne ,
2
S H OR T H I ST ORY OF M ORAL T H EOLOG Y S l te t . a r. ne , 0
S H OR T S T ORIE S ON C H RI ST IAN D O CT RINE . 1
S IMPLE I N ST RU CT ION S FOR F IR ST COM M U N ION P 1 00 t . er . ne ,
3
S O C IALI S M AND C H RI ST IANI T Y St g t . an . ne 1
S O C IALI S M I S T H EORET I C AL B A S I S AND P RA CT I C A L A R
,

: T
PLI C A T ION C th i . a et re n . n ,
I
S O C IAL I S M R ELI G ION AND C H ARA CT ERI ST I C S OF
, M i g et . n . n ,
1
S O C IALI SM M ORALI T Y OF M ODERN
, Mi g n t . n . e , l
S PE C IAL I N T RODU CT ION TH E STU DY OF T H E OLD TE S To
TA M EN T P t I G ig t . ar et
. o . n ,
1
S PE C IAL I N T RODU CT IO N o TH E S T U DY OF T H E OL D TE S T
T AMEN T P t I I Gi g t . ar t . o . ne ,
2
S P I RAGO
’
M E TH OD OF C H RI ST IA N D O CTRINE M m
S t . e ss er . ne ,
1
S PIRI T UAL C ON S IDERA T ION S B kl t . uc er . ne I
S PI R I T UAL D E S PONDEN C Y AND T EMP T A T ION S Mi h l
,

et . c e . n , 1
S PIRI T UAL E XE C I E FOR A T EN D AY S R E TR EA T Sm t
’
R S S t . e an a . ne ,
1
S PIRI TU AL P EPPER AND S AL T St g P C l th . an .
'

a er, o , 0
S PIRI T OF S A C RIFI C E AND TH E L IFE OF F CE I N A CR I I
TH E R ELI G IOU ST A T E G i d T h t S t . r au -
u rs o n . ne ,
2
S POILI N G TH E D IVINE F EA ST Z l t P 1 00 . u u e a. er , 3
S T ORIE S FOR F IR ST C OM M U N I C AN T S K ll t . e er . ne ,
0
S T ORY O F TH E D IVINE C H ILD Li g . n s . 0
S T ORIE S OF TH E M IRA C LE S OF O U L RD T H E R O , . 0
S T R IVIN G A FT ER P ERFE CT ION B ym t . a a . ne ,
l
S UNDA Y S CH OOL D IRE CT OR S G U IDE Sl
’
-

et . oa n . n , 0
SUNDAY S CH OOL T EA CH ER S G UIDE Sl
’
-
t . oa n . ne ,
0
S URE W AY To A H APPY M ARRIA G E P p C l th . a e r, o , 0
T AL K W I TH TH E L I TTLE O N A B OU T TH E A PO ST LE S
S E
’

C REED . 0
T H EORY AND P RA CT I C E OF T H E C ON FE SSIO N AL Sc h i l . e er
H e u se r . t ne , 3 50
T H OU GHT S AND A F FE CT ION S ON TH E PA S ION OF J E SU S S
C H RI T FOR EVERY D AY I N TH E Y E AR B gam
S t . er o . ne ,
2 00
T H O UG HT S A N D CO U N SELS F OR CAT H OL I C Y O U N G ME N .

Wirth . n et , 1 25
T RAI NIN G OF C H ILDREN M d m C i l i t 0 75 . a a e ec a . ne
T R U E P OLI T ENE L E TTER S ON D m
,

S S, t 0 75 . e ore . ne ,

T RUE S POU SE OF C H RI ST L i g i t 1 25 . u or . ne ,

T RUE S POU SE OF C H RI T V l g I d I I L ig i E c h t 1 SO S . o s . an . u or . a , ne ,

V ENERA T ION OF TH E B LE S E D V IR G I N R h B t 1 25 S . o n er -
re n n a n . ne
t: 1 5 0
,

V I CT ORIE S OF TH E M AR TYR S L i g i . n or . ne
V I SI T S E UROPE AND TH E H O Y LAND F i b k
To 1 50 L . a r an s .

V O C A T IO N E XPLAI NED S 0 10 .

W AY OF TH E C RO SS P p 0 05 . a e r,
W AY OF TH E C RO SS E h i ti M th d 0 10 . uc ar s c e o .

W AY OF TH E C RO S M th d f St F i A i i S 0 10 . e o o . ra n c s ss s .

W AY OF TH E C RO M th d i t F th SS 0 10 . e o e su a er .

W A Y O F TH E CR O M th d t A lph Lig i SS.0 10 e o . o n su s u or .

W AY OF SALVA T ION A N D P ERFE CT IO N L ig i et 1 50 . u or . n ,

WAY OF I N T ERIOR P EA C E B k t 1 50 . ru c er . ne
WH A T C A TH OLI C H AVE D ONE FOR S C IEN CE B
,

Sa t 1 25 . re n n n . ne ,

WH A T TH E C H UR CH T EA CH E S D y P Q 25 ; C l th 0 6 0 ru r a o ,

pe
. .

WH A T T IME ! WH A T M ORAL S ! S m pl
S t 0 15 e e. a
-
I ne ,

W I TH C H RI ST M Y F RIEND S l et 0 7 5 oa n n
W I T H GOD L
. .
,

C l th
. L th a sa n c e 2 00 . o , ea e r,
Y OUN G M AN S G U IDE La ’
C l th 0 7 5 ; Le ath er 1 25 . sa n c e . o , .
,

N O V EL S
A GA TH A S H ARD SAYIN G R sa M lh oll a d
’
. o u n .

B A CK TO TH E W ORLD C h m p l . a o .

B I T OF OL D I VOR Y A , .

B LA CK B RO TH ER H OOD G l d . e r ro .

B OND AND F REE C . on n or .

B U T T H Y LOVE AND T H Y G RA C E Fi . nn .

CARROLL D A E W gg m R . a a an .

C IR C U S R IDER s D AU GHT ER B k l ’
. ra c e .

C ON NOR D A C Y s S T RU GG LE S B th l d
’
R
’
. er o s
CORIN NE S V w Wag m
.

’
o . an .

D AU GHT ER OF K IN G S i k . n so n .

D ION AND TH E SYB IL S M K o . . e n .

D O U B LE K NO T .

FA B IOLA W i m . 1 2m o I ll t ate d e diti

se an . . us r on ,
N i ll t t d d i ti
on -
u s ra e e on ,

FA B IOLA S S I STER C l k
’
S . ar e .

FA TAL B EA C ON B k l . r ac e .

F AU ST
U LA A gh . sc o u .

F OR G IVE AND OR GE T Li g . n en .
F RIENDLY L I TT LE H OU SE .

H EAR T S OF GOLD E dh . or .

H EIRE OF C O E N S E
SS H h H ah R N T IN . a n -
n.
H ER B LIND F OLL Y H l t . o .

H ER F A TH ER S D A U G HT ER H i k ’
. n so n .
I DOL S N v y
. a et .

I N TH E D AY K IN G H AL Ta g ga t
S 0 . r .

I NG OD S G OOD I H
’
R E . o ss.
“
K IND H EAR T AND C ORONE T S H a i so S .
”
rr n.
LADY OF TH E T O W E R .

L E T N O MA N PUT A SU NDER M e . ar i .

7
L I GHT O F H S C OUN T ENAN C E H t
I t ar e . ne ,

L I TT LE CARDINAL P . a rr .

L IN K ED L IVE S D l . ou a ss .

M AR C ELLA G RA C E a M l h ll d . os u o an .

M ARI AE COROLLA H ill . n et .

,

M EL CH IOR OF B O ST ON E l . ar s .

M I GHT Y F RIEND L E m it . n et
'
r e.
B
,

M IRROR OF S AL H OT T . e n so n .
M I SS E RIN F ra i . nc s .

M ON K S PARDON N
’
y . av e r .

M R B ILLY B U TT ON S L c ky
. . e .

M Y LADY B EA T RI C E C k n t . oo e. e
N OT A J UDG MEN T K
,

. e on .

O E A F T ERNOON AND O TH ER ST ORIE S

N n et . ,

O TH ER M I SS L I SLE M ti n t . ar n . e ,

O U T OF B ONDA G E H o lt . .

O U T LA W OF CAMAR G UE De Lam th e . o .

P A SS IN G S H ADO W S Y k . or e.
P A S ION F LO WER S H ill
S .n et .

P ERE MO N W ARD L ky
,
'
N IER S . ec .

P IL RING O H EIR S dl i
T N . a er .

P RI SONER S Y EAR C l k
’
S .n et ar e.
P RODI GAL S D AU GHT E R B gg
,
’
. u .

R ED I N A T ST L H
N S d l ie . YP AR . a r.
R OAD B EYO N D T H E T O W N E l . ar s .

R O M AN C E OF A P LAY W RI GHT B o i . rn e r .
R O SE OF TH E W ORLD M ti t . ar n . ne
R OUND T A B LE OF G ERMAN CA TH OLI C N OVELI ST S
,

R OUND T A B LE OF FREN CH CA TH OLI C N OVELI T S S .

R O U ND T A B LE OF A MERI C AN CA TH OLI C N OVELI ST S .

R OU N D TA B LE OF I RI S H AND E N G LI SH CATH OLI C N OVELI ST S .

R OUND TH E W ORLD S ERIE V l I S . o . .

R OUND TH E W ORLD S ERIE S V l I I . o . .

R OUND TH E W ORLD S ERIE S V l I I I . o . .

R O U ND TH E W ORLD S ERIE V l I V S . o . .

R OUND TH E W ORLD SERIE S V l V . o . .

R OUND TH E W ORL D SERIE S V l V I . o . .

R OUND T H E W OR LD S ERIE S V l V I I . o . .

R OUND T H E W ORL D SERIE V l V I I I S . o . .

R OUND T H E W ORLD S ERIE V l I X S . o . .

R OUND TH E W ORLD S ERIE V l X S . o . .

R ULER OF TH E K I N G DOM K . eon .

S E C RE T OF TH E G REEN V A E C ke n et S . oo .
,

S ENIOR L IEU T ENAN T W A G ER ’

et S . n ,

S H ADO W OF E E RSL G La d wn eV t EI H . ns o . ne ,

S O A s B Y F IRE C . n et o n n o r. ,

S OGG AR TH A ROON G i . u n an .
SO N OF S IRO C p . o us .

S ON G S AND S ONNE T S E . n.
S T ORY OF C E C ILIA Hi . son .

S U OR E
T Ea l
. r s .

T EMPE ST OF TH E H EAR T G ay . r .

TE ST OF C O U RA G E R oss ne t
. .
,

T H AT M AN S D A UGHT E R Ross’
. .

T H EIR C H OI C E S ki e . nn r .
 F RED DY CARR S AD VEN T URE S G r ld ’
. ar O .

F REDD Y CARR AND H I S F RIEND S G ld . a r ro .

FRED L I TT LE D AU GHT ER S T Smith

’
S . . . .

G ODFREY T H E L I TT LE H ERMI T Sc hm i d . .

GOLDEN L ILY T H E H i k , . n so n .
GREA T CAP T AI N T H E H i k o , . n s n .

G UI LD B OY OF R I D G DALE B S e IN . e a rn .

H ALDEMAN C H ILDREN T H E Ma i , . nn x .

H ARMONY F LAT Wh itm i S . r e.

H ARRY D EE F i . nn .

H ARRY R U S ELL C p S . o us .

H EIR OF D REAM A N O Mall y S, .

’
e .

H I F IR ST AND L A ST A PPEARAN C E
S Fi n . n .

H OP B LO SSOM T H E S h m i d S, . c .

H O STA G E OF W AR B t l . o n es e e .

H o w T H EY W OR K ED T H EIR W AY Eg . an .
I N QUE T OF TH E G OLDEN C H E T
S B t S . a r on .
“
J A CK .
”

A CK H ILDRE TH ON TH E N ILE T gg rt . a a .

A CK O LA ’
W gg m N TE R N . a a an .

U NI OF S B EDE
OR S B y T .
’
S . r so n .

U E IV N R OUND T A B LE F i t S i
LE . rs er es .

U VE R OUND T A B LE S
N ILE d S iS . econ er e
U VE N ILER OUND TA B LE T h i d S i . r er es .

IC A D lly , . on n e .

LA MP OF TH E SAN CT UARY W i m . se an .

LE GEND S AND S T ORIE S OF TH E C H ILD J ES U S FROM M AN Y

LAND S L t . u z .

L I TT LE A PO ST LE ON C RU TCH E S D l m . e a a re .
L I TT LE G IRL FROM B A CK E A ST R b t . o er s .

L I TT LE M I Y W gg m SS . a a an .
L YAL B LUE AND R OYAL S C ARLE T T gg t
O . a ar .

M A D CAP S A T S A NN E S B ow
ET T .
’
. run e .

MA K IN G OF M OR T LA K E C p . o us .

M AR K S OF TH E B EAR C LA W S p ld i g S . a n .

M ARY T RA C Y F OR T UNE S dl i ’
S . a er .

M A T ER FRIDOLIN G i h l
S . e r .

M ELO R OF TH E S ILVER H AND B a . e rn e .

M ILLY A I G S T Sm ith VEL N . . . .

M ORE F IVE O C LO CK ST ORIES ’

.

M O ST LY B OY S Fi . nn.
M Y S T RAN G E F RIEND F i . nn .

M Y S TER Y OF C LEVERLY B t . ar on .

M Y ST ERIOU S D OOR WAY S d l i . a e r.

M Y ST ERY OF H ORN B Y H ALL Sad l ier . .

N AN N O B OD Y W g ga m . a a n.
N D R IEDER
E W b . e s.

N E W B OY S A T R D G D E B ea e I IN AL . rn .

N W S CH OLAR A T S A N NE S B ’
E we T . ru n o .

S S ED B ED
.

O D C S T Sm i th
’
L M
H AR L ON T E . . .

O D M ILL ON TH E W H R S
L S p ld i g IT O E a n .

O D R O BB E R S C A T LE S hm id
’
L S . c .

O U R L A D Y S L U T ENI ST B
’
. ear n e .

O VER EER OF M L RG S h m i d
S AH B OU . c .

P AN C H O A N D P AN CH I T A Ma i x . nn .

10
 PAULINE A R CH ER S d li .
0 45 a er .

PERIL D SI OOF M ix ION Y . an n .

P ER C Y W YN N F i . nn.
P E T RONILLA D lly . on n e .

P I CKLE AND P EPPER D y . orse .

P IL GRI M PROM I RELAND Ca ot . rn

P LA W ER P LO T W gg m
.

Y AT . a a an
P OVERINA B k ha
.

. uc en rn .

U R EN S PA GE H i k ’
. n son .

U EN S P ROM I SE W gg m
R
’
. a a an .

A C E FOR C OPPER I SLAND S l d i g . n .

R E C RUI T T OMMY C OLLIN

,

te l S . o n es e .

R I DI N G D E F LO W ER S H O WAL B . e arn e .

R OMAN C E OF TH E S ILVER S H OON B ea n e . r .

R O SE B U H T H E S h m i d S , . c .

S EA G U LL S R O CK
-
S d . an eau .

S EVEN L I TT LE M AR S H A L S Nix R l t L . on -
ou e .

S EVEN L I TT LE M AR S H ALLS A T TH E L A K E N ix R on l t on -
e
S H ADO W S L IF T ED C p
. .

. o us .

S H EER P LU CK B ea . rn e .

S H ERIFF OF TH E B EE CH F OR K S p ld i g . a n
C U TH B ER T C p
.

S ’
T . S o us
W gm
. .

S T RON G A RM OF A VALON
S lg
. a a an .

S U GAR CAMP AND A F T ER

-
mg . a .

S UMMER A T W OODVILLE S dl i . a er .

T AL S AND L E GEND S OF TH E M IDDLE A G E S Cap e lla

E .

TALI S MAN T H E S dl i
.

, . a er.
T AMIN G OF P OLLY D y . or se .

T H A T F OO T B ALL G AME F i . nn .

T H REE G IRLS AND E PE C IALLY O E T gg t S N . a ar

T H REE L I TT LE K IN G G i h l
.

S . e r .

TOLD I N TH E TW ILI GHT M th S l om . o er a e.

TOM L Y B OY C p
OS E L : . o us .

T OM L U CK P O T W gg m
’
S -
. a a an .

T OM P LAYFAIR Fi . nn
W lh
.

T OO DD
R A L LA Y . a s .

T RAN PLAN T IN G OF T E SIE W gg m

S S . a a an .

T REA S URE OF N U GG ET M OUN TAIN T gga t . a r .

TW O L I TT LE G IRL M k S . ac .

V IOLIN M A KER T H E S h h i g , . c ac n .

W AY WARD W INIFRED S dl i . a e r.
W IN NE T OU TH E APA CH E K NI GHT T gga t . a r .

W I T CH O P R I D G D LE B IN A . e ar n e .

Y OUN G C OLOR G UARD B t l . on es e e .

T h f ll w i t l g w i ll b t f pl i ti
ca a o se n re e on a ca on
C tl g fB i
e o o n u es e
a a o B th
ue O S t d d C th r P bli ti
en z r ro ers
’
an ar a o
.

e u ca on s .

C tl g fS h B k
a a o ue O C t l g f Pr m i m B k
c oo oo s . a a o ue o e u oo s.
C tl g fP y B k
a a o ue o C t l g fLb ra [B k er oo s a a o ue o i ra n e s . oo s .

C t l g f I m p t d B k C t l g f L tm d Li t gi l
.
.

a a o ue o or e oo s . a a o ue o a an ur ca
A py f C th l i B k i E gl i h
co o
“
w i
a p i t Am i o c oo s n n s
”
no n r n
.

In e r ca
a d E
n p w i ll b
ur o t e i pt f 5 0 t B d e l th t se n on r e ce O ce n s . ou n In c o ,
i
c on ta i v ns titl s o d er v 3 00 i ll t ti f th e an o er u s ra on s o au o rs .

S ppl m
u t Wi ll b
e i en d f m tim t ti m t m k th
s t e ssu e ro e o e o a e e ca a
l g
o ue m pl te s p
as c o i bl d th e W ll b f m hed f ree f a o ss e, an e se i e ur s o
ch g to th ose o d e i n g C th l i c B o ks i n E n g l ish “ ”
ar e r r a o o .

11