03-20-2021, 07:24 PM
Chapter V
Lucifer's judgment. - The general torments of hell. - The blasphemies of the damned
When the demon charged with tempting a soul during its earthly life has succeeded in causing it to die in the state of mortal sin, and has led it, with many of its companions of iniquity, to the threshold of hell, amid insults, swearing, reproaches and ill-treatment, all more cruel than the other, he lifts it up, all torn, trembling and seized with an unnamed anguish, and throws it, head down, into the dragon's mouth, which is always open.
It is immediately swallowed, absorbed, digested and leaves at once from its stomach. It is immediately seized by devils in charge of this job and presented to Lucifer.
Its terror is extreme. As soon as it arrives before the king in chains, it begins to suffer from the fire that comes out of the body of the infernal prince through a great number of places.
Satan looks at this soul, examines it and judges it; and his satellites appointed to this function take this wretched away to the place assigned to it according to the sins it committed on earth.
They carry it away by mocking it in such an inhuman way, by striking it with such rage, and by inspiring it with such terrible fear, in recounting this journey through the darkness of the abyss, Saint Frances of Rome wept in compassion.
This wretched soul is not led in the blink of an eye to the place assigned to it for its punishment. On the contrary, it only arrives after a long and painful journey.
The three parts of hell are in fact separated by immense spaces filled with deep darkness and terrible torments. The reprobate passes through them in torment, in the middle of a night full of sobs, curses and blasphemies.
Not all damned souls are thrown into the dragon's mouth. Some are thrown directly into the abyss upside down, because all fall in the same way, and stop in front of the chained prince.
Immediately they are tormented by the fire that comes out of Lucifer and judged by him. After that, the evil spirits designated for this job carry them, amid cruel torture, to the place assigned to them by the king of hell.
But since these souls have only committed ordinary sins, they are placed in the upper abode of the abyss. Where there are also many demons in the form of poisonous snakes, toads and other horrible wild beasts.
The outcasts are tormented by Satan's own eyes and by the fire that comes out of them. This torment is in addition to the one they endure as a result of the general fire that fills this first residence.
The souls who receive their punishment in this place are the souls of Jews who have not committed too great a crime, and those of Christians who have neglected to confess, and through this neglect have died without having received the sacraments.
The general punishments endured by the damned are those of fire, cold and infection from the infernal fires; those of darkness, blasphemy and despair also.
The dwellings of the abyss are constantly resounding, without any break, with cries of rage and horrible shouts. All those who are immersed in it do not stop for a moment cursing the name of God. They blaspheme Him with as much injustice and persistence as if they had always received from Him only countless evils and never any benefit.
They insult all the mysteries of the Most Holy Humanity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, and, even because of this black ingratitude, the wretched are severely punished.
Just as the souls who enjoy perpetually the eternal glory express thanks and praise to God for having created them and all things; for having saved them through the mysteries of the Redeemer's life and for having filled them with so many graces and favors; so too, do the souls who are punished for their crimes in the eternal night curse the Most High precisely for the causes for which they should rather praise and bless Him.
They also throw their powerless insults at Him because of the infinite pain of their distress, impossible to understand in its awful horror.
Some of them particularly curse the mystery of the Circumcision, and others that of the Epiphany. These blaspheme the most Holy Baptism of the Savior, and those His penance and fasting in the desert.
The sacred drama of the Passion, the triumphs of the Resurrection and the Ascension, the descent of the Holy Ghost on the day of Pentecost are objects of curses for others of these miserable ingrates.
Thus, they blaspheme and curse all the admirable operations that the Lord performed for our redemption and salvation, and they do so because they have shown themselves, in their earthly life, to be ungrateful to so many great benefits that had been granted to them.
But they also blaspheme and curse with even deeper despair, with even greater rage the Queen of Heaven and the blessed hour when, in the counsel of the Divinity, She was chosen to be the Mother of the Most High; and they do so because they know that, if the Son of God had not made Himself man, they would not be condemned to such cruel torments.
Their vigorous speeches, which never cease, are pushed with such fury, rage and despair, that if the outcasts did not suffer other sorrows, they would experience almost infinite sorrows from that one alone. But they endure others, both general and particular, according to the sins they committed.
Each damned person constantly has at his side two demons who are specially constituted as his executioners.
The first strikes him, tears him apart and tortures him tirelessly in a thousand ways.
The second one addresses him, without stopping for a single minute, with reproaches and mockery. He reminds him of the misdeeds of which he is guilty, his consent to the first evil thoughts he suggested, his obedience to the perverse advice he whispered to him in his ear, in a word all his offenses against his Creator.
He also reminds him, in the same way, of the good deeds he could have done while he lived on earth, and which he did not do.
All the reprobates carry in their minds an insatiable worm that gnaws at them all the time, with more or less determination. This pain, distinct from the others, is called the remorse of the conscience. It joins the reproaches of the demon in charge of insulting every damned soul.
From this incessant examination and these memories, along with these outrages and mockeries, the reprobate feels very great pain. They are no less than those he experiences from the blows of the other demon whose function is to strike him. This is the cause for which he shouts and blasphemes with such rage.
These rules are constant in hell and weigh on all souls, in particular; but although each one has two demons especially attached to it and who are its executioners, it is, however, still tormented by all the other evil spirits in a general way.