On Hell

First Point - I have deserved hell. Oh, how this realization ought to animate me! Who would believe that the thought of hell could light up the love of God in our hearts. I have deserved hell as often as I have committed mortal sin, yet God has delivered me from this greatest of evils as often as I have repented. What gratitude then do I not owe God for having preserved me from so great a misfortune? If God could call one of the lost souls from hell and deliver it from its punishments, what an obligation would rest upon that soul! But does not this same obligation rest upon me, since God has so often delivered me from hell? How many there are who have been hurled into hell after one mortal sin? What mercy has He not shown to me! I know that I have not merited this mercy, and that I owe it entirely to God's bounty. How inexcusable then am I, if I am ungrateful for it.

Second Point - I have deserved hell. Oh, how this knowledge ought to excite me to penance! Truly I can say with holy Job, Hell is my house. (Job 17:13) I would be there at this moment if God had dealt justly with me. Yes, eternal torments would have been my portion, had not the blood of Christ cried louder for mercy than my crimes for vengeance. Should I hesitate, then, to submit to the penances which my confessor imposes on me; should I refuse the crosses that come to me from God, when I think of the eternal torments that I have so justly deserved? Any punishment ought to be acceptable in exchange for the eternal punishments of hell.

Third Point - I have deserved hell, and perhaps I still deserve it. Oh, how I should fear! How I should humble myself! How certain am I that I mav not yet fall into the avenging hands of God? I know not whether I be worthy of love or hatred. Even the greatest saints feared, and what should be my sentiments? Should not this uncertainty cause me fear and excite me to penance? Should I find delight in the vain and fleeting pleasures of the world? Is this becoming in one who is in danger of hell s fire? If it were necessary to cut myself off from the world, and to pass the remainder of my life in performing the most severe penances, so that I might be secure from the fear of hell, should I hesitate for a moment to do so? But that is not demanded. God asks me only to restrain a passion or to give up some pleasure. If I do not do as God commands me, how does my conduct accord with my faith?

When some cross or humiliation is laid upon you, say to yourself: What is this in comparison with the pains of hell which I have so often deserved?

Unless the Lord had been my helper, my soul had almost dwelt in hell. - 93:17

You fear vigils and fasts, but these are nothing to one who thinks of the pains of hell. - Saint Bernard of Clairvaux

- text taken from Meditations for Every Day in a Month, by Father François Nepveu