Advice on how to avoid hell
THE NEED TO PERSEVERE
What to recommend to those who already observe the Law of God? Perseverance for good! It is not enough to have walked on the ways of the Lord, it is necessary to continue for life. Jesus says: "Whoever perseveres to the end will be saved" (Mk 13:13).
Many, as long as they are children, live in a Christian way, but when the hot youthful passions begin to be felt, they take the path of vice. How sad was the end of Saul, Solomon, Tertullian and other great characters!
Perseverance is the fruit of prayer, because it is mainly through prayer that the soul receives the help necessary to resist the assaults of the devil. In his book 'Of the great means of prayer' Saint Alphonsus writes: "Those who pray are saved, those who do not pray are damned." Who does not pray, even without the devil pushing him ... he goes to hell with his own feet!
We recommend the following prayer that St. Alphonsus inserted in his meditations on hell:
“O my Lord, behold at your feet who has taken your grace and your punishments into little account. Poor me if you, my Jesus, had no mercy on me! How many years would I have been in that burning chasm, where so many people like me already burn! O my Redeemer, how can we not burn with love thinking about this? How can I offend you in the future? Never be, my Jesus, rather let me die. While you have started, do your work in me. Let the time you give me spend it all for you. How much the damned would like to be able to have a day or even an hour of the time you allow me! And what will I do with it? Will I continue to spend it on things that disgust you? No, my Jesus, do not allow it for the merits of that Blood which has hitherto prevented me from ending up in hell. And You, Queen and my Mother, Mary, pray to Jesus for me and obtain for me the gift of perseverance. Amen."
THE HELP OF THE MADONNA
True devotion to Our Lady is a pledge of perseverance, because the Queen of Heaven and earth does everything she can to ensure that her devotees are not eternally lost.
May the daily recitation of the Rosary be dear to everyone!
A great painter, depicting the divine Judge in the act of issuing the eternal sentence, painted a soul now close to damnation, not far from the flames, but this soul, holding on to the crown of the Rosary, is saved by the Madonna. How powerful is the recitation of the Rosary!
In 1917 the Most Holy Virgin appeared to Fatima in three children; when he opened his hands a beam of light gushed that seemed to penetrate the earth. The children then saw, at the feet of the Madonna, like a great sea of fire and, immersed in it, black demons and souls in human form like transparent embers that, dragged upwards by the flames, fell down like sparks in the great fires, between despairing cries that horrified.
At this scene the visionaries raised their eyes to the Madonna to ask for help and the Virgin added: “This is hell where the souls of poor sinners end up. Recite the Rosary and add to each post: `My Jesus, forgive our sins, save us from the fire of hell and bring all souls to heaven, especially the most needy of your mercy:".
How eloquent is the heartfelt invitation of Our Lady!
MEDITATION IS NECESSARY
It is useful for everyone to meditate, the world goes wrong because it does not meditate, it no longer reflects!
Visiting a good family I met a sprightly old woman, calm and clear-headed despite over ninety years.
“Father, - he told me - when you listen to the confessions of the faithful, you recommend them to do some meditation every day. I remember that when I was young, my confessor often urged me to find some time for reflection every day. "
I replied: "In these times it is already difficult to convince them to go to Mass at the party, not to work, not to blaspheme, etc ...". And yet, how right that old lady was! If you do not take the good habit of reflecting a little every day you lose sight of the meaning of life, the desire for a deep relationship with the Lord is extinguished and, lacking this, you can not do anything or almost good and not there is the reason and the strength to avoid what is bad. Whoever meditates assiduously, it is almost impossible for him to live in disgrace of God and end up in hell.
THE THOUGHT OF HELL IS A POWERFUL LEVER
The thought of hell generates the Saints.
Millions of martyrs, having to choose between pleasure, wealth, honors ... and death for Jesus, have preferred the loss of life rather than going to hell, mindful of the words of the Lord: "What is the use of man to earn if the whole world loses its soul? " (cf. Mt 16:26).
Heaps of generous souls leave family and homeland to bring the light of the Gospel to infidels in distant lands. By doing this they better ensure eternal salvation.
How many religious also abandon the licit pleasures of life and give themselves to mortification, to more easily reach eternal life in paradise!
And how many men and women, married or not, although with many sacrifices, observe the Commandments of God and engage in works of apostolate and charity!
Who supports all these people in a loyalty and generosity certainly not easy? It is the thought that they will be judged by God and rewarded with heaven or chastised with eternal hell.
And how many examples of heroism we find in the history of the Church! A twelve-year-old girl, Santa Maria Goretti, let herself be killed rather than offended by God and damned. He tried to stop his rapist and murderer by saying, "No, Alexander, if you do this, go to hell!"
Saint Thomas Moro, the Great Chancellor of England, to his wife who urged him to yield to the order of the king, signing a decision against the Church, replied: "What are twenty, thirty, or forty years of comfortable life compared to 'hell?". He did not subscribe and was sentenced to death. Today he is holy.