Hell: the means we have to avoid eternal flames

THE MEANS WE HAVE TO NOT END IN 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!

WEAK WILL

The thought of hell is especially beneficial to those who limp in the practice of the Christian life and are very weak of will. They easily fall into mortal sin, get up for a few days and then ... go back to sin. I'm a day of God and the other day of the devil. These brothers remember the words of Jesus: "No servant can serve two masters" Lk 16:13). Normally it is the impure vice that tyrannizes this category of people; they do not know how to control the gaze, they do not have the strength to dominate the affections of the heart, or to give up illicit entertainment. Those who live like this live on the brink of hell. What if God cuts off life when the soul is in sin?

"Hopefully this misfortune won't happen to me," says someone. Others said so too ... but then they ended badly.

Another thinks: "I will put myself in a good will in a month, in a year, or when I am old." Are you sure of tomorrow? Don't you see how the sudden deaths are constantly increasing?

Someone else tries to deceive himself: "Just before death I will fix everything." But how do you expect God to use you deathbed mercy after having abused his mercy all your life? What if you miss the chance?

To those who reason in this way and live in the most serious danger of falling to hell, in addition to attending the Sacraments of Confession and Communion, it is recommended ...

1) Watch carefully, after Confession, not to commit the first serious fault. If you fall ... get up immediately resorting again to Confession. If you do not do this, you will easily fall a second time, a third time ... and who knows how many more!

2) To flee the near opportunities of serious sin. The Lord says: "Whoever loves danger in it will be lost" (Sir 3:25). A weak will, in the face of danger, easily falls.

3) In temptations, think: “Is it worth it, for a moment of pleasure, to risk an eternity of suffering? It is Satan who tempts me, to snatch me from God and take me to hell. I don't want to fall into his trap! ”.

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.

POOR GAUDENT!

In earthly life, good and bad live together as the wheat and the weeds are in the same field, but at the end of the world humanity will be divided into two ranks, that of the saved and that of the damned. The Divine Judge will then solemnly confirm the sentence given to each one immediately after death.

With a little imagination, let's try to imagine the appearance before God of a bad soul, who will feel the sentence of condemnation on him. In a flash it will be judged.

Joyful life ... freedom of the senses ... sinful amusements ... total or almost indifference towards God ... derision of eternal life and especially of hell ... In a flash, death truncates the thread of his existence when he least expects it.

Freed from the bonds of earthly life, that soul is immediately in front of Christ the Judge and fully understands that she deceived herself during life ...

- Well, there is another life! ... How foolish I was! If I could go back and make up for the past! ...

- Tell me, my creature, of what you have done in life. - But I didn't know I had to submit to a moral law.

- I, your Creator and Supreme Lawgiver, I ask you: What have you done with my Commandments?

- I was convinced that there was no other life or that, in any case, everyone would be saved.

- If everything ended with death, I, your God, would have made myself man in vain and in vain I would have died on a cross!

- Yes, I have heard of this, but I have not given it weight; to me it was superficial news.

- Didn't I give you the intelligence to know me and love me? But you preferred to live like beasts ... headless. Why did you not imitate the conduct of my good disciples? Why didn't you love me while you were on earth? You have consumed the time I have given you in pursuit of pleasures ... Why have you never thought about hell? If you had done so, you would have honored and served me, if not out of love at least out of fear!

- So, for me there is hell? ...

- Yes, and for all eternity. Even the rich man I told you about in the Gospel did not believe in hell ... yet he ended up in it. The same fate is yours!… Go, cursed soul, into the eternal fire!

In a moment the soul is at the bottom of the abyss, while his corpse is still warm and the funeral is being prepared ... "Damn me! For the joy of a moment, which has vanished like lightning, I will have to burn in this fire, far from God, forever! If I hadn't cultivated those dangerous friendships ... If I had prayed more, if I had received the Sacraments more often ... I wouldn't be in this place of extreme torments! Damn pleasures! Cursed goods! I trampled on justice and charity to get some wealth ... Now others enjoy it and I have to pay here for all eternity. I acted crazy!

I was hoping to save myself, but I didn't have time to put myself back in favor. The fault was mine. I knew I could be damned, but I preferred to keep on sinning. The curse falls on those who gave me the first scandal. If I could come back to life ... how would my behavior change! "

Words ... words ... words ... Too late now ... !!!

Hell is a death without death, an endless end.

(St. Gregory the Great)