Three Saintly Experiences of Hell

The following is taken from Blessed Sister Faustina, Divine Mercy in My Soul: The Diary of Blessed Sister M. Faustina Kowalska (Stockbridge, MA: Marian Press, 1987) no. 741, pp. 296-297:

"Today I was led by an Angel to the chasms of hell. It is a place of great torture; how awesomely large and extensive it is! The kinds of tortures I saw: the first torture that constitutes hell is the loss of God; the second is perpetual remorse of conscience; the third is that one's condition will never change; the fourth is the fire that will penetrate the soul without destroying it --- a terrible suffering, since it is a purely spiritual fire, lit by God's anger; the fifth torture is continual darkness, the devils and the souls of the damned see each other and all the evil, both of others and their own; the sixth torture is the constant company of Satan; the seventh torture is horrible despair, hatred of God, vile words, curses and blasphemes. These are the tortures suffered by all the damned souls together, but that is not the end of sufferings.

There are special tortures destined for particular souls. These are the torments of the senses. Each soul undergoes terrible and indescribable sufferings, related to the manner in which it has sinned. There are caverns and pits of torture where one form of agony differs from another. I would have died at the very sight of these tortures if the omnipotence of God had not supported me. Let the sinner know that he will be tortured throughout all eternity, in those senses which he made use to sin. I am writing this at the command of God, so that no soul may find an excuse by saying there is no hell, or that nobody had even been there, and so no one can say what it is like.

I, Sister Faustina, by the order of God, have visited the abysses of hell so that I might tell souls about it and testify to its existence. I cannot speak about it now; but I have received a command from God to leave it in writing. The devils were full of hated for me, but they had to obey me at the command of God. What I have written is but a pale shadow of the things I saw. But I noticed one thing: that most of the souls there are those who disbelieved that there is a hell. When I came to, I could hardly recover from the fright. How terrible souls suffer there! Consequently, I pray even more fervently for the conversion of sinners. I incessantly plead God's mercy upon them. O my Jesus, I would rather be in agony until the end of the world, amidst the greatest sufferings, than offend You by the least sin."

Amidst thousands of alleged Marian apparitions which have occurred in the twentieth century, the apparition at Fatima (1917) has been officially approved as an authentic one by the Catholic Church [cf. Alan Schreck, The Compact History of the Catholic Church (Ann Arbor, Michigan: Servant Books, 1987) pp.151-153]. The following is taken from Rev. Sr. Lucia, Fatima in Lucia's Own Words: Sister Lucia's Memoirs, ed. Fr. Louis Kondor, SVD, trans. Dominican Nuns of Perpetual Rosary (Fatima, Portugal: Postulation Centre, 1976) [Imprimatur, Fatimae, 13 Maii 1976, Most Rev. Albertus, Episc. Leir]:

"'That Lady also said that many souls go to hell! What is hell, then?' 'It is like a big deep pit of wild beasts, with an enormous fire in it --- that's how my mother used to explain it to me --- and that's where people go who commit sins and don't confess them. They stay there and burn for ever!'" (Ibid., p.29)

"Our Lady showed us a great sea of fire which seemed to be under the earth. Plunged in this fire were demons and souls in human form, like transparent burning embers, all blackened or burnished bronze, floating about in the conflagration, now raised into the air by the flames that issued from within themselves together with great cloud of smoke, now falling back on every side like sparks in a huge fire, without weight or equilibrium, and amid shrieks and groans of pain and despair, which horrified us and made us tremble with fear. The demons could be distinguished by their terrifying and repellent likeness to frightful and unknown animals, all black and transparent. This vision lasted but an instant. How can we ever be grateful enough to our kind heavenly Mother, who had already prepared us by promising, in the first Apparition, to take us to heaven. Otherwise, I think we would have died of fear and terror.

We then looked up at Our Lady, who said to us so kindly and so sadly: 'You have seen hell where the souls of poor sinners go. To save them, God wishes to establish in the world devotion to my Immaculate Heart. If what I say to you is done, many souls will be saved and there will be peace. The war is going to end; but if people do not cease offending God, a worse one will break out during the pontificate of Pius XI. When you see a night illumined by an unknown light, know that this is the great sign given you by God that He is about to punish the world for its crimes, by means of war, famine, and persecutions of the Church and of the Holy Father.

To prevent this, I shall come to ask for the consecration of Russia to my Immaculate Heart, and the Communion of reparation on the First Saturdays. If my requests are heeded, Russia will be converted, and there will be peace; if not, she will spread her errors throughout the world, causing wars and persecutions of the Church. The good will be martyred; the Holy Father will have much to suffer; various nations will be annihilated. In the end, my Immaculate Heart will triumph. The Holy Father will consecrate Russia to me, and she will be converted, and a period of peace will be granted to the world.'" (Ibid., pp.108-109)

"The Most Blessed Virgin recommended to us the practice of mortification, and ended by saying: "Pray, pray very much, and make sacrifices for sinners; for many souls go to hell, because there are none to sacrifice themselves and to pray for them." (Ibid., p.77; p.171) "When you pray the Rosary, say after each mystery: O my Jesus, forgive us, save us from the fire of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are most in need." (Ibid., p.107; 167-169)

"The vision of hell filled her with horror to such a degree, that every penance and mortification was as nothing in her eyes, if it could only prevent souls from going there… How is it that Jacinta, small as she was, let herself be possessed by such a spirit of mortification and penance, and understood it so well? I think the reason is this: firstly, God willed to bestow on her a special grace, through the Immaculate Heart of Mary; and secondly, it was because she had looked upon hell, and had seen the ruin of souls who fall therein. Some people, even the most devout, refuse to speak to children about hell, in case it would frighten them. Yet God did not hesitate to show hell to three children, one of whom was only six years old, knowing well that they would be horrified to the point of, I would almost dare to say, withering away with fear."

"Jacinta often sat thoughtfully on the ground or on a rock, and exclaimed: 'Oh, Hell! Hell! How sorry I am for the souls who go to hell! And the people down there, burning alive, like wood in the fire!' Then, shuddering, she knelt down with her hands joined, and recited the prayer that Our Lady had taught her: 'O my Jesus! Forgive us, save us from the fire of hell. Lead all souls to heaven, especially those who are most in need.'" (Ibid., p.109).

"One day, I went to Jacinta's house to spend a little while with her. I found her sitting on her bed, deep in thought. 'Jacinta, what are you thinking about?' 'About the war that is coming . So many people are going to die, and almost all of them are going to hell! Many homes will be destroyed, and many priests will be killed. Look, I am going to heaven …'" (Ibid., p.113) [*Jacinta here in 1917 was referring to World War II (1939-1945) which Our Lady predicted.]