By:Jose Ma. Bonifacio M.

Escoda

Hell and Purgatory

Has anybody ever gone to Heaven, Hell and Purgatory and come back? Unknown to many, including Roman Catholic nuns, priests and lay evangelists and skeptics, there have been a selected men and women mystics who, through visions and astral travels, have witnessed these places. A bulk of such accounts, all authenticated by the Catholic Church, are now found in the nineteenth-century book Purgatory by Rev. F. Schouppe S. J., Divine Mercy in My Soul (spiritual diary of St. Faustina Kowalska). The most recount account can be found in The Mist of Mercy, one of the several books written by an Irish visionary and lay spiritual worker, Anne. (Anne, who was invited by a Catholic organization led by Ambassador Howard Dee, visited and spoke in PICC and Christ the King, Green Meadows, Q.C.) and Cebu three years ago.) Hells and Purgatorys Location These mystics all pointed out that Purgatory and Hell are located underneath the earths surface. During their astral travels, they were accompanied by a spirit guide, referred by some believers as angels. They were able to describe the difference between Hell and Purgatory and the different torture chambers and diverse torments existing in Hell and Purgatory. Purgatory Existence of Purgatory is one of the dogmas of the Catholic Church. It is based on several passages from the Bibles Old and New Testament (all published in a recent magazine Know the Truth published in Manila, www.knowthetruthjesus.com.) which some non-Catholic church leaders failed to read or interpret. Saint Mary Faustina (1905-1938, canonized last April 30, 2000), during her lifetime was given the grace to visit Heaven, Hell and Purgatory. She vividly described Purgatory in Divine Mercy in My Soul as a misty place and full of fire The souls were praying fervently; but to no avail of themselves; only we come to their aid. The flames which were burning them did not touch me at all. My Guardian Angel did not leave me for an instant. I asked the souls what their suffering was and they all answered me in one voice that they greatest torment was longing for God. Before leaving the place, she heard the Lord telling her: My mercy does not want this but justice demands it. A few centuries before St. Fautinas time, the Lord handed down a

prayer to St. Gertrude that releases one thousand souls from Purgatory each time it is said.(It is aired by NBN 4 before and in daily and Sunday masses in the Divine Mercy Channel.) In 1937, when the Lord handed to her the particular souls to be lifted up in the nine-day novena. He dedicated the eight day for the souls in Purgatory. Incidentally, a number of well-known Saints who lived from the th 12 to 19th century had also visited Purgatory and Hell.(All compiled in a book Purgatory by the late Rev F.X. Schoupe S.J., 1890 ) A number of these Saints saw the three levels of Purgatory. Souls who are consecrated to God, like priests and nuns are purified in the second level. One of the Saints was informed by her Guardian Angel that priests and nuns who lead a life of ease and comfort are chastised in the second level. One of them saw her parish priest and a nun here. The parish priest who led an ideal life was being chastised for indulging too much in food and for his bad temper while the nun for being attached to their convents furniture. Purgatory, in some cases, souls are chastised in the particular place where the souls committed their errors during their lifetime. St. Thomas Aquinas, a noted theologian and Doctor of the Roman Catholic Church, after some encounters with souls on earth, wrote that some souls are purified in the exact place where they had reluctantly served God or committed their errors while they were still alive. This is after he encountered spirit a former priest who was chained near the Church building where during his lifetime had presided the masses half-heartedly. Saint Faustina Kowalska and lay apostle Anne saw the Virgin Mary consoling the souls in Purgatory. Anne saw the Virgin reminding those in the deepest and most horrifying place that God loves them too and encourage them to be more patient. According to her, the location of the worst place of Purgatory was a hairs breath away from Hell. St. Lydwina of Schieddam described its location as the place bordering Hell. This place is a pit full of fire and souls are burning like incandescent lamps. Anne, using a language of these modern times, mentioned that this is the place occupied by great sinners who only repented before they died. She saw a fortune teller, a mother who aborted her child. According to her, this place reserved for world political leaders who committed bloody errors with their decisions. Anne, in The Mist of Mercy, wrote that souls in Purgatory were surrounded by a certain mist that prevented them of seeing the sins the other souls had committed. According to her, souls in Purgatory

can not see those in Heaven who visit them and pray for them but can feel their presence. The souls in Purgatory can pray for those on earth but not for themselves. The masses and prayers and sacrifices offered by the living on earth are felt and appreciated by the suffering souls in Purgatory as it shortens their stay in Purgatory. The last stage in Purgatory serves as a departure area to heaven. It appears to be the most comfortable one. This departure area is described as a vast garden with plants and creeks and a bridge where the relative of the soul who is in Heaven meets them. In one occasion, Anne saw a mother who was welcomed by the child she aborted. During their first reunion, the mother was weeping as she said sorry for depriving him of living in earth. (Incidentally this portion was written before Pope Benedict XVI, erased the belief about Limbo.) According to other Saints in Father Schoupes book all claimed that the senses that have caused one to sin are purified through various kinds of tortures.

Hells

Location and Torments

Saint Faustina, the Irish visionary Ann and the Saints in Father Schoupes book all pointed that Hell lies underneath earths surface, next to the most horrible torture chambers of Purgatory. Saint Faustina in her spiritual diary recounts Hell as a horrible place of torture, filled with souls who refused to believe in its existence. In Father Schouppes book, several saints saw the souls of liars, murderers, fornicators, adulterers, fortune tellers, sorcerers, political leaders and other great sinners who died without repenting for their sins. Other Saints have mentioned that Hell, like Purgatory, have the so-called torture of senses. They were informed by their Angels that the part of the body that led the souls to sin while they were on earth are severely tortured in the Purgatory and Hell. St. Faustinas astral travel to Hell increased her desire to spread the devotion to the Divine Mercy and urged to pray and do mortification for the conversion of sinners. She wrote in her spiritual diary: let the sinner know that he will be tortured throughout eternity, in those senses which he has used to sin. I am writing this down at the command of God, so no soul may find an excuse by saying that there is no Hell, or that nobody has ever gone there, and so no one can say what it is like.

The shocking statements of many visionaries asserting the existence of the torture of senses is actually biblical. The Book of Wisdom, 11:17, states: By what things a man sinneth, by the same also is he tormented.

Seven kinds of torture in Hell Saint Faustina, in her six-hundred page spiritual diary (Divine Mercy in My Soul, declared by the late Pope John Paul II as Word of God during her canonization in 2000) entry 741, page 296-297, mentioned the seven tortures in Hell. The first torture that constitutes Hell is the loss of God; the second is perpetual remorse of conscience; third is that ones condition will never change; the fourth is the fire that penetrates the soul without destroying ita terrible feeling, since it is a purely spiritual fire lit by Gods anger; the fifth torture = is continual darkness and terrible suffocating smell, and despite the devils and the souls of the damned see each other; the sixth torture =is the constant company of Satan; and the seventh = is that hell is full of horrible despair, hatred of God, vile words, curses and blasphemies. Anne describes in her book, that the horrible looking devils, have eyes that are reddish in color. These devils, with eagerness, grab the latest arrivals in hell and with great anger and force pound the new arrivals with terrible blows. This Irish visionary, who is in her early fifties, teaches Mathematics in Ireland. In all her visits to Hell, Anne, was happy she didnt see any of her relatives there. In one occasion, though inner locutions, the Lord explained to her that great sinners related to righteous souls who faithfully served Him in their lifetime are given a special grace that allows them to repent before expiring. Instead of going to hell they go to the deepest chambers of Purgatory located near close to Hell. The promise can be found in the New Testament of the Holy Bible, Acts 16. Prayer for Souls Prayer handed down by the Lord to St. Gertrude that releases 1000 souls from Purgatory each time said: Eternal Father, I offer Thee, the Most Precious Blood of they Divine Son Jesus, in union with all the masses said today for the Holy souls in Purgatory, for sinner everywhere, for sinners in the Universal Church, those within my home and family.

Truly the Lord with His mercy, based on some lines in Divine Mercy in My Soul, is beyond the comprehension even by Saints and Angels in Heaven, does not want even great sinners to go to hell and Purgatory. The devotion to the Divine mercy, described by the Marian Fathers as a preparation for the end times appears to be an easy but last and card for the salvation of man. The part in the diary which shows the Lord does not want people to suffer the pains of Purgatory or go to Hell can be traced in several entries in the St. Faustinas spiritual diary where the Feast of mercy was mentioned. Here the Lord gave an extraordinary grace during the Feast to His Mercy (every first Sunday after Easter- now an official Feast in the Church). He promised that the souls that will repent, do works of mercy before or during the Feast, go to confession (Church allows even 5 days before the Feast provided it does not commit mortal sin) and receive Holy Communion during the Feast of Mercy will obtain complete pardon of sins and punishment.