Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on HELL, QUOTES on MORTAL SIN, QUOTES on SANCTITY, The LAST THINGS

Thought for the Day – 27 September – Hell!

Thought for the Day – 27 September – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

HELL!

“In whatever you do, remember your last days and you will never sin.” (Eccl 7:36)

“The meditation considered, by the masters of the spiritual life, to be the most useful for rousing the soul from sin, or from a state of torpor, is that on the last things, in other words, on what will happen to us at the end of life.
Amongst these last things, hell is the most terrifying.
Yet, if the mercy of God did not sustain us, we could fall into hell at any moment.
St John Chrysostom meditated on hell everyday.
All the Saints have found in this meditation, the first steps on the way to perfection.
Remember, that a single mortal sin, would merit hell for us!
In that moment, the sinner could have been already hurled into the abyss of torments.
Let us imagine, that we are there …. and, that the goodness and mercy of God has released us from those everlasting, all-devouring flames.   If this should happen, all the sacrifices, which virtue demands, would seem so easy and pleasant.
How ready we should be to do anything, sooner than return to that chasm of eternal sorrow!”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on HELL

Thought for the Day – 12 January – HELL 2

Thought for the Day – 12 January – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

HELL 2

“In that place of never-ending suffering, there will be three punishments to torture us.
There will be the worm of conscience which does not die – “Their worm dies not” (Mk 9:43).
This is the awful realisation that we could have saved ourselves but are lost for all eternity; that God gave us so many graces and we damned ourselves by abusing them.
Now, there is no longer any remedy because the Mercy of God has been succeeded once and for all, by His Justice!

In the second place, there is fire.
This is a real fire but altogether different from the material fire we know in this world which was created by God for our benefit and service.
The fire of hell, on the other hand, was created by Divine Justice, purely to punish us.
It is a special kind of fire which tortures body and soul and the rebel angels, as well as damned human beings.
It could be called, discerning, insofar, as it torments more or less mercilessly, according to the gravity of the sin.
These flames embrace every evil and exclude every good.
They are flames which will never be extinguished, flames which burn but do not consume, flames without light, dark and accompanied by the shrieking of eternal despair.
The very thought of this horrible dungeon of torments should spur us onto begin immediately, a life of virtue and Christian perfection!

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

PART ONE:
https://anastpaul.com/2022/01/12/thought-for-the-day-12-january-hell-1/

Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES on DEATH, QUOTES on HELL, QUOTES on MEDITATION, QUOTES on MORTAL SIN, QUOTES on SIN, The LAST THINGS

Thought for the Day – 12 January – HELL 1

Thought for the Day – 12 January – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)

HELL 1

“In whatever you do, remember your last days and you will never sin.” (Eccl 7:36)

“The meditation considered, by the masters of the spiritual life, to be the most useful for rousing the soul from sin, or from a state of torpor, is that on the last things, in other words, on what will happen to us at the end of life.
Amongst these last things, hell is the most terrifying.
Yet, if the mercy of God did not sustain us, we could fall into hell at any moment.
St John Chrysostom meditated on hell everyday.
All the Saints have found in this meditation, the first steps on the way to perfection.
Remember, that a single mortal sin, would merit hell for us!
In that moment, the sinner could have been already hurled into the abyss of torments.
Let us imagine, that we are there …. and, that the goodness and mercy of God has released us from those everlasting, all-devouring flames.   If this should happen, all the sacrifices, which virtue demands, would seem so easy and pleasant.
How ready we should be to do anything, sooner than return to that chasm of eternal sorrow!”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci

Posted in MEDITATIONS - ANTONIO CARD BACCI, QUOTES - J R R Tolkien and MORE, QUOTES on ETERNAL LIFE, QUOTES on HELL, QUOTES on MORTAL SIN, The LAST THINGS, The WORD

Thought for the Day – 13 January – HELL 1

Thought for the Day – 13 January – Meditations with Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971) – Monday of the First week in Ordinary Time, Year A

HELL 1

remember that a singel mortal sin - bacci - hell 1 13 jan 2020

“In whatever you do, remember your last days and you will never sin.” (Eccl 7:36)

“The meditation considered, by the masters of the spiritual life, to be the most useful for rousing the soul from sin, or from a state of torpor, is that on the last things, in other words, on what will happen to us at the end of life.
Amongst these last things, hell is the most terrifying.
Yet, if the mercy of God did not sustain us, we could fall into hell at any moment.
St John Chrysostom meditated on hell everyday.
All the Saints have found in this meditation, the first steps on the way to perfection.
Remember, that a single mortal sin, would merit hell for us.
In that moment, the sinner could have been already hurled into the abyss of torments.
Let us imagine, that we are there …. and, that the goodness and mercy of God has released us from those everlasting, all-devouring flames.   If this should happen, all the sacrifices, which virtue demands, would seem so easy and pleasant.
How ready we should be to do anything, sooner than return to that chasm of eternal sorrow!”

Antonio Cardinal Bacci (1881-1971)