Please don't think that I spend my free time dreaming up inventive punishments for others. (It's true that I did this as a boy, especially between the ages of 11 and 14, after which I discovered drugs.) In a second challenge, I invite readers to think of the punishments that they themselves might expect to undergo in hell.
St. Ignatius Loyola recommended something like this in his "Spiritual Exercises":
First prelude: This is the representation of place. Here it will be to see in imagination the length, breadth, and depth of Hell.
Second prelude: I will ask for what I desire. Here it will be to ask for a deep awareness of the pain suffered by the damned, so that if I should forget the love of the Eternal Lord, at least the fear of punishment will help me to avoid falling into sin.
First point: To see in imagination the great fires, and the souls enveloped, as it were, in bodies of fire.
Second point: To hear the wailing, the screaming, cries, and blasphemies against Christ our Lord and all His saints.
Third point: To smell the smoke, the brimstone, the corruption, and rottenness.
Fourth point: To taste bitter things, as tears, sadness, and remorse of conscience.
Fifth point: With the sense of touch to feel how the flames surround and burn souls.
Colloquy: Enter into a colloquy with Christ our Lord. Recall to mind the souls in hell. . . . Conclude with an ‘Our Father.’ (Anthony Mottola, trans. New York: Doubleday, 1964. pp. 59-60.)
Please note that the restrictions in the previous post apply.
Friday, August 8, 2008
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)

0 comments:
Post a Comment