Saturday 17 May 2014

Ignatius' Inferno

The first thing Father Ignatius noticed as he entered hell is the total and absolute darkness of the place. Not the faintest glimmer of light shone in that bottomless abyss of intense void.

He tried hard to peer into the pitch-black darkness to make out something, but it was totally in vain. He could see nothing. Totally and completely nothing.

It was then that he noticed the full and utter silence which accompanied the extreme blackness of this place. Not a sound whatsoever. It was as if he had gone suddenly deaf. He rubbed his fingers in his ears and concentrated hard but silence reigned supreme. He clapped his hands together but heard nothing. He spoke to himself and could not hear his own voice.

Darkness and silence had partnered together and negated all the senses as he knew them. He could not smell anything whatsoever. No burning fires and brimstone, or the acrid smell of sulfur he’d expected in this place. He could feel no burning sensation and pain. No cries of help or gnashing of teeth.

In other words; hell was nothing.

Hell was a total void of everything physical as he’d experienced in his previous life.

Yet in this pure nothingness he felt a very powerful and intense feeling of extreme sadness. An overwhelming grief leading to desolation and desperation tormented his very soul.

A continuous sensation of sorrow and anguish filled the emptiness which was hell.

He sensed another soul there too. He could not make out who or where it was but it was there, somehow, sharing the void with him.

He felt a telepathic communication with this spirit in similar torment. Not in words, not in images, but in a mutual empathic sensation, as if the two were one.

He shared that soul’s torment which had lasted for … … … an eternity.

There seemed to be no beginning as to when that soul arrived in this eternal void, nor any prospect of when its terrible terrible suffering would end. The total and perfect hopelessness of this state of nothingness, this state of wretched emptiness, engulfed the forgotten soul consumed by its everlasting regrets.

For this lost soul constantly and interminably viewed and reviewed over and again its past life on earth; filled with memories best forgotten yet brought to mind with no respite. The inner pain from such memories tortured this forgotten soul left here all alone.

Father Ignatius shared with this soul the deep desire to weep bitterly for its past mistakes and its present solitary ordeal. But this was not possible, for there are no tears in hell. No matter how strong the desire to cry in profound regret, and so gain some temporary relief, this was not possible in a state of void. So the pain, sorrow and sadness built up within one’s soul and consumed it eternally from within; with no respite whatsoever.

And what is worse, is that the soul’s constant feelings of regret were persistently underlined by another sensation.

For it knew with unshakable certainty of the existence of God.

This tormented soul had been given, on entering hell, undoubted and unquestionable proof that God indeed exists. And somehow, it had witnessed His immeasurable and overwhelming love for His creations.

Yet the soul also knew, without a doubt, that for an interminable eternity, it would be totally excluded from that Fatherly, Divine love.

Father Ignatius realized that hell consisted of complete isolation with ones thoughts and regrets, and the sure knowledge that there will never be an end in sight. No light at the end of the tunnel. For there is no tunnel.

A permanent state of inner pain and sorrow, coupled with the knowledge that God’s love is for ever out of reach.

“What a terrible state of despair and hopelessness” thought Father Ignatius, “to know for certain that God exists; and to know of His love for us; yet to be excluded from that perfect love for ever. To remain here, in a state of total void, filled with past memories and regrets for deeds long past. Alone, in permanent thoughts of total and infinite exclusion!”

Father Ignatius woke up suddenly from his turbulent dream.

It was then that he heard in his head, clear as a bell, the words: “Go and warn all you get to meet not to come to this place!”

16 comments:

  1. Interesting--my concept of Hell is a place without God---so I suppose we are on the same wave length. Sadly many live in this very place here on this Earth.

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    1. Hi Lulu,

      How nice to see you visiting here. Thanx for taking the trouble to write in.

      Yes, I suppose hell is a place without God. And many in this life choose to live in this state.

      God bless you.

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    2. You are one of the first to win..'celebrating the joy of living in God: catholic writers' award'
      http://melaniejeanjuneau.wordpress.com/2014/05/17/a-new-catholic-writing-award/

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    3. Thank you so much Melanie for your kindness in nominating me for this Award. I really appreciate your support and encouragement.

      God bless.

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  2. Oh, that was actually scary. I could feel being there, and I didn't like it one bit. Lord have mercy for those who there.

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    1. Yes Manny. I suspect that having real proof of God's existance, and being excluded from His love, would be scary.

      God bless you.

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  3. Victor - you are so talented and this is such a powerful post. People think of hell as fire and brimstone, but this is, perhaps, even more scary. You have painted such a dismal place here ... I hope it scares people right into Heaven!

    God Bless you.

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    1. Thank you Michael for your kind words. Yes, I hope this scares people right into Heaven.

      God bless.

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  4. Very, very frightening to know that a place like this exists and that some souls end up there, Victor. Your story captures the utter desolation of hell quite well. Michael's right, this post is very powerful.

    God bless.

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    1. Thank you Mary. I thought it would describe the whole hopelessness of the place.

      I'm grateful for your continued visits and support.

      God bless you.

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  5. Hi Victor! That whole clapping thing and not hearing anything really got to me. Wow. What a terrifying place. And to 'sense' people there, but be completely unable to reach out. Or to cry? You really did a great job here Victor. This is a really great description of nothingness. Which is what we are without God.

    Congrats on the award from Melanie Jean too :)
    Ceil

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    1. Thank you Ceil for your good wishes and congratulations. I really don't deserve any awards.

      I tried here to describe hell as a nothingness with continuous replay of past sins; and being for ever without God. I wish more people would raed this and beware.

      Thank you for your continuous support and encouragement Ceil. God bless you and yours.

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  6. ((( A permanent state of inner pain and sorrow, coupled with the knowledge that God’s love is for ever out of reach. )))

    Dear Victor #!, you really are a great writer and reading this post reminded me of my so called last nervous breakdown about twenty-five years ago where I had been sent to a mental hospital for a two day weekend stay because I had not been able to sleep for about a week. Long story short, Father Ignatius has got to stop reading my mind cause he's come pretty close to describing the Hell that I was in at the time. Anyway back then, all of my brain cells blindly promised GOD (Good Old Dad) that we would stay in that hell for a week and if things were not better after "Seven Days" then plans had been taken to hang this body UP High. Longer story shorter, after going to our Catholic church everyday and receiving The Body and Blood of Christ and with my blessed mother's daily blessings "I" was reborn, "I" mean myself again on The Third Day.

    There's is one true story that I will share with your readers which should have been recorded by our good Bishop and that happened as "I" was searching for GOD (Good Old Dad) and truth be known "I" honestly believe that I'll never find Him in this life time.

    As a Christian, I've been pretty lazy but remember that I am only flesh, blood, bones and not an angel as we Christians may have heard about them...

    Anyway! I had heard that a friend of mine who I had literally thrown out of my kingdom, "I" mean our house for being nutty, "I" mean daughty and so being on his own, he got sucked into believing other invisible angels and "I" can't tell YAS if they were good and/or bad angels cells but this man was sentenced to a month in a mental hospital where I had served a few prior terms myself simply because I was not understood. :(

    As I was about to say! As a Christian, I had to pay this man who was down and out a visit and he had been in there for at least two weeks by now and so I put my fears away and went to this hospital. When I got there, there seem to be no guards around and what was even stranger is that I had always gotten lost in that place but longer story short, "I" eventually found myself in front of my brother and no guards had spoken to me once. Longer story shorter, when he asked me what I was doing here, "I" jokingly said, "I've come to take you home" and he looked me in the eyes and said in so many words, "IT" is ok! I've only got two weeks left so I'm going to stick "IT" out and so I left without him. (God Bless his soul.)

    I kind of hate to say this but NO! "I" was not dreaming at the time. Well! At least "I" don't think "I" was! LOL :)

    Keep UP the good works and words and please don't ever stop praying for little old Victor. :)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5SrqO3flDd0

    God Bless Peace


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  7. I am praying now and will continue to pray for you.

    God bless you and yours.

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  8. Thank you for your kindness and God bless you and yours also.

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I PRAY FOR ALL WHO COMMENT HERE.

God bless you.