Reflection #29
The Pain of Having Lost God
Is that Which Constitutes Hell
The Pain of Having Lost God
Is that Which Constitutes Hell
The grievousness of punishment must correspond to the grievousness of sin. Mortal sin is defined by theologians in a single phrase: "a turning away from God"--turning one's back upon God. And in that consists the malice of mortal sin. It consists in despising the divine grace and in being willing of one's own accord to lose God, the Supreme Good; wherefore, justly the greatest punishment of sinners in Hell is the pain of having lost God.
The other pains of Hell are also great: the devouring fire, the blinding darkness, the deafening shrieks of the damned, the stench which would cause those miserable beings to die (if die they could), the confinement which oppresses and stifles them. But these pains are nothing in comparison to the loss of God. In Hell the reprobate weeps eternally, and the bitterest subject of their weeping is the thought that, through their own fault, they have lost God.
And, O God, how great is the good they have lost! In this life, the present objects, the passions, the temporal occupations, the sensible pleasures and the adverse events, hinder us from contemplating the infinite beauty and goodness of God. But when the soul has departed from the prison-house of the body, it does not indeed instantly behold God as He is, for if it saw Him, it would be instantly happy. But it knows that God is an infinite good, infinitely beautiful and worthy of infinite love, hence the soul, which is created to see and love this God, desires to go and unite itself at once with God; but being in sin, it finds an impenetrable wall (which precisely its sin), which forever closes against it the way which leads to God. O Lord, I thank Thee that this life is not yet ended for me, as I have deserved. I can still come to Thee. "Cast me not away from Thy face." (Psalms 50:13). Oh, drive me not away.
The soul, which is created to love its Creator, cannot but find itself impelled by its nature to love its Last End, which is God. In this life, the darkness of sin and earthly affections lull to sleep this inclination which it has to unite itself to God, and therefore it is not greatly afflicted at seeing itself separated from Him; but when it leaves the body and is delivered from the senses, then it sees in clear light that God alone can satisfy it. Hence, as soon as it is set free from the body, immediately it flies to embrace its Supreme Good; but being in sin, it will find itself thrust back by God as an enemy. But though driven away, it will not cease to feel itself ever drawn to unite itself with God; and this will be its hell--to find itself ever drawn toward God and always driven away from God.
Oh, if only the miserable soul which has lost God and can never more see Him could at least find some comfort in loving Him! But no, for having been abandoned by grace and having become the slave of its sin, its will is perverted; hence, on the one side, it will find itself ever drawn to love God, and on the other, it will feel itself constrained to hate Him. Thus, at the same time that it knows that God is worthy of infinite love and praise, it hates Him and curses Him.
Yet perhaps it might in this prison of torments at least resign itself to the Divine Will, as holy souls do in Purgatory, and bless the hand of that God who justly scourges it. But no, it cannot resign itself because, to do this, the assistance of grace is necessary. But grace (as has been said) has abandoned it; hence, it cannot unite its will to that of God, because its own will is altogether contrary to the Divine Will.
Thus also, it comes to pass that the wretched soul turns all its hatred upon itself and thus will live forever, torn by contrary desires. It would wish to live, it would desire to die. On the one hand, it would live, in order to always to hate God, who is the object of its greatest hatred; on the other, it would die, in order not to feel the pain it endures for having lost Him. But it sees that it cannot die. Hence, it will live forever in one continual agony of death. Let us pray God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, to preserve us from Hell; and he especially ought to pray thus who at any time in his life, has lost God through any grievous sin.
O Lord (let him say), save me, and therefore bind me to Thee ever more by Thy holy love; redouble these holy and sweet chains of salvation, that they may ever bind me more firmly to Thee. Wretch that I am, by despising Thy grace I have deserved to be forever separated from Thee, my Sovereign Good, and hate Thee forever! I thank Thee for having borne with me when I was at enmity with Thee; what would have become of me if I had then died? But since Thou hast prolonged my life, grant that I may not use it any more to displease Thee, but only to love Thee, and to weep over the offenses I have committed against Thee. O my Jesus, from this day forth Thou shalt be my only Love, and my only fear shall be no other than that I should offend Thee and separate myself from Thee. But if Thou dost aid me not, I can do nothing; I hope in Thy Blood, that Thou wilt give me help to be all Thine, O my Redeemer, my Love, my All.
O Mary, great advocate of sinners, help a sinner who recommends himself to thee and trusts in thee.
If we would be assured of not losing God, let us give ourselves in earnest wholly to God. He that does not give himself wholly to God is ever in danger of turning his back upon Him and of losing Him, but a soul which resolutely detaches itself from everything and gives itself all to God loses Him no more, because God Himself will not allow that a soul which has heartily given itself completely to Him should turn its back upon Him afterwards and perish. Wherefore, a great servant of God was accustomed to say that, when we read of the fall of certain persons who had before given tokens of living a holy life, we must conclude that such persons had not given themselves completely to God.
[Excepted from 'Devout Reflections and Meditations' by St. Alphonsus Liguori] (Public domain)
The other pains of Hell are also great: the devouring fire, the blinding darkness, the deafening shrieks of the damned, the stench which would cause those miserable beings to die (if die they could), the confinement which oppresses and stifles them. But these pains are nothing in comparison to the loss of God. In Hell the reprobate weeps eternally, and the bitterest subject of their weeping is the thought that, through their own fault, they have lost God.
And, O God, how great is the good they have lost! In this life, the present objects, the passions, the temporal occupations, the sensible pleasures and the adverse events, hinder us from contemplating the infinite beauty and goodness of God. But when the soul has departed from the prison-house of the body, it does not indeed instantly behold God as He is, for if it saw Him, it would be instantly happy. But it knows that God is an infinite good, infinitely beautiful and worthy of infinite love, hence the soul, which is created to see and love this God, desires to go and unite itself at once with God; but being in sin, it finds an impenetrable wall (which precisely its sin), which forever closes against it the way which leads to God. O Lord, I thank Thee that this life is not yet ended for me, as I have deserved. I can still come to Thee. "Cast me not away from Thy face." (Psalms 50:13). Oh, drive me not away.
The soul, which is created to love its Creator, cannot but find itself impelled by its nature to love its Last End, which is God. In this life, the darkness of sin and earthly affections lull to sleep this inclination which it has to unite itself to God, and therefore it is not greatly afflicted at seeing itself separated from Him; but when it leaves the body and is delivered from the senses, then it sees in clear light that God alone can satisfy it. Hence, as soon as it is set free from the body, immediately it flies to embrace its Supreme Good; but being in sin, it will find itself thrust back by God as an enemy. But though driven away, it will not cease to feel itself ever drawn to unite itself with God; and this will be its hell--to find itself ever drawn toward God and always driven away from God.
Oh, if only the miserable soul which has lost God and can never more see Him could at least find some comfort in loving Him! But no, for having been abandoned by grace and having become the slave of its sin, its will is perverted; hence, on the one side, it will find itself ever drawn to love God, and on the other, it will feel itself constrained to hate Him. Thus, at the same time that it knows that God is worthy of infinite love and praise, it hates Him and curses Him.
Yet perhaps it might in this prison of torments at least resign itself to the Divine Will, as holy souls do in Purgatory, and bless the hand of that God who justly scourges it. But no, it cannot resign itself because, to do this, the assistance of grace is necessary. But grace (as has been said) has abandoned it; hence, it cannot unite its will to that of God, because its own will is altogether contrary to the Divine Will.
Thus also, it comes to pass that the wretched soul turns all its hatred upon itself and thus will live forever, torn by contrary desires. It would wish to live, it would desire to die. On the one hand, it would live, in order to always to hate God, who is the object of its greatest hatred; on the other, it would die, in order not to feel the pain it endures for having lost Him. But it sees that it cannot die. Hence, it will live forever in one continual agony of death. Let us pray God, through the merits of Jesus Christ, to preserve us from Hell; and he especially ought to pray thus who at any time in his life, has lost God through any grievous sin.
O Lord (let him say), save me, and therefore bind me to Thee ever more by Thy holy love; redouble these holy and sweet chains of salvation, that they may ever bind me more firmly to Thee. Wretch that I am, by despising Thy grace I have deserved to be forever separated from Thee, my Sovereign Good, and hate Thee forever! I thank Thee for having borne with me when I was at enmity with Thee; what would have become of me if I had then died? But since Thou hast prolonged my life, grant that I may not use it any more to displease Thee, but only to love Thee, and to weep over the offenses I have committed against Thee. O my Jesus, from this day forth Thou shalt be my only Love, and my only fear shall be no other than that I should offend Thee and separate myself from Thee. But if Thou dost aid me not, I can do nothing; I hope in Thy Blood, that Thou wilt give me help to be all Thine, O my Redeemer, my Love, my All.
O Mary, great advocate of sinners, help a sinner who recommends himself to thee and trusts in thee.
If we would be assured of not losing God, let us give ourselves in earnest wholly to God. He that does not give himself wholly to God is ever in danger of turning his back upon Him and of losing Him, but a soul which resolutely detaches itself from everything and gives itself all to God loses Him no more, because God Himself will not allow that a soul which has heartily given itself completely to Him should turn its back upon Him afterwards and perish. Wherefore, a great servant of God was accustomed to say that, when we read of the fall of certain persons who had before given tokens of living a holy life, we must conclude that such persons had not given themselves completely to God.
[Excepted from 'Devout Reflections and Meditations' by St. Alphonsus Liguori] (Public domain)
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please no anonymous comments. I require at least some way for people to address each other personally and courteously. Having some name or handle helps.
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.