The Deaths of Sinners and Saints

[Shin]

This is a thread for posting stories of the deaths of sinners and saints and their judgement before God.

Some of these stories are uplifting.. moving.. inspiring joy.. others inspire fear, awe, and penance..

[Shin]

 A brother lived in a cell in Egypt and, with all humility, spent his life in asceticism. This monk had a sister who lived in the city and who was a prostitute. She had been the cause of many losing their souls each day. Thus, many times the Elders had urged the brother to go meet with his sister. At last one day they convinced him to go, that perchance his brotherly admonitions might have the desired effect and she might cease the sin that she was committing.

As soon as he arrived at the place where the sinful woman was staying, a certain acquaintance of theirs saw the monk and ran to inform her, saying: "Your brother is asking for you at the door below." The sister, on hearing this news, abandoned her sinful compatriots and, just as she was, ran down to greet her brother, without bothering, in fact, even to put a covering on her head. When the brother and sister saw one another and she, out of joy, tried to embrace her brother, he said:

"Truly, my sister, I pity your soul, beholding how you will suffer the bitter and unending torments of Hell, for not only have you lost your soul, but many others have also done so because of you."

The sister listened attentively to the sincere counsels of her brother and, overwhelmed by them, with true repentance said to him:

"Are you sure that, even now, I can be saved?"

"If you wish so, there is salvation," the kind brother answered with certainty.

With tears in her eyes, she then fell at the feet of her brother and doggedly entreated him to take her with him into the desert to be saved.

The brother, also moved by her sudden conversion, told his sister:

"Put a scarf on your head and follow me."

She, however, said to her brother:

"Come, come, let us go quickly. It is preferable for me and better for my soul if I leave this vile place and set forth on the way bare-headed, and not enter again into this workshop of sin."

They thus departed for the desert, and the brother advised her tenderly, enumerating for her the fruits of repentance. She listened with silent attention, while Divine Grace slowly won over the soul of the repentant sinner.

Then at a certain point in their journey, they saw some wayfarers coming toward them from the opposite direction. So the brother, in order not to cause scandal to them, told his sister:

"Since not everyone knows that you are my sister get off the road just a little until these people pass by, so that we do not cause them scandal."

The sister immediately went away some distance from the road.

When the caravan had passed, the brother called to his sister.

But he received no answer at all. Curious, he searched the place where he expected her to be and, astonished, saw that she was dead. He noticed at the same time that her feet were torn to pieces from the trip, since she was barefoot.

The brother related these incidents to the Elders. They, taking counsel regarding the matter, all disagreed, some maintaining that she was saved, others insisting that she had lost her soul.

Finally, after praying, one of the Elders, who appears to have been more virtuous and insightful than the others, received the following revelation from God: "This sinner was saved, for as soon as Divine Grace, at the counsels of her brother, moved her heart, she repented and thought of no material thing. But rather, she gave no heed to her body and did not complain about the pain and wounds inflicted by the journey. For this reason, her repentance was accepted."

- from the sayings of the Desert Fathers

[Shin]

A certain brother, overcome by the passion of immorality, sinned every day. However, each time, with tears and prayers, he would fall before the Master and Lord and receive forgiveness from Him. And as soon as he had repented, the next day, being misled again by shameful habit, he would fall to sin.

Afterwards, having sinned, he would go to the Church, where he would prostrate himself before the honorable and revered Icon of our Lord Jesus Christ and tearfully confess to Jesus: "Lord, have mercy upon me and take away from me this fearful temptation, for it troubles me fiercely and wounds me with the bitter taste of the pleasures. O my Master, cleanse my person once more, that I may gaze upon Thine Icon and see Thy holy form and the sight of Thy face, brighter than the sun, that my heart might be sweetened and thankful."

And though his lips had just whispered these words, no sooner would he leave the Church than he would fall once again to sin.

Despite this, however, he did not despair of his salvation, but, returning from his sinful deed, would cry out in the Church the same words to God, to the Lord, Who loves mankind, adding the following: "My Lord, I swear to Thee on my word that I shall no longer commit this sin. Only forgive me, Good and Most Merciful Lord, whatever sins I have committed from the beginning to this moment."

No sooner would he utter these awe-inspiring words, than he would find himself the captive of this evil sin. Let no one cease to marvel at the sweet love of God towards mankind and at His boundless goodness, with which He each day tolerated the uncorrected and evil transgression and ingratitude of the brother. Indeed, God, because of the greatness of His mercy, persistently accepted the repentance of that sinful brother and his inevitable return. For this happened not for one or two or three years, but for more than ten years.

Do you see, my brother, the measureless forbearance and boundless love of the Master? How He continually endures, showing to us kindness, tolerating our terrible transgressions and sins? And what evokes astonishment and wonderment with regard to the rich mercies of God is that He did not become wrathful with the brother in question, though the brother, agreeing not to fall to sin again, continually broke his word.

At any rate, one day when all that we have described again occurred, the brother, having fallen to sin, rushed to the Church, lamenting, groaning, and crying with anguish, to invoke the mercy of God, that He might have compassion on him and take him from the sin of immorality.

No sooner had he called on God, the lover of man, than the Devil, that evil of old, destroyer of our souls, seeing that he could gain nothing, since whatever he accomplished by sin, the brother expunged by his repentance, became infuriated and appeared visibly before the brother. Facing the Icon of Christ, the Devil said to our compassionate Savior: "What will become of the two of us, Jesus Christ? Your sympathy for this sinner defeats me and takes the ground I have gained, since you keep accepting this dissolute man and prodigal who daily mocks you and scorns your authority. Indeed, why is it that you do not burn him up, but, rather, tolerate and put up with him? ... It is because one day you intend to condemn all of the adulterers and the dissolute and you will destroy all sinners.

"Actually, you are not a just Judge. But by whim your power is sometimes applied leniently and overlooks things. So, while I was cast from the heavens down to the abyss for a little breach of pride, to this fellow here, even though an immoral man and a prodigal, you calmly show your sympathy, just because he throws himself down in front of your Icon.

"In what way can you be called a just Judge, then? For, as I see it, you receive individual people with great kindness, but ignore justice in general."

The Devil said all of this, poisoned with great bitterness, whilst there poured forth from his nostrils a black flame.

Having said these things, he fell silent. A voice was heard in response, coming forth from the divine sanctuary, saying the following: "O, all-cunning and ruinous Dragon, are you yet not satisfied with your evil and destructive desire to gobble up the world? Now you have even the nerve to try to do away with this man here, who has come with contrition to entreat the mercy of my compassion to devour him, too? Can you offer up enough sins that, by them, you can tilt the balance of justice against the precious blood which I shed on the Cross for this man? Behold my murder and death, which I endured for the forgiveness of his sins.

"You, when he turns again to sin, do not turn him away, but receive him with joy, neither chastising him nor preventing him from committing sin, out of the hope that you might win him over; but I, who am merciful and love mankind, who counselled my laudable Apostle, Peter, to forgive sins seven times seventy (St. Matthew 18:22), do I not show him mercy and compassion? Indeed, simply because he flees to me, I will not turn him away until I have won him over. Furthermore, I was crucified for sinners and for their salvation; my immaculate hands were nailed to the Cross, that those who so wish might take refuge in me and be saved. For this reason, then, I neither turn away nor reject anyone, even if he should fall many times a day and many times return to me; such a person will not leave my Temple saddened, for I came not to call the righteous, but to call sinners to repent."

During the time that this voice was heard, the Devil was fixed in his place, trembling and unable to run away. The voice then again began to say: "We have heard from all that you say, O Seducer, that I am not just; to the contrary, I am just beyond all. In whatever moral state I find a person, in that state I judge him. Look at this man who a few moments ago repented, having returned from sin and having fallen at my feet with a sincere resolution to abandon sin, and thereby having conquered you.

"Therefore, I will accept him immediately and save his soul, since he did not lose hope in his hard toil for salvation.

"Look how much he merits by his repentance before me, for which he is honored. As for you, let your hate be shred to pieces and you disgraced."

While this was being said, the repentant brother had thrown himself before the Icon of the Savior. With his face to the ground and lamenting, he surrendered his spirit to the Lord. At the same time that the repentant brother departed to the Lord, a great tempest fell upon Satan, like a fire from Heaven, and devoured him. From this incident, my brothers, let us learn of the limitless compassion of God and of His love of man—a good Master we have—, that we might never again be disheartened by our sins, but rather look after our salvation with zeal.

- from the Sayings of the Desert Fathers

[Shin]

. . . , the sin of impurity produces obstinacy of the will. "Once fallen into the snare of the devil, one cannot so easily escape it," says St. Jerome. And according to St. Thomas, there is no sin in which the devil takes so much delight as in impurity; because the flesh is strongly inclined to that vice, and he that falls into it can be rescued from it only with difficulty. Hence the vice of incontinence has been called by Clement of Alexandria "a malady without remedy;" and by Tertullian, "an incurable vice." Hence St. Cyprian calls it the mother of impenitence. "It is impossible," says Peter de Blois, "for him that submits to the domination of the flesh to conquer carnal temptations."

Father Biderman relates of a young man, who was in the habit of relapsing into this sin, that at the hour of death he confessed his sins with many tears and died, leaving strong grounds to hope for his salvation. But on the following day his confessor, while saying Mass, felt some one pulling the chasuble; turning round he saw a dark cloud, which sent forth scintillations of fire, and heard a voice saying that was the soul of the young man that had died; that though he had been absolved from his sins, he was again tempted, yielded to a bad thought, and was damned.'

St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

[Shin]

The parents of a young girl by the name of Taisia died and left her an orphan. The young woman converted her home into a guest house for the Fathers of a neighboring skete. For many years she thus welcomed them and showed them care through her hospitality.

After some time, however, having spent all that she had in her hospitable work for the Fathers, she fell into need and became poor.

So it was that she fell in with some perverted people who led her to change her way of life and to abandon the path of virtue. The result of these destructive associations of hers was that Taisia flourished ever more in the way of sin, ending up, in time, in prostitution.

When the Fathers heard of her plight, it much saddened them.

So, they called upon Abba John the Short and said to him: "We have learned that our sister Taisia is living in sin. It is well known that, when she was still able, she showed us her love and hospitality and gave us rest. It is now time for us to help her as much as we can. Take upon yourself the task, then, of meeting with her and try, with the wisdom that God has given you, to set her aright and to pull her out of the mud of debauchery."

The Elder thus went to the den of sin where Taisia was staying.

"Inform your mistress, please, that I am asking for her," he told the old woman who was the doorkeeper of the house of ill repute.

"Get out of here, monk," the old women told him angrily. "You monks early on took all that she had and have left her poor now."

"Please go and do as I asked you," the Elder insisted, "because I aim to bring her great benefit."

The old woman finally stubbornly went upstairs and yelled to Taisia. that some monk wanted to visit her.

"Those monks," Taisia thought, on hearing who it was who was asking for her, "frequently live near the Red Sea and find valuable pearls."

Having adorned herself with special care, she lay down on her bed and said to the old woman porter:

"Bring the monk to me."

So, in fact, shortly Abba John entered the appointed room and sat near her. Looking carefully into her face, he said emotionally:

"What is it that you have against Jesus, and why do you blame him for coming to such a state as this?"

She, upon hearing these words, was totally paralyzed. At the same time, the Elder lowered his head and began to weep in sobs.

Shaken, Taisia then asked him:

"Abba, why are you crying?"

Abba John, raising his head a little, and then lowering it again, said:

"How can I see Satan playing on your face and not cry?"

At this remark, the sinful Taisia asked:

"Is there such a thing as repentance, Father?"

"Yes, there is," the Elder replied.

"Then take me with you," Taisia said, " and direct me as you will."

"So, let us go now."

At the beckoning of the Elder, the repentant sinner immediately arose to follow him.

The Elder was beset by astonishment, since he saw that Taisia had no interest in settling her household matters, but left things just as they were and followed him.

By the time they reached the desert, it had become completely dark. Abba John prepared a little place to sleep for her and, having made the sign of the Cross on it, told her:

"Sleep here." And after he had prepared for himself an improvised place to sleep on the ground, a short distance away, he completed his prayers and lay down to rest.

During the middle of the night he awakened and saw a strange spectacle; he saw a shining pathway leading heavenward from the spot where Taisia was sleeping and Angels of God leading the soul of the repentant sinner upwards along it.

Immediately he got up and, rushing toward Taisia, tapped her lightly with his foot. Once he realized that she was indeed dead, he prostrated with his face to the earth and entreated God to reveal to him whether He had accepted Taisia's repentance. Praying in this manner, he heard a voice from God, which said to him:

"The single hour for which this women repented was more quickly received than that of many who spend years in repentance, since the repentance of the latter is not as earnest as hers."

- Amphilochius

[Shin]

''Here also we have to know that oftentimes, at the death of God's servants, heavenly music is heard, to the end that whiles they give willing ear to that melody, the soul may have no leisure to feel, when it departeth from the body. For I remember that, in my Homilies  upon the Gospel, I told how in that porch which is in the way to St. Clement's Church, there lay a certain man called Servulus, whom I doubt not but you also do remember: who, as he was poor in wealth, so rich in merits. This man had long been afflicted with sickness: for from the first time that I knew him, to the very last hour of his life, never can I remember but that he was sick of the palsy, and that so pitifully, that he could not stand, nor sit up in his bed: neither was he ever able to put his hand unto his mouth, or to turn from one side to the other. His mother and brethren did serve and attend him, and what he got in alms, that by their hands he bestowed upon other poor people. Read he could not, yet did he buy the holy scriptures, which very carefully he caused such religious men as he entertained to read unto him: by means whereof, according to his capacity, though, as I said, he knew not a letter of the book, yet did he fully learn the holy scripture. Very careful he was in his sickness always to give God thanks, and day and night to praise his holy name.

When the time was come, in which God determined to reward this his great patience: the pain of his body strook inwardly to his heart, which he feeling, and knowing as his last hour was not far off, called for all such strangers as lodged in his house, desiring them to sing hymns with him, for his last farewell and departure out of this life: and as he was himself singing with them, all on a sudden he cried out aloud, and bad them be silent, saying: "Do ye not hear the great and wonderful music which is in heaven?" and so whiles he lay giving of ear within himself to that divine harmony, his holy soul departed this mortal life: at which time, all that were there present felt a most pleasant and fragrant smell, whereby they perceived how true it was that Servulus said. A monk of mine, who yet liveth, was then present, and with many tears useth to tell us, that the sweetness of that smell never went away, but that they felt it continually until the time of his burial.

Pope St. Gregory the Great

[Shin]

'There once lived a youth by the name of Theodore. He was very unruly and followed his brother, who was in fact a monk, to the monastery out of necessity and not out of any personal inclination or desire to do so. If anyone happened to tell him some good word about his salvation, the young man, since he was very disobedient, was not only little disposed to act on the advice, but would not even hear it; nor, moreover, would he agree to become a monk.

Now, it so happened that this young man developed a sore on his thigh from a deadly disease and came near to the end of his life. All of the brothers of the monastery gathered near him. Just as they saw him slowly expire (his body had already become cold and there remained in his bosom only the slightest warmth of life), they began to pray for him persistently and to ask God, Who loves mankind, to have compassion on him at the hour of the departure of his soul from the body.

Suddenly, as the brothers were praying, Theodore began to cry out in a loud voice and interrupt the prayer of the monks, saying: "Get away from me, move away, for I have been handed over for a dragon to devour me. The dragon cannot consume me entirely because of your presence. He already had my head completely inside his mouth. So give way, that I will not be further tortured and so that what he must do, he can do even more quickly. Since this dragon is intent on eating me, why should I suffer a slow martyrdorn?"

When they heard these words, the brothers were struck with terror, and they said to the young man:

"Make the sign of the Cross over yourself."

Theodore answered in a heart-rending cry:

"I want to make the sign of the Cross, but I cannot, since the slime from this dragon is weighing down my hand."

After this response—though Theodore became inanimate—, the monks knelt down on the ground and began with fervent tears to pray intensely for the redemption of Theodore from the dreadful dragon.

When a period of persistent prayer and supplication by the brothers had elapsed, suddenly the ill Theodore jolted up and yelled with all the power of his lungs:

"My brothers, give thanks to God, for the dragon which had taken hold of me to devour me has fled, and was unable to stay here at all. Now, therefore, I ask that you fervently pray to God that He will forgive me of my sins. After this fearful thing that has happened to me, I am completely ready to repent and to forsake the life of the world."

And, indeed, having come to and having recovered his strength, the young man turned with all of his heart to God and entirely changed his outlook, since he was effectively admonished by the corrective scourge which God had sent him. Having pleased God sufficiently, his soul then departed from his body.'

Pope St. Gregory the Great

[Shin]

'Theodore saw the punishment that follows death and was benefited thereby. Others, however, as we noted previously, see the punishments inflicted by the evil spirits after death while they are still alive and recount these for the sake of our spiritual edification, then immediately die after the narration of the fearful things which they saw. As an illustration of this, I will tell a story.

There once lived a man named Chrysaorios, from among the most notable of this world. To the degree, however, that he added to his wealth, so much more he enriched his passions. Pumped up by vanity, he submitted without resistance to the passions of the flesh, endeavoring to amass many riches and inflamed by the passion of greed.

When, however, the Lord deigned to put an end to the many sins of this man, he allowed Chrysaorios to fall to a life-threatening illness.

Now, when he had come to the last moment of his life, and while his eyes were still wide open, he saw before him frightful and dark-faced spirits, who were there to help escort him to the gates of Hell. He began to tremble and turn pale and was drenched with perspiration; crying out in desperation, terrified, he pleaded for a little time (in order to repent).

He called with deep and agitated cries for his son Maximos, whom I later knew as a monk when I, too, was a monk, saying: "Maximos of mine, come to me. Never have I done you wrong. Save me now with the strength of your faith."

Thereupon, Maximos, upset and weeping, immediately went to him, along with all those who lived in Chrysaorios' house. Though none of them was able to see the evil spirits which had beset Chrysaorios, they could conclude that they were there from everything that the suffering man was saying and from his pallor and the fear which he showed, since he was turning here and there in his bed from fear of the vexatious spirits and their dark forms. One minute he would turn to the left, only to see in front of him those spirits which he dared not confront. Then he would look away toward the wall, only to see them again standing before him.

So, having despaired of any possibility of escaping from them, he began to cry out: "At least give me time until the morning—a little time until the morning." With these cries his soul departed from the body.

In all of this, it is obvious that Chrysaorios saw all of these things not for his own benefit, but for ours, that we might learn, come to fear, and correct our ways. For of what benefit to Chrysaorios was the appearance of evil spirits before his death or the reprieve which he sought, yet did not receive?

3. A similar instance was related to me by the Presbyter serving our brotherhood, Athanasios. In Iconium, from which he also hailed, there was a monastery: the monastery of the "Galatians," as it was called. In the monastery there lived a certain monk, whom all considered to have attained to a high degree of virtue and seemliness. As his death revealed, however, his life was far removed from the apparent virtues that he showed.

One day, foreseeing that his end was near, he called near him all the brothers of the monastery. The brothers gathered around him with great eagerness, waiting to hear from such a virtuous ascetic, as they reckoned him, something great and wondrous, now that he was dying. Thereupon, he, mourning and trembling from his fear, said:

"You thought that I was fasting with you, when in fact, hidden away from you, I was eating. And now behold: I am delivered to the frightful Dragon to be devoured. This frightful Dragon has wrapped his tail around my feet and my knees, putting my head in his mouth, while he sucks out and uproots my soul."

Having said this, he immediately died, without having been granted to live even a short time in order, through repentance, to be set free from that Dragon. From this incident it becomes wholly obvious that he saw this fearful vision solely for the spiritual benefit of those who were listening, since he, even though he made known to others the Enemy to whom he was delivered up, nonetheless could not escape it.'

Pope St. Gregory the Great

[Shin]

There once lived an aged nun who excelled in virtue and piety. When I asked her why she fled from the world, she told me this. "When I was still a young girl, reverend Father," she began, "I remember that my father was a very tender and good man. He was thin and sickly in body, so that the majority of his time he passed confined to his bed. He was marked by such simplicity that he spoke only when compelled. When he was well, he dedicated himself to tilling the land, thereby occupying himself and bringing to our home the produce which he cultivated. But he was so reticent to speak that those who did not know him thought him to be mute.

"Wholly the opposite of my father was my mother. She was such a busy-body and so idle that she was anxious to learn about things even outside our village. She talked so much that nobody ever saw her silent, even for a little: rather, one time she would be seen arguing and quarreling, and another time saying obscene and indecent words in jest. Most of the years of her life she wasted in drunkenness and in the company of profligate men. She was often away and was immoral, and, like a prostitute, badly looked after our household, so that we could no longer get by—despite the fact that our assets were not few—, since it was to her that my father had entrusted the administration of the household. Though she lived in this way, she nonetheless never became sick and never felt the slightest pain; for all of the wretched life that she lived, she maintained her bodily health.

"It happened, anyway, that my father died, ravaged by many years of illness. Now, what happened at his death? Immediately a fearful wind came up and almost razed the area. There was continual thunder, and the rain poured so violently that no one dared poke his nose out of his house even for a moment. This foul weather lasted three days, and out of necessity we kept my father inside the house, unburied.

"Our fellow villagers, seeing all of these obstacles, greatly condemned my dead father, saying: 'My, my, what evil was living in our midst, and we did not know it! It seems that this dead man must have been an enemy of God, and for this reason God has not even allowed him to be buried yet.'

"We however, so that the corpse would not start decomposing in the house and make it uninhabitable because of the stench, risked, despite the violent rain, transporting the body to the cemetery, and buried it.

"From that time on my mother had even greater freedom to devote herself with great brazenness to orgies and debauchery. Indeed, she became so audacious that she transformed our home into a house of immorality and, indulging her unceasing sensual pleasures, squandered away all of our holdings; so, in a short time we had nothing left. Some years after the death of my father, my mother died. She had such a splendorous and magnificent funeral that one could say that nature itself cooperated in conducting it.

Since my mother had died and I had passed the age of childhood, the flames of youth being kindled and tempting me, one evening the thought came to me: Which path shall I follow in my life? Occupied with this thought, I said off the top of my head, talking to myself: 'Should I choose, I wonder, my father's way of life, and live with kindness, modesty, and judiciousness?

"'But my father, even if he did live virtuously, nonetheless never enjoyed even one good thing, but was always devoured by illness and misfortunes. He was so unfortunate that he was not even allowed in his torments to be buried like other people. If my father's conduct and behavior were pleasing to God, why was he tested by so many disasters? And what was my mother's life like? Did she not live a healthy life, even though she was plunged into a life of pleasures and desires? I will also, therefore, live the life that my mother did, for I prefer to believe in what I can see than in promises about what is to come.'

"By the time that I had decided to follow in the steps of my mother, night had fallen. And when I went to sleep, there appeared before me a man of enormous dimensions and with a savage face. Staring at me with rage and a wild look, he asked me in a dreadful voice: 'Tell me what is in your heart.' I was so frightened that I dared not even look at his face.

"This fearful man, with the same sternness, asked me again:

"'Tell me, then. What have you decided?'

"When he saw that I was paralyzed by fear and was in danger of losing my senses, he himself reminded me in detail of all that I had just been thinking of myself.

"Recovering from my fear and astonishment and being unable to deny anything that the man had said, I began begging and imploring him to forgive me.

"Then, as though he had become calmer, he took me by the hand and said:

"'Come and see where your father and mother are. On the basis of this you can choose which way of life you want for yourself.'

"Taking me from where I was, he guided me to a vast garden, which was planted with various beautiful trees, beyond description in their charm and filled with different kinds of fruits. And there, as I was walking with this fearful man, my father came up to me, embracing me and covering me with tender kisses, saying, 'My beloved child.'

"I embraced my father with joy, asking if I might remain with him. My father sweetly replied:

"'Now, my child, this is not possible; if, however, you will follow my own way of life, not much time will pass and you will be here, too.'

"Just as I was to about to continue in my requests to remain with my father, the Angel who was accompanying me pulled me by the hand and said:

"'Come, now, to see your mother, too, so that you can determine firsthand which way of life you want to lead.'

"Then, taking me to a place that was all dark, in which one could hear great disorder and groans, he showed me a furnace, the fires of which would spill over every time it surged up. And outside the furnace a number of ghastly and frightening individuals gazed on the sight.

"As I was looking at this frightening and terrible place of torture, I saw my mother, submerged to her neck in the flaming furnace, numberless worms gnawing on her all over. From my pain and fear, I was trembling, while my teeth began to chatter and to gnash.

"When my mother raised her eyes to look at me, she began to cry harrowingly and said to me:

"'Alas, my child. My pains are unbearable. My torments are unceasing. For a few years of delight and sinful pleasure, I brought all of this terrible punishment on myself. Woe to me, such an unfortunate one! Woe to me, wretch that I am! Because of the ephemeral pleasures of temporary life, I am now tormented eternally. But, my child, take pity on your mother, who, as you see, is in flames and is being devoured by fire. Remember, my child, how I gave you suckle and reared you, and take pity on me. Give me your hand and pull me out of here.'

"I, however, did nothing, and could not even approach my mother, who, out of shame before those who were around her, cried out even more strongly and with tears:

"'My child, help me and do not scorn your mother and her lamentations. Do not close your eyes to this unfortunate mother, who is tortured in the Gehenna of fire and continually consumed by unsleeping worms.'

"Moved by sympathy for my mother, I stretched out my hand, so that I could pull her out of that frightful Hell. No sooner had the flames of the fire only slightly touched my hand, than I felt great pain and began to cry in moans. From my lamentations and moans, I awoke everyone in the house. They got up, turned on the lights, and ran to my bed, asking with incessant questions to learn why I was crying in my sleep and groaning.

"So, having come to a bit, I began to relate to them everything that I saw in my vision.

"From that day I most decisively resolved to live as did my father, whose way of life I longed for. I pray that God will deem me worthy to succeed therein and to see my father again and live with him, for, by the Grace of God, with my own eyes I saw the glory and honor which awaits those who ready themselves by living reverently and virtuously; and, on the other hand, again, what fearful punishment and Hell awaits those who squander their lives on pleasures and passions."

- from the sayings of the Desert Fathers

[Shin]

'Let us not doubt that baptized babies who die in their infant years will enter into the heavenly Kingdom. We should not, however, believe that all those infants who have begun to speak will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. For the entrance to the Kingdom of Heaven will be closed to many babies because of their parents' bad rearing. In this city, there lives a certain man who is known to all; three years ago, this man had a son who, if I recall, would then have been about five years old, for whom he had such human love that he did not even try to discipline him.

For this reason, the boy, when someone prevented him from getting his way, used to blaspheme the magnificence of God—and let me emphasize that this is something dangerous.

When, three years ago, a deadly plague fell upon the region where he lived, this young boy succumbed to it and was near death. As eyewitnesses recounted, while the father took the child into his arms, the boy himself saw evil spirits coming for him. The boy began to tremble, to blink his eyes in fear, and to cry out in despair to his father: "Father, save me, protect me." Simultaneously, as he cried, he turned his face towards his father's chest, as though wanting to be hidden.

When the father saw his son trembling, in agony he asked him what he had seen. The son answered: "Black creatures came to me and wanted to take me away with them." No sooner had he finished this phrase, than he immediately blasphemed the name of the Divine Magnificence and, with this blasphemy, expired.

Thus, God, the All-Powerful, in order to show by what sin the boy was given over to these evil servants, allowed him to die with this sin which his father, while the boy was alive, did nothing to prevent. And this boy whom God allowed, by His mercy, to live as a blasphemer, by His righteous judgment was also permitted to blaspheme at his death, so that his careless father might know well his sin. For this father, being indifferent to the soul of his young son, reared for the Gehenna of fire not an insignificant sinner, but a great sinner.'

Pope St. Gregory the Great

A brother once wished to leave the world to become a monk, but was impeded in this by his mother. The brother nonetheless did not forsake his goal and said to his mother. "I wish to save my soul." Since his mother could not by any effort dissuade him and keep him near her she allowed him to leave. The brother indeed left the world and became a monk, though he passed his life in heedlessness. In the meantime, his mother died.

After some years, the brother became seriously ill and was approaching death. In the midst of his illness, he lost consciousness and his soul left his body and was taken off to be judged. There among the damned he found his mother. One seeing him, she said with astonishment, "My child, are you, too, condemned to this place of the damned? For what reason are you, who said to me, 'I wish to save my soul' here?" The brother, shamed by all that he had heard, was struck with gloom, unable to answer anything his mother had said. Afterwards, he heard a voice that said, "At once. Out of here." He immediately woke from this ecstasy and unconsciousness and related with fear to those around him all he had seen and heard, glorifying God, Who in every way seeks the salvation of sinners.

When he had recovered from his illness, since he was closed in his cell, he remained in solitude, caring vigilantly for his salvation and repenting and weeping for all he had previously done so heedlessly and with sloth.

So profound was his contrition and so abundant his tears, that many who saw him would feel sorry for him and implore him to moderate his labors and ascetic trials some, so that he would not from his lamentation bring some harm to his health. He, however, had no intention of being comforted, responding to all advice as follows: "If I could not endure my mother's derision, how will I be able to withstand the shame on the Day of Judgement, before Christ, the Holy Angels, and the whole of creation?"

- the Sayings of the Desert Fathers

[Shin]

Well, I will pause now -- honestly each of these posts is worth a thread in itself, yet here we have a good deal of material in one thread. I will continue to add more to it God willing, there is much more, I thought they were worth reflection and putting in a single place for the moment.

[Shin]

Finally, after praying, one of the Elders, who appears to have been more virtuous and insightful than the others, received the following revelation from God: "This sinner was saved, for as soon as Divine Grace, at the counsels of her brother, moved her heart, she repented and thought of no material thing. But rather, she gave no heed to her body and did not complain about the pain and wounds inflicted by the journey. For this reason, her repentance was accepted."

This makes me think of what kinds of repentance are acceptable to God and which are not. I think particularly of Jonas and Ninevah, and how Ninevah repented.

"We have heard from all that you say, O Seducer, that I am not just; to the contrary, I am just beyond all. In whatever moral state I find a person, in that state I judge him. Look at this man who a few moments ago repented, having returned from sin and having fallen at my feet with a sincere resolution to abandon sin, and thereby having conquered you.

This makes me think of the phrase, "As the tree falls so shall it lie." Which so completely emphasizes: sanctifying grace, mortal sin. The sinner, the saint..

'he was again tempted, yielded to a bad thought, and was damned.'

Wherever we are.. we are what we are in that moment.. we are what we are.. I remember another story from the desert fathers I believe, of those who are said to "try to deceive the Lord with guile" -- committing sins with the view of repenting later on in Confession..

I love the story of St. John the Dwarf and his sister in Christ.. I love all the stories about St. John the Dwarf.

We read that when the saints die heavenly music is often heard.. and the sweet incense of holiness..

And we read how when sinners are caught up in sins, demons have literally devoured them, and enrapt them in their coils.

Reading stories of relatives in Hell is particularly hard to bear. It's something rather unthinkable, but it cannot be left so, because of the true danger. But we have our prayers.. the Green Scapular.. many devotions we can pray for them.. we can have hope beyond hope.. God has pity on His people.. God has pity on our prayers.. can so many tears be ignored?

And so we can be moved to work directly and diligently for their salvation as well as our own in this life and to inculcate the urgency of this need into people's lives as best we can..

With the loss of the sense of sin comes the loss of the awareness of the dangers of Hell.. when both are restored.. they impel us to change our lives and turn towards the goodness of the life of virtue, the life of God. 

We have very delicate and sensitive people in these times.. we are ourselves often made this way because of the way we are brought up, we are not sturdy folks and have difficulty bearing the littlest things.. nevermind the great.. but we are children of God and with Him we can bear all things.. 

[Therese]

Good stories!

[martin]

The wisdom of living each day as if it were our last, certainly makes much sense.
Powerful stories.

[Shin]

'The bride saw God looking angry.

He was saying: "I am without beginning and without end. There is no change in me either of year or day. Rather, all the time in the world is like a single hour or moment to me. Everyone who sees me sees and understands everything that is in me in an instant, so to speak. However, my bride, since you are in a material body, you cannot perceive and comprehend like a spirit. Therefore, for your sake, I will explain to you what has happened. I was, as it were, seated in judgment, for all judgment has been given to me, and a certain person came to be judged before the tribunal.

The voice of the Father resounded and said to him: "Woe unto you that ever you were born." It was not as though God had repented of having created him, but just like anyone would be sorry for another person and feel compassion for him.

The voice of the Son came in answer: "I poured out my blood for you and accepted a harsh punishment for you, but you have alienated yourself entirely from it and will have nothing to do with it."

The voice of the Spirit said: "I searched all the corners of his heart to see if I might perhaps find some tenderness and charity in his heart, but he is as cold as ice, as hard as stone. He is none of my concern."

These three voices have not been heard as if there were three gods, but they were made audible for your sake, my bride, because otherwise you would not be able to understand this mystery. The three voices of the Father and Son and Holy Spirit were then immediately transformed into a single voice that thundered and said: 'By no means do you deserve the kingdom of heaven!'

The Mother of mercy remained silent and did not open up her mercy, for the defendant was unworthy of it.

All the saints cried out in one voice saying: "It is divine justice for him to be perpetually exiled from your kingdom and from your joy."

All those in purgatory said: "We have no punishment harsh enough to punish your sins. You must endure greater torments and you will therefore be secluded from us."

Then even the defendant himself cried out in a horrendous voice, saying: "Alas, alas for the seeds that came together in my mother's womb and from which I was formed!"

He cried out a second time and said: "Accursed be the hour in which my soul was joined to my body and accursed be he who gave me a body and soul!"

He cried out a third time: "Accursed be the hour in which I came forth alive from the belly of my mother!"

Then came three horrible voices from hell saying to him: "Come to us, accursed soul, like liquid copper draining down to perpetual death and life interminable!"

They cried out a second time: "Come, accursed soul, empty for our malice! For there will be none of us who will not fill you with his own pain and malice."

They cried out a third time: "Come, accursed soul, heavy like a stone that sinks and sinks and never reaches the bottom where it can rest! You will descend deeper into the deep than we, and you will not be brought to a standstill until you have reached the lowest part of the abyss."'

The Revelations of St. Bridget of Sweden

[Therese]

What a testimony! ... not even the Blessed Virgin Mary could defend the man!