Lesson: Perhaps the previous meditation led you to a deeper realization that you have much work to do to become a saint. However, if it did not and if you feel as if you are “doing pretty good,” then perhaps a greater “holy fear” of sin is necessary.
Only by Divine Mercy does God allow you to enter Purgatory after death to be freed from every venial sin and every imperfection. The deeper truth is that any sin on your soul means you merit eternal damnation. God’s purifying action in Purgatory is a mercy, not a right. It’s a gift.
Furthermore, it’s important to look at Hell once again. Do not yet grow weary of this meditation. If you have a mortal sin on your soul, and continue to commit that sin, and fail to be purged of it, you will end in Hell eternally. Your particular judgment will be one of eternal damnation.
Reflection: Reflect upon these truths and allow yourself to feel the pain of loss, the eternity of this pain, the sorrow, shame and regret you would experience were you to end in Hell. Ponder it for some time until you begin to feel a “holy fear” of sin and its consequences in your own life. (Silent Reflection)
Allow yourself to feel, taste, hear, see and smell the fearful reality of Hell as a true motivation and deterrent from sin. Try to use the prayerful method of the “application of the senses.” The five points below from Saint Ignatius should help to guide you:
First Point. The first Point will be to see with the sight of the imagination the great fires, and the souls as in bodies of fire.
Second Point. The second, to hear with the ears wailings, howlings, cries, blasphemies against Christ our Lord and against all His Saints.
Third Point. The third, to smell with the smell smoke, sulphur, dregs and putrid things.
Fourth Point. The fourth, to taste with the taste bitter things, like tears, sadness and the worm of conscience.
Fifth Point. The fifth, to touch with the touch; that is to say, how the fires touch and burn the souls.
Introduction to Foundational Meditations
- God, the Creator of All That Is
- God, the Intimate Guide for Your Life
- God, the Goal, Purpose and End of Your Life
- Sin of the Angels
- Sin of Adam and Eve
- The General Effects of Sin
- Introduction to Meditations Seven–Nine
- Personal Sin: In the Light of the Divine Sun
- Personal Sins of My Life
- Humiliation and Humility
- Death
- Judgment
- Hell
Featured Image: Last Judgment, Michaelangelo
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