of Sienna, that a person still living in the world can alleviate immensely the sufferings of departed souls, she prayed fervently to her heavenly Spouse for grace to enable her to assist her fellow-religious. Her prayer was heard. For while the nun was dying, Ursula fell into a trance, and when she came to she broke forth in the joyful words, "I thank Thee, my Lord and God, for the great mercy Thou hast shown to my sister Christina, by hearkening to my prayers in her behalf, and granting her speedy relief." Then she had the Te Deum sung, and soon afterward was afflicted with great sufferings, which continued till her death.

4. Almsgiving and other good works. To St. Bridget, of Sweden, her deceased husband, Alfo, once appeared, and ordered her to sell the silverware and costly horses which he had left behind, and in which he had taken too much pleasure when on earth, and to bestow the proceeds of the sale on the poor for the benefit of his soul. He also ordered his silver cup to be given to the Church for the service of the altar, for such alms are pleasing to God.

V. HELL.

THE doctrine of everlasting punishment in hell is frequently assailed as one not consonant with reason, and as repugnant to the feelings of the human heart. Now, it is remarkable that during the three hundred years since the time this article of faith was first assailed, the attacks have invariably been made by persons who are hostile to all the fundamental teachings of religion, while Christians of all denominations are agreed on this point. Yes, like the belief in the existence of God, the belief in hell is general. The Jew, the Mohammedan, the pagan, the savage, all believe

If

in a place of punishment, like the Christian. you ask where it is, every one of these will point down to the ground, as believing it to be under the earth, as he points toward the sky when asked where is heaven.

The ancient Greeks believed in their Tartarus. Plato says, "The wicked will be precipitated into Tartarus, never more to come out." Xenocrates taught that the souls of the wicked wander about in dark places under the earth, which are enclosed with iron bars on all sides. Plutarch held that the wicked after death are confined in a place that no man can open. The Latin poet, Virgil, in his Æneid, portrays to us the never-ending sufferings of the damned souls. The Jews term the dwelling-place of lost souls Gehenna, that is to say, the place of burning, in the valley of the sons of Ennom, near Jerusalem, in which human beings were sacrificed to the god of fire; for which purpose a fire was kept perpetually burning.

The Hellheim of the ancient Druids, whence our Saxon word hell, was a place of unceasing misery, full of unrest and pain, and corresponding to the "land of misery and darkness, where the shadows of death, and no order, but everlasting horror dwelleth" (Job X. 22).

Thus speaketh and expresseth itself the universal belief that this is a revealed doctrine, while Plato declares in his Phædon: "After having maturely weighed all things and tested them severely, I have found nothing that is more compatible with wisdom, reason and truth."

Yet excessive sentimentalism objects that (1) God would be unjust if He were to punish a finite sin with an infinite penalty; (2) God can not have created men to permit them to fail in reaching their last end, and

so be eternally lost; and (3) that if God foresaw that some souls would be eternally damned, His love should not have permitted them to be created.

But we answer (1) that sin is finite only in regard to man, while with regard to an infinite God it is infinite; (2) that man is not hindered by God from reaching his last end, but rather deprives himself, by his own free will, of the crown that constitutes his end and purpose; and (3) that if God had not created men because He foresaw that some of them would be eternally lost, though of course it is through their own fault, He would be unjust toward those whose merits entitled them to heaven.

It was necessary that God should stimulate human slothfulness by promises of reward and threats of punishment. What would become of society if there were no belief in eternal retribution? The reward of the good should be eternal; how, then, can the everlasting punishment of the wicked be unjust? Threats of eternal sufferings are more clearly stated in the Sacred Scriptures than any other doctrine. If they are not to be understood literally, if they are to be taken in any other sense, then no true idea of doctrine can be gathered from the Bible.

Man is undoubtedly created for eternity. When his end comes, there is not another world in which he can fit himself for heaven, for in the next life there are not the same duties to be fulfilled as in this. If he have squandered time, money, and talents, how will he regain his loss? Can he discharge acts of charity toward his neighbor? If he have not fulfilled his duty toward his parents, his fellow-men, or his country, can he repair the harm in the next life? If he die unfit for heaven he will remain unfit. In the next world a man may suffer, and thus satisfy for the punishment

due to forgiven sin, but he can not retrieve in eternity what, on account of his worthlessness, he has never earned, or yet make good what he has omitted.

The stubborn, persistent sinner has offended God knowingly and willingly. He would not amend his life, and was suddenly overtaken by death in the midst of his disobedience. He died in unmistakable hostility to God. He had thwarted all the views of a merciful Providence. He despised all that Christ had done for him, all the lessons He had taught him through His priests, all the graces He had given him through His Church. Had he lived longer he would have lived only to sin again and again, and without any contrition. Hence, in eternity, there is no forgiveness for him, because there can be no conversion. His punishment never ceases, because his stubbornness is unbroken.

St. Gregory, with truth and justice, concludes that "the impious would, if they could, live forever, in order to be able to sin forever. They thereby show that they wish to live in sin, for as long as they do live, they do not cease sinning. Moreover, the exalted wisdom of the Judge demands that they be never without punishment, because, when in this life, they would never be without sinning. The almighty God, who is merciful, does not rejoice at the sufferings of the damned, but, as He is just, He never shirks the office of punishing the wicked."

The Punishments of Hell.

Concerning hell the Catholic Church teaches three things: (1) that there is a hell; (2) that its pains are everlasting; and (3) that the pains are different in degree and measure in proportion to the enormity of the sin. Although she has nowhere spoken explicitly

on the mode and method of hell's punishments, St. Athanasius says, in his Creed: "Those who have done evil will go to hell."

Other Church Fathers also hold strictly to the words of the Bible, and enumerate the penalties as (1) darkness; (2) howling and weeping; (3) hunger and thirst, according to the words of Isaias, "Behold, My servants shall eat, and you shall be hungry. behold, My servants shall drink and you shall be thirsty " (Isaias lxv. 13); (4) stench, for "their lot will be cast in a stinking pool of fire;" (5) fire; (6) the worm; (7) the horrors and disgust of the place itself; (8) the company of the damned; (9) despair; and (10) the eternity of suffering.

VI. HEAVEN.

Passages from the Scriptures.

1. THERE is a place of reward after death. "Where is thy hope, for which thou gavest alms, and buriedst the dead? But Tobias rebuked them, saying, Speak For we are the children of saints, and look for that life which God will give to them, that never change their faith from Him" (Tobias ii. 16-18).

not so.

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They that trust in Him shall understand the truth: and they that are faithful in love shall rest in Him: for grace and peace is to His elect" (Wisdom iii. 9).

"And I dispose to you, as My Father hath disposed to Me, a kingdom, that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and may sit upon thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel" (Luke xxii. 29).

"Making commemoration of you in my prayers, that

the eyes of your heart enlightened, that you may know what the hope is of His calling, and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints"