Visions of Hell, Purgatory, and Heaven according to the diary of St. Faustina

St. Maria Faustina Kowalska

The following passages are taken from the Diary of St. Faustina and they refer to her visions of Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. Very interesting.
"...I saw two roads. One was broad, covered with sand and flowers, full of joy, music and all sorts of pleasures. People walked along it, dancing and enjoying themselves. They reached the end without realizing it. And at the end of the road there was a horrible precipice; that is, the abyss of hell. The souls fell blindly into it; as they walked, so they fell. And their number was so great that it was impossible to count them. And I saw the other road, or rather, a path, for it was narrow and strewn with thorns and rocks; and the people who walked along it had tears in their eyes, and all kinds of suffering befell them. Some fell down upon the rocks, but stood up immediately and went on. At the end of the road there was a magnificent garden filled with all sorts of happiness and all these souls entered there. At the very first instant they forgot all their sufferings" (Diary 153).

" Today, I was led by an Angel to the chasms of hell. It is a place of great torture; how awesomely large and extensive it is! The kinds of tortures I saw: the first torture that constitutes hell is the loss of God; the second is perpetual remorse of conscience; the third is that one’s condition will never change; the fourth is the fire that will penetrate the soul without destroying it, a terrible suffering, since it is a purely spiritual fire, lit by God’s anger; the fifth torture is conditional darkness and a terrible suffocating smell, and despite the darkness, the devils and the souls of the damned see each other and all the evil, both of others and their own; the sixth torture is the constant company of satan, the seventh torture is horrible despair, hatred of God, vile words, curses and blasphemies. These are the tortures suffered by all the damned together, but that is not the end of the sufferings. There are special tortures destined for particular souls. These are the torments of the senses. Each soul undergoes terrible and indescribable sufferings, related to the manner in which it has sinned. There are caverns and pits of torture where one form of agony differs from another. I would have died at the very sight of these tortures if the omnipotence of God had not supported me. Let the sinner know that he will be tortured throughout all eternity, in those senses which he made use of to sin. I am writing this at the command of God, so that no soul may find an excuse by saying there is no hell, or that nobody has ever been there, and so no one can say what it is like. I, sister Faustina, by the order of God, have visited the abysses of hell so that I might tell souls about it and testify to its existence. I cannot speak about it now; but I have received a command from God to leave it in writing. The devils were full of hatred for me, but they had to obey me at the command of God. What I have written is but a pale shadow of the things I saw. But I noticed one thing: that most of the souls there are those who disbelieved that there is a hell. When I came to, I could hardly recover from the fright. How terribly souls suffer there! Consequently, I pray even more fervently for the conversion of sinners. I incessantly plead God’s mercy upon them. O my Jesus, I would rather be in agony until the end of the world, amidst the greatest sufferings, then offend You by the least sin. (Diary 741).

" ...I saw my Guardian Angel, who ordered me to follow him. In a moment I was in a misty place full of fire in which there was a great crowd of suffering souls. They were praying fervently, but to no avail, for themselves; only we can come to their aid. The flames, which were burning them, did not touch me at all. My Guardian Angel did not leave me for an instant. I asked these souls what their greatest suffering was. They answered me in one voice that their greatest torment was longing for God. I saw Our Lady visiting the souls in Purgatory. The souls call Her “The Star of the Sea”. She brings them refreshment. I wanted to talk with them some more, but my Guardian Angel beckoned me to leave. We went out of that prison of suffering. [I heard an interior voice which said] ‘My mercy does not want this, but justice demands it. Since that time, I am in closer communion with the suffering souls.’” (Diary, 20)

" November 27, 1936. Today I was in heaven, in spirit, and I saw its unconceivable beauties and the happiness that awaits us after death. I saw how all creatures give ceaseless praise and glory to God. I saw how great is happiness in God, which spreads to all creatures, making them happy; and then all the glory and praise which springs from this happiness returns to its source; and they enter into the depths of God, contemplating the inner life of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, whom they will never comprehend or fathom. This source of happiness is unchanging in its essence, but it is always new, gushing forth happiness for all creatures. Now I understand Saint Paul, who said, “Eye has not seen, nor has ear heard, not has it entered into the heart of man what God has prepared for those who love him.” And God has given me to understand that there is but one thing that is of infinite value in His eyes, and that is love of God; love, love and once again, love; and nothing can compare with a single act of pure love of God. Oh, with what inconceivable favors God gifts a soul that loves Him sincerely! Oh, how happy is the soul who already here on earth enjoys His special favors! And of such are the little and humble souls. The sight of this great majesty of God, which I came to understand more profoundly and which is worshipped by the heavenly spirits according to their degree of grace and the hierarchies into which they are divided, did not cause my soul to be stricken with terror or fear; no, no, not at all! My soul was filled with peace and love, and the more I come to know the greatness of God, the more joyful I become that He is as He is. And I rejoice immensely in His greatness and am delighted that I am so little because, since I am little, He carries me in His arms and holds me close to His Heart. O my God, how I pity those people who do not believe in eternal life; how I pray for them that a ray of mercy would envelop them too, and that God would clasp them to His fatherly bosom... "

(Diary 777).

References:
http://cloudoffire.blogspot.com/2009/03/visions-of-hell-purgatory-and-heaven.html
http://divinemercysunday.com/vision.htm

Lowly People vs. The Great People

May 13, 2013 Monday, I didn't expect to be promoted as Team Leader of our Section's office.  I was bewildered and shocked. I was totally and completely didn't expect it and made me think immediately for my other colleagues reaction.  For more than 4 years only I got this promotion and immediately got really concern of what my existing team leaders will think of and my fellow colleagues as well.  I cannot stop thinking and comparing myself to others on why I deserve this special gift.  Although my manager explained to me why he chose me from the rest of the team and also how my closest colleague details every possible reason, I was still overwhelmed for this sudden surprised. I wonder because there are at least 2 persons that I'm thinking who deserve to have this kind of promotion as well.  All I can say at that time is "thank you Lord God", "thank you for choosing me", "I don't know why you chose me but still thank you Lord".

I remember again the time when I was struggling to land my first job in a Japanese company.  I graduated to a humble College only so competing to any top University graduate would be a tough challenge to beat. My HR officer told me the whole story on how they chose us -- only 3 applicants.  She told me that they collected more than 1000 resumes then cut down to 500 then to 200 then to 100 then to 50 then to 20 then to 10 candidates.  From the 10 candidates they already finalized to 3 -- two candidates from the same leading University in our country and the last is me.  These 3 candidates were to undergo final panel interview. This mean any small mistake that I could make at that time could kick me out for a successful hiring.  She told me even though the first 2 candidates where very skillful, talented and came in the very good institution, they were very boastful and full of pride. This made the managers of the company decided to remove them from the list. I became the number one hired applicant and the other two colleagues reach the number 2 and 3 spot respectively and the rest is history.

I started to find in the internet about God's lowly people. Why God always choose the lowly people -- the ordinary, humble, meek, losers and sinners.  I cannot really say that I'm a humble nor meek but sinner, definitely yes!

In Job 5:9-16:

⁸ “As for me, I would seek God,
    and to God I would commit my cause.
⁹ He does great things and unsearchable,
    marvelous things without number.
¹⁰ He gives rain on the earth
    and sends waters on the fields;
¹¹ he sets on high those who are lowly,
    and those who mourn are lifted to safety.
¹² He frustrates the devices of the crafty,
    so that their hands achieve no success.
¹³ He takes the wise in their own craftiness;
    and the schemes of the wily are brought to a quick end.
¹⁴ They meet with darkness in the daytime,
    and grope at noonday as in the night.
¹⁵ But he saves the needy from the sword of their mouth,
    from the hand of the mighty.
¹⁶ So the poor have hope,
    and injustice shuts its mouth.

In the Acts 4:13-14: 
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.

In Mark 9:35:-37:

He called the twelve and said to them, "If any one wants to be first, he shall be last of all and servant of all." And taking a child , He stood him in the midst of them; and taking him in His arms, He said to them, "Whoever receives one child like this in My name is receiving Me; and whoever receives Me is not receiving Me, but Him who sent Me."

Now I'm not sure if I'm ready for this position but I realized God makes man complete. His grace is sufficient. He will guide us where He want us to be. When God chose Abraham to be the Father of all nation, he was old and didn't have any child.  When God chose Moses to lead Israelite from slavery he don't know what to do and even afraid to speak to the people. When God chose David the 2nd King of Israel he was still young and not knowledgeable. Our Lord Jesus chose Peter, a fisherman, to lead His new church.  With the grace and blessing of God, man can work wonders.  Without grace and blessing from God, man cannot do anything, man cannot go to a distance.  We should always remember that God is the Lord of the past --He knows where you came from. He is God of the present -- He knows what you are right now and what is happening to you. And He is God of the future -- He knows what will happen to you and to the whole world.  He has the Ultimate, Grand Strategic Plan.  Let's trust Him and put our fate in His loving hands. 

Sunday, the start of a new day. The start of my blogging for the proclamation to our Lord God Almighty and His chosen One, our Lord Jesus Christ.  I asked God to be with me always and be guided with His Holy Spirit with the mission to spread the good news to the people. 

Once, I have been lost and now been found and hopefully with the grace of God will never be lost again. Though many sins and shortcomings, with the grace of God I was not forsaken and I was saved and blessed.

Help me in spreading the love of God to people so that many will be save through Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, the Son of God who came down to earth for the redemption of our sins.