" I am suffering torment in these flames"
As for me, I would say that those being tormented in hell are done so by the blows of love. What is there more bitter and violent than love's torments? Those who feel they have sinned against love bear a far greater condemnation in themselves than the most dreadful of punishments. The suffering that our sins against love put in the heart rends it far more than any other torment.
It is absurd to think that sinners in hell are deprived of God's love. Love is offspring of the knowledge of the truth which, as everyone declares, is given without distinction. By its very power love acts in two ways. It torments sinners just as, here below, it can happen that a friend torments a friend. And it gives joy in itself to those who have observed what should be done. This, according to my understanding, is what the torment of hell is: regret. But the souls of those above are drunk with delight.
| Thursday, February 28, 2013 Lenten Weekday |
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