Tuesday, 17 September 2013
Doctors of the Church on Hell
'Since their eternal happiness, consisting in the vision of God, exceeds the common state of nature, and especially in so far as this is deprived of grace through the corruption of original sin, those who are saved are in the minority. In this especially, however, appears the mercy of God, that He has chosen some for that salvation, from which very many in accordance with the common course and tendency of nature fall short.'
St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church
'Live with the few if you want to reign with the few.'
St. John Climacus, Father of the Church
'If you wish to imitate the multitude, then you shall not be among the few who shall enter in by the narrow gate.'
St. Augustine, Doctor and Father of the Church
'Do you not perceive how many qualities a priest must have that he may be strong in his teaching, patient, and hold fast to the faithful word which is according to doctrine? What care and pains does this require! Moreover, he is answerable for the sins of others. To pass over everything else: If but one soul dies without Baptism, does it not entirely endanger his own salvation? For the loss of one soul is so great an evil that it is impossible to express it in words. For if the salvation of that soul was of such value that the Son of God became man and suffered so much, think of how great a punishment must the losing of it bring.'
St. John Chrysostom, Doctor and Father of the Church
'We were so fortunate to be born in the bosom of the Roman Church, in Christian and Catholic kingdoms, a grace that has not been granted to the greater part of men, who are born among idolaters, Mohammedans, or heretics. . . How thankful we ought to be, then, to Jesus Christ for the gift of faith! What would have become of us if we had been born in Asia, in Africa, in America, or in the midst of heretics and schismatic? He who does not believe is lost. He who does not believe shall be condemned. And thus, probably, we also would have been lost.'
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, Doctor of the Church
In the Great Deluge in the days of Noah, nearly all mankind perished, eight persons alone being saved in the Ark. In our days a deluge, not of water but of sins, continually inundates the earth, and out of this deluge very few escape. Scarcely anyone is saved.'
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, Doctor of the Church
'How few the Elect are may be understood from the multitude being cast out.'
St. Hilary of Poitiers, Doctor and Father of the Church
'There are many who arrive at the faith, but few who are led into the heavenly kingdom. Behold how many are gathered here for today's Feast-Day: we fill the church from wall to wall. Yet who knows how few they are who shall be numbered in that chosen company of the Elect?'
Pope St. Gregory the Great, Doctor and Father of the Church
'The greater part of men will set no value on the blood of Christ, and will go on offending Him.'
St. Isidore of Seville, Doctor and Father of the Church
'They who are to be saved as Saints, and wish to be saved as imperfect souls, shall not be saved.'
Pope St. Gregory the Great, Doctor and Father of the Church
'. . . let us bear in mind that unless we are humble we shall not only do no good, but we shall not be saved. "Unless you . . . become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven." In order, then, to enter into the kingdom of heaven, we must become children, not in age, but in humility. St. Gregory says that as pride is a sign of reprobation, so humility is a mark of predestination.'
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, Doctor of the Church
'It is certain that few are saved.'
St. Augustine, Doctor and Father of the Church
'Many begin well, but there are few who persevere.'
St. Jerome, Doctor and Father of the Church
'What is the number of those who love Thee, O God? How few they are! The Elect are much fewer than the damned! Alas! The greater portion of mankind lives in sin unto the devil, and not unto Jesus Christ. O Saviour of the world, I thank Thee for having called and permitted us to live in the true faith which the Holy Roman Catholic Church teaches. . . But alas, O my Jesus! How small is the number of those who live in this holy faith! Oh, God! The greater number of men he buried in the darkness of infidelity and heresy. Thou hast humbled Thyself to death, to the death of the cross, for the salvation of men, and these ungrateful men are unwilling even to know Thee. Ah, I pray Thee, O omnipotent God, O sovereign and infinite Good, make all men know and love Thee!'
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, Doctor of the Church
'Out of one hundred thousand sinners who continue in sin until death, scarcely one will be saved.'
St. Jerome, Doctor and Father of the Church
'It is certainly a great happiness for some sinners who after a bad life are converted at their death, and are saved; but these cases are very rare: ordinarily he that leads a bad life dies a bad death.'
St. Alphonsus Maria de Liguori, Doctor of the Church
'So that you will better appreciate the meaning of Our Lord's words, and perceive more clearly how few the Elect are, note that Christ did not say that those who walked in the path to Heaven are few in number, but that there were few who found that narrow way. It is as though the Saviour intended to say: The path leading to Heaven is so narrow and so rough, so overgrown, so dark and difficult to discern, that there are many who never find it their whole life long. And those who do find it are constantly exposed to the danger of deviating from it, of mistaking their way, and unwittingly wandering away from it, because it is so irregular and overgrown.'
St. Jerome, Doctor and Father of the Church
'I do not speak rashly, but as I feel and think. I do not think that many bishops are saved, but that those who perish are far more numerous.'
St. John Chrysostom, Doctor and Father of the Church
'The Apostle commands us to rejoice, but in the Lord, not in the world. For, you see, as Scripture says, whoever wishes to be a friend of this world will be counted as God's enemy. Just as a man cannot serve two masters, so too no-one can rejoice both in the world and in the Lord.'
St. Augustine, Doctor and Father of the Church
