as an oven of fire, in the time of Thy anger: the Lord shall trouble them in His wrath, and fire shall devour them.”[1] Our dear Saviour uses a strange mode of expression in the Gospel of St. Matthew: after having exhorted us rather to cut off the hand or foot, and tear out the eye that might lead us into sin, and thus to enter blind and lame into heaven, than having eyes, hands, and feet, to be hurled into hell, He adds these wonderful words: “For every one shall be salted with fire.”[2] That is to say, as fish that is salted in a barrel is so completely penetrated by the salt that no part of it remains unsalted, so also they who are condemned to hell shall be tormented by fire, not merely on the outside of their bodies, but in every part of them. They shall be “salted with fire.” Oh! wo to thee, sinner, who art now given up to carnal sins; if thou dost not do timely penance, thou shalt one day be a burning coal in this fire; that body of thine, corrupted by the filth of foul passions, shall be completely penetrated by an intolerable heat, that will pierce thee through like a glowing iron; thy flesh shall be roasted, the marrow in thy bones melted, thy brain shall boil and seethe in thy head, and, like the iron bull that Phalaris invented to be heated from the outside with burning coals, nothing but flames of fire shall burst forth from thy mouth, and nose, and eyes, and ears. Thus shalt thou be in hell surrounded with fire, above and below, on the right and on the left, inside and outside; thou shalt be more fire than the fire itself! O fire! what a terrible torment thou art! O fire of hell! what a far more terrible torment art thou! O eternal fire of hell! what am I now to think and say of thee? That we shall consider in the
Second Part.
It would be tolerable in some degree if it were ever to end; but it is eternal. To burn in fire is a fearful torment, but it is still tolerable; it is the lot of even the chosen friends and children of God, the poor souls in purgatory, and indeed they endure the fire with the utmost patience and love of God. What a terrible torment it is to be slowly burnt alive! Yet even that is endurable, for St. Lawrence suffered it and actually laughed and jested in the midst of his martyrdom. But to live always in fire; to have a fiery house for one’s dwelling; flames for one’s bed and covering;
