St. Teresa of Avila's Vision of Hell

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GOLD AGE OF SPANISHLITERATURE

ST. TERESAOFAVILAS

VISIONOFHELL

Emmanuel Rentoy

and Its Consistency with St. Thomas Aquinas

Writings Regarding the Punishment of the Damned


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1. Title

2. Abstract3. Hypothesis

4. Introduction5. Review6. Analysis7. Results8. Conclusions


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This paper intends to look at what St. Thomas has written about hell(found in the Supplement Q. 94, 97, 98 and 99), and how theytheologically and doctrinally support the descriptions of hell as

seen by St. Teresa through a grace granted to her by God. Didshe ever get to read St. Thomas Summa, thereby unconsciously

basing her description on theologically correct exegesis? Or was itGods purpose of giving her a vision truly accurate so as to serve as

a confirmation of St. Thomas treatise on hell?

In the process of this comparative analysis, the writer intends toshow the greatness of both bodies of work (Life and Summa),

as well as the prominence of these two Catholic writers (St. Teresa

and St. Thomas).

ABSTRACT


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Teresa of vilaalso called

Saint Teresa of Jesus

baptized as

Teresa Snchez de Cepeda yAhumada

(28 March 15154 October 1582)


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ST.TERESAOFAVILA

Born on March 28, 1515


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ST.TERESAOFAVILA

Avila, Spain


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ST.TERESAOFAVILA

Avila, Spain


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ST.TERESAOFAVILA

Countdown to her 500thBirth Anniversary


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ST.TERESAOFAVILA

Doctor of the Church


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ST.TERESAOFAVILA


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ST.TERESAOFAVILA

Declared a Saint on March 12, 1622

by Pope Gregory XV


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ST.TERESAOFAVILA


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ST.TERESAOFAVILA


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ST.TERESAOFAVILA


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ST.TERESAOFAVILA


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ST.TERESAOFAVILA

Born in Avila, Spain, on March 28, 1515


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ST.TERESAOFAVILA


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THOMAS AQUINAS

Summa Theologiae

Question 97. The punishment of the damned
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/5097.htmhttp://www.newadvent.org/summa/5097.htmhttp://www.newadvent.org/summa/5097.htmhttp://www.newadvent.org/summa/5097.htmhttp://www.newadvent.org/summa/5097.htmhttp://www.newadvent.org/summa/5097.htmhttp://www.newadvent.org/summa/5097.htmhttp://www.newadvent.org/summa/5097.htm


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A long time after the Lord had already grantedme many of the favors I've mentioned and other

very lofty ones, while I was in prayer one day, Isuddenly found that, without knowing how, Ihad seemingly been put in hell. I understood

that the Lord wanted me to see the place thedevils had prepared there for me and which Imerited because of my sins. This experience

took place within the shortest space of time, buteven were I to live for many years I think itwould be impossible for me to forget it.


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ST.TERESAOFAVILA

1. Darkness

2. Narrow Walls and Floors3. Putrid Foul Smell4. Niche5. Pain of Fire6. Soul Torn as a Result of

Separation from theCreator

7. Realization of its Eternity


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According to St. Thomas

THE PUNISHMENT OFTHE DAMNED


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According to Saint Thomas Aquinas(SThSupp q. 69, aa. 1-7),

Hell (Latin: Infernus) is divided intofour sections or abodes:

Gehenna

Limbo of the Children

Limbo of the Fathers

Purgatory
http://www.newadvent.org/summa/5069.htmhttp://www.newadvent.org/summa/5069.htmhttp://www.newadvent.org/summa/5069.htmhttp://www.newadvent.org/summa/5069.htmhttp://www.newadvent.org/summa/5069.htmhttp://www.newadvent.org/summa/5069.htmhttp://www.newadvent.org/summa/5069.htm


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Gehenna.

This is hell in the strict sense,or the place of punishmentfor the damned, both demonsor humans.


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Limbo of the Children.

Where those who diein original sin alone, and

without personal mortal sin,enjoy natural beatitude

without the sensation of pain.


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Limbo of the Fathers.

Where the souls of the OldTestament saints who died beforeChrist awaited their admission toheaven. Also called Abrahams

bosom. Also a natural beatitude

without the sensation of pain.


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Purgatory.

Where the righteous who die

in venial sin or who still owea debt of temporal

punishment for sin, arecleansed by suffering before

their admission to Heaven


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Clearly,St. Teresas

hell is Gehena


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Gehenna.

This is hell in the strict sense,or the place of punishmentfor the damned, both demonsor humans.


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97. THE PUNISHMENT OF THEDAMNED

1. Those who undergo thepunishment of hell are

tormented by fire and alsoby other afflicting agencies.


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2. "The worm that diethnot" will afflict the

condemned soul in hell.


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This means that remorse ofconscience (but not

repentance), will incessantlytrouble that soul.


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4. The darkness ofhell is a true andmaterial darkness.


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After the resurrection

of bodies, this darkness

will afflict the bodilyvision of the damned.


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The fire of hell, as St. Basilsays, will have heat but not

light for those punished byit.


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6. It seems that the fire of hell

is essentially the same as thefire we know on earth,

although it doubtlessly hasdifferent properties, since it

needs no fuel and does notconsume what is cast into it.


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98. THE WILL

AND THE

INTELLECT OFTHE DAMNED


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4. As in heaven there is

perfect charity, and happinessin the fact of each soul's

being saved, so in hell there isperfect hatred and envy, andmalicious desire to see others

suffer the pains of hell


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5. The damned hate God(not in himself, for this is

impossible) in the effectsof his justice which they

have perversely brought

pon themselves


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99. GOD'S MERCYAND JUSTICE

TOWARDS THE

DAMNED

B h il f l i i


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But the guilt of mortal sin is

the guilt of completelyrejecting God and offending

him whose majesty isinfinite. The guilt of such asin deserves unending

punishment


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4. Christians who go

to hell are there

eternally, just as non-

Christians are.


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A long time after the Lord had

already granted me many of thefavors I've mentioned and othervery lofty ones, while I was inprayer one day, I suddenly foundthat, without knowing how, I had

seemingly been put inhell.


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ST.TERE

SAOFAVI

LA

1. Darkness

2. Narrow Walls and Floors3. Putrid Foul Smell4. Niche5. Pain of Fire6. Soul Torn as a Result of

Separation from the Creator7. Realization of its Eternity


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CONCLUSION


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ST.TERE

SAOFAVI

LA

1. St. Teresas Hell is in

accordance withThomistic Theology of

the Punishment of theDamned.


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ST.TERE

SAOFAVI

LA

2. St. Teresas description

of hell could not havebeen made up or

invented because of itstheological precision.


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ST.TERE

SAOFAVI

LA

3. Making it up would

seriously contradict theholiness of life that St.

Teresa showed.


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ReferencesDu Boulay, Shirley (2004). Teresa of Avila: An ExtraordinaryLife. Katonah, New York: BlueBridge.ISBN 0-974-24052-4; ISBN978-0-97424-052-7.Williams, Rowan (2004). Teresa of Avila.

London: Continuum International Publishing Group.ISBN 978-0-8264-7341-7.Bielecki, Tessa; tr. by Mirabai Starr (2008). Teresa of Avila: The Bookof My Life. Boston, Massachusetts: ShambhalaPublications. ISBN 978-1-59030-573-7.

This article was originally based on the text in the Schaff-HerzogEncyclopedia of Religious Knowledge."St. Teresa of Jesus (Teresa of Avila)". 1913 CatholicEncyclopedia.


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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Teresa of vila, Way of perfection, London, 2012. limovia.net ISBN978-1-78336-025-3"The Interior Castle - The Mansions," TAN Books, 1997. ISBN 978-0-89555-604-2

"The Way of Perfection," TAN Books, 1997. ISBN 978-0-89555-602-8Teresa of Avila, "The Book of Her Life" (Translated, with Notes, byKieran Kavanaugh, OCD and Otilio Rodriguez, OCD. Introduction

by Jodi Bilinkoff). Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett PublishingCompany, 2008. ISBN 978-0-87220-907-7"The Delighted Angel" drama about Teresa of vila and Rabija al-

Adavija by DevadKarahasan, Vienna-Salzburg-Klagenfurt, ARBOS1995.

"Th I i C l (Edi d b E Alli P ) " D bl d


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"The Interior Castle (Edited by E. Allison Peers)," Doubleday,1972. ISBN 978-0-385-03643-6"The Way of Perfection (Translated and Edited by E. Allison Peers),"

Doubleday, 1991. ISBN 978-0-385-06539-9"The Life of Teresa of Jesus: The Autobiography of Teresa of Avila(Translated by E. Allison Peers)," Doubleday, 1991. ISBN 978-0-385-01109-9

"Teresa of Avila: An Extraordinary Life", Shirley du Boulay,Bluebridge, 1995 ISBN 978-0-9742405-2-7"Teresa: Outstanding Christian Thinkers," Rowan Williams,Continuum, 1991. ISBN 978-0-8264-5081-4"The Eagle and the Dove" Saint Teresa of Avila and Saint Thrse ofLisieux. by Vita Sackville-West. First published in 1943 by MichaelJoseph LTD, 26 Bloomsbury Street, London, W.C.1

"C l i h S d" fi i i h i d b T f A il


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"Castles in the Sand" fiction with cited sources about Teresa of Avilaby Carolyn A. Greene, Lighthouse Trails Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-0-9791315-4-7

"15 Days of Prayer with Saint Teresa of Avila" by Jean Abiven, NewCity Press, 2011. ISBN 978-1-56548-366-8Brbara Mujica, Teresa de vila: Lettered Woman(Nashville, VanderbiltUniversity Press, 2009).

E. Rhodes, "Teresa de Jesus's Book and the Reform of the ReligiousMan in Sixteenth Century Spain," in Laurence Lux-Sterritt andCarmen Mangion (eds), Gender, Catholicism and Spirituality: Women andthe Roman Catholic Church in Britain and Europe, 1200-1900(Basingstoke,Palgrave Macmillan, 2011),"Works of St. Teresa of Avila (Online)". Christian Classics EtherealLibrary.

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