GOLD AGE OF SPANISH

LITERATURE

ST. TERESA OF AVILAS
VISION OF HELL
Emmanuel Rentoy
and Its Consistency with St. Thomas Aquinas
Writings Regarding the Punishment of the Damned
1. Title
2. Abstract
3. Hypothesis
4. Introduction
5. Review
6. Analysis
7. Results
8. Conclusions
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 they
theologically and doctrinally support the descriptions of hell as
seen by St. Teresa through a grace granted to her by God. Did
she ever get to read St. Thomas Summa, thereby unconsciously
basing her description on theologically correct exegesis? Or was it
Gods 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 to
show 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
Teresa of vila
also called
Saint Teresa of Jesus

baptized as

Teresa Snchez de Cepeda y
Ahumada

(28 March 1515 4 October 1582)
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Born on March 28, 1515
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Avila, Spain
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Avila, Spain
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Countdown to her 500
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Birth Anniversary
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Doctor of the Church
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Declared a Saint on March 12, 1622
by Pope Gregory XV
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Born in Avila, Spain, on March 28, 1515
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THOMAS AQUINAS
Summa Theologiae

Question 97. The punishment of the damned
A long time after the Lord had already granted
me many of the favors I've mentioned and other
very lofty ones, while I was in prayer one day, I
suddenly found that, without knowing how, I
had seemingly been put in hell. I understood
that the Lord wanted me to see the place the
devils had prepared there for me and which I
merited because of my sins. This experience
took place within the shortest space of time, but
even were I to live for many years I think it
would be impossible for me to forget it.
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1. Darkness
2. Narrow Walls and Floors
3. Putrid Foul Smell
4. Niche
5. Pain of Fire
6. Soul Torn as a Result of
Separation from the
Creator
7. Realization of its Eternity


According to St. Thomas
THE PUNISHMENT OF
THE DAMNED
According to Saint Thomas Aquinas
(STh Supp q. 69, aa. 1-7),
Hell (Latin: Infernus) is divided into
four sections or abodes:


Gehenna
Limbo of the Children
Limbo of the Fathers
Purgatory
Gehenna.

This is hell in the strict sense,
or the place of punishment
for the damned, both demons
or humans.
Limbo of the Children.

Where those who die
in original sin alone, and
without personal mortal sin,
enjoy natural beatitude
without the sensation of pain.
Limbo of the Fathers.

Where the souls of the Old
Testament saints who died before
Christ awaited their admission to
heaven. Also called Abrahams
bosom. Also a natural beatitude
without the sensation of pain.
Purgatory.

Where the righteous who die
in venial sin or who still owe
a debt of temporal
punishment for sin, are
cleansed by suffering before
their admission to Heaven.
Clearly,
St. Teresas
hell is Gehena
Gehenna.

This is hell in the strict sense,
or the place of punishment
for the damned, both demons
or humans.
97. THE PUNISHMENT OF THE
DAMNED

1. Those who undergo the
punishment of hell are
tormented by fire and also
by other afflicting agencies.
97. THE PUNISHMENT OF THE
DAMNED

2. "The worm that dieth
not" will afflict the
condemned soul in hell.
97. THE PUNISHMENT OF THE
DAMNED

This means that remorse of
conscience (but not
repentance), will incessantly
trouble that soul.
97. THE PUNISHMENT OF THE
DAMNED

4. The darkness of
hell is a true and
material darkness.
After the resurrection
of bodies, this darkness
will afflict the bodily
vision of the damned.
97. THE PUNISHMENT OF THE
DAMNED

The fire of hell, as St. Basil
says, will have heat but not
light for those punished by
it.
6. It seems that the fire of hell
is essentially the same as the
fire we know on earth,
although it doubtlessly has
different properties, since it
needs no fuel and does not
consume what is cast into it.
98. THE WILL
AND THE
INTELLECT OF
THE DAMNED
4. As in heaven there is
perfect charity, and happiness
in the fact of each soul's
being saved, so in hell there is
perfect hatred and envy, and
malicious desire to see others
suffer the pains of hell.

5. The damned hate God
(not in himself, for this is
impossible) in the effects
of his justice which they
have perversely brought
upon themselves.
99. GOD'S MERCY
AND JUSTICE
TOWARDS THE
DAMNED
But the guilt of mortal sin is
the guilt of completely
rejecting God and offending
him whose majesty is
infinite. The guilt of such a
sin deserves unending
punishment.
4. Christians who go
to hell are there
eternally, just as non-
Christians are.
A long time after the Lord had
already granted me many of the
favors I've mentioned and other
very lofty ones, while I was in
prayer one day, I suddenly found
that, without knowing how, I had
seemingly been put in
hell.
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1. Darkness
2. Narrow Walls and Floors
3. Putrid Foul Smell
4. Niche
5. Pain of Fire
6. Soul Torn as a Result of
Separation from the Creator
7. Realization of its Eternity
CONCLUSION
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1. St. Teresas Hell is in
accordance with
Thomistic Theology of
the Punishment of the
Damned.
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2. St. Teresas description
of hell could not have
been made up or
invented because of its
theological precision.
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3. Making it up would
seriously contradict the
holiness of life that St.
Teresa showed.
References
Du Boulay, Shirley (2004). Teresa of Avila: An Extraordinary
Life. Katonah, New York: BlueBridge.ISBN 0-974-24052-4; ISBN
978-0-97424-052-7.
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 Book
of My Life. Boston, Massachusetts: Shambhala
Publications. ISBN 978-1-59030-573-7.
This article was originally based on the text in the Schaff-Herzog
Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge.
"St. Teresa of Jesus (Teresa of Avila)". 1913 Catholic
Encyclopedia.
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