Teresa writes in her autobiography about a frightening vision she had of Hell and how it haunted her the rest of her life. When writing the vision down she experienced the same bone-chilling feelings run throughout her body.

𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘱𝘭𝘶𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘥 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘏𝘦𝘭𝘭. 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥’𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘴. 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘧𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴, 𝘐 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘣𝘦 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘮𝘣𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘢 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘨, 𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘳𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘧𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘸, 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘥; 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘭𝘵𝘩𝘺, 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭-𝘴𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘶𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘥-𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘦𝘴.

𝘈𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘴𝘤𝘰𝘰𝘱𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘤𝘶𝘱𝘣𝘰𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘤𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 … 𝘔𝘺 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴, 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬, 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘦𝘹𝘢𝘨𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥, 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮. 𝘐 𝘧𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘢 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘶𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘢𝘱𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 … 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘴, 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵, 𝘣𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦. 𝘛𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴.

It was a terrifying experience, but she fully understood why God allowed her to see first-hand the torments of Hell.

[𝘛]𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘮𝘦: 𝘪𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘧𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦, 𝘣𝘰𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘧𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘰𝘳𝘥, 𝘞𝘩𝘰, 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦, 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳-𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴.

She understood that if she hadn’t turned away from vice and embrace a life of virtue, this would have been her fate. Teresa was grateful to God for the many graces she received and for his mercy in sparing her such torment.

Furthermore, this vision moved St. Teresa to experience great sadness over those people who were drawing near to that destination, through their deliberate choices.

𝘐𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘴𝘦𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘴: 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵, 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘢 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘧𝘶𝘭 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴. 𝘈𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘶𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘰𝘳 𝘱𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘮𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘶𝘴 𝘵𝘰𝘰.

Instead of experiencing satisfaction at the justice of those souls being eternally damned, she wanted to save them, offering herself as a living sacrifice.

Hell is a very real place, and while it shouldn’t be our only reason for choosing virtue over vice, it is a good starting point and should lead us to a life united to God. Our choices matter, and the good news is that we can change our lives, no matter how far we have gone down the wrong path.

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