DID ANYONE EVER COME OUT OF HELL TO TELL US WHAT IT IS LIKE?


DID ANYONE EVER COME OUT OF HELL TO TELL US WHAT IT IS LIKE?

The answer to the question in the title of this article is an emphatic "yes!"

Bl. Peter of Jeremiah, a Dominican, was studying law at the University of Bologna and was on the point of receiving his doctorate when, one night, he heard a loud knocking on the window of his room. Since he was on the third floor of the building, he could not understand what caused the knocking. A feeling of fear came over him.

As the knocking persisted, he cried out: "Who is knocking?"

Immediately a voice answered: "Peter, I am So-and-so, your relative. After having received my doctorate in law, I became a famous lawyer. Unhappy that I was, I took on unjust causes to acquire honor and riches at the expense of my conscience. I found myself without an advocate before God. I am damned; I am damned for eternity! God sent me to give you this warning.

Flee, flee the courts of men if you desire to be acquitted before the tribunal of God!"

Frightened, Peter decided to change the direction of his life. He made a vow of chastity and after praying for light, he entered the Dominican Order. After his death, because of his holiness and miracles, he was beatified. This true story is recounted in the Dominican annual Acts of the Saints (Palme edition, t. 7, pg. 292).



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