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Throughout history, various individuals have been granted a unique vision of the afterlife, often being taken to Heaven or Hell by an angel or the Virgin Mary. These private revelations were granted by God to help an individual better understand what awaits a soul after death.
Sister Lucia, one of the three visionaries of Fatima, wrote down in her memoirs a vision of Hell that was given to them by the Virgin Mary. It describes Hell as a "vast sea of fire" and was a terrifying sight to behold, especially for the three children who saw it.
This vision of Hell is reflective of the description found in the Roman Catechism from the Council of Trent, which describes Hell as a “most loathsome and dark prison in which the souls of the damned are tormented with the unclean spirits in eternal and inextinguishable fire. This place is called gehenna, the bottomless pit, and is hell strictly so called.”
This image of Hell is also derived from these words of Jesus in the Gospel, “If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off. It is better for you to enter into life maimed than with two hands to go into Gehenna, into the unquenchable fire.” (Mark 9:43)
In biblical terms, “Gehenna” is the Greek term for a valley southwest of Jerusalem. It was a place where pagan sacrifice occurred, including the burning sacrifice of children. During Jesus’ time, it was a garbage dump where refuse was continually burned. Thus, Hell is associated with a place of perpetual fire and pain.
The vision Sister Lucia was granted was terrifying and reminds us all that Hell is not some "party for sinners," but a terrible place, one to which we would never want to go.
