Lucerna Memoriae
Death, Judgement, Heaven, and Hell — the four realities that await every soul.
Death is the separation of the soul from the body. It is the end of man's earthly pilgrimage and the moment at which the time given him by God to work out his salvation comes to a close. After death there is no further opportunity for merit or repentance; the state of the soul at the instant of death is fixed for all eternity.
Death entered the world through the sin of our first parents. By one man sin entered into the world, and by sin death; it is the universal consequence of original sin and the wage justly due to every descendent of Adam. Yet for the Christian who dies in the state of grace, death is transformed: it is no longer merely a punishment but a passage — the gate through which the soul enters into the life that has no end.
Christ, by His own Death and Resurrection, conquered death and opened the gates of Heaven. He has made it possible for the faithful to die in hope, united to His Paschal Mystery. The Church therefore teaches her children to prepare for death at every moment, knowing neither the day nor the hour.
Scripture
"And as it is appointed unto men once to die, and after this the judgement." — Hebrews 9:27
"Wherefore as by one man sin entered into this world, and by sin death; and so death passed upon all men, in whom all have sinned." — Romans 5:12
"For the wages of sin is death. But the grace of God, life everlasting, in Christ Jesus our Lord." — Romans 6:23
"Watch ye therefore, because you know not the day nor the hour." — S. Matthew 25:13
"O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting? Now the sting of death is sin: and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God, who hath given us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ." — 1 Corinthians 15:55–57
Immediately upon death, each soul appears before the judgement seat of Christ to receive its eternal recompense. This is the Particular Judgement. In it the whole of a man's life — his thoughts, words, deeds, and omissions — is laid bare before the all-seeing God, and the soul is assigned to its eternal destiny: Heaven (at once or after purification), or Hell.
The Particular Judgement is personal and immediate. There is no delay between death and this reckoning. The soul does not sleep or wander but stands at once before its Creator and Judge. The parable of Lazarus and the rich man teaches that the recompense of each follows directly upon death.
Scripture
"And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom. And the rich man also died: and he was buried in hell." — S. Luke 16:22
"For we must all be manifested before the judgement seat of Christ, that every one may receive the proper things of the body, according as he hath done, whether it be good or evil." — 2 Corinthians 5:10
"Amen I say to thee, this day thou shalt be with me in paradise." — S. Luke 23:43
At the end of the world, Christ will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead. This is the General Judgement, or the Last Judgement, confessed in the Creed. All men who have ever lived — the just and the unjust, reunited with their risen bodies — will stand before the throne of the Son of Man, and the hidden counsels of every heart will be made manifest before the whole of creation.
The General Judgement does not alter the sentence of the Particular Judgement, but it vindicates God's justice before all creatures, reveals the full consequences of each person's deeds upon the course of history, and displays the definitive triumph of Christ over sin and death. The bodies of all the dead shall be raised: those of the just to glory, those of the wicked to everlasting shame.
The exact hour of the Last Judgement is known to God alone. Our Lord Himself declared that neither the angels of Heaven nor the Son (in His human knowledge) know the day, but only the Father. The Church therefore exhorts the faithful to watchfulness and perseverance.
Scripture
"And when the Son of man shall come in his majesty, and all the angels with him, then shall he sit upon the seat of his majesty. And all nations shall be gathered together before him, and he shall separate them one from another, as the shepherd separateth the sheep from the goats." — S. Matthew 25:31–32
"And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the just, into life everlasting." — S. Matthew 25:46
"And I saw the dead, great and small, standing in the presence of the throne, and the books were opened; and another book was opened, which is the book of life; and the dead were judged by those things which were written in the books, according to their works." — Apocalypse 20:12
"But of that day and hour no one knoweth, not the angels of heaven, but the Father alone." — S. Matthew 24:36
Those who die in the grace of God but imperfectly purified undergo a cleansing after death, that they may attain the holiness necessary to enter the joy of Heaven. For the Church's teaching on this merciful doctrine, see Purgatory →
Heaven is the state of supreme and definitive happiness: the eternal communion of the blessed with God, the Most Holy Trinity, the Blessed Virgin Mary, the angels, and all the saints. It is the fulfilment of man’s deepest longing — to see God face to face and to be perfectly united with Him in love.
The blessed in Heaven enjoy the Beatific Vision: they see God as He is, without any veil or figure, directly, clearly, and openly. This vision surpasses all natural knowledge and is the source of an unending, ever-increasing joy. By this vision the blessed are made partakers of the divine nature and enter into the very life of the Holy Trinity.
Heaven is not earned by human merit alone but is a gift of God’s grace, promised to those who love Him and die in His friendship. The glory of each soul in Heaven differs according to the degree of charity and merit it possessed at the moment of death, yet each is perfectly happy, for each beholds God and is filled according to its capacity.
Scripture
“We see now through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know even as I am known.” — 1 Corinthians 13:12
“That eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him.” — 1 Corinthians 2:9
“In my Father’s house there are many mansions. If not, I would have told you: because I go to prepare a place for you.” — S. John 14:2
“Dearly beloved, we are now the sons of God; and it hath not yet appeared what we shall be. We know, that, when he shall appear, we shall be like to him: because we shall see him as he is.” — 1 S. John 3:2
“And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes: and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away.” — Apocalypse 21:4
Hell is the state of definitive self-exclusion from communion with God and the blessed. It is reserved for those who die in the state of mortal sin — that is, those who freely and knowingly refuse God's mercy and persist in grave evil until the end. The chief punishment of Hell is eternal separation from God, in Whom alone man can have the life and happiness for which he was created.
The teaching of the Church affirms the existence of Hell and its eternity. The fire of Hell is real; it is not a mere figure of speech. Both the pain of loss (poena damni — the privation of the sight of God) and the pain of sense (poena sensus — the torment of fire and other sufferings) are everlasting and without remedy. The damned can never be released from Hell, nor can their punishment be lessened.
God predestines no one to Hell. Damnation is the consequence of a free and deliberate turning away from God — a mortal sin in which one persists without repentance. The Church's teaching on Hell is not a threat but a solemn call to responsibility: to use the freedom God has given us in a way worthy of our eternal destiny, and to have recourse to His mercy while there is still time.
Scripture
"Depart from me, you cursed, into everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels." — S. Matthew 25:41
"And these shall go into everlasting punishment: but the just, into life everlasting." — S. Matthew 25:46
"And if thy hand scandalize thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter into life, maimed, than having two hands to go into hell, into unquenchable fire: Where their worm dieth not, and the fire is not quenched." — S. Mark 9:42–43
"And whosoever was not found written in the book of life, was cast into the pool of fire." — Apocalypse 20:15
"And the smoke of their torments shall ascend up for ever and ever: neither have they rest day nor night." — Apocalypse 14:11
The Four Last Things — Death, Judgement, Heaven, and Hell — have been taught by the Church from her earliest days as the realities upon which every Christian should meditate, that he may live in the fear and love of God and persevere in grace until the end. All Scripture quotations are from the Douay-Rheims translation.
Sources
Benedict XII, Benedictus Deus — Apostolic Constitution on the Beatific Vision and the state of the dead before the General Judgement.
Council of Trent, Decree on Justification — on the necessity of perseverance and the possibility of mortal sin after justification.
Council of Florence, Laetentur Caeli — Decree on the state of souls after death, Purgatory, and the immediate entrance of the blessed into the Beatific Vision.
Second Council of Lyons, Profession of Faith of Michael VIII Palaeologus — on the Last Judgement, Heaven, Hell, and Purgatory.
Douay-Rheims Bible.
Related Reading
Purgatory — the state of purification between death and the Beatific Vision.
The Assumption of Mary — what happened to Mary is what is promised to all the faithful, at the last day.
The Tower We Carry — on the patterns of judgement from Eden to the Second Coming.
Collected for the faithful of The Layman's Lantern.
Drawn from Sacred Scripture, Sacred Tradition, and the teaching authority of the Church.
