The Four Last Things: A Topography

The four last things: Death, Judgment, Hell, and Heaven. These are the things that our souls are progressing toward daily, as our earthly life moves closer to an end. These are the things of the eschaton, the end of the world. The early Christians were aware of the four last things. They believed that Christ was going to return in their lifetime; and so, the preaching of the early Church included, often centered, around the eschaton.

Death

Death is the moment in which our soul and our body separate. God created the soul and body to be together and their separation, therefore, is unnatural (Catechism of the Catholic Church 362-364). There are things about death that all Catholics should understand but regrettably are not spoken of commonly in the modern time.

The rending of the soul from the body is agonizing, comparing not with any pain experienced by the person while living. At the moment of Christ’s death, he let out an agonizing cry and died (Mark 15:37). We cannot expect to share fully in Christ’s passion without enduring this agonizing separation of our body and soul.

What a perfect example we have in Christ, who goes before us in all things! Instead of fearing death, we should embrace it. Only through death can we be raised to share in the glory of our heavenly homeland. God gives us hope in His promise that the body and soul will join together again on the last day when all of humanity will be raised from the dead.

Judgment

There are two judgment periods. When we die, our soul goes immediately to Christ for judgment. This is called the particular judgment. At the particular judgment, we will be held accountable by the great Judge and sentenced to Heaven, Hell, or Purgatory. Heaven and Hell are treated in more detail below, but understand that the reward of Heaven or the sentence of Hell is permanent, and the soul will remain there until the last day and resurrection of the dead.

Many good souls who will receive the reward of Heaven but are not yet pure enough to achieve the beatific vision (seeing God face to face) will be sent to Purgatory. In Purgatory the soul will complete the suffering necessary to purge the stain of sin from their souls. All souls in Purgatory are destined for Heaven. Here they may neither sin nor merit grace and are dependent on the prayers of the saints in Heaven (the Church Triumphant) and the souls on Earth (the Church Militant) to be released from the bond of Purgatory. This is why we are called to pray for the dead (2 Maccabees 12:45; Mazzei, 2016).

At the end of time, God will send forth signs of the eschaton (Revelation 8:7-11:14). There will be a great chastisement that will bring the Earth to an end. After this event, great trumpets will blow and Christ will appear coming down from Heaven in his full glory, unlike the humility in which he appeared in the Incarnation.

This is the time of the general judgment when the souls of the dead will appear at the site of their earthly interment and gaze upon their body. The bodies of the just will appear glorified and the soul and body will long to be reunited and will be. The souls of the wicked will gaze upon hideous bodies, resembling demons more than the human bodies. The wicked souls will loathe the idea of reunification but will have no choice but to obey God’s commandment.

Then all will be assembled to the place of the general judgment where Christ will appear in Glory on His throne. As Scripture tells us, the sheep will be gathered on His right and the goats on His left (Matthew 25:31-33). Each soul will give an accounting before all of their sins. The demons will be on hand to accuse and the angels to defend, but there will be no escaping the Just Judge. Even the elect will be shamed as they recount their sins before Christ and all of humanity.

Hell

Satan’s greatest advantage over the men’s souls is their lack of belief in either demons or Hell. Among those that acknowledge their existence, there is a great number that doubts the severity, permanence, or likelihood of the punishment. They mistake God’s mercy for permission to sin or to put off worrying about the final judgment.

From scripture and private revelation to the Saints, we know that Hell is both eternal and infinite in its torture. The fire of hell is not symbolic, but real (Matthew 25:41; 13:42; Deuteronomy 32:22-25).  It is a fire that does not compare to any earthly fire as it is fueled by the breath of God (Isaiah 30:27,33). In addition to fire, there are other infinite torments that the souls of the damned must endure for all eternity. Hell is a place of terrifying darkness (Matthew 13:42), of terrible starvation and thirst, and the foulest of all stenches, like mountains of decaying corpses.

All of the conflagration, darkness, fear, and stench of Hell notwithstanding, the greatest punishment afflicted upon the souls of the damned is being deprived of the beatific vision. This is difficult for those of us still living with our human senses to understand, but the beauty of this vision is so great that to be deprived of it is hell itself. St. Bonaventure and St. John Chrysostom both write of the torture of being denied the beatific vision:

The most terrible penalty of the damned is being shut out forever from the blissful and joyous contemplation of the Blessed Trinity. (St. Bonaventure)

I know many persons only fear hell because of its pains, but I assert that the loss of the celestial glory is a source of more bitter pain than all the torments of Hell. (St. John Chrysostom)

Even the devil himself is forced to admit how glorious is God’s beauty. Blessed Jordan, who was Master of the Dominican order, once asked Satan in the body of a possessed person what was the greatest torment of Hell. He responded that it was being denied the presence of God. When pressed to describe God’s beauty, he gave an elaborate metaphor and said that God’s beauty was beyond compare. If the souls in Hell were granted to gaze upon the beauty of the Holy Trinity but for a moment, they would find Hell less intolerable.

Heaven

Heaven is often talked about as a spiritual place; but in fact, it is a physical realm as well. In Heaven, we will dwell with our glorified bodies among all the elect and with our Lord and our Lady in their bodily forms as well. They shall see Heaven with their eyes and experience it with all of their senses. The elect will hear the sounds of the angels, smell the most wonderful fragrances, touch and taste with glorified senses, not of ordinary food but of a sustaining sweetness that is all satisfying.

In Heaven, the elect will see and converse with each other. They will be with family, friends, and all of Church Triumphant. It will be as if they knew each other all along. The saints (as they can all be called) will talk about their earthly journey, the glory and mercy of God, and all manner of beautiful and intelligent things. They will instantly know everything knowable and travel to the ends of the universe with a mere thought.

Conclusion: Memento Mori

When we contemplate the things of Heaven, it should be so easy for us to accept the trials and sufferings of this life; to mortify our bodies, curb our lower appetites, and do penance. This is what is necessary for us to obtain Heaven. We hear often in our modern world, which is full of the doctrine of moral relevancy, that Hell is surely empty or at least there are few souls there.

We know from accounts of the Saints that were granted visions of Hell that the opposite is true. Christ himself tells us that many are called to the Kingdom, but few are chosen (Matthew 22:14). We lull ourselves into false security by believing that if we are simply nice people and try not to hurt others that we will go to Heaven. This is the evil one speaking! Cast him aside and listen to the voices of the apostles, the saints, and our Lord in the Gospels. Above all, Memento Mori—Remember your Death!

Note: For a more thorough discussion of this topic, I refer you to The Four Last Things by Fr. Martin Von Cochem, O.S.F.C.