Bind into bundles to burn. the fire of hell

The vengeance on the flesh of the ungodly is fire and worms (Ecclus. vii. 19).

Fire and the remorse of conscience are the principal means by which God takes vengeance on the flesh of the wicked. Hence, in condemning the reprobate to hell, Jesus Christ commands them to go into eternal fire. Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire (Matt. xxv. 41). This fire, then, shall be one of the most cruel executioners of the damned.

Even in this life the pain of fire is the most terrible of all torments. But St. Augustine says, that compared with the fire of hell, the fire of this earth is no more than a picture compared with the reality. St. Anselm teaches that the fire of hell as far surpasses the fire of this world, as real fire exceeds painted fire. The pain, then, produced by the fire of hell is far greater than that which is produced by our fire, because God has made the fire of this earth for man's use, but He has created the fire of hell purposely for the chastisement of sinners; and therefore, as Tertullian says, He has made it a minister of His justice. This avenging fire is always kept alive by the wrath of God. A fire is kindled in my rage (Jer. xv. 14).

And the rich man also died, and he was buried in hell (Luke, xvi. 22). The damned are buried in the fire of hell. Hence they have an abyss of fire below, an abyss of fire above, and an abyss of fire on every side. As fishes in the sea are surrounded by water, so the unhappy reprobates are encompassed by fire on every side. The sharpness of the pain of fire may be inferred from the circumstance that the rich glutton complained of no other torment. I am tormented in this flame (Luke xvi. 24).

The Prophet Isaias says that the Lord will punish the guilt of sinners with the spirit of fire. If the Lord shall wash away the filth of the daughters of Sion... by the spirit of burning (Is. iv. 4). The spirit of burning is the pure essence of fire. All spirits or essences, though taken from simple herbs or flowers, are so penetrating that they reach the very bone. Such is the fire of hell. Its activity is so great that a single spark of it would be sufficient to melt a mountain of bronze. The Disciple relates, that a damned person, who appeared to a Religious, dipped his hand into a vessel of water; the Religious placed in the vessel a candlestick of bronze and it was instantly dissolved.

This fire shall torment the damned not only externally, but also internally. It will burn the bowels, the heart, the brain, the blood within the veins, and the marrow within the bones. The skin of the damned shall be like a caldron, in which their bowels, their flesh, and their bones shall be burned. David says that the bodies of the damned shall be like so many furnaces of fire. Thou shalt make them as an oven of fire in the time of thy anger (Ps. xx. 10).

O God, certain sinners cannot bear to walk under a strong sun, or to remain before a large fire in a close room; they cannot endure a spark from a candle; and they fear not the fire of hell, which, according to the Prophet Isaias, not only burns but devours the unhappy damned. Which of you can dwell with devouring fire? (Is. xxxiii. 14). As a lion devours a lamb, so the fire of hell devours the reprobate; but it devours without destroying life, and thus tortures them with a continual death. Continue, says St. Peter Damien to the sinner who indulges in impurity, continue to satisfy your flesh; a day will come, or rather an eternal night, when your impurities, like pitch, shall nourish a fire within your very bowels. And according to St. Cyprian, the impurities of the wicked shall boil in the very fat which will issue from their accursed bodies.

St. Jerome teaches that in this fire sinners shall suffer not only the pain of the fire, but also all the pains which men endure on this earth. How manifold are the pains to which men are subject in this life! Pains in the side, pains in the head, pains in the loins, pains in the bowels. All these together torture the damned.