The thought of hell - the stark, terrible reality of hell - is all but forgotten today. However, like all truths, hell has not ceased to exist simply because mankind has ceased to believe it. The following story is told by Richard of St. Anne, a Franciscan who was later martyred. He was living in Brussels in 1604 when the incident took place. Two students living in the town had the habit of pursuing together their pleasures instead of their studies. Together they filled many precious hours of their lives with the empty excesses all too common to that occupation. Typically, one night, these two were indulging in their sins of drunkenness and impurity when one decided to head home. It was late, he was tired, but before he went to bed, he tried to recite three Hail Marys in honor of the Blessed Virgin as was his nighttime habit. Struggling, he finally succeeded and then fell into his bed. A short time later, his deep, exhausted sleep was shattered by a sudden loud knocking at his door. Before he fully awoke he was suddenly confronted by his sinful companion, who now appeared horribly disfigured and monstrous.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"What? Don’t you know me?" replied the poor wretch.

"But how can it be you? What happened? You look like a devil!"

"Ah, pity me! There is a hell, and I am damned," the pitiful soul howled. "I left that accursed house tonight shortly after you. Almost immediately, some cursed devil took me by surprise and strangled me. Though my body lies still warm in the street, my soul has already been condemned forever - imprisoned in the eternal flames of hell. Moreover, this same fate is what you deserve, but the Holy Virgin preserved you from it thanks to your habit of honoring her each day with a few Hail Marys. It is she who obtained my appearance here. Happy are you if you know how to profit from what you have been shown." As he hissed his final statement, the damned companion opened his garment to reveal the flames and serpents that had already begun their endless, unceasing cycle of torments. Then he vanished.

The horror of what he had just witnessed, together with the profound relief at so narrowly avoiding so awful a fate, overwhelmed the young man who collapsed in tears on the floor. For the first time in his life, he truly prayed, prayed with a deep and sincere gratitude to Our Lady for her protection. As he prayed he was inspired to join the nearby Franciscan community so that he could live a life of penance and make reparation. Early that morning, his initial attempt to enter was rejected because his immoral habits were so well known to them. At length, through tears, he recounted the events of the preceding night and begged to be received. Two religious were sent to verify the story and did in fact discover the blackened corpse of the miserable youth that had lost his soul. The community relented and permitted entrance to the penitent who began at once to sincerely pursue a life of penance; a life which edified the rest of the community. Indeed the reality of these nightmarish facts filled many a soul in the surrounding areas with more than enough soul-gripping fright to change their own lives. It was, in fact, the very reason Richard entered into religious life and sought to pursue a life of mortification and virtue.

When one realizes that the life these two companions were living is all too common for those living in the world and how terrifyingly awful and eternal are the consequences of such a life, it is easy to see why so many souls turned their backs on such lives and instead entrusted themselves entirely to the Mother of God, begging her to form them in the image of her Son, and thereby securing their eternal salvation. Does a stark re-examination of these gruesome facts still hold the power of conversion today?