By: Glenn Dallaire
Are only a few saved? Does the greater proportion of humanity end up in hell? Some quotes attributed to the Mystics and Saints
For sure, many of the Mystics and Saints within the Church throughout the centuries have been quite stringent and rigorous in their interpretation of the Scriptures, especially in what pertains to the proportion of humanity that will be saved. In fact, some of their predictions have been quite disquieting:
“The common opinion is that the greater part of adults are lost.” -Saint Alphonsus Liguori, -Mystic and Doctor of the Church
"It is certain that few are saved."– Saint Augustine, Doctor of the Church
"Out of one hundred thousand sinners who continue in sin until death, scarcely one will be saved."
-Saint Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church
"The number of the elect is so small — so small — that, were we to know how small it is, we would faint away with grief: one here and there, scattered up and down the world!” -Saint Louis Marie de Montfort
"So vast a number of miserable souls perish, and so comparatively few are saved!"–Saint Philip Neri, mystic
“The greater number of Christians today are damned. The destiny of those dying on one day is that very few – not as many as ten – went strait to Heaven; many remained in Purgatory; and those cast into Hell were as numerous as snowflakes in mid-winter.” -Blessed Anna Maria Taigi, mystic
“Among adults there are few saved because of sins of the flesh. […] With the exception of those who die in childhood, most men will be damned.” -Saint Regimius of Rheims
“The number of the damned is incalculable.” -Saint Veronica Giuliani, mystic“
"So many people are going to die, and almost all of them are going to Hell! So many people falling into hell!” –Blessed Jacinta, visionary of Fatima
“Taking into account the behavior of mankind, only a small part of the human race will be saved.”
-Sister Lucia, visionary of Fatima
“I was watching souls going down into the abyss as thick and fast as snowflakes falling in the winter mist.” -Blessed Benedict Joseph Labre, mystic
“The number of the saved is as few as the number of grapes left after the vineyard-pickers have passed.” -Saint John Mary Vianney, the Cure of Ars, mystic
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And so it is that we are presented with quite a disconcerting appraisal as foretold by some of the Saints and Mystics of the Church! Yet, it should be noted that other Saints and Mystics have been considerably more lenient in their assessment of the proportion of those saved.
For the "other side of the coin", lets take Sr. Josefa Menedez, for example. Jesus reportedly said to her:
"Oh, all you who are steeped in sin, and who for a time more or less long have lived as wanderers and fugitives because of your crimes ... if the offences of which you have been guilty have hardened and blinded your hearts . . . if to grant satisfaction to one or other of your passions you have sunk into evil ways ... Ah! when the motives or accomplices of your sin have forsaken you, and you realize the state of your soul, oh then, do not yield to despair! For as long as a breath of life remains a man may have recourse to mercy and ask for pardon.
"If you are still young, if already the scandals of your life have lowered you in the eyes of the world, do not be afraid. . . . Even if there is reason to treat you as a criminal, to insult and cast you off . . . your God has no wish to see you fall into the flames of hell. ... On the contrary He ardently desires you to come to Him so that He may forgive you. If you dare not speak to Him, at least look at Him and let the sighs of your heart reach Him, and at once you will find His kind and fatherly hand stretched out to lead you to the springs of pardon and life.
"Should it happen that you have spent the greater part of your life in impiety and indifference, and that the sudden approach of the hour of death fills you with blinding despair . . . Oh! do not let yourself be deceived, for there is still time for pardon. If only one second of life remains to you, in that one second you can buy back eternal life!" (Words of Jesus to Sr. Josefa Menendez)
And this author would certainly be remiss if in this discussion I did not mention the extraordinary private revelations concerning Divine Mercy given to the Polish nun, St Faustina Kowalska. One could quote literally HUNDREDS of statements of Jesus given to her concerning His infinite mercy towards sinners, but this one is a good representation:
"Today I am sending you [Sr. Faustina] with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My merciful Heart. I use punishment when they themselves force me to do so; My hand is very reluctant to take hold of the sword of justice."(Jesus to St Faustina Kowalska)
Nevertheless, all the quotes and mystical private revelations above are subject to fallibility, meaning that no mortal man knows for sure the proportion of those who go to heaven vs. hell. The Saints and Mystics in the quotes above are simply giving their perspectives and opinions based on their studies, or in some cases simply relating their mystical experiences. And concerning mystical experiences of hell, some mystics like St Veronica Giuliani and Sr. Josefa Menendez were notorious for being taken in spirit on numerous trips to hell, while the children visionaries of both Fatima and Garabandal were given very chilling visions of hell, as were many other Mystics and Saints. In the case of Garabandal, the visions of hell given to the young visionaries were so terrifying that the local villagers called it the "night of the screams", for the children were utterly terrified at the vision of hell shown to them.
And speaking of Fatima, it is worth remembering that at Fatima we were taught by Heaven itself to pray, 'Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who most need thy mercy.'
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To instill the fear of God--scaring the "hell" out of one's listeners
For sure, some of the more stringent statements and admonitions from the Saints were intended to literally "scare the hell" out of their listeners, so that they would refrain from sin in all of its forms, for fear of God's punishment. The Saints and preachers of old sought to place a very strong "fear of God" within the hearts of their listeners. Yet how rare it is today to hear a homily preaching "fire and brimstone"--yet such was not the case with the preachers and Saints of old. And so it is that we find the strong statements of many Saints concerning hell to be very severe and harsh to our modern ears, because for better or worse we simply do not hear such things from the pulpit nowadays.
"And a third of the stars fell from the sky"
In Revelation 12, we read how 1/3 of the angels were cast into hell for all eternity. Echoing Lucifer, one third declared that they would not serve God, choosing for themselves to be separated from Him forever. This writer wonders: Could humanity be saved/condemned in similar proportions as the Angels (ie.: one-third??). Nevertheless likewise it is for us in that we ourselves choose to accept or reject God's love, mercy and salvation. God does not cast us into hell--we freely choose to accept or reject God's love, mercy and salvation, either uniting ourselves or separating ourselves from Him.
For the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
It was an email from a reader a few weeks ago that actually prompted the writing of this article. He was questioning what the Mystics have said concerning the ratio of those saved vs damned.
-----Original Message-----
From: Glenn Dallaire
To: Mike (name and email withheld for privacy)
Sent: Sat, Feb 9, 2019 2:01 pm
Subject: Re: % of souls who make it to Heaven & Purgatory.
Hi Mike,
It is nice to hear from you--thanks for your kind comments! I'm glad that you are finding the website(s) interesting and inspiring.
To reply to your comments concerning the percentage of souls who go to heaven, purgatory and hell, here is my understanding and perspective which is essentially a compendium of what I have read over the past 25 years or so. And so, as I understand it, the majority of souls go to purgatory, and very, very few go directly to heaven. More on that in a moment, but as for hell I have concluded that its a significantly smaller percentage than those who are saved. Those who go to hell specifically choose to reject Jesus and His mercy and salvation that is offered to them, and they themselves actively choose to go to hell by their own rejection of God. For as at least one soul has pointed out, would it be reasonable to think that the Kingdom of heaven would be smaller in population (ie.-contain less souls) than the kingdom of hell? Would God, knowing humanities fate in advance, having thus created humanity in His image and likeness, yet knowing and permitting that more souls would be damned than be saved, making satans kingdom greater than His own, and more souls lost to Jesus death on the Cross than those who are saved? To me such an outcome simply does not stand to reason knowing of God's infinite love and mercy.
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Now, as for heaven and purgatory, its my understanding that very, very few souls go directly to heaven, simply because of the purity, humility and love that one has to have to enter directly into heaven--and so the vast majority pass through Purgatory first, with many souls (probably the majority) entering the lower regions of Purgatory, while those who pass from this life well along the way of sacrificial love and virtue likely enter the middle and even upper regions. And while purgatory certainly is no picnic, the souls there at least have the assurance of their salvation and eventual entrance into heaven.
Simply put, my understanding is that Jesus sacrifice and death on the Cross is of such value for the salvation of souls that we can barely even fathom Its merit and worth, and essentially only those who flat out reject Jesus infinite love and mercy will of their own free will cast themselves into hell, that being the place where God is completely absent. Yet, we are weighed on the scales of Mercy and Justice, and while God is infinitely merciful, He is also just, and God's Justice surely requires that many (if not most) souls go to the lower parts of Purgatory, requiring a long purgation before entering into heaven.
In the end, this is simply what I myself have come to understand from what I have gathered through the various reading that I have done over the years, and I readily acknowledge and accept the possibility that my conclusions could be wrong.
May Jesus bless you and your loved ones and may the Blessed Virgin Mary cover you under Her heavenly mantle.
-Glenn Dallaire
______________________________________________________________
“O Jesus! Remember the sadness that You experienced when, contemplating in the light of Thy divinity the predestination of those who would be saved by the merits of Thy sacred passion, You also saw at the same time the great multitude of reprobates who would be damned for their sins, and You were deeply grieved for those hopeless, lost, and unfortunate sinners.” -Saint Bridget of Sweden
"Today I am sending you [Sr. Faustina] with My mercy to the people of the whole world. I do not want to punish aching mankind, but I desire to heal it, pressing it to My merciful Heart. I use punishment when they themselves force me to do so; My hand is very reluctant to take hold of the sword of justice."(Jesus to St Faustina Kowalska)
Nevertheless, all the quotes and mystical private revelations above are subject to fallibility, meaning that no mortal man knows for sure the proportion of those who go to heaven vs. hell. The Saints and Mystics in the quotes above are simply giving their perspectives and opinions based on their studies, or in some cases simply relating their mystical experiences. And concerning mystical experiences of hell, some mystics like St Veronica Giuliani and Sr. Josefa Menendez were notorious for being taken in spirit on numerous trips to hell, while the children visionaries of both Fatima and Garabandal were given very chilling visions of hell, as were many other Mystics and Saints. In the case of Garabandal, the visions of hell given to the young visionaries were so terrifying that the local villagers called it the "night of the screams", for the children were utterly terrified at the vision of hell shown to them.
And speaking of Fatima, it is worth remembering that at Fatima we were taught by Heaven itself to pray, 'Lead all souls to Heaven, especially those who most need thy mercy.'
For sure, some of the more stringent statements and admonitions from the Saints were intended to literally "scare the hell" out of their listeners, so that they would refrain from sin in all of its forms, for fear of God's punishment. The Saints and preachers of old sought to place a very strong "fear of God" within the hearts of their listeners. Yet how rare it is today to hear a homily preaching "fire and brimstone"--yet such was not the case with the preachers and Saints of old. And so it is that we find the strong statements of many Saints concerning hell to be very severe and harsh to our modern ears, because for better or worse we simply do not hear such things from the pulpit nowadays.
"And a third of the stars fell from the sky"
In Revelation 12, we read how 1/3 of the angels were cast into hell for all eternity. Echoing Lucifer, one third declared that they would not serve God, choosing for themselves to be separated from Him forever. This writer wonders: Could humanity be saved/condemned in similar proportions as the Angels (ie.: one-third??). Nevertheless likewise it is for us in that we ourselves choose to accept or reject God's love, mercy and salvation. God does not cast us into hell--we freely choose to accept or reject God's love, mercy and salvation, either uniting ourselves or separating ourselves from Him.
For the Catechism of the Catholic Church states:
"God predestines no one to go to hell; for this, a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end. In the Eucharistic liturgy and in the daily prayers of her faithful, the Church implores the mercy of God, who does not want "any to perish, but all to come to repentance."(CCC, 1037)Could the Kingdom of Hell be greater than the Kingdom of Heaven?--This writers thoughts on the percentage of souls saved (for those interested)
It was an email from a reader a few weeks ago that actually prompted the writing of this article. He was questioning what the Mystics have said concerning the ratio of those saved vs damned.
-----Original Message-----
From: Glenn Dallaire
To: Mike (name and email withheld for privacy)
Sent: Sat, Feb 9, 2019 2:01 pm
Subject: Re: % of souls who make it to Heaven & Purgatory.
Hi Mike,
It is nice to hear from you--thanks for your kind comments! I'm glad that you are finding the website(s) interesting and inspiring.
To reply to your comments concerning the percentage of souls who go to heaven, purgatory and hell, here is my understanding and perspective which is essentially a compendium of what I have read over the past 25 years or so. And so, as I understand it, the majority of souls go to purgatory, and very, very few go directly to heaven. More on that in a moment, but as for hell I have concluded that its a significantly smaller percentage than those who are saved. Those who go to hell specifically choose to reject Jesus and His mercy and salvation that is offered to them, and they themselves actively choose to go to hell by their own rejection of God. For as at least one soul has pointed out, would it be reasonable to think that the Kingdom of heaven would be smaller in population (ie.-contain less souls) than the kingdom of hell? Would God, knowing humanities fate in advance, having thus created humanity in His image and likeness, yet knowing and permitting that more souls would be damned than be saved, making satans kingdom greater than His own, and more souls lost to Jesus death on the Cross than those who are saved? To me such an outcome simply does not stand to reason knowing of God's infinite love and mercy.
Simply put, my understanding is that Jesus sacrifice and death on the Cross is of such value for the salvation of souls that we can barely even fathom Its merit and worth, and essentially only those who flat out reject Jesus infinite love and mercy will of their own free will cast themselves into hell, that being the place where God is completely absent. Yet, we are weighed on the scales of Mercy and Justice, and while God is infinitely merciful, He is also just, and God's Justice surely requires that many (if not most) souls go to the lower parts of Purgatory, requiring a long purgation before entering into heaven.
In the end, this is simply what I myself have come to understand from what I have gathered through the various reading that I have done over the years, and I readily acknowledge and accept the possibility that my conclusions could be wrong.
May Jesus bless you and your loved ones and may the Blessed Virgin Mary cover you under Her heavenly mantle.
-Glenn Dallaire
______________________________________________________________
“O Jesus! Remember the sadness that You experienced when, contemplating in the light of Thy divinity the predestination of those who would be saved by the merits of Thy sacred passion, You also saw at the same time the great multitude of reprobates who would be damned for their sins, and You were deeply grieved for those hopeless, lost, and unfortunate sinners.” -Saint Bridget of Sweden