Spiritual Exercises

The fifth exercise is a meditation on Hell

It contains, after the preparatory prayer and two preludes, five points and a colloquy

The first prelude, the composition of place

Here it will be to see in imagination the length, breadth, and depth of Hell

To see with my own eyes the huge fires and the souls within the bodies full of fire

I will hear the wailing, the shrieking, the cries, and the blasphemies against our Lord and all his saints

I will perceive the smoke, the sulfur, the filth, and the rotting things

I will taste the bitter flavors of Hell: tears, sadness, and the worm of conscience

I will feel how the flames touch the souls and burn them

Only the bored have need of illusion

Beautiful eyes, always a little filled with tears