The soul of Christ, united
to the Divinity, descended into limbo (the bosom of Abraham) in order to release the holy Fathers from
the subterranean prison, where they had been detained since the death of the
first just man(Abel) that had died in expectance of the advent of the Redeemer
of the whole human race.
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| Limbo aka Abraham's bosom |
The diameter of the earth’s sphere, passing through
the centre from one surface to the other, measures two thousand, five hundred
and two leagues (12,079.74km);
and from the surface to the centre, one
thousand, two hundred and fifty-one leagues (6,039.87km); and according to the
diameter is to be calculated the circumference of this globe. In the centre is
the hell of the damned, as in the heart of the earth. This hell is a chaotic
cavern, which contains many darksome dwellings for diverse punishments, all of
them dreadful and terrible.
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| The fires of hell |
All of these together form a vast globe like a huge
round jar, with an opening or mouth of vast expansion. In this horrible dungeon
filled with confusion and torments were the demons and all the damned, and
shall be there for all eternity, as long as God is God; for in hell there is no
redemption (Matth, 25,41).
To one side of hell is
purgatory, where the souls of the just are purged and where they cleanse
themselves, if they have not satisfied for their faults in this life, or have
not departed from this earthly life entirely free from the defects
incapacitating them for the beatific vision.
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| Purgatory |
This cavern is also large, but not
so large as hell; and though there are severe punishments in purgatory, they
have no connection with those of hell. To the other side is limbo with two
different divisions: The one for the children, who die unbaptized and tainted
only with original sin, without either good or bad works of their own election.
The other served as a retreat for the just, who had already satisfied for their
sins; for they could not enter heaven, nor enjoy the vision of God until the
Redemption of man was accomplished and until Christ our Saviour should open the
gates of heaven closed by the sin of Adam (Ps. 23, 9). This cavern is likewise
smaller than hell, and has no connection with it, nor are there in it the pains
of the senses like in purgatory. For it was destined for the souls already
cleansed in purgatory and implied only the absence of beatific vision or pain
of privation; there also stayed all those who died in the state of grace until
the death of the Redeemer. This is the place to which Christ’s soul descended
with the Divinity and which we refer to in saying that He descended into hell. For the word “hell” may be used to signify
any of the infernal regions in the depths of the earth, though commonly we
apply it only to the hell of the demons and the damned. This is the most
notable meaning of this word, just as “heaven” ordinarily signifies the
empyrean, the habitation of the saints, where they are to dwell forever, while
the damned remain forever in hell. The other parts of hell have also the more
particular names of purgatory and limbo. After the final judgment heaven and
hell only are to be inhabited, since purgatory shall become unnecessary and
since even the infants shall be transported to another dwelling place.
