Saint Teresa of Ávila’s Vision of Hell

A Carmelite nun who left her cloister at Avila and set up a reformed Carmelite Order, Saint Teresa of Ávila endured much suffering with a joyful heart. She experienced spiritual insights and interior manifestations of her mystical union with God, including this glimpse of hell intended as a divine correction. [Source]

I was at prayer one day when suddenly, without knowing how, I found myself, as I thought, plunged right into hell. I realized that it was the Lord's will that I should see the place which the devils had prepared for me there and which I had merited for my sins.

These words are found in the autobiography of one of the greatest saints in the history of the Church, St. Teresa of Jesus. Elsewhere she says that the place prepared for her in hell was actually less horrible than she had really deserved.

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Prayer for St. Teresa of Ávila’s Intercession

Father, by your Spirit you raised up Saint Teresa of Jesus to show your Church the way to perfection. May her inspired teaching and holy intercession awaken in us a longing for true holiness. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns along with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.