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Wednesday, December 22, 2021

General Councils and Liturgies On Hell

Instances where Hell/Eternal damnation is mentioned or alluded to by the Ecumenical Councils, and other ecclesial and magisterial documents:

Constantinople II:
Since the Lord declares that the person is judged already, and the Apostle curses even the angels if they instruct in anything different from what we have preached, how is it possible even for the most presumptuous to assert that these condemnations apply only to those who are still alive? Are they unaware, or rather pretending to be unaware, that to be judged anathematized is just the same as to be separated from God? The heretic, even though he has not been condemned formally by any individual, in reality brings anathema on himself, having cut himself off from the way of truth by his heresy. What reply can such people make to the Apostle when he writes: As for someone who is factious, after admonishing him once or twice, have nothing more to do with him, knowing that such a person is perverted and sinful; he is self-condemned.-- Constantinople II, Sentence against the "Three Chapters"

 (Note that Constantinople II is addressing post-humous anathematization, implying the council considered these people numbered among the damned, contrary to the common claim that the church does not 'canonize' or declare who are damned. Though, I might add. there is no reason to believe those who the Church declares damned or saved who died after the death of St John the Apostle are infallibly canonized.)

Prior to Nicea II:

"But Christ commands you not to offend any of His little ones, and declares that, even for a slight scandal, you stand in danger of eternal fire. And hast thou scandalized the whole world because thou hadst not courage to endure death, but hadst rather defend thyself by a sinful apology?--First Letter of Gregory the Second, Pope of Rome, to the Emperor Leo, in defence of Images  (before Nicea II)

Nicea II, the fathers recognized the anathema against universal reconciliation: 

"Cosmas, the deacon and chamberlain, reads from the Life of our holy Father Sabbas:-- 

  "At the fifth holy General Council, held at Constantinople, Origen and Theodore of Mopsuestia, together with the speculations of Evagrius and Didymus, concerning the pre-existence and restitution of all things, were all subjected to one common and Catholic anathema, all the four Patriarchs being present and consentient thereto...--Nicea II, Session I, p36

We reject along with them Severus Peter and their interconnected band with their many blasphemies, in whose company we anathematize the mythical speculations of Origen, Evagrius and Didymus, as did the fifth synod, that assembled at Constantinople.--Nicea II, Definition

 elsewhere uses terms of unending damnation: 

On account of the disaster which came about in the churches due to our sins certain venerable houses--episcopal buildings as well as monasteries--were seized by certain men and became public inns. Now if those who hold them choose to restore them, so that they are established once more as formerly they were, this is good and excellent. However if such is not the case, should they be inscribed in the list of priests, we order that they be suspended, and if they are monks or lay persons, that they be excommunicated, seeing that they are criminals condemned by the Father, the Son and the holy Spirit, and let them be assigned there where the worm does not die and the fire is not quenched, because they oppose the voice of the Lord declaring, You shall not make my Father's house a house of trade. --Nicea II, Canon XIII

"Moreover, I look for the resurrection of the dead, and for the eternal retribution of all things which have been done, whether they be good or evil...."--Confession of Faith by Patriarch Tarasius read by Stephen, Deacon and Notary of the Patriarchate, Nicea II, Session III

And with a fan they purged the floor. And the good wheat, that is to say tire word which nourisheth and which maketh strong the heart of man, they laid up in the granary of the Catholic Church; but throwing outside the chaff of heretical evil opinion they burned it with unquenchable fire.--SESSION IV

"For whereas, like one who fell from heaven, he though to lift up himself against religion and to prevail against her, he was bound in fetters from above, being utterly despoiled of his expectations, and he heard from the Church that which of the Egyptian tyrant heard from Moses when triumphing over him, 'The enemy said, Pursuing I will seize, I will divide the spoil, I will satiate my soul' (Exodus xv, 9): yea, and against him was denounced the same prophetic curse which was denounced against the devil himself, 'God shall destroy thee for ever: He will pluck thee out and drive thee from thy dwelling-place, and thy root from the land of the living' (Psalm lii. 5). --Nicea II, Session IV, Letter of Pope Gregory, Most Holy Pope of Rome, to Germanus, Most Holy Patriarch of Constantinople read by Cosmas

In addition, at the council, speakers spoke plainly of people going into eternal damnation, for instance the Islamic Caliph:

"After that the Caliph Jezid had done this he lived not more than two or three years: then he died and went into everlasting fire..."--John the Legate of the East, Second Council of Nicea, Session V.

Cosmas Deacon Notary and Chamberlain read the "Fifth Epistle of St. Symeon Stylites of the Wonderful Mount to the Emperor Justin the Younger": ....Nor let your most gracious Highness delay, lest, by any means, some should insinuate unseaonable words, as if they had the sanction of your imperial Highness, especially since it is to you that God, who has been so impiously insulted by them, has committed the power; that thus the rest of them many spend all the days of their accursed and schismatical existence in fear, whom also their cognate darkness will receive to the vengeance of that future unquenchable and dark fire which shall consume them forever! And the Holy Almighty Spirit of our Lord Jesus Christ, which proceedeth from the Father, shall accurse them to the lowest depths of the abyss, to destroy them with a never-ending destruction.--Nicea II, Session V, Cosmas Deacon Notary and Chamberlain read the "Fifth Epistle of St. Symeon Stylites of the Wonderful Mount to the Emperor Justin the Younger", page 262 

 Lateran II:

22. Because there is one thing that conspicuously causes great disturbance to holy church, namely, false penance, we warn our brothers in the episcopate and priests not to allow the souls of the laity to be deceived or dragged off to hell by false penances. It is agreed that a penance is false when many sins are disregarded and a penance is performed for one only, or when it is done for one sin in such a way that the penitent does not renounce another. Thus it is written: Whoever keeps the whole law but fails in one point, has become guilty of all of it; this evidently pertains to eternal life. Therefore, just as a person who is entangled in all sins will not enter the gate of eternal life, so also if a person remains in one sin {12} . False penance also occurs when the penitent does not resign a position at a court or in business which cannot be carried on without sin, or if hate is harboured in his heart, or if the person does not make amends to whomever he offended, or if an injured party does not pardon the offender, or if anyone unjustly carries arms. --Canon XXII of Lateran II

Florence:

But the souls of those who depart this life in actual mortal sin, or in original sin alone, go down straightaway to hell to be punished, but with unequal pains. We also define that the holy apostolic see and the Roman pontiff holds the primacy over the whole world and the Roman pontiff is the successor of blessed Peter prince of the apostles, and that he is the true vicar of Christ, the head of the whole church and the father and teacher of all Christians, and to him was committed in blessed Peter the full power of tending, ruling and governing the whole church, as is contained also in the acts of ecumenical councils and in the sacred canons.--Council of Florence, Session VI

Thence he shall come to judge the living and the dead. At his coming all shall rise again with their bodies, and shall give an account of their own deeds. Those who have done good shall go into eternal life, but those who have done evil shall go into eternal fire.--Council of Florence, Session VIII

Whoever wills to be saved, before all things it is necessary that he holds the catholic faith. Unless a person keeps this faith whole and undefiled, without doubt he shall perish eternally. --Session VIII

It firmly believes, professes and preaches that all those who are outside the catholic church, not only pagans but also Jews or heretics and schismatics, cannot share in eternal life and will go into the everlasting fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels, unless they are joined to the catholic church before the end of their lives; that the unity of the ecclesiastical body is of such importance that only for those who abide in it do the church's sacraments contribute to salvation and do fasts, almsgiving and other works of piety and practices of the Christian militia produce eternal rewards; and that nobody can be saved, no matter how much he has given away in alms and even if he has shed his blood in the name of Christ, unless he has persevered in the bosom and the unity of the catholic church.--Session XI

 Lateran V:

For the soul not only truly exists of itself and essentially as the form of the human body, as is said in the canon of our predecessor of happy memory, pope Clement V, promulgated in the general council of Vienne, but it is also immortal; and further, for the enormous number of bodies into which it is infused individually, it can and ought to be and is multiplied. This is clearly established from the gospel when the Lord says, They cannot kill the soul; and in another place, Whoever hates his life in this world, will keep it for eternal life and when he promises eternal rewards and eternal punishments to those who will be judged according to the merits of their life; otherwise, the incarnation and other mysteries of Christ would be of no benefit to us, nor would resurrection be something to look forward to, and the saints and the just would be (as the Apostle says) the most miserable of all people.--Session VIII

Vatican II:

We strive therefore to please God in all things(253) and we put on the armor of God, that we may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil and resist in the evil day.(254) Since however we know not the day nor the hour, on Our Lord's advice we must be constantly vigilant so that, having finished the course of our earthly life,(255) we may merit to enter into the marriage feast with Him and to be numbered among the blessed(256) and that we may not be ordered to go into eternal fire(257) like the wicked and slothful servant,(258) into the exterior darkness where "there will be the weeping and the gnashing of teeth".(259) For before we reign with Christ in glory, all of us will be made manifest "before the tribunal of Christ, so that each one may receive what he has won through the body, according to his works, whether good or evil"(260) and at the end of the world "they who have done good shall come forth unto resurrection of life; but those who have done evil unto resurrection of judgment".(261) Reckoning therefore that "the sufferings of the present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come that will be revealed in us",(262) strong in faith we look for the "blessed hope and the glorious coming of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ"(263) "who will refashion the body of our lowliness, conforming it to the body of His glory(264). and who will come "to be glorified in His saints and to be marveled at in all those who have believed"(265).--Vatican II, LUMEN GENTIUM 48

Divine Office, Menaion, Mass, Catechism on who is damned:

Noteworthy, though not councils at all, are the Byzantine version of Divine Office where Arius and Macedonius are declared damned:

Before the ages before the morning star, Thou wast begotten of the womb of the Father without mother; yet Arius calleth Thee a creature, refusing to glorify Thee as God, with audacity mindlessly confusing Thee, the Creator, with a creature, laying up for himself fuel for the everlasting fire. But the Council in Nicæa proclaimed Thee to be the Son of God, Who art equally enthroned with the Father and the Spirit. --COMMEMORATION OF THE HOLY FATHERS OF THE FIRST SIX ECUMENICAL COUNCILS At Great Vespers

The mindless Arius, showing himself to be a servant of a created being, and Macedonius, likewise revealed as abominable, are tormented together in the fire of Gehenna with the heathen.--COMMEMORATION OF THE HOLY FATHERS OF THE FIRST SIX ECUMENICAL COUNCILS At Matins, Ode III

Also,

Irmos:I have heard, O Lord, the mystery of Thy dispensation; I have understood Thy works, and have glorified Thy divinity. 
With the torrent of thy tongue thou didst hurl the betrayer of Christ, like Judas, into a place of fœtor, O blessed Alexander.

Like a fruitful olive-tree standing in the house of God, O John, thou therein didst bring forth those who believe on Him, like ripe fruit.--Menaion, August, THE 30TH DAY OF THE MONTH OF AUGUST, Matins, Ode IV: Canon of the Holy Hierarchs

 In the same metins:

Irmos: The Lord Who was glorified on the holy mountain, and by the fire in the bush revealed to Moses the mystery of the Ever-virgin, hymn ye and exalt Him supremely for all ages! 
Slaying the wicked Arius by thine earnest supplications, O divinely wise Alexander, thou didst dispatch him to a vile place, like another Judas, since he had apostatized in like manner. 
The mindless Arius, the enemy of God, who as a traitor rent asunder the robe of Christ, fell headlong, and now, like another Judas, lieth in torment in hell, O thrice-blessed Alexander. 
Through abstinence and unsurpassed vigils thou wast shown to be as one of the incorporeal beings, and in thy constant teachings thou becamest a rich wellspring of paradise for all ages, O John.--Menaion, August, THE 30TH DAY OF THE MONTH OF AUGUST, Matins, Ode VIII: Canon of the Holy Hierarchs

 The Latin Mass alludes to Judas' damnation:

O God, from whom Judas received the punishment of his guilt, and the thief the reward of his confession: grant unto us the full fruit of Thy clemency; that even as in His Passion, our Lord Jesus Christ gave to each a retribution according to his merits, so having taken away our old sins, He may bestow upon us the grace of His Resurrection.

Deus, a quo et Iudas reátus sui pœnam, et confessiónis suæ latro prǽmium sumpsit, concéde novis tuæ propitiatiónis efféctum: ut sicut in passióne sua Iesus Christus Dóminus noster divérsa utrísque íntulit stipéndia meritórum; ita nobis, abláto vetustátis erróre, resurrectiónis suæ grátiam largiátur:--Collect for Holy Thursday

Likewise, the Catechism of Trent in passing says Judas is damned:

Some are attracted to the priesthood by ambition and love of honours; while there are others who desire to be ordained simply in order that they may abound in riches, as is proved by the fact that unless some wealthy benefice were conferred on them, they would not dream of receiving Holy Orders. It is such as these that our Saviour describes as hirelings, who, in the words of Ezechiel, feed themselves and not the sheep, and whose baseness and dishonesty have not only brought great disgrace on the ecclesiastical state, so much so that hardly anything is now more vile and contemptible in the eyes of the faithful, but also end in this, that they derive no other fruit from their priesthood than was derived by Judas from the Apostleship, which only brought him everlasting destruction. --Catechism of Trent (aka Roman Catechism):THE SACRAMENT OF HOLY ORDERS: Right Intention 

The Matins of the Divine Office for the now extinct Feast of the Garden of Gethsemane.

Then He saith: “I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep of the flock shall be scattered abroad.” (Matth. xxvi. 31.) He was sorrowful because He was leaving us orphans. But how resolutely He was giving Himself up to die is sufficiently clear by what followed, when He went to meet those that sought Him, when He calmed the agitated, when He nerved the timid, when He received the traitor himself with the condescension of a kiss. Neither is it other than the truth to say that He was sorrowful for their sakes who were hunting Him down, since He knew what a punishment they were to undergo for that unutterable crime. And because of all these things He said: "Let this cup pass from Me!” It was not that the Divine Son Of the Divine Being was afraid to die, but He would not that even wicked men should perish on His account.--Office in Memory of the Prayer of Our Lord JESUS Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, Matins, Ninth Lesson. page 239

 Around Constantinople I, Pope Damasus plainly spoke of the damnation of Apollinaris

If any one speaks of Christ as having had less of manhood or of Godhead, he is full of devils’ spirits, and proclaims himself a child of hell.

“Why then do you again ask me for the condemnation of Timotheus? Here, by the judgment of the apostolic see, in the presence of Peter, bishop of Alexandria, he was condemned, together with his teacher, Apollinarius, who will also in the day of judgment undergo due punishment and torment. But if he succeeds in persuading some less stable men, as though having some hope, after by his confession changing the true hope which is in Christ, with him shall likewise perish whoever of set purpose withstands the order of the Church.--Letter of Damasus bishop of Rome found in: The Ecclesiastical History of Theodoret, Book V, Chapter X

The Menaion says the iconoclast emperor Leo the Armenian is damned:

The wretched and most mindless Leo, infected with the heresy of Mamon, dashed himself against thee as against a hard stone, O God-pleasing Nicephorus, and hath quickly broken asunder in hell.--Menaion, June: June 2: St. Nicephorus the Confessor, Patriarch of Constantinople: Matin, Ode I 

On face value, these seem to contradict Pope John Paul II's assertion in his encyclical "Crossing the Threshold of Hope" where on the topic of the damned he states:

Who will these be? The Church has never made any pronouncement in this regard.--Crossing the Threshold of Hope

However, I am unsure of what exactly he meant. Did he intent an exhaustive list? A few names that are infallibly damned? 


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