Ash Wednesday Warning “I Am in Hell!” – A True Story

Ash Wednesday begins the Catholic season of Lent — a time when the Church calls us to remember death, judgment, and eternity. In this true Catholic account from Naples in 1707, St. Francis of Jerome warns a woman who mocked the reality of hell. Eight days later, the warning was fulfilled.

This sobering episode reminds us of the Four Last Things: death, judgment, heaven, and hell — eternal realities taught by the Catholic Church and proclaimed in Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition. Lent is a season of repentance, conversion, and returning to the grace of God through prayer, fasting, and almsgiving.

St. Alphonsus Liguori wrote that those who frequently meditate on the Four Last Things are far less likely to fall into mortal sin. The Church, in her wisdom, places this meditation before us at the beginning of Lent so that we may examine our conscience, seek the Sacrament of Confession, and prepare our souls for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and the glory of Easter.

Has the modern world forgotten the reality of judgment? Have we grown comfortable with sin and resistant to grace? This true Catholic story is not meant to frighten for its own sake — but to awaken the soul to the urgency of salvation.

This is Episode 1 of Lent Daily — our Catholic Lenten reflection series sharing true accounts from Catholic tradition that call us back to holiness and eternal perspective.

Transcript

A Jesuit priest stops midsmon. From an upstairs window, laughter interrupts him while he speaks about hell. The priest looks up, the street goes quiet, and he answers the laughter with a prophetic warning from God. And 8 days later, the prophecy is fulfilled. Welcome to episode 1 of Lent Daily, where we're sharing stories from Catholic tradition marked by sign and wonder of God that call us to conversion. Today's story confronts the realities of death, judgment, and eternity. These things sometimes we forget. And before we get there, if you don't want to miss any of our future episodes, you can get them in your inbox by joining us at lentdaily.com.

Naples, Italy. The year is 1707. A Jesuit priest preaches in the open air. St. Francis of Jerome. He is known for warning sinners plainly. Near the street lives a woman named Catherine. When she hears a sermon on hell, she answers with laughter. Mockery meant to interrupt the preaching. The priest looks up and speaks directly to her. Beware, my daughter of resisting grace. Before 8 days, God will punish you. She does not ask what he means. She does not fall silent. She answers his warning by choosing to drown it out. The 8 days pass and Catherine, well, she does nothing. When St. Francis of Jerome returns to the street, he looks toward Catherine's house. The window is shut. The house is silent. People in the crowd explain why Catherine is dead. She dies suddenly, only hours before. The priest listens. He does not hesitate and answers them. Then let her tell us what she has gained by laughing at Hell. Let us ask her. A crowd follows him to Catherine's house. They stop in the room where her body lies. Everything is still. St. Francis of Jerome pauses to pray only a moment. Then he uncovers her face. He leans close and he speaks to her. Catherine, tell us where you are now. Her head rises, her eyes open, her face shows horrible despair. In hell, I am in hell. Her head falls back. At once, she is a corpse again. Those who were present later testified to what they saw and heard. The account was given under oath during the canonization of the priest. The record is clear. Catherine was clearly warned, given a defined amount of time, and she did nothing in response. She was asked where she was. She answered, "In hell."

So, as we were going through this story, Janelle continuously had little comments that were popping up. Well, because I actually didn't know the story ahead of time. Yeah. And so, I was like, "Oh, this is getting creepy, a little scary. We should insert some some scary music. You probably do. No. Now people are going to say you shouldn't make light of hell, right? Can't make and it's true. But here's the thing. We just don't hear stories like this. You know, in a homaly, when's the last time you heard a story like this? This story comes from the dog, the book, the dogma of hell. It's filled with incredible accounts. And what it does, it awakens us to the reality of hell, which should be well, it's true that if we live our life consistently outside of God's grace and die in that way, we we die in eternal despair. Mhm. Now, some I I know some people like, "Oh, you shouldn't scare people. You shouldn't tell these stories." We we've moved on in the modern church now. We talk more about God's love and his mercy, and that's what we need to focus on. Hey, it's Ash Wednesday. It's good to look at the reality of hell. So, St. Alonsus has some words for us for those of us who think maybe there is no value in meditating upon such things. St. Alphonsus says, "He who often meditates on the four last things, namely death, judgment, and the eternity of hell and paradise will not fall into sin. But these truths are not seen with the eye of the body. The soul only perceives them. If they are not meditated on, they vanish from the mind. And then the pleasures of the senses present themselves. And those who do not keep before themselves the eternal truths are easily taken up by them. And this is the reason why so many abandon themselves to vice and are damned. So St. Alphonsus is reminding us of the usefulness of meditating upon these last things. And today we remind ourselves of the reality of hell. Again, why is this useful? Because he says that if we do not meditate on these things, they vanish from our minds. And it's not like they just vanish from our minds and nothing replaces it. It's like our mind is sort of like a vacuum. Something else will fill that spot. And what will fill that spot? Earthly things. And then it'll direct our decisions and our living. Mhm. So Lent is an opportunity to refocus on the eternal things. Each one of us is going to die. It's Ash Wednesday. Did you hear some words maybe at mass today that re relate to that? It is most useful for our salvation to say often to ourselves, I must one day die. The church every year on Ash Wednesday brings this remembrance to the faithful. Remember man that thou art dust and into dust shall thou return. So these meditations that we offer you through Lent are not meant to scare you but to inspire you to turn from sin and surrender yourself unto the love of God. Today is Ash Wednesday. We are reminded that from dust we came and to dust we shall return. And in that moment we will be judged. Either it will be heaven or hell for all eternity. Share with us below what stood out to you and why. And if you again, if you don't want to miss a future episode and you want to get the rest of them in your inbox, head over to lentaily.com.

Thank you for watching and we will see you tomorrow.