Dying Satanist is Saved From Hell

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Dying Satanist is Saved From Hell

A dying Satanist was on the path to hell until Our Lady miraculously obtained his conversion. And why would she do that? For one reason alone: he had retained a devotion to her sorrows simply because he pitied her.

Today’s story begins with Saint Bridget of Sweden, who in the 14th century received divinely inspired revelations from heaven. Saint Bridget tells us that a noble lord had sunk to horrible depths in his sinful habits.

This man had fallen so low that he had entered into a contract with Satan and became a slave to the devil for sixty years. You can only imagine what kind of life he led, and he never approached the sacraments of the Church.

Now, when this Lord was about to die, Our Lord, in His compassion, commanded Saint Bridget to tell a priest to visit him and exhort him to make his confession.

So, the confessor went, and the sick man told him he did not need a confessor. He lied and said that he had gone to confession often.

Then the confessor visited him a second time, and that poor slave of hell persevered in his obstinate determination not to make his confession.

Once again, Jesus directed Saint Bridget to tell the confessor to go to the Satanist. He obeyed and, this third time, the priest told the man why he returned so many times—because the Lord desired to show him mercy.

On hearing this, the dying man was moved and began to weep. He exclaimed, “But how can I be pardoned when I have served the devil for sixty years, made myself his slave, and have burdened my soul with so many sins?”

“Son,” answered the father, encouraging him, “do not doubt; if you repent of your sins, in the name of God, I promise you pardon.” Then, beginning to gain confidence, the man said to the confessor: “Father, I believed myself lost and despaired of salvation; but now I feel a sorrow for my sins, which encourages me to trust; and as God has not yet abandoned me, I wish to make my confession.”

And in fact, on that day, he confessed four times with great sorrow; the next day, he received communion, and on the sixth, he died contrite and entirely resigned.

After his death, Jesus Christ further revealed to Saint Bridget that this sinner was saved and was in purgatory and that he had been saved by the intercession of Our Lady, His mother. And as for the deceased, although he had led a life filled with terrible sins, he had preserved in one devotion, which was to Our Lady’s Dolors or sorrows. Whenever he remembered her sorrows, he pitied her. And that is why she interceded for him.

So, if the devotion to Our Lady’s sorrows is so powerful, how can you and I use it to save our souls?

The concept of Our Lady of Sorrows comes from the prophecy of Simeon, who foretold to Our Lady thirty-three years in advance that a sword would pierce her heart. In other words, she knew in advance that she would have to endure the most atrocious suffering a person could bear. To witness the death of her Divine Son.

Abbot Prosper Guéranger has wisely commented that God must consider suffering to be a great good since He gave so much suffering to His Son, Whom He loves so much. And since, after His Son, God loves Our Lady more than any other creature, He also wanted to give her suffering as the richest of all presents. And now she is invoked as Our Lady of Sorrows since no one suffered more.

These considerations have helped me understand the role of suffering in life. When sorrow enters our lives, it allows us to prove our love of God’s because our love is measured by what we are willing to suffer.

But here is the catch. And Catholic thinker Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira says it best: “Our suffering only has value to the degree that we accept these sufferings with a supernatural spirit instead of complaining about them. We must accept these trials as soldiers moving forward in the fight.”

And as Our Lady of Fatima requested, don’t waste your sufferings. Offer them in reparation for your sins and for the conversion of sinners.

Dying Satanist is Saved From Hell