This is terrifying. It is also worthy of continual contemplation. Every day, we choose. "It is certain that few are saved." ~St. Augustine, Father and Doctor of the Church "There are a select few who are saved." ~St. Thomas Aquinas, Doctor of the Church "Many begin well, but there are few who persevere." ~St. Jerome, Father and Doctor of the Church "I do not think that many priests are saved, but that those who perish are far more numerous." ~St. John Chrysostom "The greater part of men choose to be damned rather than to love Almighty God." ~St Aphonsus Liguori, Doctor of the Church "The number of the saved is as few as the number of grapes left after the vine-pickers have passed." ~St. Jean Vianney, patron saint of parish priests "So vast a number of miserable souls perish, and so comparatively few are saved!" ~St. Philip Neri "Many religious go straight to Hell because they do not keep their vows." ~St. Vincent Ferrer: "There are many who arrive at the Faith, but few who are led into the heavenly kingdom." ~Pope St. Gregory the Great, Father and Doctor of the Church "The number of the elect is so small, so small, that were we to know how small it is, we should faint away with grief." ~St. Louis de Montfort "Bad confessions damn the majority of Christians." ~St. Teresa of Avila
Those rockstar saints were so holy...in their opinion, no one deserves to go to heaven. That makes sense because even their smallest sin is greater than our biggest sin. By following that philosophy, no one would enter heaven. The good thing is they are not the ones that will judge us. Only God will judge us...and only He knows. May Gods Will be Done
You think you know better FS? Do you think these saints were so stupid, as to not realise God will judge us?
Our Lord did warn us that the road was wide to perdition and the road to salvation narrow. But also God is merciful and offers salvation to the last breath so his generosity know no limits and the soul is granted every chance. Who really knows only God the numbers of those who grasp at the lifeline of salvation. A blind man named Pietruccio asked Padre Pio what a person has to do to save his soul. Padre Pio answered: "It is enough if you keep the commandments of God and of the Church." Padre Pio, Letter, April 25, 1914: "Let us pray to our most merciful Jesus to come to the aid of His Church, for her needs have become extreme." Speaking of the Divine Blood of Jesus: "Only a few will profit by It, the greater number run the way of perdition." Padre Pio: "We must remember that faith is the greatest gift that God has offered man on this earth, because from an earthly man he becomes a citizen of Heaven. Let us guard this great gift jealously. Woe to him who forgets himself, who forgets Heaven, whose faith grows weak, and worse still who denies his faith. This is the greatest affront that man can offer to God." In a letter on May 27, 1914, Padre Pio said: "Dear God! If all were aware of your severity as well as of your tenderness, what creature would be so foolish as to dare to offend you?" One of the brothers asked Padre Pio, "Why do you cry?" Padre Pio responded: "Why should I not cry seeing humanity damning itself at all cost."
Sobering comments by some of the greatest saints. We know two things about them. Firstly, they did not know the answer to this question, only God knows that, even though this is certainly not to say they have got it wrong. Secondly, they were all great judges of human nature. Just look at all those statements and imagine they had said the opposite, which, to the degree that we have been provided actual empirical statistics of damnation in Revelation they would be entitled to say, and consider the reaction of weak sinners. Look at the state of the world nowadays, suffering from a presumptuous attitude where sin is almost unmentionable. We must live between Presumption and Despair, Mercy and Justice.
St Augustine did not put this to us as an opinion."It is certain that few are saved." ~St. Augustine, Father and Doctor of the Church He does not judge anyone. The truth is certain.''How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it''!
The Jansenists considered themselves faithful followers of Augustine. According to http://www.unamsanctamcatholicam.com/history/79-history/153-what-is-jansenism.html, "Jansen...wrote a treatise on the issue of grace entitled Augustinus, which purported to be a compendium of the teachings of St. Augustine of Hippo on the subject. Augustinus was a truly massive work. According to Jansen, he had worked on it for twenty years and had reread everything written by St. Augustine thirty times...". Luther was a keen follower of Augustine, also. He also wandered into heresy. Do the Fathers of the Church not have to be taken as a collective and, correct me if I'm wrong, does what is magisterial have to be something they are all agreed on? "Fathers...are of supreme authority whenever they all interpret in one and the same manner any text of the Bible" (Providentissimus Deus). Taking the word of one Father in isolation on a Magisterial matter can be hazardous and has at least twice led to major heresy. ''How narrow is the gate, and strait is the way that leadeth to life: and few there are that find it'': That statement has led to all sorts of problems over the centuries when it has been misinterpreted. Best to take it as a warning rather than a statement of empirical fact. Otherwise one may stumble into the swamps of Pelagianism and Calvinistic Pre-Destinationism. Hope and Pray. And, as St. Pio also said, "Don't Worry". And, I assure you, I am no follower of Universalism and my personal Hope is to be the one to turn off the lights in Purgatory as I leave!
Do I know better...no, there is 2000 years of church teaching. Did I ever call my favorite Saint stupid...no, those you mentioned have been blessed by God. Is Mac a bully...yes, but I still love him.
What I have noticed is that there are many well educated and balanced people on MOG. If it goes out of whack there are some very fine defenders to bring it back to God. Not only do we have scholars but I think a priest might be floating around here.
I dealt with this on pages 36-37 of my PDF. "Few" is not a term that has any sort of necessary interpretation as far as minority/majority is concerned. All we can be sure that it refers to (that is, Our Lord's teaching that "many are called, few are chosen") is that the number of those saved is less than the number of those called to be saved; in other words, some people do go to hell. That, indeed, we can be certain of. And no doubt souls are falling into hell today more than ever at a terrifying rate. But to go so far as to assert that this means that most people go to hell is very wrong. At Medjugorje, Our Lady says most people go to Purgatory To St. Faustina, Our Lord said he visits a dying soul three times, and even if there is so much as a "flicker" of good will, He achieves the rest, and the soul is saved Our Lord also showed St. Faustina that most people in hell were the ones who didn't believe there was a hell. To the Servant of God Luisa Piccarreta, Our Lord strongly rebuked those who claim that, based on His words "many are called, few are chosen," most people go to hell. He said, in fact, that such people are just exposing their own miserliness in saying this and supposing it applies to Him as well. Fr. Garrigou LaGrange teaches a "Benevolent Supposition" on the number of those saved based on the fact that of the Apostles, only one was lost, of the Angels, only a third fell, and even of the two thieves, one was saved. No one would doubt Fr. LaGrange's orthodoxy and learnedness. Heaven has promised (and Heaven never lies) salvation to anyone who does very simple things: Receives Communion on 9 first Fridays, venerates the Divine Mercy Image, dies wearing the brown scapular, etc. I could go on and on, but I'll stop for now . "No one who trusts in the Lord will be put to shame" -Psalm 25:3
This is one of the most common red herrings in theological debates, Mac: to imply one is a fool for daring to disagree with a saint. I could just easily accuse you of the same for disagreeing with that great Doctor of the Church, St. Francis de Sales, who was of the opinion that most are saved. Saints disagree with each other. Having any opinion on anything, therefore, inevitably involves disagreeing with some saints while agreeing with others. (Of course, if one finds himself disagreeing with the consensus of the saints, with an essential aspect of a valid private revelation, or, above all, with Church Teaching, then that is another matter entirely, and indeed a cause for concern)
Few are saved but ... for the infinite Mercy of the Father, The Blood of Jesus and The Guiding of the Holy Spirit!! Does anyone here really believe that Jesus spent three years of His Ministry and endured The Passion so that few would be saved!?? If you are spreading The Word that few are saved you are doing satan's work and discouraging others! Get into THE APPROVED by the Catholic Church Divine Mercy Message if you have any doubts!! GOD SAVE ALL HERE!!
It is not helpful the way you casually throw in the unapproved to make your points.Kinda makes it pointless.
I always consider that Our Lord is talking about "few" as His Father would. If I had 10 children and 8 were saved, as a parent, I would also say that too few were saved. Even if 9 out of 10 were saved, it would always and forever be too few for me.
This is a great year of Mercy. Do not become discouraged by the doubts positioned here by the likes of Satan. Yes these saints were just that "saintly"... yet their commentary is as a fallible human being. I know of a chastisement that comes on those whose hearts are sterilized by rigidity...a self inflicted chastisement. Remember...God is for most Love.
What about the "for you and for many" of the Gospels and liturgy? It seems to me that many > few, but I might be misunderstanding it.
