The time for repentance has passed

"But where exactly is hell, or Gehenna? There is no definitive indication of where hell is located. The Church Fathers also had different opinions on this matter. Saints Basil the Great and Athanasius the Great, relying on the words of Scripture (see Numbers 16:30-34, Ezekiel 26:20, 31:18), imagined hell to be within or in the lowest depths of the earth, in the world beyond. Others, however, such as Saint John Chrysostom, believed that Gehenna was outside the world. "Just as the imperial prisons and mines," Saint John reasons, "are far away, so Gehenna will be somewhere outside this universe."

But it is best to remember here the words of the same Chrysostom: “You ask where and in what place Gehenna will be? But what does that matter to you? You must know that it exists, not where and in what place it is hidden. Therefore, let us not seek where it is, but how to avoid it.”

According to the Holy Scriptures, many of the Holy Fathers and Teachers of the Church depicted the future torments of sinners, primarily Saint Ephraim the Syrian, Saint Basil the Great, and Saint John Chrysostom.

Saint Ephrem the Syrian speaks of the torments that await sinners beyond this life: “When the life of the sinner has come to an end, a fearful angel is sent, who demands his soul and says to him: ‘Your path in this life is over; now go to the other world, go to your place.’ And after this, he (the sinner) leaves the pleasures of this life, which he thought he would enjoy forever, and, dragged by evil angels, goes to the place of torment; seeing this, he will be seized with trembling and will strike his face with his hands, looking this way and that, wanting to flee. But he can't escape, because those who are leading him hold him tightly bound.

Then the angels who will possess him will say: ‘Why are you afraid, wretch? What troubles you, what grieves you? Why are you afraid, poor thing? Why are you trembling, wretched one? You have prepared your own place. Reap what you have sown!”

And again: “The time of repentance has passed; behold, the punishment. Now the righteous are crowned, but you, sinners, are given into the fiery hell. Now the righteous, like the light, shine in the Kingdom of Heaven; but you, sinners, are given into the outer darkness. Now the righteous together with the angels praise God, and you, sinners, weep in torment and gnash your teeth, regretting that the time of repentance was wasted in heedlessness.”

Elsewhere, Saint Ephrem the Syrian, speaks of future torments: “He who has sinned on earth, disregarded God and hidden his deeds, will be cast into utter darkness, where there is no ray of light. He who has nurtured malice in his heart and envy in his mind will be hidden in a terrible abyss, full of fire and brimstone. He who has given in to anger and has not let love enter his heart, reaching the point of hatred for his neighbor, will be given over to the cruel torments of demons.” Saint Basil the Great teaches us about eternal torments thus: “To the man who has committed many evil deeds in life, terrible and gloomy angels are assigned, who have fiery gaze and fiery breath, because of the cruelty of their will, and faces like the night, because of despair and hatred of people; then follows an impassable abyss, a darkness deep, a smoldering fire which in the darkness has burning power, but is devoid of light; then a kind of venomous and flesh-eating worm, greedily devouring, never satiated, which by its bite produces unbearable pains; then, the cruelest of all torments—eternal shame and endless reproach.”

In another place, the same Holy Father says: “What will be the state of the body subjected to these endless and unbearable torments, where there is unquenchable fire, an immortal devouring worm, darkness and the terrible depths of hell, bitter sighs, desperate cries, weeping and gnashing of teeth and endless suffering? From all this, there is no deliverance after death, there is no way, no possibility of escape from the bitter torments.”

And Saint Basil the Great also writes: "Those who have done evil will rise to shame and disgrace, to see in themselves the abomination and the seal of the sins they have committed. And perhaps more terrible than darkness and eternal fire is the shame with which sinners will remain forever, having constantly before their eyes the traces of sin committed in the body, like an indelible paint, which remains forever in the memory of their souls."

Saint Demetrius of Rostov, among the terrible torments of sinners, counts eternal shame and disgrace: “Let us think,” says the saint, “if someone, being exposed for one sin before his fellow men and a few people, is overcome by great shame, how much more so if a person is exposed before a large number of respectable people, and not for one sin, but for many. What should we expect then? What shame will there be on that last day and in that hour, when not one sin, but all the sins that we have committed in deed, word, and thought, will be exposed, and not only before sinners like us, but before all the saints and angelic hosts? Oh, what shame will sinners feel then!”

Saint John Chrysostom speaks of how terrifying and unbearable the future torments are: “Hearing about fire, do not think that the fire over there is like the fire over here: the fire here burns and consumes what it seizes, transforming it into something else, but the fire beyond, which it will once seize, will burn forever and will never cease, which is why it is called unquenchable. For sinners too must be clothed with immortality, not for honor, but in order to be unceasing sharers in torments; how terrible this is, the mind cannot imagine, unless, through the experience of small troubles, it could acquire a frost of understanding of those great sufferings. If you have ever been in a bath heated excessively, then imagine the fire of Gehenna; and if you have ever had a strong fever, carry your mind to that flame; then you will understand this distinction. For if the bath and the fever torment and disturb us so much, what will we feel when we find ourselves in that river of fire that will flow before the fearful judgment?”

And again: “When we go there, even if we show the greatest repentance, it will be of no use to us; however much we gnash our teeth, however much we weep and pray a thousand times, no one will let even a drop of water fall from the tip of a finger on us, who are consumed by fire—on the contrary, we will hear the same thing as that rich man: Between us and you a great gulf has been fixed (Luke 16:26).” We will gnash our teeth in unbearable pain and torment, but no one will help us. We will groan bitterly as the flames grow hotter, but we will see no one but those tormented alongside us and the vast desolation. What can we say about the horror that darkness will bring upon our souls?

Archimandrite Nicodemus