It's amazing how this stuff comes flooding back when you think about it. Things I were taught:
If you die and have one un-confessed mortal sin, HELL! if you confessed a sin (even a little one) but did not do your penance, HELL! If you have small un-confessed sins or have ever committed a mortal sin (even if you have confessed & repented) you go to purgatory (maybe for years) to heal the marks on your soul before going to heaven. Purgatory is not torture like hell is, but you are in absolute agony because you are dead and not in heaven yet. Heaven is eternal bliss.
If you die as a baby and were not baptized you go to limbo. Forever. Limbo is not hell, but it is agony like purgatory but you don't mind as much because you are a baby. If you are baptized and die before age 7 you go to heaven. When you are 7 you start going to confession and from then on you are held liable for any sins.
oh a few years back the pope decided Limbo didn't exist and from then on unbaptized babies could go to heaven. Babies who had gone to limbo had to stay there because there is no exit from Limbo ever for anyone. Sorry babies.
How long are you in hell? Eternity: Imagine a steel ball the size of the sun. Every century a bird flies by and brushes that steel ball with his wing. When that wears that ball away to nothing, eternity is JUST BEGINNING.
Updated On: 10/11/13 at 01:17 PM