A Letter From Hell.

[Michie]

Sister Claire was a German nun who lived in the first half of the 20th century. But before that, she worked at a business firm with a woman named Annette. Annette died in a car accident in 1937 in Southern Germany. Many years later, after the death of Sister Claire, a mysterious account of Annette telling Sister Claire that she had gone to hell was found in the papers of the convent.

Before you write this off as loony, know that the diocesan Curia of Trier, Germany authorized its publication before the Council. Furthermore, this “Letter from Beyond” (as it was originally called in its publication) was promoted by Fr. Bernardino Krempel C.P., a doctor of theology. You may be surprised while reading the following account of hell how well it lines up with what other mystics and saints said about the afterlife, including the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas.

As you read it, notice that Annette was not a particularly wicked person. Rather, it was her lukewarm life as a Catholic that ended in disaster.

DON’T PRAY FOR ME

Continued below.

A Letter From Hell.

p/c: Kevin Key Sister Claire was a German nun who lived in the first half of the 20th century. But before that, she worked at a business firm with a woman named Annette. Annette died in a car accident in 1937 in Southern Germany. Many years later, after the death of Sister Claire, a...

www.padreperegrino.org

 

[JSRG]

I remember looking into this a while ago. I didn't write down some of the things I looked at, but based on my memory and some things I did write down, this letter appears fictional.

As far as I can tell, this letter was translated into English from French, which itself appears to have been translated from German. I don't know where one can find the German original if there is one.

One can see the French here:

Le manuscrit de l'enfer - www.marie-julie-jahenny.fr

First, I should note there seem to be two versions of this that float around the Internet in English. The first version, found here, seems to match up with the French fairly well (at least by comparing a few parts, I didn't compare it paragraph by paragraph or anything). The second version, which is what is shown in the opening post, deviates more noticeably from the French, with various paraphrases and a noticeable increase in the use of all-caps and exclamation marks. It feels like the changes were to try to make it more dramatic.

But what's more important in regards to the French is that the foreword from the French publication by a priest explicitly states that the letter is fictional, comparing it to John Henry Newman's fictional work The Dream of Gerontius:

C'est aussi un « songe » que l'on trouvera dans le présent ouvrage. Un « songe », c'est-à-dire une fiction, mais qui n'est pas moins vraisemblable, dans la plupart de ses détails, que le Songe de Gérontius. On pourrait donc l'intituler Le Songe d'une religieuse.

(translation: "This is also a "dream" that can be found in the present work. A "dream," that is to say, a fiction, but one that is no less plausible, in most of its details, than the Dream of Gerontius. It could therefore be entitled The Dream of a Nun.")

It then a bit later says:

Cela veut dire que le soubassement théologique de la lettre fictive qu'on va lire est tout ce qu'il y a de plus sérieux et de plus solide.

(translation: "This means that the theological foundation of the fictional letter you are about to read is entirely sound and reliable.")

So while the foreword defends the letter as theologically sound, it affirms that it's fictional. Another French site does not include the lengthy foreword, but again precedes it with a statement of it being fictional:

Lettre de l'au-delà | Hérauts de l'Évangile

Ce texte d’un auteur anonyme est une fiction, à but méditatif. La narration se situe quelques années avant la Seconde Guerre mondiale. Ce texte dépeint la manière dont une âme, par ses choix de vie, peut être conduite à choisir le chemin de la damnation.

herautsdelevangile.com

Ce récit, écrit par un auteur anonyme, est une fiction à visée méditative. L’histoire se déroule quelques années avant la Seconde Guerre mondiale et illustre comment une âme, à travers ses choix de vie, peut s’engager sur le chemin de la damnation.

(translation: "This story, written by an anonymous author, is a work of fiction intended for meditation. Set a few years before World War II, it illustrates how a soul, through its life choices, can embark on the path to damnation."

It appears that, when it was translated into English, this fact was omitted (or perhaps in the original translations it wasn't omitted, but whoever put it on the Internet left that off and people copied it), so you have people present it as an actual letter, when the French explicitly said it was a fictional work.

 

[RileyG]

Known about this for years.

There are many “unfaithful departed” who i continue to pray for.

I trust God will use my prayers as he sees fit.

Regardless, it’s an important and informative letter!