I say that those tormented in Gehenna
are struck by the scourge of love. And how bitter and cruel is this agony of
love, for, feeling that they have sinned against love, they experience a torment
that is greater than any other. The affliction that strikes the heart because
of the sin against love is more terrible than any possible punishment. It is
wrong to think that Gehenna are deprived of God’s love. Love is produced by knowledge
of the truth, which (everyone is in agreement about this) is given to all in general.
But by its power love affects human beings in a twofold manner: It torments
sinners, as even here a friend sometimes causes one to suffer, and it gladdens
those who have carried out their duty. And so, in my opinion, the torment of
Gehenna consists in repentance. Love fills with its joys the souls of the
children on high. (Isaac, Homily 28, The Ascetical Homilies of St Isaac the Syrian,
2nd ed. [2011], p. 266, in Alvin F. Kimel, Jr., “Gehenna as Universal Purgatory,”
in Destined for Joy: The Gospel of Universal Salvation [2022], 379,
emphasis in original)
