| Sirach 7:19
| Humble thy spirit very much: for the vengeance on the flesh of the ungodly is fire and worms.
| On the flesh, is not in Greek. Christ appears to have had this passage in view, Mark 9:44. Many suppose that both allude to the fire which burnt dead bodies, etc., in the vale of Hinnon. But all allow that the inextinguishable flames of hell are meant. Whether the fire and worms be corporeal or not has been questioned: the Greek Fathers, and the Church of Florence, generally maintain the negative, and the Latins assert it on better grounds. St. Thomas Aquinas adopts the opinion of many of the Fathers, who explain the worm to denote the remorse of conscience. Yet many take it to be a worm, though not like those with which we are acquainted. Horreo vermem mendacem et mortem vivacem. (St. Bernard, cons. v.) See St. Jerome; Isaias lxvi.; Cornelius a Lapide; St. Gregory, Dial. 4:29.; St. Augustine, City of God 20:10.; St. Ambrose vii. in Luke xiv.) (Calmet) --- Fire and the worm of conscience are both eternal. (Worthington) --- The punishment at least is such, and more intense than we can conceive.
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