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Allen,
Actually St. Paul expressed the same
sort of wish. In Romans 9:3 he says,
3 For I could wish that I
myself were accursed, separated
from Christ for the sake of my
brethren, my kinsmen according
to the flesh.
It's a little unclear whether he
is saying he would if he could but
he can't, or whether this is merely
a rhetorical device and not an earnest
desire.
Personally, I think it is very doubtful
God would allow this, and it is sufficient
for you to pray fervently for his salvation.
After all, Christ already died for
him so that he need not experience
punishment for his sins. I recommend
the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, an especially
powerful way to obtain mercy and
conversion for someone. See:
What is Divine Mercy? — The Divine Mercy Message and Devotion
and, considering the example
of St. Monica who prayed fervently
for many years for the conversion
of her son, St. Augustine, offer all your sufferings on earth
for him.
In any case, we have nothing in divine
revelation or even private revelation
that suggests it is possible to exchange
places with someone in Hell. But
any love that would be willing to
do this should be efficacious, I
would think, to do whatever is possible
toward this worthy goal.
The first step is to bring him to
some sort of regret over what he
did, for him to say to himself,
I wish I had done things differently,
and if I had the choice to do again,
I would not have done it.
While he remains steadfast in his
decision to murder he is not going
to receive the grace of conversion
(although he may receive graces in
preparation for conversion).
Hope this helps,
Eric
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