{"collection":"scripture-revelation","full_text_available":true,"graph_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/api/page/gutenberg_25224/graph","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/v2/page/gutenberg_25224","id":"gutenberg_25224","license":"Public Domain (US)","rights_basis":"gutenberg_metadata_copyright_false","source":"gutenberg","source_url":"https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/25224","summary":null,"tags":["Category: Religion/Spirituality","Heaven"],"text":"E-text prepared by David McClamrock\n\n\n\nTHE HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN\n\nBy a Father of the Society of Jesus\n\nF. J. BOUDREAUX (Requiescat in pace)\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\"Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for\nyou.\"--Matth. xxv. 34.\n\nAPPROBATIONS.\n\nI, Ferdinand Coosemans, Provincial of the Society of Jesus in\nMissouri, in virtue of power granted to me by the Very Reverend P.\nBeck, Superior General of the same Society, hereby permit the\npublication of a book entitled: \"THE HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN, by a Father\nof the Society of Jesus;\" the same having been approved by the\ncensors appointed by me to revise it.\n\nSt. Louis, Mo., 1 Nov., 1870.     F. Coosemans, S.J.\n\nLiber supradictus, cum a Censoribus Nostris fuerit jam probatus,\nimprimatur.\n\n+ MARTINUS JOANNES, Archiep. Baltimor.\n\nEntered, according to an Act of Congress, in the year 1871, by John\nMurphy & Co., in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at\nWashington.\n\nBaltimore: Published by John Murphy & Co. New York: Catholic\nPublication Society. 1872.\n\n\n\n\nPUBLISHERS' PREFACE TO THE SECOND REVISED EDITION.\n\nIt seldom falls to the lot of a Catholic Publisher to issue from his\npress a book, which, while it possesses the true, substantial merit\nof genuine Catholic literature, is at the same time graced with the\nnovelty, the absorbing interest which at once command the attention\non the Public, and place the book in a high and permanent position\nbefore the world. Such has been our good fortune in the publication\nof \"THE HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN\"--and of this no better proof can be\nrequired than the unprecedented sale of 3000 copies, constituting the\nfirst edition, in less than sixty days, and the constantly increasing\ndemand which already calls forth this second edition. Few books have\nbeen more warmly welcomed by the Press, both Catholic and\nnon-Catholic, than \"The Happiness of Heaven;\" fewer still have\nproved, in the perusal, more worthy of the praises bestowed by\nReviewers, or have borne out the character which favorable critics\nhad assigned. Of this work it may be said with truth, that the\nhighest praise falls short of its merit, the most favorable critic\nhas not said too much in its commendation. And this promises to be\nmore than an ephemeral popularity--the book will live--it will be\nread with pleasure and profit, as long as genuine Catholic literature\nfinds readers.\n\nIt is a book which was long wanted: a thorough, systematic treatise\non a subject of the most vital importance: a book which gives us all\nthat Catholic Theology teaches about heaven, and gives it in an\nauthentic shape, with text, references and citations in all\nscholastic completeness; and yet in a form adapted to the humblest\ncapacity. It is indeed, as one of its reviewers so happily calls it,\n\"The spiritual Geography of heaven, giving us such a knowledge of\nthat blessed country, as we can acquire at this distance,\" and\nshowing forth its beauties, its loveliness, its thousandfold bliss in\na manner so clear, so winning, so unconquerably attractive, that\nearth pales into insignificance before those dazzling splendors, and\nour hearts long to be where our real treasure is. When we have read\nthis book and studied it, (for a single perusal of it will not\nsatisfy us,) we know something of that heavenly Paradise which is to\nbe the eternal abode of the Elect, and knowing it, we must love and\ndesire it,--we must submit with patience, if not with joy, to the\ntrials of this life, which are to be there so gloriously\nrewarded,--we must sigh for the moment which is to admit us into that\nParadise of endless delights and of imperishable beauty.\n\nLet then this book go forth on its mission of consolation and\nencouragement to the sorrowing and suffering poor: it will teach them\nto prize their sorrows and their afflictions as the virgin gold of\nwhich their crown is to be formed, and the brilliant gems which are\nto adorn it forever. Let it go to the counting-house of the merchant,\nto the desk of the banker--and they will know that there is another\nand a truer wealth more worthy of their ambition. Let the great ones\nof the earth learn from it that their honors are a deceit and a\nsnare; that one sigh for Eternity, one moment spent in the service of\nGod, purchase greater glory than all the crowns and sceptres of earth\ncan bestow. Let those whose lives are consecrated to the task of\nteaching young hearts to love God, of recalling the wanderer to the\npaths of his duty, of battling with the errors of worldly wisdom and\nthe passions of the depraved human heart,--let them gather from this\nbook not only the motives which will be powerful over the souls of\nmen, but also the strength and courage which they themselves need in\ntheir toils for the good of their neighbor. In a word, let all study\nthis precious volume:--Catholics and Protestants, the learned and the\nignorant, the old and the young, the innocent youth still arrayed in\nthe spotless garment of his baptismal purity, and the unhappy sinner\nwho has grown old in wickedness and whose soul has lost almost all\nhope of peace;--there is instruction for all, comfort and joy,\nencouragement and hope for all if they will but make a proper use of\nsuch means as God has given them, and live here without forgetting\nthat they are destined for a glorious hereafter.\n\nWe have but a word to add in regard to the present edition:--several\nalterations and improvements have been introduced into the work by\nthe Author, which enhance its value and render it more deserving the\npatronage it has already received.\n\nTHE PUBLISHERS. BALTIMORE, June 17, 1871.\n\n\n\n\nPREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION.\n\nMany books, owing to their special character, are designed for only a\nsmall circle of readers. But topics involving general and vital\ninterests deservedly claim the attention of all persons. Such is the\nsubject of the present work--\"The Happiness of Heaven.\" For who is he\nthat, believing in the existence of that blessed abode, does not hope\neventually to arrive there?\n\nWhat sublime descriptions do not the Holy Scriptures give us of the\nblessed City of God! Her wails are built of jasper-stone; but the\nCity itself is of pure and shining gold, like to clear crystal glass.\nAnd the foundations of the City are adorned with all manner of\nprecious stones. Her gates are pearls. The very streets are\ntransparent as glass. This glorious City has no need of the sun or of\nthe moon to shine in her; for the glory of God is her light.\n\nIn the midst of her sits the Ancient of days: His garments are white\nas snow: His throne is like flames of fire. Thousands and thousands\nminister unto him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stand\nbefore Him. A river of life-giving water, as clear as crystal, whose\nbanks are adorned with the tree of life, issues from the throne of\nGod. The Blessed drink of the torrent of pleasure, and are inebriated\nwith the plenty of the house of God. All tears are wiped away from\ntheir eyes: and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor\nsorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away.\n\nAnd, when we are assured that no mortal eye hath seen nor ear heard,\nnor heart of man conceived the happiness prepared for God's children,\nwe must conclude that the magnificent language describing the\nheavenly Jerusalem is only symbolical; that the Holy Ghost speaks of\nthe most precious and beautiful things we know, in order to raise our\nminds to the reality which they faintly represent. It has been the\naim of the author of the following pages to discover the meaning\nconcealed under those enticing figures. In his exposition of \"The\nHappiness of Heaven,\" he has endeavored to follow the teachings of\nthe most approved theologians of the Church. Moreover, mindful that\nour Divine Model spoke of the Kingdom of Heaven in parables, he has\nlaid aside, as far as possible, the technical language of the\nschools, and has replaced it by illustrations, which are better\nadapted to the capacity of all.\n\nShould the worshipper of mammon, on perusing these pages, pause in\nhis headlong course, to think of \"treasures which neither the moth\nnor rust consumes;\" should the votary of pleasure be induced to sigh\nafter the joys that pass not away; should the poor and the afflicted\nof every description, cast a lingering, longing glance toward that\nblessed region where sorrow is unknown; should those who have\nconsecrated themselves to God be incited to a greater perfection and\nto a desire of a higher degree of glory in heaven, the writer will\ndeem himself amply rewarded for his labor.\n\n\n\n\nCONTENTS.\n\nCHAPTER\n\n    I.  The Beatific Vision\n\n   II.  In the Beatific Vision, \"We shall be like Him, because we\n           shall see Him as He is.\"\n\n  III.  In the Beatific Vision, our Intellect is glorified, and our\n           Thirst for Knowledge completely gratified\n\n   IV.  In the Beatific Vision, our Will is also to be glorified,\n           and then we shall be happy in loving and being loved\n\n    V.  The Beauty and Glory of the Risen Body\n\n   VI.  The Spirituality of the Risen Body\n\n  VII.  The Impassibility and Immortality of the Risen Body\n\n VIII.  Several Errors to be avoided in our Meditations on Heaven\n\n   IX.  The Life of the Blessed in Heaven\n\n    X.  Pleasures of the Glorified Senses\n\n   XI.  Social Joys of Heaven\n\n  XII.  Will the Knowledge that some of our own are lost, mar our\n           happiness in Heaven?\n\n XIII.  The Light of Glory\n\n  XIV.  Degrees of Happiness in Heaven\n\n   XV.  Degrees of Enjoyment through the Glorified Senses\n\n  XVI.  The Glory of Jesus and Mary\n\n XVII.  The Glory of the Martyrs\n\nXVIII.  The Glory of the Doctors and Confessors\n\n  XIX.  The Glory of Virgins and Religious\n\n   XX.  The Glory of Penitents and Pious People\n\n  XXI.  The Eternity of Heaven's Happiness\n\n\n\n\nTHE HAPPINESS OF HEAVEN.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER 1.\n\nTHE BEATIFIC VISION.\n\nReason, revelation, and the experience of six thousand years unite\ntheir voices in proclaiming that perfect happiness cannot be found in\nthis world. It certainly cannot be found in creatures; for they were\nnot clothed with the power to give it. It cannot be found even in the\npractice of virtue; for God has, in His wisdom, decreed that virtue\nshould merit, but never enjoy perfect happiness in this world. He has\nsolemnly pledged himself to give \"eternal life\" to all who love and\nserve him here on earth. He has promised a happiness so unspeakably\ngreat, that the Apostle, who \"was caught up into paradise,\" and was\nfavored with a glimpse thereof, tells us that mortal \"eye hath not\nseen, nor ear heard, neither hath it entered into the heart of man,\nwhat things God hath prepared for them that love him.\"*\n\n* 1 Cor. xi. 9.\n\nThis happiness--which is now so incomprehensible to us--is none other\nthan the possession and enjoyment of God himself in the Beatific\nVision, as well as the perfect satisfaction of every rational craving\nof our nature in the glorious resurrection of the body. It is on this\nglorious happiness we are going to meditate; and first, we shall\nendeavor to obtain a definite idea of the Beatific Vision, which is\nthe essential constituent of heavenly bliss.\n\nIn meditating upon the happiness in store for the children of God, we\nare very apt to build up a heaven of our own, which naturally takes\nthe shape and color which our sorrows, needs, and sufferings lend\nthereto. The poor man, for instance, who has suffered mutely from\ntoil and want, looks upon heaven as a place of rest, abounding with\nall that can satisfy the cravings of nature. Another, who has often\nendured the pangs of disease, looks upon it as a place where he shall\nenjoy perpetual health of body and mind. Another again, who, in the\npractice of virtue, has had all manner of temptations from the devil,\nthe world, and his own flesh, delights in viewing heaven as a place\ntotally free from temptation, where the danger, or even the\npossibility of sin, shall be no more.\n\nAll these, and other similar views of heaven, are true, inasmuch as\nthey represent it as a place entirely free from evil and suffering,\nand, at the same time, as an abode of positive happiness.\nNevertheless, they are all imperfect views, because not one of them\ntakes in the whole of heavenly bliss, such as God has revealed it to\nus. They all ignore the Beatific Vision, which is the essential\nhappiness of heaven.\n\nBut even among those who look upon heaven as a place where we shall\nsee God, very few indeed understand what is implied in the vision of\nGod. They imagine that we shall simply gaze upon an object whose\nsurpassing perfection will make us happy in a way which they do not\nunderstand. These last do not fully comprehend what is meant by the\nBeatific Vision, though they view heaven as a place where we shall\nsee God. Let us, therefore, endeavor to understand what faith and\ntheology teach us concerning the Beatific Vision. We shall see that\nit is the essential happiness of the blessed which not only fills\nthem with the purest and completest satisfaction, but that it is,\nmoreover, in virtue of this Beatific Vision that they are enabled to\nenjoy the additional or secondary pleasures which cluster around the\nthrone of God.\n\nTheologians divide the happiness of heaven into essential and\naccidental. By essential is meant the happiness which the soul\nreceives immediately from God in the Beatific Vision. By accidental\nare meant the additional pleasures or joys which come to the blessed\nfrom creatures. Thus, when our Blessed Lord says: \"There shall be joy\nin heaven upon one sinner doing penance,\" He evidently means a new\njoy, which the blessed did not possess until sorrow for sin entered\nthat sinner's heart. They were already happy in the Beatific Vision,\nand would not have lost the slightest degree of their blessedness,\neven if that sinner had never repented of his sins. Still, they\nexperience a new joy in his conversion, because therein they see God\nglorified; and, moreover, they have reason to look for an additional\nbrother or sister to share their bliss. Yet, although the blessed do\nrejoice in the conversion of the sinner, they do so in virtue of the\nBeatific Vision--without which they could receive no additional\npleasure from creatures. Therefore the Beatific Vision is not only\nthe essential happiness of heaven, but it is also that which imparts\nto the saints the power of appropriating all the other inferior joys\nwherewith God completes the blessedness of his children. As this is a\npoint of importance, we shall endeavor to understand it more clearly\nby an illustration.\n\nA man who is gifted with perfect health of body and mind, not only\nenjoys life itself, but he likewise receives pleasure from the\nbeauties of nature from literature, amusements, and society. Now,\nsuppose he loses his health, and is thrown on a bed of sickness. He\nis no longer able to enjoy either life itself or its pleasures. What\nis all the beauty of earthly or heavenly objects to him now? What are\namusements, and all the joys of sense, which formerly delighted him\nso much? All these things are now unable to give him any pleasure;\nbecause he has lost his health, which afforded him the power of\nappropriating the pleasures of life. Therefore, we say that health is\nessentially necessary, not only to enjoy life itself, but also to\nrelish its pleasures. So too in heaven. The Beatific Vision is\nnecessary not only to enjoy the very life of heaven, but likewise to\nenjoy the accidental glory wherewith God perfects the happiness of\nhis elect. What, then, is this Beatific Vision? Is it an eternal\ngazing upon God? Is it an uninterrupted \"Ah!\" of admiration? Or is\nit a sight of such overpowering grandeur as to deprive us of\nconsciousness, and throw us into a state of dreamy inactivity? We\nshall see.\n\n\"Beatific Vision\" is composed of three Latin words, _beatus_, happy;\n_facio_, I make; and _visio_, a sight; all of which taken together\nmake up and mean a happy-making sight. Therefore, in its very\netymology, Beatific Vision means a sight which contains in itself the\npower of banishing all pain, all sorrow from the beholder, and of\ninfusing, in their stead, joy and happiness. We shall now analyze it,\nand see wherein it consists; for it is only by doing so that we can\narrive at the clear idea of it, which we are seeking.\n\nTheologians tell us that the Beatific Vision, considered as a perfect\nand permanent state, consists of three acts which are so many\nelements essential to its integrity and perfection. These are, first,\nthe sight or vision of God; secondly, the love of God; and thirdly,\nthe enjoyment of God. These three acts, though really distinct from\neach other, are not separable; for, if even one of them be excluded,\nthe Beatific Vision no longer exists in its integrity. We shall now\nsay a few words on each of these constituents of heavenly bliss.\n\n1. First, the sight or vision of God means that the intellect which\nis the noblest faculty of the soul is suddenly elevated by the light\nof glory, and enabled to see God as He is, by a clear and unclouded\nperception of his Divine Essence. It is, therefore, a vision in which\nthe soul sees God, face to face; not indeed with the eyes of the\nbody, but with the intellect. For God is a Spirit, and cannot be seen\nwith material eyes. And if our bodily eyes were necessary for that\nvision, we could not see God until the day of judgment; for it is\nonly then that our eyes will be restored to us. Hence, it is the soul\nthat sees God; but then, she sees Him more clearly and perfectly than\nshe can now see anything with her material eyes.\n\nThis vision of God is an intellectual act by which the soul is filled\nto overflowing with an intuitive knowledge of God; a knowledge so\nperfect and complete that all the knowledge of Him attainable, in\nthis world, by prayer and study, is like the feeble glimmer of the\nlamp compared to the dazzling splendor of the noonday sun.\n\nThis perfect vision, or knowledge of God, is not only the first\nessential element of the Beatific Vision, but it is, moreover, the\nvery root or fountainhead of the other acts which are necessary for\nits completeness. Thus we say of the sun that he is the source of the\nlight, heat, life, and beauty of this material world; for, if he were\nblotted out from the heavens, this now beautiful world would, in one\ninstant, be left the dark and silent grave of every living creature.\nThis is only a faint image of the darkness and sadness which would\nseize upon the blessed, could we suppose that God would at any time\nwithdraw from them the clear and unclouded vision of Himself.\nTherefore, we say, that the vision of the Divine Essence is the root\nor source of the Beatific Vision.\n\nYet, although this is true, it does not follow that the vision of the\nDivine Essence constitutes the whole Beatific Vision; for the human\nmind cannot rest satisfied with knowledge alone, how perfect soever\nit may be. It must also love and enjoy the object of its knowledge.\nTherefore, the vision of God produces the two other acts which we\nshall now briefly consider.*\n\n* Dico 1. Essentiam beatitudinis formalis primo ac principaliter\nconsistere in clara Dei visione, in qua, quasi in fonte ac radice\ntota beatitudinis perfectio continetur. Est enim praecipua ac\nperfectissima animae operatio in ratione consecutionis finis ultima,\net immediate cum ipsius conjunctione, ac forma essentialiter\ndistinguens statum beatum a non beato.... Tamen, dico 2: Amor\ncharitatis et amicitiae divinae est simpliciter necessarius, ut homo\nsit supernaturaliter perfecte beatus: atque ita absolute est de\nipsius beatitudinis essentia.--Suarez de Beat. Disput. 7.\n\n2. The second element of the Beatific Vision is an act of perfect and\ninexpressible love. It is the sight or knowledge of God as He is,\nthat produces this love; because it is impossible for the soul to see\nGod in his divine beauty, goodness, and unspeakable love for her,\nwithout loving Him with all the power of her being. It were easier to\ngo near an immense fire and not feel the heat, than to see God in His\nvery essence, and yet not be set on fire with divine love. It is,\ntherefore, a necessary act; that is, one which the blessed could not\npossibly withhold, as we now can do in this world. For, with our\nimperfect vision of God, as He is reflected from the mirror of\ncreation, we can, and unfortunately do withhold our love from him\neven when the light of faith is superadded to the knowledge we may\nhave of him from the teachings of nature. Not so in heaven. There,\nthe blessed see God as He is; and therefore, they love Him\nspontaneously, intensely, and supremely.\n\n3. The third element of the Beatific Vision is an act of excessive\njoy, which proceeds spontaneously from both the vision and the love\nof God. It is an act by which the soul rejoices in the possession of\nGod, who is the Supreme Good. He is her own God, her own possession,\nand in the enjoyment of Him her cravings for happiness are completely\ngratified. Evidently, then, the Beatific Vision necessarily includes\nthe possession of God; for without it, this last act could have no\nexistence, and the happiness of the blessed would not be complete,\ncould we suppose it to have existence at all. A moment's reflection\nwill make this as evident as the light of day.\n\nA beggar, for instance, gazes upon a magnificent palace, filled with\nuntold wealth, and all that can gratify sense. Does the mere sight of\nit make him happy? It certainly does not, because it is not, and\nnever can be his. He may admire its grand architecture and exquisite\nworkmanship, and thus receive some trifling pleasure; but, as he can\nnever call that palace nor its wealth his own, the mere gazing upon\nit, and even loving its beauty, can never render him happy. For this,\nthe possession of it is essential.\n\nAgain, the starving beggar gazes upon the rich man's table loaded\nwith every imaginable luxury. Does that mere sight relieve the pangs\nof hunger? It certainly does not. It rather adds to his wretchedness,\nby intensifying his hunger, without satisfying its cravings. Even so\nwould it be in heaven, could we suppose a soul admitted there, and\nallowed to gaze upon the beauty of God, while she cannot possess or\nenjoy Him. Such a sight would be no Beatific Vision for her. The\npossession of God is, therefore, absolutely necessary in order that\nthe soul may enjoy Him, and rest in him as her last end. Hence, the\nact of seeing God is also the act by which the blessed possess God,\nand enter into the joy of their Lord.*\n\n* Si generatim loquamur, verum est quod visio, ut visio, non sit\npossessio. Nam visio, ut sic, solum dicit claram cognitionem objecti\nvisi. Possessio autem significat habere et tenere objectum, eo modo,\nquo natum est haberi et genera. Jam vero, quia Deus non aliter potest\na nobis haberi et teneri quam per visionem, ideo fit, ut visio\nsortiatur nomen et officium possessionis respectu Dei.--Becanus, de\nBeat. quaest. 3.\n\nBut this is not yet all. We have been considering the acts by which\nthe soul appropriates God to herself; meanwhile, we must not forget\nthat the active concurrence of God is as essential in the Beatific\nVision as the action of the creature. The Beatific Vision means,\ntherefore, that God not only enables the soul to see Him in all his\nsurpassing beauty, but also that he takes her to his bosom as a\nbeloved child, and bestows upon her the happiness which mortal eye\ncannot see. It means, furthermore, that God unites the soul to\nHimself in so wonderful and intimate a manner, that, without losing\nher created nature or personal identity, she is transformed into God,\naccording to the forcible expression of St. Peter, when he asserts\nthat we are \"made partakers of the divine nature.\"* This is the\nhighest glory to which a rational nature can be elevated, if we\nexcept the glory of the hypostatic union and the maternity of the\nBlessed Virgin Mary.\n\n* 2 Pet. i. 4.\n\nIn explaining this partaking of the divine nature in heaven,\ntheologians make use of a very apt comparison. If, say they, you\nthrust a piece of iron into the fire, it soon loses its dark color,\nand becomes red and hot, like the fire. It is thus made a partaker of\nthe nature of fire, without, however, losing its own essential\niron-nature. This illustrates what takes place in the Beatific Vision\nin relation to the soul. She is united to God, and penetrated by Him.\nShe becomes bright with His brightness, beautiful with His beauty,\npure with His purity, happy with His unutterable happiness, and\nperfect with His divine perfections. In a word, she has become a\npartaker of the \"divine nature,\" while she retains her created nature\nand personal identity.\n\nAbstract words, however, and reasoning fail to convey a definite idea\nof this glorious happiness reserved for the children of God. Let us,\ntherefore, have recourse to an illustration in the shape of a little\nparable. It will be as a mirror, wherein we shall see faint but true\nreflections of the Beatific Vision.\n\nA kind-hearted king, while hunting in a forest, finds a blind orphan\nboy, totally destitute of all that can make life comfortable. The\nking, moved with compassion, takes him to his palace, adopts him as\nhis own, and orders him to be cared for and educated in all that a\nblind person can learn. It is almost needless to say that the boy is\nunspeakably grateful, and does all he can to phase the king. When he\nhas reached his twentieth year, a surgeon performs an operation upon\nhis eyes by which his sight is restored. Then the king, surrounded by\nhis nobles and amid all the pomp and magnificence of the court,\nproclaims him one of his sons, and commands all to honor and love him\nas such. And thus the once friendless orphan becomes a prince, and,\ntherefore, a partaker of the royal dignity, of the happiness and\nglory which are to be found in the palaces of kings.\n\nI will not attempt to describe the joys that overwhelm the soul of\nthis fortunate young man when he first sees that king, of whose manly\nbeauty, goodness, power, and magnificence he had heard so much. Nor\nwill I attempt to describe those other joys which fill his soul when\nhe beholds himself, his own personal beauty, and the magnificence of\nhis princely garments, whereof he had also heard so much heretofore.\nMuch less will I attempt to picture his exquisite unspeakable\nhappiness when he sees himself adopted into the royal family, honored\nand loved by all, together with all the pleasures of life within his\nreach. Each one may endeavor to imagine his feelings, joy, and\nhappiness. We can only say that all this taken together is a beatific\nvision for him--in the natural order.\n\nHere we find the three acts already explained. The first is the sight\nof the good king in all his glory and magnificence; the second is the\nintense love which this sight produces; and the third is the\nenjoyment of the king's society, and all the happiness wherewith his\nadoption has surrounded him.\n\nThe application of the parable is obvious. God is the great and\nmighty King who finds your soul in the wilderness of this world. To\nuse the forcible words of Scripture, He found you \"wretched, and\nmiserable, and poor, and blind, and naked.\"* Moved with compassion,\nHe brought you into His holy Church. There, He washed you with his\nown precious blood, clotured you with the spotless robe of\ninnocence, adorned you with the gifts of grace, and adopted you as\nhis own child. Then He commanded his ministers and others to educate\nyou for heaven. By His grace, and your own co-operation, your soul is\nbeing gradually developed into a more perfect resemblance to Jesus\nChrist, who, in His human nature, is the standard of all created\nperfection. But you are blind yet, and must remain so until your\nHeavenly Father calls you home. When that happy day dawns, you will\nleave this world; your eyes will be opened by the light of glory, and\nyou will see God as He is, in all his glory and magnificence. You\nwill also see yourself as you are, adorned with the jewels of the\nmany graces He has bestowed upon you. You will also see the beautiful\nangels and saints, clothed with the beauty of God himself, standing\naround his throne to hear the sentence that is to admit you into\ntheir society. This sight of the Living God, and of all the\nmagnificence which surrounds Him, will fill your soul with a perfect\nknowledge of him; and this knowledge will produce a most ardent and\nperfect love; and when he presses you to his bosom, proclaims you one\nof his children, and commands all to honor and love you as such, your\njoy will be full. This will be emphatically a Beatific Vision for\nyou. you will then enter into the possession and enjoyment of God,\nwho alone can fill the soul with pure and permanent happiness.\n\n* Apoc. iii. 17.\n\nWe shall now close this chapter with a beautiful extract from the\ngreat theologian Lessius. Speaking of the three acts which constitute\nthe Beatific Vision, he says: \"In these three acts resides God's\nchiefest glory, which He himself intended in all his works; and so,\nlikewise, in these same acts reside the highest good and formal\nbeatitude of men and angels. By these acts the blessed spirits are\nvastly elevated above themselves, and, in their union with God,\nbecome godlike, by a most lofty and supereminent similitude with God,\nso that the mind can conceive no greater. Thus, like very gods, they\nshine to all eternity in the divine brightness. By these same acts\nthey expand themselves into immensity, so as to be co-equal and\nco-extensive, as far as may be, to so great a good, that they may\ntake it in, and comprehend it all. They linger not outside, as it\nwere upon the surface of it; but they go down into its profound\ndepths, and enter into the joy of their Lord; some more, some less,\naccording to the magnitude of the light of glory imparted to each.\nImmersed in this abyss, they lose themselves, and all created things;\nfor all other good and joys seem to them as nothing by the side of\nthis ocean of good and joys. In this abyss there is to them no\ndarkness, no obscurity, such as now hangs over us about the Divinity;\nbut all is light and immense serenity. There are their eternal\nmansions, with a tranquil security that they can never fail. There is\nthe fulfilling of all their desires. There is the possession and\nenjoyment of all things that are desirable. There nothing will remain\nto be longed for, or sought for any more; for all will firmly possess\nand exquisitely enjoy every good thing in God. There the occupation\nof the saints will be to contemplate the infinite beauty of God, to\nlove His infinite goodness, to enjoy his infinite sweetness, to be\nfilled to overflowing with the torrent of his pleasures, and to exult\nwith an unspeakable delight in his infinite glory, and in all the\ngood things which he and they possess. Hence comes perpetual praise,\nand benediction, and thanksgiving; and thus the blessed, having\nreached the consummation of all their desires, and knowing not what\nmore to crave, rest in God as their last end.\"*\n\n* De Perf. Divin. lib. xiv. c. 5.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER II.\n\nTHE BEATIFIC VISION. (CONTINUED.)\n\nIn the Beatific Vision, \"we shall be like Him; because we shall see\nhim as he is.\"*\n\n* 1 John iii. 2.\n\nIn the preceding chapter, we have endeavored to understand the\nmeaning of the Beatific Vision. We have seen that it is not a mere\ngazing upon God, but a true possession and enjoyment of Him. We have\nseen, moreover, that the Beatific Vision implies a most intimate\nunion with God, in which the soul is made a partaker of the \"Divine\nNature,\" in a far higher degree than is attainable in this world.\n\nBut we must be careful not to confound this union of the soul with\nGod, which is a moral union, with a personal union, such as exists\nbetween the humanity and the divinity in Jesus Christ. For, in Him,\nthough these two natures are distinct, they are not separable. The\nhuman nature is so intimately united to the divine, that it receives\nits personality from the eternal Son of God. Hence, we cannot say\nthat Jesus Christ is one Person as man, and another Person as God,\nthus asserting two distinct Persons in Christ. This would be a\nheresy, long since condemned by the church. In Him, therefore, there\nis but one Person, and that Person is the eternal Son of God, in whom\nthe human nature has not a distinct personality of its own. This is\ncalled a personal or hypostatic union, which belongs to Jesus Christ\nalone, and constitutes Him the Lord of lords, the King of kings, and\nthe Judge of the living and the dead. No other creature, not even the\nBlessed Virgin, can ever aspire to such a union with God. When,\ntherefore, we speak of our intimate union with God in the Beatific\nVision, we understand a moral union, and not a physical or a personal\none. Hence, however intimate our union with God may be, we shall\nalways retain our personality, and never be merged into God.\n\nIn this world, how intimate soever may be the union which exists\nbetween friend and friend, parent and child, husband and wife, these\npersons all retain their respective personalities. So shall it be in\nheaven. We shall see and possess God; we shall be united to Him in an\nintimate manner, but we shall ever retain our distinct personality\nand individuality. When a drop of water falls into the ocean, it is\nabsorbed and completely lost in that immense volume of water. This is\nno type of our union with God. But the drop of oil is such a type;\nfor while it floats on the bosom of the deep, it does not mingle with\nthe water, nor lose its individuality. It remains a drop of oil.\n\nNot only shall we thus retain our personality, when united to God in\nthe Beatific Vision, but we shall, moreover, retain all that belongs\nto the reality of human nature. For, as St. Thomas teaches, \"the\nglory of heaven does not destroy nature; but perfects it.\"*\nTherefore, when Scripture tells us that \"we shall be changed,\" we\nmust not imagine that we shall be changed into angels, or into some\nother nature different from the human. The change means a\nsupernatural elevation and perfection of our whole nature, and not\nits destruction. The transition or change of the child into the man\nneither changes nor destroys the faculties of his mind nor the senses\nof his body; neither does it create new powers or faculties which he\nhad not before. His gradual growth into manhood only develops and\nperfects what the hand of God had placed in his nature on the day of\nhis creation.\n\n* Quamdiu manet natura aliqua, manet operatio eius. Sed beatitudo non\ntollit naturam, cum sit perfectio eius. Ergo non tollet naturalem\ncognitionem et dilectionem.... Semper autem oportet salvari primus in\nsecunda. Unde oportet quod natura salvetur in beatitudine. Et\nsimiliter quod in actu beatitudinis salvetur actus naturae.--S.\nThomas, p. 1, q. 62, art. 7.\n\nThis gradual development of our nature to its perfection, in the\nnatural order, illustrates the wonderful supernatural perfection\nwhich the power of God will work in us both in the Beatific Vision\nand in the glorious resurrection of the body. For, however great and\nelevated we may then be, our now existing natural powers will neither\nbe changed nor destroyed.\n\nI have been thus careful in explaining these things, because we are\nnow to study the transforming power of the Beatific Vision upon the\nsoul, as well as the glory of the spiritualized body in which we\nshall again be clothed on the resurrection day.\n\nAccording to the angelic doctor, the human soul bears a threefold\nresemblance to God.* She is like God by nature, by grace, and by\nglory. The likeness to God by nature is found in all men, but is\nimperfect. The likeness by grace is far more perfect, and is found in\nthe just only; while it is seen in its full perfection in the\nblessed. We shall, therefore, endeavor to fathom the meaning of St.\nJohn, when he says, \"We shall be like Him: because we shall see him\nas He is;\" as well as the saying of St. Peter, who asserts that we\nshall be \"made partakers of the divine nature.\" Let us begin by a\nlittle illustration.\n\n* ... Imago Dei tripliciter potest considerari in homine. Uno quidem\nmodo secundum quod homo habet aptitudinem naturalem ad intelligendum\net amandum Deum. Et haec aptitudo consistet, in ipsa natura mentis,\nquae est communis omnibus hominibus. Alio modo secundum quod actu vel\nhabitu Deum cognoscit et amat, sed tamen imperfecte. Et haec est imago\nper conformitatem gratiae. Tertio modo secundum quod homo Deum actu\ncognoscit et amat perfecte. Et attenditur imago secundum\nsimilitudinem gloriae. Prima ergo invenitur in omnibus hominibus.\nSecunda vero in justis tantum. Tertia vero solum in beatis.--S.\nThomas, p. 1, q. 93, art. 4.\n\nSuppose you enter an artist's studio, just as he has drawn the\noutlines of a portrait. All the essential features are there--the\nshape of the head, the eyes, ears, mouth, and whatever else is\nnecessary to constitute the human face; and it already bears a\nstriking resemblance to the man who is sitting for his portrait. You\nreturn in a few days, and, though it is yet far from being finished,\nthe coloring has added so much that it is far more beautiful and\nperfect than when you first saw it. Again, you see it when it is\ncompletely finished, framed, and exposed to public view. How perfect!\nhow life-like it is! It actually seems to live and breathe. How vast\na deference between this exquisitely finished painting and the mere\noutlines you first saw! This illustration teaches us, better than\nabstract words could do, how the human soul is like God from the very\nfirst, and how that likeness gradually increases by grace and the\npractice of virtue, until it receives the last touch and finish in\nthe Beatific Vision.\n\nFrom the very first moment of her existence, the soul is like to God,\nbecause she is a spirit, and therefore immortal. She is endowed with\nintelligence, free-will, memory, and whatever else belongs to a\nspiritual substance. Evidently, this is already the image of God,\nthough, compared with what it will be by grace and the Beatific\nVision, it is as yet nothing more than the mere outlines.\n\nNext comes baptism, by which the soul is raised to the supernatural\nstate. She is washed with the blood of Jesus, and clothed with the\nrobe of innocence, which, if we may use the expression, begins the\ncoloring or beautifying process. Faith, hope, and charity are infused\ninto her, by which she is enabled to lead a supernatural life. Then\ncome other sacraments, which have for their object to wash away\nstains, remove imperfections, and to nourish, strengthen, beautify,\nand gradually develop a greater resemblance to God.\n\nBut there is an immense difference between the senseless image we saw\non the canvas and the soul. The portrait is a lifeless image, which\nis totally passive, and has, therefore, nothing whatever to do with\nits gradual growth and its resemblance to the original. Not so with\nthe soul. She is a living and rational image of the eternal God, and\nhas the power to aid very materially in her gradual development, and\nin her greater resemblance to the original which is God. Not only has\nshe the power, but also the strict obligation of co-operating with\nGod, in perfecting what He began without her co-operation Hence,\nwhile of herself she is incapable of having even a good thought,\naided by the grace of God she not only has good thoughts and desires,\nbut also the strength to carry them into effect. With God's\nassistance, she can and does reproduce in herself the virtues which\nJesus taught and practised--His humility, purity, meekness,\nobedience, patience, and resignation to God's will. Especially does\nshe reproduce His life of love--love or God and love for man.\n\nAs soon as this divine charity becomes the mainspring of her actions,\neverything she does develops in her a greater resemblance to God.\nThen, not only prayer, the sacraments, pious reading, and other\nspiritual exercises, but voluntary mortifications, temptations from\nthe devil, the world, and the flesh--even eating, drinking, and\ninnocent recreations--all help powerfully to develop and perfect in\nher the image of God. For, as St. Paul tells us, \"To them that love\nGod, all things work together unto good.\"*\n\n* Rom. viii. 28.\n\nCould you now see a soul at the first moment of her existence, you\nwould see the image of God begun. Could you see her again immediately\nafter baptism, she would appear far more beautiful; because she is\nthen clothed with the robe of innocence and beautified by the grace\nof God. But could you see that same soul after ten, twenty, or more\nyears of a holy life, you could scarcely believe that it is the same\nsoul--so much more God-like and beautiful has she become. But again,\ncould you see her united to God in the Beatific Vision, you would be\nso overpowered with her dazzling splendor and unearthly beauty, that\nyou would be ready to fall down and adore her--thinking that it is\nGod himself you see, and not his image. She would have to prevent\nthis adoration, by assuring you that whatever excellence you behold\nin her is, after all, that of a mere creature. This is what happened\neven to St. John, who had already seen so many and such wonderful\nvisions. When the bright angel stood before him, to reveal the\nsecrets of God, he says: \"And I fell down before his feet to adore\nhim. But he saith to me: See thou do it not: I am thy fellow-servant,\nand of thy brethren, who have the testimony of Jesus. Adore God.\"*\nSt. Augustine says that \"the angel was so beautiful and glorious that\nSt. John actually mistook him for God, and would really have given\nhim divine worship, had not the angel prevented it by declaring who\nhe was.\"\n\n* Apoc. xiv.\n\nFrom all this, we begin to see what St. John means when he tells us\nthat we shall be like God, \"because we shall see Him as he is.\" Our\nlikeness to God was begun on the very first day of our existence. It\nwas gradually developed by God's grace and the sacraments; and by our\nown co-operation with all the helps of God. But during life, the\nprocess of development was slow--so very slow, that we were at times\ntempted to think it had ceased altogether. But in the Beatific Vision\nthe process is rapid as a flash. The soul is suddenly transformed\ninto that degree of likeness to God which she has deserved by a holy\nlife. She is made like to God, because she sees Him as he is. It is\nthis glorious vision which contains in itself this transforming\npower, and which assimilates the soul to God.\n\nIn this world a deformed man may gaze upon a beautiful object without\nbecoming beautiful thereby; the poor man gazes upon the rich man, but\nremains as poor as ever; and the ignorant man gazes upon the\nphilosopher, and nevertheless remains as ignorant as before. Not so\nin heaven. The vision of God has a transforming power; that is, it\nhas the power of communicating to the beholder attributes which he\nhad not before, or possessed only in the germ. Thus the soul, because\nshe sees God as He is, is filled to overflowing with all knowledge;\nshe becomes beautiful with the beauty of God, rich with his wealth,\nholy with his holiness, and happy with his own unutterable happiness.\nIn a word, by the vision of God, she is made a partaker of the divine\nnature, and, like a very god, she shines unto all eternity in the\ndivine brightness.\n\nA diamond, carefully cut and perfectly polished, glitters and shines\nin the sun with exceeding brilliancy. It not only reflects the light,\nbut also absorbs it into itself, so as to shine even in the dark with\nthe light it has absorbed. It actually becomes, as it were, a little\nsun, shining with its own light. It is thus become a partaker of the\nsun's nature, while it retains its own peculiar diamond nature and\nindividuality. This is an image of what takes place in the Beatific\nVision. While she was in this world, God had polished that soul, by\nthe sacraments and by sufferings; and now that she is in His\npresence, and sees him as he is, she shines and sparkles in his light\nwith unspeakable splendor. She reflects and absorbs the divine light\nand beauty of God. She is like God, because she sees Him as he is;\nshe is made a partaker of the divine nature, while she retains her\nown human nature and personal identity.\n\nBut, let us again hear Lessius. Speaking of this communication of the\ndivine nature to man, he says \"This communication begins in this\nlife, by the gifts of grace, especially faith, hope, and charity. By\nthese virtues we are not only made like to God, but God is also\nunited to us. It is perfected, however, in the next life by the gifts\nof glory--namely, the light of glory, the vision of the Divinity,\nbeatific love, and beatific joy. For, by these, we attain our highest\nsimilitude to God, and become perfectly sons of God, shining like the\nDivinity, and exhibiting in ourselves the most excellent image of the\nmost Holy Trinity. For by the light of glory we are made like the\nFather; by the vision of the Divine Essence and the Divine Persons,\nwe become like the Son; by beatific love we are made like the Holy\nGhost; by joy we become like the Godhead in beatitude, and thus the\nparticipation of the divine beatitude is completed in us.\"*\n\n* De Perf. Divin., lib. xiv. c. 1.\n\nNow, Christian soul, meditate well on all this. Endeavor to fathom\nthe bliss of the saints when they see themselves like God in so\neminent a degree. Remember that you were created to enjoy the\nunspeakable happiness of seeing God, and of being made a partaker of\nthe divine nature. But remember, too, that God, who created you\nwithout your co-operation, will not save you without it. He never\nwill polish your soul into a jewel fit for heaven, in spite of\nyourself. You must, therefore, co-operate with Him, and do his holy\nwill in all things. However painful may be the trials He sends you,\nthey are all so many strokes to take away some roughness or deformity\nwhich would prevent your soul from being perfectly like Him. Every\nact you perform, while in the state of grace, adds a new feature of\nbeauty to your soul, and therefore prepares her the better to receive\nthe finishing touch in the Beatific Vision, and to shine with greater\nsplendor as a perfect image of the living God.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER III.\n\nTHE BEATIFIC VISION. (CONTINUED.)\n\nIn the Beatific Vision our intellect is glorified, and our thirst for\nknowledge completely satisfied.\n\nMan was created with a thirst for knowledge which can never be\nsatiated in this world. Sin, which greatly weakened and darkened his\nmental faculties, has not taken away his desire and love for\nknowledge. And the knowledge which he acquired by eating the\nforbidden fruit, rather increased than satisfied his thirst.\n\nBut all his efforts to reach the perfection of knowledge, even in the\nnatural order, have been fruitless. With all his boasted discoveries\nin astronomy, chemistry, geology, mechanics, and other kindred\nsciences, his knowledge of nature's secrets is still very limited.\nBut could he even master every natural science, and compel nature to\nreveal her most hidden secrets, his thirst for knowledge would still\nremain unsatisfied.\n\nLet us, for the sake of illustration, suppose a man so gifted that he\nnot only knows all that can be known about this world, but soars\nbeyond it, and learns the exact size, distances, laws, and relations\nto each other of the countless worlds that shine in the blue sky.\nSupposing these distant orbs to be peopled like ours, he knows the\ncharacter, manners, laws, and languages of their respective\ninhabitants. He knows, moreover, all their sciences, the characters\nof their plants, animals, and minerals. In a word, he sees and knows\nevery star as perfectly as he knows his own house and its inmates.\nWhat vast knowledge would not that man possess! He would certainly be\nfar more learned than all the philosophers that ever lived, taken\ntogether. But would his thirst for knowledge be completely quenched?\nWould he say that his mind is so completely full that he can long for\nno more, or that it can contain no more? No, he could never say that;\nfor the knowledge of the creature alone can never completely fill or\nsatisfy the mind.\n\nWe are little, and very limited, it is true, and if we are aiming at\nChristian perfection, we are accustomed to look upon ourselves as\nsuch. And the oftener we compare our borrowed perfections with those\nof God, the more deeply convinced of our littleness shall we become.\nBut yet, how little soever we may be, we have, in a certain sense,\ncapacity for the infinite; and for it, only the infinite is\nsufficient. Hence, as all the wealth of this world could never make\nany man perfectly happy, so neither could the perfect knowledge of\nevery creature perfectly satisfy his cravings after knowledge. The\none is as finite as the other, and consequently neither could do that\nfor which the infinite alone is sufficient.\n\nYet this is not all. Not only is the full knowledge of the whole\nnatural order incapable of satisfying man's desire for knowledge; but\nnot even all the knowledge of God, and of the supernatural order, so\nfar as they can be known in this world by faith and theology, ever\ndid or ever could make a man say, It is enough; I ask for no more.\nIndeed, the very reverse takes place. For if there be any knowledge\nthat intensifies thirst for more, it is precisely the imperfect\nknowledge of God we have by faith and the contemplation of Him in his\ncreatures.\n\nTheologians have studied and learned much; they have thrown much\nlight on the dark mysteries of revelation; yet what they know is only\nas a drop in the boundless ocean of God's unfathomable being. With\nall the vast knowledge of God which they have acquired, they are\nstill constrained to cry out with St. Paul: \"Oh, the depth of the\nriches of the wisdom and of the knowledge of God! How incomprehensible\nare His judgments, and how unsearchable His ways!\"* Do what we may,\nread the Holy Scriptures, study, pray, meditate; we never can see and\nknow God as He is, so long as we remain pilgrims in this world. The\nsaying of St. Paul will ever remain true: \"We now see thorough a\nglass in a dark manner;\"+ that is, imperfectly and unsatisfactorily.\n\n* Rom. xi. 13. + 1 Cor. xiii. 12,\n\nIn the original Greek, St. Paul uses the word mirror, which is also\nthe word used in the Latin Vulgate, \"per speculum;\" that is, by means\nof a mirror. The meaning, therefore, of St. Paul is not that we see\nthrough a glass by transmitted light, as when we look through a\ntelescope, but as when we see an image reflected in a mirror. Let us\nsuppose a man so circumstanced in this world that he has never seen\nthe sun, nor his light, except as reflected in the moon. He has heard\nof his immense size, and his bewildering distance from us; of his\ndazzling splendor, and keen, life-imparting power, whereby he gives\nlife, growth, and beauty to every living thing. To this man, the moon\nis a mirror wherein the sun is imperfectly reflected; and, through he\nis unable to see the sun himself, he judges from the splendor and\nbeauty of the moon that he must be grand, glorious, and magnificent\nbeyond the power of words to express.\n\nThis illustrates the meaning of St. Paul when he says that we now see\nGod by means of a mirror. All creatures, the sun, the moon, and the\nstars, the vast expanse of the ocean, the earth, trees, flowers,\nanimals, and man especially, are a grand mirror in which the\nperfections of God are reflected in a dark and imperfect manner. We\nsee, in them all, faint reflections of His divine beauty, wisdom,\ngoodness, power, and of His other perfections; but himself as He is,\nwe cannot see. Therefore, all the knowledge of God which we can\nderive from the contemplation of creatures, adding even all that he\nhas been phased to reveal of himself, far from satisfying, rather\nincreases the thirst of the soul for more. They who know most of God\nare the saints, and they are the very ones who can say, with the\nroyal prophet: \"As the hart panteth after the fountains of water, so\nmy soul panteth after Thee, O God. My soul hath thirsted after the\nstrong, living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of\nGod?\"* This is the continual sigh and cry of the saints, because the\nknowledge which they have of God in creatures, and even in their\nvisions, does not satisfy their longings. But listen to St. Paul: \"We\nnow see through a glass in a dark manner; but then face to face: now\nI know in part; but then I shall know even as I am known.\"+\n\n* Ps. xli. 2. + 1 Cor. xiii. 12.\n\nHow consoling are these words of inspiration! Yes, in heaven, we\nshall see God as He is, face to face. We shall see Him in all his\nadorable perfections by a clear and unclouded perception of his\ndivine essence. We shall gaze with unspeakable delight and rapture\nupon that beauty, ever ancient and ever new. We shall drink in all\nknowledge at its living source--unmingled with error or doubt. All\nthe darkness and ignorance caused by sin will forever vanish in the\nlight of God's countenance, as the darkness of night disappears\nbefore the rising sun.\n\nWe shall then see, as it is, the august and awful mystery of\nthe most Holy Trinity--the deepest, the sublimest, and the most\nincomprehensible of all those that God ever revealed to man. We shall\nthen see the eternal Father, ever begetting His only Son, and the\nHoly Ghost ever proceeding from both Father and Son. We shall then\nsee how they are really three distinct Persons, and yet one undivided\nEssence. We shall see, face to face, and as he is, this great,\neternal God, in the eternity of His duration, in the abysses of his\nunsearchable judgments, in the sweetness of his goodness, in the\ntenderness of his mercies, in the spotlessness of his sanctity, in\nthe severity of his justice, in the might of his irresistible power,\nin the charms of his captivating beauty, and in the splendor of his\nmajesty and glory. In a word, we shall no longer see God as He is\nrejected in the mirror of creation, but as he is in himself.\n\nThis is the vision which no mortal has seen, or can see in this\nworld. This is the vision which pours torrents of knowledge into our\nsouls, and fills them to overflowing. No more searching of books; no\nmore wasting away of health and strength in the pursuit of knowledge;\nno more going to learned men, as the beggar goes to the rich for\nbread. No more perplexing and torturing doubts that perhaps we have\nnot the truth. The light of glory has opened our eyes, and we see all\ntruth as it is, and become like God in knowledge, because we see him\nas He is.\n\nBut this is not yet all. The glorification of our intellect will not\nonly enable us to see God as He is: it will also unveil us to\nourselves, and make us see ourselves as we are.\n\nIn our present state of existence, we are a mystery to ourselves. In\nspite of the numberless learned works written on the mind, and the\nlaws by which it operates, our knowledge of it is still very limited.\nWe see the human soul only as reflected in a mirror, that is, in her\noutward manifestations. Thus, when we read a magnificent poem, or\nwhen we gaze upon a noble ship ploughing the waters of the deep, or\nriding safely through a fearful storm; or when we look upon grand\nchurches, palaces, and works of art--all these are as mirrors, which\nreflect the greatness, wisdom, power, and ingenuity of the human\nsoul. Again, when we enter orphan asylums, or other institutions for\nthe unfortunate and destitute of every description, we may view them\nas mirrors which reflect the moral goodness of the soul; but the soul\nherself as she is, we cannot see. She is as invisible to us as God\nhimself.\n\nIn heaven, we shall know and see ourselves as we are. For, as St.\nPaul tells us: \"Then I shall know even as I am known.\" We shall then\nsee and know that beautiful, living image of the Eternal in her very\nessence. We shall see her clothed with a surpassing beauty, adorned\nwith the gems of grace and good works, and shining in the presence of\nGod like a very star. This sight of ourselves and of our exceeding\nbeauty will kindle in us none other than sentiments of unbounded\ngratitude to God, who is the giver of our existence and of all that\nwe possess. Here again, as well as in the knowledge of God, the human\nintellect will rest satisfied; because its thirst for the complete\nknowledge of self will be quenched in the Beatific Vision.\n\nBesides seeing ourselves as we are, we shall also see the beautiful\nangels, our elder brothers in creation. We shall also see, as they\nare, our fellow-men, who are now as much a mystery to us as we are to\nourselves. We shall likewise see all other creatures as they are in\ntheir very essence, and not as they now appear to us. We shall see\nall things in the \"one God and Father of all, who is above all, and\nthrough all, and in us all.\"* Thus shall our souls be filled to\noverflowing with all knowledge from its living source, which is God\nhimself, the eternal Truth.\n\n* Eph. iv. 6.\n\nBefore closing this chapter, I must remark, for fear of being\nmisunderstood, that when we say the blessed will see all things in\nGod, we do not mean that they will really possess all knowledge. We\nare finite beings, and, consequently, essentially unable to possess\nany attribute or perfection in an infinite degree. We can no more\npossess all knowledge than we can be clothed with all power, all\nholiness, all beauty, or any other perfection in an infinite degree.\nAll these attributes belong to God alone. Even the angels, who are so\nsuperior to us, do not know everything.* When we say, therefore, that\nwe shall see all things in God, we simply mean that each one's\ncapacity, great or small, shall be completely filled, and that he\nshall desire nothing more. When we fill many vessels with water, the\nsmallest is as full as the largest. So in heaven. Each one shall know\naccording to his individual capacity, which the Light of glory will\ngive him. Each one shall be filled to overflowing, and desire no\nmore. But more of this when we come to speak of the degrees of glory.\n\n* .... Angeli superiores, inferiores a nescientia purgant. Angeli\nautem inferiores vident essentiam divinam: ergo angelus videns\nessentiam divinam, potest aliqua nescire. Sed anima non perfectius\nvidebit Deum quam angelus: ergo animae videntes Deum non oportet quod\nomnia videant.... Sic autem ignorantia non est poenalitas, sed\ndefectus quidam: nec necesse est quod omnis talis defectus per\ngloriam auferatur. Sic enim etiam posset dici quod defectus esset in\nPapa Lino quod non pervenerit ad gloriam Petri.--S. Thom., Suppl. q.\n92, art. 3.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IV.\n\nTHE BEATIFIC VISION. (CONTINUED.)\n\nIn the Beatific Vision our will is also to be glorified, and then we\nshall be happy in loving and being loved.\n\nWe have seen in the foregoing chapter that our intellectual faculties\nare glorified, and that our natural thirst for knowledge is forever\nquenched. But we have another faculty, called the will, or the loving\npower of the soul. This faculty is also to be glorified in the\nBeatific Vision. Then our continual desire for happiness, which we\nvainly sought in creatures, will be completely gratified. We shall\nnow see that, in the Beatific Vision, our will or moral nature is\nelevated, ennobled, and made like God by a participation of His\nsanctity, beatitude, and love. But let us first cast a glance at\nourselves, as we now are in our fallen state.\n\nWhen our first parents revolted against God, they abandoned the\neternal rule of rectitude, which is God's Will. Their passions, which\nheretofore had been under the control of reason, revolted against\nthem, and their will was turned away from God. We, their children,\nhave inherited all the consequences of their fall. We seek ourselves\ninordinately--follow our own capricious will, which leads us into\nexcesses, at which we blush, in our sober moments. We stubbornly\npersist in seeking our happiness in creatures, though reason itself\nloudly proclaims that in them it cannot be found. Evidently, then,\nour will has been sadly perverted in the fall of our first parents.\n\nOne of the objects of the Christian religion was to bring back our\nwill to a conformity with the Divine Will, and to cause it to love\nGod above all things. Yet, in spite of its manifold teachings, in\nspite too of the sacraments, and the many graces we daily receive, in\nspite of prayer, meditation, and other spiritual exercises, this\ngrand object is but partially attained in this world. For we find our\nperverse will again and again rising in rebellion against God. When a\ncommand is imposed upon us which does not chime in with our wishes,\nprivate interests, views, or natural inclination, we not unfrequently\nmust drag ourselves by main force to perform what is commanded. And\nif we do obey, it is often only after doing all in our power, by\nexcuse or pretext, to escape the obligation of obeying. Indeed, we\nall can say with the apostle: \"I am delighted with the law of God,\naccording to the inward man; but I see another law in my members,\nfighting against the law of my mind, and captivating me under the law\nof sin that is in my members.\"*\n\n* Rom. vii. 22.\n\nWhat a tyranny this law of sin exercises over the will, even of holy\npersons! How often do they discover, on close examination, that their\nwill has departed from the eternal rule, which is the will of God!\nHow often do they find that they had been seeking their own, instead\nof God's glory! After doing really great things, which they fancied\nwere done purely for God, they find, to their grief, that, to a great\nextent, they had been secretly and artfully seeking themselves, and\ntheir own glory. And they have reason to fear that they have already\nreceived their reward in that human applause which they sought, or in\nwhich they took such complacency when it came unsought.\n\nIt is said that persons who have been bitten by a viper, and who have\nnevertheless recovered by the application of timely remedies, are\nnever again the same in health as they were before. At times they are\nswollen, or feel acute pains, or have a morbid and depraved appetite\nfor what they should not eat. At other times they feel a general\nlanguor, which takes away all their energy, so that whatever they do\nrequires a most painful effort. Evidently, some of the poison is\nstill lurking in their system, and so long as it remains there these\ninfirmities will never be entirely healed.\n\nSo it is with us, in a moral point of view. Our human nature was\nbitten and poisoned by the infernal serpent, in the earthly paradise,\nand although a powerful antidote was given us in the Redemption, some\nof the venom remained in us; and as long as we live here below, we\nshall feel its effects. We shall always feel the sting of\nconcupiscence, and retain an inclination to evil, to seek ourselves\ninordinately, and to follow our own will. We shall always experience\na certain languor in the practice of virtue, which involves a\ncontinual effort and struggle.\n\nWhat an exquisite consolation it is to us to be assured that none of\nthis poison will follow us into heaven! Yes, the day will\ncome--blessed and glorious day!--when all that perversity of will,\nall that inclination to evil, and all the passions of our depraved\nnature will be no more! All these will die in our temporal death, and\nbe buried--never to rise again in our glorified bodies. The Beatific\nVision will glorify our will, and change us, as it were, into new\ncreatures.\n\nThen shall we find ourselves joyfully willing to do what God wills,\nas He wills it, and because he so wills it--without the hast\nrepugnance on our part. We shall no longer have peculiar views,\nprivate interests, or natural inclinations to clash with the will and\ninterests of God. His divine will and ours shall become so totally\none, that we shall seem to have no will of our own, so completely,\nand, at the same time, so sweetly, shall it be identified with the\nwill and good pleasure of God. In a word, as our intellect is\nelevated by the Light of glory, and filled with the purest knowledge\nin the Beatific Vision, so also our will is purified, sanctified, and\nmade like God's will, in rectitude and perfect sanctity.\n\nBut not only shall our will become holy and conformed to God's will:\nwe shall also love God above all things, purely, unselfishly,\nardently, and for His own blessed sake; and in that love shall we, at\nlast, find the perfect happiness we vainly sought in the love of\ncreatures.\n\nHuman love is a source of partial happiness in this world, and it is\nin this human love, as in a mirror, that we see faint reflections of\nthe unspeakable happiness which will inebriate our souls in the\nBeatific Vision. But they are emphatically faint reflections; for\nwhether it be conjugal, parental, or fraternal love, or whether it be\nthe love of pure friendship--whether it be even elevated by grace to\nthe supernatural virtue of charity, it never did, and never will\nbestow perfect happiness in this world. It depends for its existence\nand perfection on conditions which can never be completely fulfilled\nin our present state of imperfection; and, therefore, the short-lived\nhappiness to which it gives birth is always mingled with a certain\namount of bitterness.\n\nIt is in heaven, and only in heaven, that all the conditions of love\ncan be fulfilled; and, hence, it is there only that love will produce\npure and perfect happiness, unmingled with the disappointments, cruel\nmisunderstandings, and insufficiency of human love. First of all, the\nlove of heaven is essentially mutual. The vision of God not only\nreveals to the soul His divine beauty, goodness, wisdom, and\nnumberless other perfections, which captivate her, and set her on\nfire with a seraphic love; but it also reveals the intense and\nmysterious love of God for her. The sight of that divine love\nproduces in her the happiness which the heart of man cannot conceive.\n\nIf a great king should speak kindly to a poor peasant, smile upon\nhim, and even show him a real affection, a happiness which he never\nexperienced before would take possession of his heart. A thrill of\njoy would run through every fibre of his frame. He would be a new\nman, and live a new life, simply because a great one of this world\nhad smiled upon him and condescended to love him.\n\nThis is a faint reflection of that undying thrill of joy, of that\nunspeakable happiness which the loving smile of God will produce upon\nthe soul. For, in the Beatific Vision, she sees clearly that, in\nspite of her littleness and insignificance, which she never saw as\nshe now does--in spite, too, of the sins and imperfections which had\nstained her beauty while in the flesh, the great and thrice-holy God\nloves her infinitely more tenderly and sincerely than either father\nor mother, or any other creature ever did. Not only does she see the\nintense love of God beaming upon her now, but she sees, moreover,\nthat He loved her from eternity, when she existed as yet only in the\ndivine mind. Yes, she sees herself lying in the bosom of the Eternal,\nwith His mysterious love brooding over her, and giving her existence\nin the fulness of time. This is truly and emphatically, for her, a\nBeatific Vision. It is vain for us to endeavor to fathom the\nexquisite happiness which this vision of God's love produces in the\nsoul. For, if the mere smile of a king has the power of infusing joy\ninto the heart of a poor and insignificant person, what shall we say\nof the smile of God, who is the King of kings? What shall we say of\nthis affectionate, paternal embrace? What shall we say of the joy,\nthe happiness that flow into the soul, when He presses her to his\nbosom, gives her the kiss of peace, and calls her his own beloved\nchild? What shall we say of her exceeding happiness, when He makes\nher a partaker of his divine nature, and unites her to himself more\nintimately than two creatures ever could be united in this world?\n\nThese are all secrets of heaven. They are simply unspeakable, because\nthey are beyond our present powers of comprehension. Eye hath not\nseen them, ear hath not heard them, nor hath it entered into the\nheart of man to conceive them. We shall, therefore, make no further\nattempt to express what no human tongue can utter. But we may say\nthat, as a pure and mutual love produces the greatest happiness we\nknow of in this world, so also the mutual love which exists between\nthe soul and God in the Beatific Vision, is the source of the most\nperfect happiness possible.\n\nBut there is another feature of that unspeakable happiness, which we\nmust now consider. Love must not only be mutual to produce happiness;\nthere must, besides, be neither fear nor suspicion that either of the\nparties will prove false. Every one knows that when a suspicion of\nthat nature fastens upon the mind of one who loves, his happiness is\nat an end; and there is no telling to what extravagant excesses his\njealousy may lead him.\n\nThis imperfection, which blasts so much happiness in this world, will\nnever find its way into our heavenly home. For the soul not only sees\nthat He who loved her from eternity will continue to do so\neverlastingly; she not only sees the utter impossibility of God's\never despising her; but she, at the same time, sees the impossibility\nof her ever proving false to Him. She not only sees God as He is, but\nshe also sees everything else as it is. However beautiful, therefore,\ncreatures may be in heaven, she always sees in God a beauty and\nperfection so vastly, so infinitely superior, that it is impossible\nfor her to be captivated by creatures, as she was in this world. She\nloves all the companions of her bliss, it is true; but she loves them\nall in God, and for God. She loves them because they are His, and\nbecause he loves them. She loves them too, because they are so holy,\nso beautiful, and so much like God, and, therefore, deserving of her\nlove. But her chiefest, her absorbing love is centred in God, and\nremains centred there forever. Never can there come a day when she\nwill see a growing coldness in God for her. Never shall there dawn a\nday when she will discover in herself a growing coldness for God;\nand, consequently, there never shall be a day when her exceeding\nhappiness will fade away or be lessened. Rather, she sees the dawn of\na glorious day when her happiness will be increased, perfected, and\ncompleted in the resurrection of the body--a day when other joys and\npleasures will be added to those she now enjoys in the Beatific\nVision.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER V.\n\nTHE BEAUTY AND GLORY OF THE RISEN BODY.\n\nWe have seen in the foregoing chapters that, in the Beatific Vision,\nthe human soul sees, loves, and enjoys God, and that her essential\nhappiness consists in that unfailing, blessed vision. But, although\nthe blessedness she now enjoys is far greater than words can express,\nit is not yet integral or complete, and never will be, except when\nshe is again clothed in her own body, beautified, and glorified after\nthe likeness of her Saviour's body.\n\nHowever, although her happiness is not yet complete, you must not\ntherefore imagine that the hast shadow of sadness or unhappiness\nhangs over her. For, as we have seen, her will is now totally\nconformed to God's will. It follows that although she sees other joys\nand pleasures in store for her, and desires them, these desires do\nnot in the hast mar her exceeding happiness. She wills the\nresurrection of her body as God wills it, and because He wills it,\nand because also her body is absolutely necessary to complete her\nhuman nature, which essentially consists of both soul and body. We\nshall begin our meditations on the resurrection of the body by first\ncontemplating the beauty and splendor of the glorified body. In order\nto form some idea of the perfect beauty and splendor of form which is\nin store for us, we must first look at some of the transformations\nwhich take place in the natural order. These will aid us, very\nmaterially, in arriving at a conception, more or less perfect, of the\nglorious transformation which the power of God will work in us at the\nresurrection.\n\nWhen we examine the kingdoms of nature, we discover that the gross\nmatter which surrounds us in shapeless masses, is susceptible of\nforms and organizations so perfect, refined, and beautiful, that we\nmay, in some sense, call these forms glorified matter. It is,\ncertainly, matter glorified far above inferior forms in the natural\norder. Let us take a few examples.\n\nWhat is the diamond? It is nothing more than crystallized carbon, or\ncharcoal. There is nothing in the whole range of science which can be\nso easily and so positively proved as this. The famous diamond\nKoh-i-noor, or mountain of light, which now sparkles in the British\ncrown, and which is worth more than half a million of dollars, could,\nin a few moments, be reduced to a thimbleful of worthless coal-dust.\nYet, how great a difference, in appearance and value, between that\nprecious gem and a thimbleful of coal-dust! Again, what are other\ngems, such as the ruby, the sapphire, the topaz, the emerald, and\nothers? They are nothing more than crystallized clay or sand, with a\ntrifling quantity of metallic oxide or rust, which gives to each one\nits peculiar color. Yet, what a difference between these sparkling\nand costly jewels and the shapeless clod or sand which we trample\nunder foot!\n\nIf we now look for a moment into the vegetable kingdom, we see this\nglorification of matter still more wonderfully displayed. Of what are\nall plants composed? They are all composed of four elements of\nmatter, which have no remarkable beauty of their own. In scientific\nlanguage they are called carbon or charcoal, oxygen, hydrogen, and\nnitrogen. By the power and the laws of life these are transformed\ninto that endless variety of beauty and color, odor and taste, so\nstriking in the vegetable world. Hence, the most beautiful flowers,\nand their exquisite perfumes, as well as the delicious fruits to\nwhich they give birth, are all made of the very same elements of\nmatter as the bark, the wood, and the root of the tree that bears\nthem. Yet, what a difference between the coarse tree and the delicate\nflower! What a difference, too, between the tasteless bark or the\nwood of the tree, and the luscious fruit that hangs in clusters from\nits branches!\n\nNow if, in the natural order, God can and does transform coarse and\nshapeless matter into forms so beautiful and so glorious, what shall\nwe say of the beauty and perfection into which He will change our\nvile bodies! For all these transformations which we now witness\nbelong to the natural order, and are the result of the laws which\ngovern matter in this world of imperfection; whereas our\ntransformation in the resurrection depends on the immediate act of\nGod's almighty power. The difference, therefore, between our present\ncorruptible body and the glorified body, will be greater by far than\nthe difference we now see between charcoal and the diamond, or\nbetween the exquisitely shaped flower and the coarse shrub that bears\nit.\n\nHaving said this much to aid us in forming some idea of the glorified\nbody, we shall now proceed to examine one of its attributes, which\nSt. Paul mentions, when he says: \"It is sown in dishonor, it shall\nrise in glory.\"* Our bodies were indeed sown in dishonor, in the\ncompany of worms, and a prey to corruption. They had been honored by\nthe presence of an immortal spirit, the very image of the living God.\nThey had been honored by the Holy Ghost, who made them His temple.\nThey had been honored, too, by the presence of Jesus Christ, who made\nthem His tabernacle, every time we received Him in holy communion.\nBut death has struck them down; the spirit has fled; they lie cold\nand motionless, and corruption begins to assert its empire over them.\nOur nearest and dearest friends hasten to throw them into the dark\nand silent grave, where they return into their original dust. Then,\nindeed, our bodies are \"sown in dishonor.\" But when the fulness of\ntime shall have come, these same dishonored bodies \"shall rise in\nglory.\"\n\n* 1 Cor. xv. 43.\n\nThis word _glory_ is one of great and manifold meanings in Holy\nScripture. In this particular place and connection it means\nexcellence and beauty, accompanied with a shining splendor.\nWherefore, our bodies rising in glory, means, first, that they shall\nrise perfect in beauty and symmetry of form, and totally free from\nthe defects and blemishes entailed by sin. This perfect beauty of\nform is evidently involved in the promise of rising conformable to\nthe glorious body of our Blessed Saviour, \"who, will reform the body\nof our lowness, made like the body of His glory, according to the\noperation whereby he is also able to subdue all things unto\nhimself.\"*\n\n* Phil. iii. 21.\n\nThe human body was created perfect in the beginning. It was the\nmasterpiece of God's power and wisdom in this world. But sin\ndishonored and disfigured it. It gave birth to a host of infirmities,\nwhich mar its original beauty, and in some cases change it even into\na monster. Still, in spite of sin, it yet retains, in many\nindividuals, much of its primitive comeliness. But how perfect soever\nin form and feature any one may be, there is always some deficiency;\nsome member, organ, or feature is slightly distorted, imperfect, or\nout of proportion with the rest.\n\nOn the resurrection day, all these defects and blemishes disappear,\nand the human body is again, far more than in the beginning, a\nmasterpiece of God's creative power, wisdom, and love. For every\nmember, organ, and feature will then be exquisitely shaped and\nproportioned, so as to harmonize into a perfect whole of surpassing\nbeauty, without defect or deficiency of any kind. Oh! with what\nrapturous delight will the soul reunite herself with that beautiful\nbody, and make it her temple forever! It was the companion of her\nsorrows and her joys in this world. But it was, too, a body of sin\nand death, and she had, perhaps more than once, sighed and prayed to\nbe delivered from it. But now that it is purified, beautiful, and\nglorified, she re-enters it with joy, because it is become the fit\ncompanion of a beatific spirit. The fond mother meeting her long-lost\nchild, and, in the joy of her heart, pressing it to her bosom, is a\nfaint image of the joy which the soul will experience in the reunion\nwith her glorified body.\n\nBut this is not all. St. Thomas maintains* that, besides rising in\nperfect beauty of form, all the just must rise in the bloom and vigor\nof youth; otherwise our bodies would not, according to promise, rise\nconformable to the glorious body of Jesus Christ. From this doctrine\nit follows that all defect, or appearance of old age, as well as the\ninfirmities and deficiencies of infancy, will be completely removed,\nand all the saints will enjoy the full perfection of human nature.\nWhat consolation there is in all these glorious promises! To be\nforever young and vigorous, forever blessed with perfect health of\nmind and body, to be forever beyond the reach of time, which destroys\nall beauty here below; to be clothed with a body that shall forever\nbe a stranger to suffering: these are some of the joys in store for\nthe children of God in the resurrection of the body.\n\n* Respondeo dicendum, quod homo resurget absque omni defectu humanae\nnaturae: quia sicut Deus humanam naturam absque defectu instituit, ita\nsine defectu reparabit. Deficit autem humana natura dupliciter. Uno\nmodo quia nondum perfectionem ultimam est consecuta. Alio modo, quia\njam ab ultima perfectionis recessit. Et primo modo deficit in pueris,\nsecundo modo deficit in senibus. Et ideo, in utrisque reducetur\nhumana natura per resurrectionem, ad statum ultimae perfectionis qui\nest in juvenili aetate, ad quam terminatur motus augmenti, a qua,\nincipit motus decrementi.--S. Thom. Suppl. q. 81, art. 1.\n\nHowever, this is not all. Rising in glory means something more than\nrising in mere beauty of form, bloom of youth, and the complete\nperfection of human nature. It also implies a radiant brilliancy\nwherewith the just will shine on the resurrection day. This is one of\nthe meanings of glory in the language of Scripture. Take the\nfollowing as an instance out of many: \"And when Aaron spoke to all\nthe assembly of the children of Israel, they looked toward the\nwilderness: and, behold, the glory of the Lord appeared in a cloud.\"*\nThat is, a brilliant and dazzling splendor burst forth in the\nheavens. So, also, when Jesus was glorified in his transfiguration,\n\"His face did shine as the sun, and his garments became white as\nsnow.\" Moreover, as a general rule, when celestial inhabitants\nappeared in this world, they were surrounded with a halo of brilliant\nlight; as we read of the angels who appeared at the birth of Christ,\nand of those who appeared to the holy women that were going to embalm\nthe body of Jesus. Hence it is that in the paintings of Christian\nart, the head, or the whole body of Christ, of the Blessed Virgin,\nand of the saints, is always surrounded by this halo of light.\n\n* Exod. xvi.\n\nThis is the light, the brilliancy which is promised to the saints by\nour Blessed Lord himself, when He says: \"Then shall the just shine as\nthe sun in the kingdom of their Father.\"* Thus shall the soul that is\nnow united to God, in the Beatific Vision, and already a partaker of\nthe divine nature, communicate her own dazzling splendor to the body,\nand surround it with an aureola of glory, which will form a portion\nof her blessedness for evermore.\n\n* Matt. xiii.\n\nBut, although all the just must rise in glory and in the perfection\nof human nature, you must not, therefore, infer that all shall rise\nin the same degree of beauty and splendor of form. For, as the\nresurrection is a reward to the just, it follows that each one shall\nhave a body glorified in proportion to his own individual merits. Any\ncontrary doctrine would sound like heresy. If you were told, for\ninstance, that the murderer who dies on the scaffold, after making an\nact of perfect contrition, will rise on the last day with a body as\nbeautiful and glorious as that of the Blessed Virgin, or of the\nApostles, martyrs, and holy virgins, your whole soul would revolt at\nsuch a doctrine. You would maintain, that if the resurrection is a\nreward to the just, the beauty of their bodies should bear some\nproportion to their merits. You would certainly be right in\nmaintaining this; for it is the very doctrine taught by St. Paul,\nwhen he says: \"One is the glory of the sun, another the glory of the\nmoon, and another the glory of the stars, for star differeth from\nstar in glory: so also in the resurrection of the dead.\"* Each one,\ntherefore, shall rise in that particular degree of glory which he has\ndeserved by the more or less holy life he has led in this world.\n\n* 1 Cor. xv. 41.\n\nIt will no longer be as it is in this world, where personal beauty is\na free gift of God, but no reward. Hence we see personal beauty in\npagans and infidels, as well as in Christians. Its possession does\nnot, in the hast, denote sanctity; nor does its absence denote moral\ndepravity; and, therefore, beautiful persons may be very wicked,\nwhile deformed ones may be very holy. Not so after the resurrection.\nPerfect personal beauty, accompanied with a heavenly splendor, being\none of the rewards in store for the children of God, will then denote\nsanctity in the just. The more holy they have been in this life, the\nmore beautiful and conformable to the glorious body of Jesus they\nshall be.\n\nNow, Christian reader, do you wish to possess faultless personal\nbeauty in your heavenly home? Do you desire, not only to increase\nyour own blessedness, but to be even an ornament in the kingdom of\nyour Father? No doubt you do. Well, you have the means in your hands.\nLead a holy life, a life of purity and perfect charity. Endeavor to\nreproduce in yourself the virtues which Jesus taught and practised;\nand when the angel's trumpet calls the dead to life, your body, which\nmust first be sown in dishonor, shall rise in that degree of beauty\nwhich you have deserved by the holiness of your life.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VI.\n\nTHE SPIRITUALITY OF THE RISEN BODY.\n\nHaving seen the personal beauty and splendor in which the just will\nrise on the last day, we shall now examine some other attributes of\nthe glorified body. St. Paul tells us: \"It is sown an animal body, it\nshall rise a spiritual body.\"*\n\n* 1 Cor. xv. 44.\n\nRising a spiritual body does not mean that the bodies of the just\nshall be changed into spirits. Our bodies, which are material by\nnature, must remain so forever. They must rise in conformity to the\nglorious body of Jesus Christ, \"who will reform the body of our\nlowness made like to the body of His glory.\" And what kind of a body\nhad Jesus Christ, when he arose triumphant over death and hell? It\nwas certainly His own material body of real flesh and blood, and not\na spirit. When he appeared to his apostles, as St. Luke tells us,\n\"they, being troubled and affrighted, supposed that they saw a\nspirit. And He said to them, Why are you troubled, and why do these\nthoughts arise in your hearts? See my hands and feet, that it is I\nmyself; handle and see; for a spirit hath not flesh and bones as you\nsee me have.\"* Assuredly, here is a true body of flesh and blood and\nbone, and not a spiritual one--in the sense that matter does or can\nbecome a spirit. It is the very same body in which He suffered such\nterrible tortures and agonies during his bitter passion.\n\n* Luke xxiv.\n\nSo shall we rise on the last day, in our own material body of flesh\nand blood, with every organ and member glorified and made conformable\nto the body of Jesus Christ. According to the teachings of St.\nThomas, our bodies shall rise of the same nature as they now are. For\nglory does not change or destroy nature, but perfects it.* Evidently,\nthen, rising a spiritual body does not mean that our bodies are to be\nchanged into spirits. What then does it mean? It means that, while\nretaining their essential material nature, they will be clothed with\nproperties which naturally belong only to spirits, and not to bodies.\nThese we shall now examine.\n\n* Ponere enim corpus transire in spiritum est omnino impossibile. Non\nenim transeunt invicem nisi quae in materia communicant. Spiritualium\nautem et corporalium non potest esse communicatio in materia, cum\nsubstantiae spirituales sint omnino immaterialia. Impossibile est\nigitur quod corpus humanum transeat in substantiam spiritualem....\nSimiliter etiam impossibile est quod corpus hominis resurgentis sit\nquasi aereum et ventis simile.--S. Thom., Cont. gent., lib. 4, c. 84.\n\n1. In the first place, rising a spiritual body implies that the\nglorified body will no longer need food, drink, and sleep, to sustain\nlife and strength, as it now does. The risen body will, therefore, in\nthis respect, become like a spirit, which needs neither food nor\ndrink. Eating is a necessity of the present life, and makes our\nbodies animal. This necessity will no longer exist after the\nresurrection. When we reflect upon this, it seems to us that nearly\none half of human life, and of its energies, are expended upon this\none thing of eating, providing, and preparing food. Fields must be\nsown, and crops must be raised; grain must be ground; cattle must be\ncared for almost as children; ships must cross and recross the ocean;\nand all this to prepare food and raiment for our vile bodies. What a\nslavery this is! The soul, that noble image of the living God,\ninstead of giving her time to the developing of her faculties and the\ncontemplating of God and His works, must provide and prepare food for\nthe body. Rising a spiritual body will forever emancipate us from\nthis slavery.\n\nBut although it is true that there shall be no more eating and\ndrinking in heaven, as we now understand these two actions, you must\nnot infer from this that the sense of taste shall not be gratified in\nthe blessed. It most certainly will be, as well as every other sense\nof the human body, though not by the corruptible food of the present\nlife. When the butterfly was a caterpillar, it devoured green leaves\nwith pleasure and avidity. They were its very life. But now that it\nis changed into a beautiful butterfly, it lives on the honey and\nexquisite perfume of flowers. If you offer it those same leaves that\nit loved so much while a caterpillar, it scorns them, and refuses\neven to touch them; for they are now unable, in its transformed\nstate, to give it any pleasure. So shall it be with us after the\nresurrection. Our tastes shall be so refined that we shall scorn the\nlow animal pleasures which are fit only for our present corruptible\nbodies. What a difference there is between the coarse green leaf\nwhich is the food of the caterpillar, and the exquisite honey of the\nblushing rose, which is the food of the butterfly! There is a still\ngreater difference between the creatures that now gratify our senses,\nand those that are reserved in heaven to gratify our glorified senses\nafter the resurrection.\n\nBut there is still another slavery besides that of eating and\ndrinking, from which we shall be delivered by rising a spiritual\nbody. It is the slavery of sleep, which takes up nearly one-third of\nour lives. We all know by experience, that it takes only a few hours\nof heavy physical labor or assiduous mental application to exhaust\nall our mental energies and bodily strength. And, whether we like it\nor not, we must sleep six or seven hours, in order to regain our lost\nstrength, and to be ourselves again. How many saints have grieved\nover this necessity of our nature! Often have they desired to spend\nthe nights in the contemplation of God; but in spite of their\nendeavors, they were overpowered by sleep. The spirit, indeed, was\nwilling, but the flesh was weak.\n\nThis imperative necessity of our animal bodies will be totally\nremoved by rising a spiritual body. Spirits have no need of sleep;\ntheir energies are never exhausted by the manifold acts which they\nconstantly perform. They live in the continual enjoyment of that\nsupernatural strength wherewith they were clothed the moment the\nVision of God flashed upon them. It is this wonderful strength which\nwill be poured out, as it were, over our bodies, at the resurrection.\nFor, as St. Paul says of our body: \"It is sown in weakness, it shall\nrise in power.\"* Hence, however intense may be the application of our\nmental faculties or of our physical powers in heaven, we shall ever\nremain strangers to the well-known feelings of fatigue and\nprostration. All our energies shall ever remain fresh and unimpaired,\nand their continual exercise shall be the never-failing source of the\nmost exquisite enjoyment.\n\n* 1 Cor. xv. 43.\n\n2. In the second place, rising a spiritual body implies vastly more\nthan the mere emancipation from the necessities of nature. It means,\nbesides, that the body will then be totally subject to the spirit,\nand consequently that concupiscence and other inordinate passions,\nwhich now war against the spirit, shall no longer exist. This is one\nof the most consoling of promises to persons who are endeavoring to\nlead a holy life. Their present corruptible body, in which \"the law\nof sin\" resides, is an enemy that is ever warring against the spirit.\nOften have they cried out with St. Paul: \"Unhappy man that I am! who\nwill deliver me from the body of this death? The grace of God, by\nJesus Christ our Lord.\"*\n\n* Rom. vii. 24.\n\nYes, the fulness of grace has come at last, and the body of sin and\ndeath is no more. It is now changed into a spiritual body, which is\nnot only totally subject to the spirit, but even aids and perfects\nit, in all its intellectual operations, as well as in its moral\naffections. The spiritual body is, therefore, no lounger a burden and\na temptation; it is become like a spirit, which cannot be enslaved to\ninordinate animal passions or instincts.\n\nWhat a blessedness is here promised to us! No more involuntary\ncravings after forbidden pleasures; no more of those involuntary\nthoughts and inclinations which are so humiliating to pure souls; no\nmore danger of being turned away from God by the beauty of creatures;\nno more wandering of the mind from His presence. In a word, the\nspiritual body is totally subject to the spirit, and \"the law of\nsin,\" which received its birth at the fall of our first parents, is\ntotally destroyed.\n\n3. Rising a spiritual body means, in the third place, that the matter\nof which the body is now composed will become so refined and\ndelicately organized, as, in some sense, to approach the nature of a\nspirit, while retaining its essential material nature. Our body will\ntherefore lose its material grossness, roughness of texture, and\nweight, and will be clothed with the attributes of agility and\nsubtlety.\n\nAgility implies the power of transporting ourselves from place to\nplace with the rapidity of thought. In this world we can, in the\ntwinkling of an eye, send our thoughts on the wings of electricity\nacross a whole continent, or the vast expanse of the ocean; after the\nresurrection, we shall possess that power in our very bodies, because\nthey shall rise spiritual bodies, entirely under the control of the\nsoul.\n\nSubtilty means that our risen bodies will be endowed with the power\nof penetrating all things, even the hardest substances, as easily as\nthe sun's rays penetrate a clear crystal. This is the power which our\nblessed Lord possessed and exercised, when He arose from the dead,\nwithout removing the stone that covered the mouth of the sepulchre.\nHe simply passed through it with his glorified body. Again, after\neight days, when the Apostles were gathered together, \"Jesus cometh,\nthe doors being shut, and stood in the midst, and said: Peace be to\nyou.\"* This is a supernatural gift with which we shall be clothed,\nbecause we must rise conformable to the glorious body of Jesus\nChrist.\n\n* John xx. 26.\n\nThese, then, are some of the attributes of a spiritual body. They are\nevidently the natural properties of spirits. But God will clothe the\nbodies of his children with them, as a reward for their love of Him\nand the holy lives they have led in this world.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VII.\n\nTHE IMPASSIBILITY AND IMMORTALITY OF THE RISEN BODY.\n\nBesides the attributes which immediately flow from the fact that our\nanimal bodies will rise spiritualized, there are two more qualities,\nwhich we shall now consider; namely, the impassibility and\nimmortality of our risen bodies.\n\n1. Impassibility implies the total loss of the power of suffering.\nWhat an enormous capacity we have for suffering! The power of\nreceiving pleasure through our senses is only as a drop in the ocean,\nwhen compared to our manifold capacities for suffering, in every\nfaculty of the soul, in every organ, member, and nerve of our frame.\nEvery one of them is susceptible of tortures, which, while endured,\nmake the enjoyment of life and its pleasures impossible. A violent\nheadache or a burning fever drives a man almost to distraction, and\ndestroys any pleasure he might otherwise experience. What\nconsolation, therefore, to think that this body of suffering shall\nrise impassible! No more disease; no more pain or pang; no more\nsuffering either of mind or body; for we shall enter a new world from\nwhich suffering is forever banished. St. John had a glimpse of this\nnew world, when he said: \"And I saw a new heaven and a new earth. For\nthe first heaven and the first earth were gone.... And I heard a\ngreat voice from the throne, saying: Behold the tabernacle of God\nwith men, and He shall dwell with them.... And God shall wipe away\nall the tears from their eyes: and death shall be no more, nor\nmourning, nor crying, nor sorrow shall be any more, for the former\nthings are passed away.\"*\n\n* Apoc. xxi.\n\nIt was the thought of rising in glory, with a body free from\nsuffering, that gave comfort to the holy man Job when the storm of\nadversity had burst upon him. Listen to his beautiful words: \"I know\nthat my Redeemer liveth, and in the last day, I shall rise out of the\nearth. And I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my flesh I\nshall see my God. Whom I myself shall see, and not another. This my\nhope is laid up in my bosom.\"* Lay up that hope in your bosom as he\ndid, and when the storm of adversity bursts upon you, the thought of\nrising in a glorified, impassible body, and in a new world, will give\nyou patience and resignation.\n\n* Job xix.\n\nBut rising with the gift of impassibility does not mean that our\nbodies will be unfeeling as marble statues. It only means that they\nshall be free from the power of suffering; but that does not exclude\nthe power of receiving pleasure. Glory does not destroy nature, but\nperfects it. The bodies of the blessed will remain sensible to\nimpressions from suitable objects, and, according to St. Thomas, the\nblessed will use their senses for enjoyment in all that is not\nrepugnant to a state of incorruption.*\n\n* . . . . Et corpus igitur perfectum per animam proportionabiliter\nanimae, immune erit ab omni malo, et quantum ad actum, et quantum ad\npotentiam: quantum ad actum quidem, quia nulla erit in eis corruptio,\nnulla deformitas, nullus defectus: quantum ad potentiam vero quia non\npoterunt aliquid pati quod sit eis molestum, et propter hoc\nimpassibilia erunt; quae tamen impassibilitas non excludit ab eis\npassionem quae est de ratione sensus; utentor enim sensibus ad\ndelectationem secundum illa quae statui incorruptionis non\nrepugnant.--S. Thom., Cont. gent., lib. 4, c. 86.\n\n2. We now come to consider the crowning glory of all the glorious\nsupernatural attributes wherewith God will clothe our bodies on the\nlast day. I say it is the crowning glory. For the splendor of form,\nthe vigor of youth, and the complete perfection of our human\nnature--which are all included in the promise of rising conformable\nto the glorified body of Jesus Christ--would scarcely be worth\nworking for or possessing, unless they were accompanied with the\npromise of incorruptibility. Indeed, of what use would be the rising\nwith the bloom of youth and health on our cheek, and in perfect\nbeauty of form, if time could again destroy them--as in this world!\nBut there is no danger that the destroyer will ever enter our\nheavenly home. Listen to St. Paul. Speaking again of the body, he\nsays: \"It is sown in corruption, it shall rise in incorruption.\"*\n\n* 1 Cor. xv 42.\n\nOur bodies, as now constituted, are corruptible by their very nature.\nThe elements of matter which compose them are held together by the\nlaws of life, and not by their natural affinities. Hence, from the\nvery first moment of our existence to our death, there is a continual\nstruggle between the laws of life and those that govern inorganic\nmatter. For a time, vigorous young life claims the supremacy, and the\nbody grows to its degree of beauty and strength attainable in this\nworld. But full soon the laws of decay and corruption begin to assert\ntheir empire. Beauty of feature and form gradually fade away;\nelasticity of limb gives way to the decrepitude of old age, and\nfinally the whole frame becomes a burden under which nature groans\nand totters, until it falls into the gloomy grave, where corruption\ndestroys every remaining vestige of beauty, and even of the human\nform. On the resurrection day, we not only shall rise in splendor and\nperfection of form, but we shall also be transferred to another\nworld, whose laws are in perfect harmony with the laws of life, and\ninto which corruption shall never enter.\n\nIn the present world, we already see things which, as far as we know\nnature's laws, are incorruptible. The diamond, for instance, is the\nmost incorruptible of all known substances; and unless the now\nexisting laws of nature should change, the splendid Koh-i-noor and\nother diamonds will glitter as brilliantly as they now do, when the\nangel sounds the trumpet to announce to the world that time shall be\nno more. These beautiful gems are therefore a faint image of our\nglorified bodies, which shall not only rise in perfection of form,\nbut shall also be totally incorruptible. They shall forever be beyond\nthe reach of death, decay, or corruption, resplendent in themselves,\nand increasing the very beauty of heaven, as sparkling gems enhance\nthe beauty of a royal crown.\n\nYes, this vile and corruptible body must be changed into an\nincorruptible one. It must rise like the body of Jesus Christ, who,\n\"rising again from the dead, dies no more; death shall no more have\ndominion over Him.\"* According to the beautiful and forcible words of\nthe Apostle: \"This corruptible must put on incorruption; and this\nmortal must put on immortality. And when this mortal hath put on\nimmortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written:\nDeath is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O\ndeath, where is thy sting?\"+\n\n* Rom. 'vi. 9. + 1 Cor. xv. 53.\n\nThese, then, are some of the supernatural gifts wherewith God will\nclothe the bodies of the just on the last day. They are so great in\nthemselves, that it would almost seem they should be worth working\nfor even if there were no Beatific Vision. Yet, if taken separately,\nthey are, so to speak, the mere external ornaments and finish of the\nhappiness which heart of man cannot conceive. These glorious\nattributes of the risen body perfect and complete the happiness of\nman. As the soul and body reunited in glory form one human creature,\nso the happiness of the soul and body is one. After the resurrection,\nthe beatitude of heaven can no longer be separated into the happiness\nof the soul in the Beatific Vision, and then the pleasures of the\nbody through the glorified senses, as if there were two distinct\nbeatitudes, or as if the soul and body were two distinct individuals.\nWhatever happiness comes from the union of the soul with God in the\nBeatific Vision, and whatever pleasures may reach the soul through\nthe glorified senses, or from our communion with the saints, or the\ncontemplation of the sacred humanity of Jesus Christ, the Blessed\nVirgin Mary, and other saints, it is all one happiness enjoyed by our\nhuman nature, which is one.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER VIII.\n\nSEVERAL ERRORS TO BE AVOIDED IN OUR MEDITATIONS ON HEAVEN.\n\nNow that the soul is again clothed in her body, glorified after the\nlikeness of Christ's body, other pleasures and joys, besides those we\nhave already contemplated in the Beatific Vision, claim our\nattention. They are the pleasures of the glorified senses, which,\nalong with the Beatific Vision, are to gratify every rational\nappetite and craving of our human nature. And thus the whole man, in\nsoul and body, will enjoy the complete happiness of heaven. But, in\norder to form a correct idea of these additional pleasures of the\nglorified senses, or rather of the integral happiness of heaven, we\nmust be on our guard against several errors into which very good and\neven spiritual persons may easily fall.\n\nThe first error consists in ignoring or making little of the Beatific\nVision, after the resurrection, and letting our mind pass from\ncreature to creature, gathering exquisite pleasures from each, until\npractically we make man's happiness in heaven come almost exclusively\nfrom creatures. This is, substantially, the view which Protestants\ntake of heaven. They have written books on the subject, in which they\nspeak eloquently and even learnedly on the joys involved in the\nmutual recognition of friends and kindred, on the delights we shall\nenjoy in our social intercourse with the saints and angels, in the\nmusic that shall ravish our very souls, and other things of that\nnature. In a word, they maintain, as well as we do, that, in heaven,\nman will enjoy every possible intellectual, moral, and sensible\npleasure, and that nothing will be wanting to make him perfectly\nhappy in his whole being.\n\nHere is the Protestant view of heaven. It is certainly far from being\ngross or carnal. It may even, at first sight, appear not to differ\nfrom that which is taught by the Catholic Church. But, on closer\nexamination, the difference becomes apparent. In the Protestant view\nof heaven, the Beatific Vision is either entirely ignored, or, if\nmentioned at all, it is explained so as to mean next to nothing; at\nhast, it does not appear to add anything to the exquisite happiness\nalready enjoyed in creatures. In their view heaven is really nothing\nmore than a natural beatitude, such as might leave been enjoyed even\nin this world, if Adam had not sinned.\n\nWe must, therefore, be on our guard against any view of heaven which\nwould make its principal happiness come from creatures. We must ever\nremember that no creature, either here or hereafter, can give perfect\nhappiness to man. Wherefore, in our meditations on heaven, we must\nbeware of making its chief happiness consist in delightful music,\nsocial intercourse with the saints, or in the pleasures enjoyed\nthrough the glorified senses, however pure and refined we may imagine\nthem to be. This, then, is the first error to be avoided, and with\nmuch care; not only because it is untrue, but because also it lowers\nthe beatitude of heaven, which consists essentially in the vision,\nlove, and enjoyment of God himself.\n\nThe second error to be avoided consists in placing the whole\nhappiness of man so completely and exclusively in the Beatific\nVision, that neither the resurrection of the body with its glorious\ngifts, nor the communion of saints, nor heavenly music, nor any other\ncreature, can increase the happiness already enjoyed by the soul in\nthe possession of God. In this extreme and exclusive view of the\nBeatific Vision, man is so completely absorbed in God, and so\nperfectly happy in Him, that the whole creation is to him as if it\nwere not; and if he were the only man ever created, or the only one\nin heaven, his joys would be precisely the same as they are, now that\nhe is surrounded with angels, saints, and other creatures of God.\n\nThey who hold such extreme views may be very holy persons; but their\nopinions are far from being in accordance with sound theology. They\nremind us of those unskilful guides who taught St. Theresa that, in\norder to reach the most perfect contemplation in this world, we must\nraise our minds so completely above every creature, \"that although it\nshould be even the humanity of Christ, it is still some impediment\nfor those who have advanced so far in spirituality, and that it\nhinders them from applying to the most perfect contemplation.\" It is\nalmost needless to add that she soon discovered this to be a very\ndangerous error, and, as may be seen in the twenty-second chapter of\nher life, she expresses the deepest regret for having, even for a\nmoment, entertained such an opinion. So will these persons of whom I\nspeak discover their error, if they view the whole happiness of\nheaven, as it is taught by sound theology. Let us, then, see what\ntheology teaches on the resurrection of the body, as increasing the\nhappiness of the blessed, and on the accidental beatitude which comes\nto man from creatures.\n\n1. It teaches, first, that the resurrection is not a mere accidental\nglory, which may or may not be given to the just, but that it is an\nessential element of man's happiness.* The soul of Abraham, for\ninstance, that is now united to God in the Beatific Vision, is not,\nproperly speaking, Abraham himself, but only a part of him. In order,\ntherefore, to be perfect according to her nature, that soul must\nagain be clothed with her own body of real flesh and blood, so that\nAbraham may again be a living man, and that God may be called, in the\nfullest sense of the word, \"the God of the living.\" Evidently the\nsame must be said of every other soul now basking in the light of\nGod's countenance.\n\n* Anima corpori naturaliter unitur; est enim secundum suam essentiam\ncorporis forma; est igitur contra naturam animaae absque corpore esse.\nNihil autem quod est contra naturam potest esse perpetuum ... oportet\neam (animam) corpori iterato conjungi, quod est resurgere. Sum.\ncontr. gent., lib. 4, cap. 79. .... Ad secundum, dicendum quod anima\nAbrahae non est proprie loquendo ipso Abraham, sed pars eius, et sic\nde aliis. Unde vita animae Abrahae non sufficeret ad hoc quod Abraham\nsit vivens, vel quod Deus Abraham sit Deus viventis: sed exigitur\nvita totius conjuncti, scilicet animae et corporis, quae quidem vita\nquamvis non esset in actu, quando verba proponebantur, erat tamen in\nordine utriusque partis ad resurrectionem: unde Dominus per verba\nilla subtilissime et efficaciter resurrectionem profit.--S. Thom.,\nSuppl., q. 75, art. 1.\n\nWe are not angels, but men. An angel is a superior being, and of a\ndifferent order from us. He is a spirit, and complete as such without\na body. But the human soul, although a spirit too, is not perfect\nwithout a body; for, as such, she is only a part of the being called\nman. Besides, it is not the soul alone that is to enjoy the happiness\nof heaven; it is man. And as he is composed of both soul and body, it\nis necessary that the soul should again be clothed with her body, so\nthat man may be placed in the enjoyment of heaven's happiness in his\nwhole being.\n\n2. Theology teaches, in the second place, that the happiness of the\nblessed is increased by the resurrection, because the soul is enabled\nto receive new pleasures by her reunion with a glorified body. And,\nfirst, the human soul, which is not only intellectual, but also\nsensitive, receives those organs by which she is again enabled to\nexercise her imagination, and other faculties of her emotional or\nsensitive nature; all of which are sources of great enjoyment.\nSecondly, by her reunion with the body, she is again empowered to\nreceive pleasure through the glorified senses. Thirdly, the soul is\nmade more perfect in all her operations by her reunion with a\nglorified body.* The human body as now constituted, or rather as\ninjured by sin, does not, it is true, always perfect the soul in her\noperations; it rather impedes her, at hast in many of them. Hence,\nthe Wise Man tells us that \"The corruptible body is a load upon the\nsoul, and the earthly habitation presseth down the mind that museth\nmany things.\"+ If therefore, a glorified soul were reunited to such a\nbody, undoubtedly her operations would not be made more perfect than\nthey are in her separate state. But it is not to be so. The soul is\nto be reunited to a glorified body, that will be entirely subject to\nthe spirit, and will, in consequence, perfect all its intellectual\noperations, its moral affections, and every other act which,\naccording to its nature, it can perform.\n\n*... Si ergo a corpore removeatur omne illud per quod actioni animae\nresistit, simpliciter erit anima perfectior in tali corpore existens\nquam separata: quanto autem perfectius in esse, tanto perfectius\npotest operari. Unde et operatio animae conjunctae tali corpori erit\nperfectior quam operatio animae separatae. Hujusmodi autem corpus erit\ngloriosum, quod omnino subdetur spiritui: Unde cum beatitudo in\noperatione consistat, perfectior erit beatitudo animae post\nresumptionem corporis quam ante.--S. Thom., Suppl. q. 93, art. 1.\n\n+ Wis. ix. 15.\n\nBut, perhaps, some may say: Will not the Vision of God, at hast, be\nlessened or obscured by the reunion of the soul to a material body?\nIt certainly will not. If the Vision of the Divine Essence could be\nobscured by the risen body, then, as Suarez wisely observes, the\nresurrection would be a punishment to the just, rather than a reward.\nHence, he maintains that even the Beatific Vision is more perfect\nafter the resurrection than it was before. This becomes evident when\nwe remember that the Beatific Vision consists of the three human acts\nof knowledge, love, and enjoyment of God. These acts are evidently\nmore perfect after the resurrection, since the human soul acts more\nperfectly in union with a glorified body than when separated from it.\nIt follows, then, that even the essential beatitude of the saints is\nboth increased and perfected by the resurrection of the body. Let us\nnow see what theology teaches about accidental glory.\n\n3. It teaches that accidental glory is any perfection of supernatural\nbeatitude coming to the blessed from any object outside of the\nBeatific Vision, that is, from creatures. Thus, when our Blessed Lord\ntells us that \"There shall be joy in heaven upon one sinner doing\npenance,\"* He manifestly speaks of a new joy which comes to the\nblessed from an object outside of the Beatific Vision. So then,\nevidently, some of heaven's joys do come from creatures, though,\nultimately, we may say, they all come from God.\n\n* Luke xv, 2.\n\nIn this world, we receive a portion of our light from the moon; but\nthat light is still from the sun, because the moon has no light of\nher own. She is a mere reflector, or instrument by which, during the\nnight, the sun conveys to us a portion of his light. So in heaven.\nGod is the only source of happiness and joy; and no creature is or\ncan be a source of happiness independently of Him. But He can and\ndoes make use of creatures to adorn, perfect, and complete the\nhappiness of the whole man.\n\n* Beatitudo accidentalis, proprie et generatim loquendo, est quaelibet\nbeati perfectio supernaturalis quae versatur circa aliquid quod est\nextra objectum beatificum, prout beatificum est.... Quia nulla est\nessentia creata quae non egeat aliquo accidente ad consummationem suae\nperfectionis. Essentialis autem beatitudo est quid creatum; ergo\nornatur accidentibus. Et sicut essentialis beatitudo consistit in\noperatione, ita et haec accidentalis. Jam vero, istius accidentalis\nbeatitudinis causa, seu praemii accidentalis meritum provenit ex bonis\noperibus, quae dum merentur praemium seu beatitudinem essentialem,\netiam simul merentur accidentalem tamquam proprietatem in essentiali\nradicaliter contentam.... Ita qui meretur beatitudinem essentialem,\nsimul meretur accidentalem, et utramque per modem unius\npraemii.--Suarez. de Beat. disput. 11.\n\nNevertheless, though this accidental glory comes to the blessed from\ncreatures, it is radically contained in the essential, and is given\nwith the essential as one reward, and not as two. For there are not\ntwo beatitudes in heaven. There is only one, which comprises both the\nessential and the accidental. It is true, we make a distinction\nbetween them, because the one comes immediately from God, while the\nother comes from creatures. But it does not, in the hast, follow that\nthis last is of little use or to be despised. Considering the needs\nof our nature, which is not destroyed, but perfected in heaven,\naccidental glory is necessary to perfect and complete the blessedness\nof God's children, and to gratify every rational craving of human\nnature.\n\nThus the crown of the virgins--who sing a canticle that no one else\ncan sing, and who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth--is a mere\naccidental glory; and yet it is one so much prized that many have\ngiven life itself, amidst the most cruel torments, in order to enjoy\nit. Thus again, our social intercourse with the saints, and the pure\njoys resulting therefrom, the meeting of our kindred and friends in\nheaven, the ravishing music which resounds through the vaults of\nheaven, the pleasures of the glorified senses these and a thousand\nother joys are the accidental beatitude with which God perfects and\ncompletes the happiness of the whole man.\n\nThe third error which we shall now examine flows naturally from the\nmistaken and exclusive views which some persons take of the Beatific\nVision. They imagine that the vision of God will so completely absorb\nand monopolize every faculty of man, that, practically, he will\nbecome motionless and inactive as a statue. There can be no greater\nmistake. It is true that our union with God, in the Beatific Vision,\nis happiness and joy, greater than mortal man can conceive; but it by\nno means follows that it will hinder the free exercise of our mental\nfaculties, or the activities of our glorified bodies. Indeed, the\nvery reverse will take place; for glory does not destroy nature, but\nperfects it.\n\nWe are active by nature. Action, therefore, both of mind and body, is\na law of our being, which cannot be changed, without radically\nchanging, or rather destroying our whole nature. As glory perfects\nour whole nature, instead of destroying it, it follows that in heaven\nwe shall be far more active than we can possibly be here below; for\nthere all our powers will exist in their highest perfection.\nTherefore, the intellect, elevated and strengthened by the light of\nglory, will continue to think and to contemplate the truth; for such\nis the natural action of the human intellect. Thus, also, the will,\nwhich is the loving power of the soul, shall continue forever to\nlove; for its natural action is to love the good, the beautiful, and\nthe perfect. The memory, also, will forever continue to recall the\nmany graces received from God, thus keeping alive a deep sense of\ngratitude for His benefits; while the imagination will still continue\nto make to itself new and captivating pictures of beauty. Thus, also,\nthe eye will continue to see material objects; for such is the\nnatural action of that organ. The ear will continue to hear\ndelightful sounds, and the whole body will continue to receive\npleasurable sensations, and to perform all other actions which are\nnatural to it, if we except those that belong to the animal life of\nman; for, as we have already seen, such actions are incompatible with\na life and state of incorruption.\n\nThe soul of Jesus Christ enjoyed the Beatific Vision, even while here\non earth in mortal flesh. Was He, on that account, prevented from\ndoing anything, except contemplating the Divine Essence? He certainly\nwas not. He labored and preached; he ate, drank, and slept; he\nvisited his friends, and did a thousand other things, without losing\nsight of the Divine Nature.*\n\n* Ad quartum dicendum, quando unum duorum est ratio alterius,\noccupatio animae circa unum non impedit nec remittet occupationem eius\ncirca aliud.... Et quia Deus apprehenditur a sanctis ut ratio omnium\nquae ab eis agentur vel cognoscentur: ideo occupatio eorum circa\nsensibilia et sentienda, vel quaecumque alia contemplanda aut agenda,\nin nullo impediet divinam contemplationem, nec e converso. Vel\ndicendum quod ideo una potentia impeditur in actu suo quando alia\nvehementer operatur, quia una potentia de se non sufficit ad tam\nintensam operationem, nisi ei subveniatur per id quod erat aliis\npotentiis vel membris instituendum a principio vitae: et quia erunt in\nsanctis omnes potentiae perfectissimae, una poterit ita intense\noperari, quod ex hoc nullum impedimentum praestabitur actioni alterius\npotentiae; sicut et in Christus fuit.--S. Thom., Suppl., q. 82, art.\n8.\n\nMoreover, if the Beatific Vision is to overpower us, suspend our\nactivities, and change us into statues, what would be the use of\nbestowing upon us the gift of agility? As we have seen, by that\nwonderful gift we shall be empowered to transport ourselves, with the\nrapidity of thought, to the most distant parts of God's universe. Is\nsuch a power to be given as a reward to God's children, and then\nrendered totally inactive and useless? We might as well say that\nthough we shall have eyes, we shall not see. Wherefore, St. Thomas\nmaintains that the blessed will go from place to place, according to\ntheir will, to exercise the power of agility which they have\nreceived, and to enjoy the beauty of God's creatures, which eminently\nreflect the divine wisdom.* nor shall they, on this account, lose\nanything of their essential happiness, which consists in the vision\nof God, for they will find Him everywhere present.\n\n* Respondeo dicendum, quod corpora gloriosa aliquando moveri necesse\nest ponere.... Verisimile est quod aliquando movebuntur pro suae\nlibitu voluntatis, ut illud quod habent virtute actu exercentes,\ndivinam sapientiam commendabilem ostendant; et ut etiam visus eorum\nreficiatar pulchritudine creaturarum dtversarum, in quibus Dei\nsapientia eminenter relucebit. Sensus autem non potest esse nisi\npraesentium, quamvis magis a longinquo sentire possint corpora\ngloriosa, quam non gloriosa: nec tamen per motum aliquid deperibit\neorum beatitudini quae consistit in Dei visione, quem ubique praesentem\nhabebunt.--S. Thom., Suppl., q. 84, art. 2.\n\nFrom all this sound theology it is evident that our union with God in\nthe Beatific Vision, far from suspending or destroying the activities\nof our nature, will rather increase and perfect them. It will do so,\nfirst, by taking away from soul and body whatever now makes us\nsluggish; and, secondly, by adding to our now existing faculties\nsupernatural powers, which will give to our nature its highest degree\nof perfection and similitude to God, who is all activity.\n\nWe must be careful to remember all this; otherwise it will be\nimpossible for us ever to understand how the saints can possibly\nenjoy each other's society, rejoice at the conversion of sinners,\nlisten to delightful music, enjoy the pleasures of the glorified\nsenses, and otherwise exercise all the faculties and powers of their\nnature. The little glimpse of heaven given in the Apocalypse,\ncertainly does not represent the saints and angels as inactive\nstatues. On the contrary, all is life and a wonderful activity.\n\nWe are now prepared to meditate upon the integral happiness of\nheaven, which includes the resurrection of the body. This is the\nhappiness which is to gratify every rational appetite of man.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER IX.\n\nTHE LIFE OF THE BLESSED IN HEAVEN.\n\nHaving examined the glorious gifts with which the risen body is\nclothed, and seen that it perfects the soul in all her operations;\nunderstanding, moreover, that the glorified senses are to contribute\ntheir share to the happiness of man--we shall now consider the happy\nlife of the blessed in heaven, including the resurrection. But,\nremember, it is not a new life that is now to occupy our thoughts. It\nis a continuation of the same life that was begun the moment the\nvision of God flashed upon the soul. This heavenly life, which was\nenjoyed by the soul alone before the resurrection, is now enjoyed by\nthe whole man, in its fulness and perfection.\n\nIf you dig in a dry and barren spot, and happen to strike a vein of\nliving water, it bubbles up, overflows, and moistens the surrounding\nearth, clothing it with beautiful verdure and smiling flowers. So it\nis in the resurrection. The life which had been concentrated in the\nsoul alone, overflows to the body, giving to it life, beauty, and\nglory, and causing it to thrill with inexpressible pleasure. The\nBeatific Vision, which was the essential happiness of the soul before\nthe resurrection, is now the essential happiness of man.\n\nIn our meditations on the life of Christ, we make ourselves present\nto the mysteries we are contemplating. We do not look upon them as\npast, but as actually taking place under our eyes. Thus we see Jesus\nlying in a manger; we see Him flying into Egypt, disputing with the\ndoctors in the temple; we see Him laboring, preaching, and dying upon\nthe cross. We shall endeavor to do the same in our meditations on the\nlife of the blessed.\n\nLet us, then, transport ourselves in spirit to that great day, which\nSt. John saw, when a mighty angel, coming down from heaven, stood\nupon the land and sea, and, lifting up his hand on high, swore by Him\nwho liveth forever and ever, that \"time should be no more.\" Then,\nsays St. John, \"I saw the dead, great and small, standing in the\npresence of the throne, and the books were opened, and the dead were\njudged by those things which were written in the books.... And I\nheard a great voice from the throne, saying: Behold the tabernacle of\nGod with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His\npeople; and God himself shall be their God. And He that sat upon the\nthrone said: Behold I make all things new.\"*\n\n* Apoc. xx.\n\nHere is a new order of things, in a new world--a world of beauty and\nperfection inconceivably greater than the one wherein we now live.\nThis is the world in which we are to live the life of the blessed. In\nthis chapter, we shall examine five of its most prominent attributes.\n\n1. First, it is a life of peace. When Jesus was born, the angels\nsang: \"Glory to God in the highest, and on earth, peace to men of\ngood will.\" And when He arose from the dead, his first words to the\nApostles were: \"Peace be to you.\" But, though the peace He wished and\ngave was great; it was not, and, in the existing order of things,\ncould not be perfect. For they still had to battle against the world,\nthe devil, and the flesh. But in heaven that peace is perfect,\nbecause it flows immediately from the bosom of God himself. Besides,\nnone of those things which in this world disturb our peace, can ever\nenter the kingdom of peace.\n\nWe now have perfect peace with God, of whose love for us we no longer\ndoubt, as we may have often done when on earth. We also have peace\nwith ourselves; for those unruly passions which formerly disturbed\nour peace, no longer exist in our glorified bodies. We enjoy perfect\npeace with our neighbor; for conflicting interests, envies, and\njealousies, which gave rise to dissensions and enmities, have not\nfound and never will find their way into heaven. We also have peace\nfrom the devil, who no longer \"goeth about like a roaring lion,\nseeking whom he may devour.\" He has found no admittance into the\nkingdom of peace. We also have peace from our past life; for the sins\nwhich so often made us tremble, are washed away in the blood of\nJesus, and are, therefore, no longer a source of trouble. The\nremembrance of them rather intensifies our love for the God of mercy\nand therefore increases our happiness. We now, also, have peace from\nour future. That awful future was formerly shrouded in impenetrable\ndarkness, and often filled us with gloomy forebodings. But now the\njudgment is over; we have heard the consoling sentence: \"Come ye,\nblessed of my Father, possess the kingdom prepared for you, from the\nfoundation of the world.\" We now gaze undismayed into that bright\noutspread eternity, wherein we see nothing that can ever disturb our\npeace. The wish and prayer of St. Paul, expressed to the first\nChristians, is now completely fulfilled in us: \"And the peace of God\nwhich surpasseth all understanding, keep your hearts and minds in\nChrist Jesus.\"*\n\n* Phil. iv. 7.\n\nThis, then, is the first feature of heavenly life, and, as is\nevident, this peace is absolutely necessary to enjoy the life itself,\nand whatever else of happiness is in store for the children of God.\n\n2. The life of heaven is one of rest. St. John says: \"And I heard a\nvoice from heaven, saying to me, Write: Blessed are they that die in\nthe Lord. From henceforth now, saith the Spirit, that they may rest\nfrom their labors.\"* This is one of the most captivating features of\nheavenly life for the poor, and for all others who labored much in\nthis world. It also gives the most exquisite consolation to those\nwho, on account of peculiar difficulties in the practice of virtue,\nhave been fatigued and wearied almost unto death. Their whole\nspiritual life was one of continual labor and struggle, which at\ntimes so disheartened them, that they felt strongly tempted to give\nup all further attempt at Christian perfection, and to seek\nconsolation and rest in the pleasures of this world. Oh, how happy\nthey now are! How grateful to God, who gave them the grace of final\nperseverance! They now enter into their rest, which shall never more\nbe disturbed by toil or struggle. They now live a life of everlasting\nrest, though not one of inactivity. For, as we have already seen, the\nlife of heaven is not one of inactivity, but one in which every\nenergy of mind and body has its full and free action. As our life in\nheaven is a participation of the life of God himself, it must\nresemble that Divine Life, which, while it is ineffable rest, is ever\nactive and operative in the creation, conservation, and government,\nnot only of our own world, but of those millions of other worlds that\nshine above our heads. Nevertheless, this continual exercise of our\nmanifold faculties in heaven, does not, as in this world, generate\nfatigue, weariness, or disgust; but is the never-failing source of\nthe highest and most rational pleasure.\n\n* Apoc. xiv.\n\nWhat a consoling thought this is for the poor! They labor much, and\nfor scanty wages, which, in many instances, scarcely suffice to keep\nthemselves and families from starvation. What a consolation also for\npersons who have devoted themselves to God in religious communities!\nBy their vows they became poor for Christ's sake, and, like Him, they\nlabored much. The wear and tear of the religious life deprived many\nof their health and strength; and yet they continue to labor as if\nthey were in full vigor. Their day of rest has come at last. Their\nbeloved Spouse has called them to himself, that they might rest from\ntheir labors. The last words of the Church over them is a solemn\nprayer for that heavenly rest: \"Eternal rest give unto them, O Lord.\nAnd let everlasting light shine upon them. May they rest in peace.\"\nHere is the end of all labor, struggle, and fatigue. Here is the\nbeginning of a life of eternal, undisturbed repose.\n\n3. The life of heaven is also one of intellectual pleasure. We saw,\nin a former chapter, that man's intellect is filled to overflowing\nwith all knowledge in the vision of God. We must now say a few words\non the exquisite and pure pleasures which this knowledge produces.\n\nIntellectual pleasures are, perhaps, the hast generally known of all\nthose which our nature can enjoy. For the great majority of the human\nrace is made up of the poor, who are compelled to spend their lives\nin toiling for food and raiment. They are, in consequence, unable to\ndevelop their mental faculties and to enjoy high intellectual\npleasures. And yet these pleasures are the highest, the most rational\nand satisfying which man can enjoy; because they are produced by the\nexercise of the intellect, which is the noblest faculty of the soul.\n\nMen of highly cultivated minds, such as theologians, philosophers,\nastronomers, mathematicians, and literary men, separate themselves\nfrom the world and its pleasures; they spend the day, and a great\npart of the night, in study, in the contemplation of the truth; they\neven forget to eat and drink, and must be compelled by their friends\nto attend to the necessities of nature. Many of them have completely\nruined their health by study; and some of them, as Democritus the\nphilosopher, are reported to have even plucked out their eyes, that\nthey might have less distraction, and thereby be enabled to meditate\nmore profoundly upon the truths of their respective sciences. Now, I\nask, is it in our nature to go through such terrible self-denials\nwithout compensation? Surely it is not. Therefore, the natural\ninference is that knowledge is a source of the most exquisite\npleasures.\n\nIf it is so, in this world, where the curse of sin has darkened the\nmind, and where knowledge is so limited, and so mingled with error\nand doubt, what shall we say of those pleasures in heaven? There the\nintellect of man receives a supernatural light; it is elevated far\nabove itself by the light of glory; it is purified, strengthened,\nenlarged, and enabled to see God as He is in His very essence. It is\nenabled to contemplate, face to face, Him who is the first essential\nTruth. It gazes undazzled upon the first infinite beauty, wisdom, and\ngoodness, from whom flow all limited wisdom, beauty, and goodness\nfound in creatures. Who can fathom the exquisite pleasures of the\nhuman intellect when it thus sees all truth as it is in itself? This\nis one of heaven's secrets which we shall never fully understand,\nexcept when united to God in the Beatific Vision. Nevertheless, if\never we have enjoyed the pleasures produced by the perusal of a\nhighly intellectual work, or felt the irresistible fascinations of\nsome favorite science, we can, it seems, form some distant conception\nof intellectual pleasures in heaven.\n\n4. The life of heaven is also one of love. As we have seen before,\nman cannot rest satisfied with the mere contemplation of truth and\nbeauty, however pleasurable and satisfying such a contemplation may\nbe. His will immediately seizes upon the truth and beauty presented\nby the intellect, and loves with an intensity proportioned to the\nperfection of the object presented. Now, as God himself, in This\nunveiled majesty, is the object presented to the will, and as He is\nthe most perfect of all beings, it follows that the will loves, in\nheaven, with an ardor, an intensity whereof we can form but a faint\nconception in our present state of trial.\n\nThere, at last, do the blessed fulfil to perfection the law which\ncommands us to love God with our whole heart, with our whole soul,\nwith all our strength, with all our mind--and our neighbor as\nourselves. Not only does each one of the blessed love, but he sees\nhimself loved in return both by the Almighty and by every one of the\nsaints. This makes heaven a life of love, and consequently one of\nperfect happiness.\n\nThink of this, ye mortals, who crave after human love. You desire to\nlove and to be loved. Love is the sunshine of your lives. But, do\nwhat you will, it can never give you perfect happiness here below;\nfor when you have, at last, succeeded in possessing the object after\nwhich you so ardently sighed, you discover in it imperfections which\nyou had not suspected before; and these lessen your happiness. But\nsuppose, even, that you are of the few who are as happy as they\nexpected to be, how long will your blessedness last? A few years, at\nmost. Then, death, with a merciless hand, tears away from you the\nobjects of your love. Is not this the end of all earthly happiness?\n\nLook up to heaven, and there see the blessed in the presence of God.\nThey are as happy to-day in their love as they were hundreds of years\nago; and when millions of ages have rolled by, they shall still\npossess the object of their love, which is the Eternal God. Thus the\nblessed live a life of love, and, consequently, one of perfect\nhappiness.\n\n5. The life of heaven is, moreover, one of perfect enjoyment. In this\nworld, there can be no perfect and lasting enjoyment; and this not\nonly because creatures have not the power of giving perfect\nhappiness, but also because our powers of enjoyment are imperfect in\nthemselves, and because also our bosom swarms with ungoverned\npassions, which spread the gall of bitterness over our joys. How many\nthousands are there not, for whom fortune smiles in vain! How many\nare there not, who, though surrounded with untold wealth, are\nnevertheless more wretched than the tattered beggar! One, for\ninstance, is always suffering from bad health, and hence he cannot\nenjoy the pleasures which fortune has placed within his reach.\nAnother is not only wealthy, but is, moreover, elevated to some\nhonorable position, and one would think he must enjoy the honors with\nwhich he is surrounded; but there is in his bosom an ungoverned\npassion, which, like a canker-worm, eats away his joys one by one.\n\nHoly Scripture gives us a striking instance of this in the person of\nHaman. He had been highly exalted by King Assuerus; and the servants\nof the king bent the knee before him, and worshipped him, \"only\nMardochai did not bend the knee nor worship him.\" This apparent\nslight so wounded the pride of Haman, that he could enjoy neither\npeace nor happiness so long as Mardochai, the Jew, sat at the king's\ngate. Listen to his own confession: \"He called together his friends\nand Zares his wife, and he declared to them the greatness of his\nriches, and the multitude of his children, and with how great glory\nthe king had advanced him above all his princes and servants. And\nafter this he said: Queen Esther also hath invited no other to the\nbanquet with the king, but me: and with her I am also to dine\nto-morrow with the king. And whereas I have all these things, I think\nI have nothing, so long as I see Mardochai, the Jew, sitting at the\nking's gate.\"* What a revelation this is! How little it takes to\ndestroy our powers of enjoyment! It is only a small worm that eats\naway the very core of the most delicious fruit, leaving it tasteless\nand rotten.\n\n* Esther v.\n\nIn heaven only shall we live a life of perfect enjoyment; not merely\nbecause all the objects of happiness exist there in their highest\nperfection, but because we shall also be made perfect by our union\nwith God. \"We shall be like Him, because we shall see him as He is.\"\nWherefore, no inordinate passion will ever lurk in our bosom, and\nspread bitterness over our joys. No torturing disease ever will\nenervate or prostrate the energies of our glorified bodies, and\nrender them incapable of enjoyment. All the powers of enjoyment which\nbelong to the glorified state will ever remain fresh and unimpaired.\nIt follows from this, that our life in heaven will be one of\ncontinued, undisturbed enjoyment of God himself, of the society of\nthe saints, and of all other creatures that He has prepared to\nperfect and complete the beatitude of man.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER X.\n\nPLEASURES OF THE GLORIFIED SENSES.\n\nThe life of heaven is also one of pleasure through the glorified\nsenses. These pleasures, as well as those of the Beatific Vision, are\ncertainly beyond our comprehension. Still, we may form some idea of\nthem by reflecting on the exquisite delights which reach our soul\nthrough our senses, in our present state of imperfection. They are so\nfascinating that the world runs wild with their intoxication. What,\nthen, must they be in heaven, where everything is perfect? For, in\nthat world of God's magnificence, both the senses and their\nrespective objects exist in their highest perfection, which is far\nfrom being the case here below.\n\nNow, give free scope to your imagination. Let it roam among the\nblessed, and flutter from creature to creature. Build up all you can\nof pure pleasure, and you will never reach any more than the dimmest\nand faintest shadow of the reality. Gaze upon the glorious body of\nJesus Christ, the most perfect and lovely that ever came from the\nhand of God. It is the very sun that gives beauty to the whole of\nheaven. Then contemplate the transcendent beauty of the Immaculate\nMother, who, next to Jesus, is clothed with the greatest glory. Feed\nyour eyes upon that countless multitude of saints. They are all\nbeautiful, because they have all risen with a body glorified after\nthe likeness of Christ's glorious body. Each one has a beauty and\nperfection of his own, according to his merits; and the very lowest\nis clothed with a loveliness far superior to anything ever seen in\nthis world.\n\nIf there is a rush to see beautiful objects, grand and sublime\nsights, magnificent scenery, and the works of art, on account of the\nintense pleasure enjoyed through the sense of sight, what shall we\nsay of the exquisite pleasures in store for that sense in heaven!\nThen again reflect how very captivating, soothing, and enlivening\nmusic is. The ear revels in it, and pours into the soul torrents of\nharmony, which make her, for the time, altogether forget the outer\nworld. So captivating is it, that hours pass by unheeded, and she\nwould almost fancy it is the echoes of angels' voices she hears.\nWhat, then, must heavenly harmony be, if our imperfect music is so\ndelightful? Think, also, how exquisitely the odors of flowers,\nincense, and all manner of perfumery produce a soothing effect upon\nman, banishing cares, and infusing a new life into him. What must\nthose pleasures be in heaven?\n\nWe have already seen that, in heaven, there is to be neither eating\nnor drinking, as we now understand these two actions. But this does\nnot mean that the sense of taste is not to be gratified. It most\ncertainly will be, though not by corruptible objects, as in this\nworld. The same must be said of the sense of touch or feeling, which\nis diffused over the whole body.\n\nThe five senses of the human body are not mere accidental ornaments,\nwhich may or may not exist; they are essential to the integrity of\nits nature. Thus a blind or a deaf and dumb man is not a perfect man,\nbecause he lacks something which is essential to the integrity of his\nnature. Now, as glory does not destroy the nature of the body, but\nperfects it, it follows that all the blessed must rise with their\nfive senses in their full perfection. And as their perfection\nconsists in their activity and power of receiving impressions from\nexternal objects, and conveying them to the soul, it is evident that\nthe senses must remain active in heaven, and have suitable objects to\nact upon. This is precisely what we learn from the angelic doctor,\nwho maintains that the glory of the body does not destroy its nature,\nbut perfects it, and even preserves the very color that is natural to\nit.* He maintains, moreover, that every power or faculty is more\nperfect when acting upon its proper object, than it is when inactive;\nand, as human nature will reach its highest degree of perfection in\nheaven, it follows that every sense will there act according to its\nnature.+\n\n* Corporis gloria naturam non tollet, sed perficiet: unde color qui\ndebetur corpori ex natura suarum partium, remanebit in eo, sed\nsuperaddetur gloria animae.--S. Thom., Suppl., q. 85, art. 1.\n\n+ Potentia conjuncta actui suo perfectior est quam non conjuncta: sed\nhumana natura erit in beatis in maxima perfectione: ergo erunt ibi\nomnes sensus in suo actu. Praeterea, vicinius se habent ad animam\npotentiae sensitivae, quam corpus: sed corpus praemiabitur vel punietur\npropter merita vel demerita animae: ergo et omnes sensus praemiabuntur\nin beatis, et punientur in malis, secundum delectationem et dolorem\nvel tristitiam, quae in operatione sensus consistunt.--S. Thom.,\nSuppl., q. 82, art. 4.\n\nAccording to this doctrine, not one sense of the human body is either\ndead, inactive, or excluded from enjoyment, in heaven. And why should\nany one of them be excluded? Why should the sight, or the hearing, or\neven the sense of smell, be rewarded, rather than the taste, or the\nsense of touch? Certainly no valid reason can be given.\n\nTheologians teach that in hell every sense of the human body shall\nhave its own peculiar punishment; and that the sense of feeling,\nespecially, shall be tortured; because, in most cases, it is\nprincipally in that sense that the reprobate have most offended God.\nSurely we must not imagine that God is more severe in punishing the\nwicked, than He is good and liberal in rewarding the just. Now, is it\nnot precisely in the senses of taste and feeling that the saints have\nsuffered most for God? Look at that countless multitude of martyrs.\nMany were starved to death; others were scourged until they died\nunder the torture; others were torn by the wild beasts; others were\ncrucified; others were burnt with a slow fire; while others were\ntortured for days together in every limb and sense, and that, too,\nwith all the ingenuity and appliances that the most refined cruelty\ncould devise.\n\nThen again, look at that countless multitude of confessors, virgins,\nand others, who, in the practice of virtue, became their own\nexecutioners. They suffered inconceivably by frequent and long\nfastings, by coarseness of diet, by wearing hair-cloths, and by\notherwise torturing their flesh. And now, shall these senses go\nunrewarded in the blessed, while they are so terribly punished in the\nreprobate? Certainly not. All that we can say is that, at present, we\ndo not know how all this is to be realized; but as the whole man in\nall his senses has served God, and suffered for Him, it is but just\nthat he should be rewarded in his whole being, which includes every\nsense of the body, as well as every faculty of the soul.\n\nHence, in our meditations on heaven, we must let the pleasures of the\nglorified senses enter as an integral element of man's happiness. We\nmust contemplate these pleasures as seriously as we do the pain of\nsense in the reprobate, only avoiding the introduction of anything\ngross or carnal, and, therefore, repugnant to a state of\nincorruption. Hence we must, as already shown, avoid introducing\neating, drinking, sleep, or anything else which, by its very nature,\nbelongs to the animal life of man.\n\nWe must also banish from our ideas of heaven all the carnal pleasures\nof this world, as they are now understood. Our blessed Lord himself\ntold the Jews, who believed such pleasures to exist in heaven: \"You\nerr, not knowing the Scriptures, nor the power of God. For, in the\nresurrection, they shall neither marry nor be married; but shall be\nas the angels of God in heaven.\"* All such pleasures, which were\nintended only for this world of imperfection, will be replaced by\nothers of a superior order, and suited to our spiritualized bodies.\n\n* Matt. xxii. 29.\n\nSo, then, we see that the life of heaven is one of sensible pleasure\nthrough the glorified senses, as well as one of exquisite mental and\nmoral enjoyment in the Beatific Vision. These sensible pleasures\nhave, moreover, a peculiar characteristic, which the pleasures of\nsense have not in our present state of imperfection. In heaven the\nblessed can enjoy them all without fear; for none of them are\nforbidden, and, consequently, they can never be followed by bitter\nremorse or shame. Neither have they, as in this world, a tendency to\ndarken the mind, and turn the heart away from God. They will rather\nintensify our love for Him, who is the Author of our exceeding\nblessedness, whether it comes immediately from himself or partly from\nthe beautiful creatures He has prepared to complete the happiness of\nHis beloved children.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XI.\n\nSOCIAL JOYS OF HEAVEN.\n\nThe life of heaven is also one of pure social joys. Among all the\njoys outside of the Beatific Vision, there are certainly none so\nsweet as those which arise from our social intercourse with the\nblessed. We are social beings by nature. Our highest and best powers\nare framed for society; and we are never in our normal state except\nwhen in communion with our fellow-men. Hence all men love society, if\nwe except the misanthrope or man-hater, who is a moral monster. He\nhas unfortunately developed in his bosom some of the worst passions\nof our fallen nature, and they have built an element of hell in his\nheart. For in that godless and hopeless region there is no love\neither for God or neighbor, and, therefore, social joys can have no\nexistence therein. With the exception of a few persons of this kind,\nall men love society. Even the lonely hermit loves it. But he sees in\nit dangers to his soul, and he cuts himself off from it in this\nworld, that he may enjoy it in the next, where it shall have lost its\ndangerous element.\n\nSocial intercourse with our fellow-beings affords us some of our\npurest joys in this world; yet they are not, and never can be\nperfect. They are roses with cruel thorns, that wound and make us\nbleed, almost as often as they delight us with their delicious\nperfumes. How often does it not happen that we go into society with a\nlight heart, and return home sad and heavy? And why so? Because our\nheart has been wounded, perhaps crushed, by some wicked insinuation,\nor some unkind interpretation of an action performed with the best Of\nintentions on our part. Even our holiest actions are criticized, and\nunworthy motives, which never entered our minds, are attributed to\nus. Then again, they, whom we had considered our best friends, may\nbetray us, and reveal to a cold and cruel world the secrets which, in\nour simplicity, we had confided to them. In a word, if intercourse\nwith our fellow-creatures is often the source of pure joys, it is not\ninfrequently the occasion of our keenest sufferings. And why? Because\nin our present state of imperfection we are sinful and selfish.\nBecause we allow ourselves to act toward others through jealousy,\nenvy, natural aversion, and other ungoverned passions of our fallen\nnature. We do not love all men, and all men do not love us. We see\nmany defects in others, which make them unamiable; and they see as\nmany in us, which make their love for us almost an impossibility.\nWherefore, so long as we live in the flesh, our social joys must\nalways be mingled with a certain amount of bitterness.\n\nLet us now raise our eyes to our heavenly home, and there contemplate\na life of the purest, and most perfect social pleasures. There,\nneither selfishness, nor uncharitableness, nor any unruly passion can\nexist, and, consequently, our social joys will never be mingled with\nthe gall of bitterness. Putting aside, for a moment, all the\nshortcomings and imperfections that mar our social joys in this\nworld, let us look at their bright side only, and see what it is that\nmakes our social intercourse with others a pleasure. This will be as\na mirror wherein we shall behold some faint reflections of social\njoys as they exist in heaven. What are the personal attributes or\nqualities in others that make our social intercourse with them a\npleasure? They may be reduced to six, which really include all others\nthat could be mentioned. These are virtue, learning, beauty,\nrefinement, mutual love, and the ties of kindred. We shall say a few\nwords on each of these.\n\n1. Virtue is the attribute which gives us our highest similitude to\nGod, and it is this also which imparts to us some of the purest\nsocial pleasures we enjoy on earth. Purity of life, or at hast the\nabsence of gross vices, is a condition without which we can enjoy no\none's society, unless we ourselves are depraved. Neither beauty, nor\nlearning, nor any other endowment, can replace virtue, while it alone\ncan, to a great extent, supply all other deficiencies. Hence it is,\nthat when depraved persons are in the society of the good, they feel\ncompelled to be guarded in their words and actions. They must put on\nan exterior appearance, at hast, of virtue, well knowing that\notherwise their presence would be extremely offensive, and calculated\nto mar the pleasures of others.\n\nWhen we meet with one who is evidently a man of God, one whose every\nword is instinct with the spirit of God, whose whole exterior\nbetokens the intimate union of his soul with God, in whose very\ncountenance the beauty of angelical purity shines forth, we deem it a\nhappiness to spend a few moments in his society. The pleasures\nenjoyed in his company are not only exquisite--they are also\nsanctifying. If that is so in this world, where all holiness is\nimperfect, what shall we say of the pleasures of heavenly society?\nHoliness is an essential attribute of every inhabitant of heaven.\nThey are all pure; for none else can see God. They are all made\npartakers of the Divine Nature in a far higher degree than is\nattainable in this world, and consequently they are all clothed with\nthe spotless purity of God himself. Not only are they all pure, but\nthey are, moreover, totally free from those natural defects of\ncharacter, which, in this world, make many holy persons unamiable,\nand even repulsive. As nature is not destroyed, but perfected by\nglory, our natural character will not be destroyed by our union with\nGod. But whatever is faulty in it, or offensive to others, will\ndisappear, leaving it amiable and perfect in its own kind. Hence, our\nsocial intercourse with the saints will ever be the source of the\npurest pleasures.\n\n2. Learning, in those with whom we associate, is another source of\npleasure. We can sit for hours listening to the interesting\nconversation of a learned man, even if he lacks virtue, and only\nwears its exterior appearance. In such a man's society we drink in,\nas it were, torrents of pleasures, which are among the most rational\nwe can enjoy in this world. If these pleasures are so exquisite here\nbelow, where, after all, the wisest know so little, what shall we say\nof those same pleasures in heaven? There all are learned, all are\nfilled with knowledge, though all do not possess it in the same\ndegree. Nevertheless, each one's knowledge will be a source of\npleasure to others.\n\n3. Personal beauty is also a source of pleasure in this world. Every\none knows that perfect personal beauty sweetly but powerfully draws\nmen to itself, and that one endowed therewith gives far greater\npleasure than another who does not possess this attribute. It is in\nheaven, and there only, that every one will possess the attribute of\nbeauty in its fullest perfection. For the soul is clothed with the\nbeauty of God himself, which He communicates to her in the Beatific\nVision; while the whole body is beautified and glorified after the\nlikeness of Christ's glorious body. Every saint is therefore clothed\nwith a loveliness far superior to anything we ever can see on earth.\nIf, then, it is so great a pleasure to associate with persons who\npossess the natural and perishable beauty of this world, what shall\nwe say of the pleasures which must flow from our intercourse with\npersons who are clothed with the beauty of God himself!\n\n4. Refinement is another attribute which makes our social intercourse\nwith others pleasurable. A great personal beauty that might at first\nattract others to itself, would soon repel and even disgust them,\nshould they perceive in its possessor unpolished manners, coarseness,\nand stupidity. A cultivated intellect, refined feelings, and elegant\nmanners are necessary to adorn personal beauty, and make it a source\nof pleasure to those who are attracted thereby. It is very certain\nthat in heaven, where our whole nature is to be elevated and\nperfected, this refinement of mind and heart, as well as the elegance\nof personal bearing which flows from both, will exist in its highest\nperfection, and ever be the source Of exquisite pleasures in our\nsocial intercourse with the blessed.\n\n5. Another source of social joys is mutual love. The four personal\nattributes we have been considering, make up an amiable character;\nthat is, one which we love spontaneously, and whose love we are\ncertain to have in return for ours. It is this love which crowns and\nperfects a character of this kind, and produces a very large share of\nthe pure pleasures we enjoy in the society of such persons. But,\nhowever pure human love may be, even when elevated by grace to the\nvirtue of charity, it never can produce unalloyed social pleasures;\nbecause it never reaches its full perfection in this world.\n\nIt is in heaven only that charity is perfect. There we shall love\nevery one with a most tender charity, and see ourselves loved as\ntenderly and as purely in return. Our charity will be mutual, and,\ntherefore, our intercourse with the blessed will produce joys and\npleasures second only to the unspeakable happiness of the Beatific\nVision. Meditate well, Christian soul, on these exquisite delights.\nThink what an unspeakable pleasure that mutual and perfect charity\nmust be to the inhabitants of heaven. That feature alone would almost\nchange for any one of us this cold world into a heaven.\n\nSuppose you could say, with truth, \"Every one of my acquaintances\nloves me with the purest charity; and every stranger who is\nintroduced to me, loves me immediately with the purest affection. I\nhave no enemies; no, not one. No one is ever envious or jealous of\nme; no one ever says an unkind word of me, nor has any one even an\nunkind thought of me. All seem to take a singular pleasure in\nspeaking well of me, and in doing me all manner of kind services;\nand, in return, I sincerely love all, and take a singular delight\nin doing good to all.\" Surely, such language never was spoken by any\none in this world of imperfection. If, therefore, you could speak it\nwith truth, you would have reached a blessedness which neither our\nBlessed Lord nor any of his saints ever reached on earth. Every one\nwould look upon you, and with reason, as the most highly-favored\nperson that ever lived in this world.\n\nNow, this is precisely the blessedness which awaits us in our\nheavenly home. There we shall love every one with the most perfect\ncharity, and every one will return our love. There we shall have no\nenemies; no one to think uncharitably of us; no one to criticize our\nsayings and conduct; no one to spread reports injurious to our\ncharacter; no one to put an unfavorable construction upon our most\ninnocent actions. \"God is charity,\" and as \"we shall be like Him\nbecause we shall see him as he is,\" it follows that we, too, shall\npossess that divine charity, in a far higher degree than is\nattainable here below. Our social intercourse with the blessed will,\ntherefore, ever be the source of the purest and sweetest joy.\n\n6. Besides the things already enumerated, there is one more which is\nto be the source of still greater joy. And what may that be? It is\nthe meeting, in heaven, of them whom we loved so well here, because\nthey were bound to us by the sacred ties of kindred, or of true\nfriendship. It is the meeting of parent and child, of husband and\nwife, of brother and sister, of relatives and friends--with whom we\nwere united by the bonds of the purest love. As glory does not\ndestroy our nature, neither does it destroy our natural virtues, but\nperfects them. Hence, we shall take along with us our natural love\nfor our relatives and friends. Thus Jesus Christ, our Model, now\nloves His Blessed Mother with the natural love of a dutiful son. He\nloves her, not only because she is so pure and holy, but also because\nshe is His own mother. The elevation of His human nature above\neverything that is not God, has neither destroyed nor diminished in\nhim that natural love which every child has for its mother. Thus,\nagain, Mary now loves Jesus most tenderly, not only because he is her\nGod, but also because he is her own son--flesh of her flesh, and bone\nof her bone. Her elevation to the highest glory, after that of Jesus,\nhas neither destroyed nor diminished in her the natural love which\nevery mother has for her child. If anything, it has made her love\nmore ardent even than it was in this world.\n\nSo we, also, shall enter heaven with the natural love we now have for\nour kindred and friends; but in us it will be purified from\neverything inordinate or imperfect. What a delight that meeting must\nbe for the blessed! We can even now form some faint idea of that\nheavenly joy, by reflecting on what takes place when a beloved father\nreturns home from a long and perilous Voyage, or from some cruel war,\nwhere he was daily exposed to captivity and death. What outbursts of\ngladness among the members of his family! How happy they are to see\nhim and embrace him! If these joys are so great in this world, what\nmust they be in heaven! Especially since there they are coupled with\nthe thought that there is no more separation. No, no more separation!\nWhat delightful music there is in that short sentence! Death shall be\nno more, and therefore we shall never more be torn away from the\nsociety of our kindred and friends.\n\nHowever, it seems to me I hear you say, \"There is no difficulty in\nbelieving that the meeting of our own in heaven is an unspeakable\njoy; but suppose we do not meet them there--what then? Suppose that\non entering heaven we learn that our father, our mother, or some\nother loved one is lost forever; shall we still be happy? Will there\nnot be in such a case an essential element wanting to complete our\nhappiness?\" We shall devote the next chapter to answering this\ndifficulty, which is a lifelong torture to many a pious mind.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XII.\n\nWILL THE KNOWLEDGE THAT SOME OF OUR OWN ARE LOST, MAR OUR HAPPINESS\nIN HEAVEN?\n\nThis is a difficult question to answer satisfactorily, on account of\nour instinctive feelings of natural affection, which arise, and, like\na mist, obscure our judgment. Nevertheless, the difficulty is much\nlessened, and even entirely removed from some minds, at hast, by the\nfollowing considerations.\n\n1. Our happiness, even in this world, does not depend on the\nhappiness of those who are bound to us by the ties of kindred or of\nfriendship. This is especially the case when their unhappiness\nproceeds from their own misdeeds. In such a case, we even inflict the\npunishment ourselves, and feel satisfied to see them suffer according\nto their deserts. Thus a father banishes from the paternal roof a son\nor a daughter who has committed a deed that has brought disgrace upon\nthe family. And what is more, the whole family ratify the terrible\nsentence. The presence and happiness of that brother or sister is no\nlonger necessary for their own happiness. Again, a husband banishes\nfrom his presence an unfaithful wife, whom he had formerly loved as\nhis own life. While she was pure, it seemed to him that he could\nnever be happy without her; and now her society has become a positive\nhinderance to his happiness. Therefore she must go and live alone in\nher disgrace. It is a just punishment for her infidelity.\n\nIf such is the case in this world, why not in heaven? Those of our\nown who die in sin appear before God in disgrace. He disowns them as\nunworthy children, or as unfaithful spouses, and as such He banishes\nthem from the kingdom of glory; and we shall undoubtedly ratify the\njust sentence. Nor will their wretchedness, which is the work of\ntheir own hands, disturb our peace or mar our happiness.\n\n2. In heaven, we shall be like God, because we shall see Him as he\nis. This moral transformation, as we have already seen, is the work\nof the Beatific Vision. By that glorious vision, and consequent union\nwith God, we shall participate in all the attributes of God which are\ncommunicable to a rational nature. One of these attributes is\njustice--that is, the power of judging as God does, without passion,\nprejudice, or any of those motives which, in this world, render our\njudgments rash, unjust, or partial. Not only shall we be clothed with\nthe power of judging justly, but with it we shall have a desire that\nevery one be rewarded or punished according to his works; and we\nshall rest perfectly satisfied to see the just sentence carried into\neffect.\n\nEven now we possess that attribute, as well as others which make us\nthe living images of the Most High. But it is far from being perfect,\nbecause our feelings, private interests, and passions warp our\njudgments, and even reverse them after we have pronounced a just\nsentence. Suppose, for instance, you hear of a man who has committed\na premeditated murder. You are horrified at the atrocious deed, and\nwithout a moment's hesitation you pronounce in your heart that man's\nsentence. Your judgment is that he must die on the scaffold, or, at\nleast, that he be deprived of liberty and condemned to hard labor for\nthe remainder of his days. But you have scarcely pronounced this just\nsentence when you discover that the murderer is your own father! What\na change this one circumstance will bring about in your judgment! If\nyou are of an affectionate nature, you will do all in your power to\nfind circumstances that may lessen or palliate his guilt; and perhaps\nyou may even succeed in making him appear, in your eyes, wholly\ninnocent; and thus your first judgment is entirely reversed. What is\nit that has thus changed your first judgment? Is it your deep sense\nof justice? Not at all. Your instinctive feelings of love have\nblinded you, and made it impossible for you to judge his case fairly,\nand on its own merits.\n\nBut, again, if you are not of an affectionate nature, you may be so\ntransported with rage at your father's crime, that you can find no\npunishment severe enough for him. And why so? Because you see\nyourself and your family forever disgraced. You feel your cheek\nburning with shame, and, in your desire for revenge, you heap\nmaledictions upon your unfortunate father's head. Here, again, your\njudgment is wrong, because it is dictated by an unmanly desire of\nrevenge. So, in either case, you are unable to judge fairly, and to\npronounce a just sentence, simply because the criminal is your own\nfather.\n\nNow, it is very certain that none of these prejudices or passions,\nwhich now so much interfere with our judgments, will follow us into\nheaven. There, clothed with the justice and sanctity of God himself,\nwe shall judge as He does, without passion or prejudice. And the fact\nthat the criminal is our own father, or mother, or other loved one,\nwill neither influence nor reverse our judgments. I do not mean to\nsay that we shall actually sit in judgment and pronounce the sentence\nof condemnation against our own kindred; but I do mean that, seeing\nthe justice and fairness of God's judgments, we shall readily\nacquiesce therein, and ratify them, and rest satisfied to see all\nsuffer according to their deserts.\n\n3. A third consideration is taken from the nature of love. When love\nfor any one has taken full possession of our soul, it so completely\nchanges our whole moral nature into the person beloved, that we\nforget our own private interests, and embrace his cause, his\ninterests, as if they were our own. Henceforth, our will is so\nabsorbed by his, that we seem no longer to possess any will of our\nown.\n\nHoly Scripture gives us a striking instance of this transforming\npower of love, in the friendship of Jonathan for David. According to\nthe forcible expression of Holy Writ: \"The soul of Jonathan was knit\nwith the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul.\"*\nDavid had slain the famous Goliath, and when the Jewish army was\nreturning home in triumph, the women sang: \"Saul slew his thousand,\nand David his ten thousand.\" King Saul was filled with anger and envy\non hearing David praised more than himself; and, from that day, he\nhated him, and did all in his power to destroy him. His son Jonathan,\nwho loved David as his own soul, left nothing undone to save his\nfriend. He watched everything his father said or did, discovered all\nhis plans against David, and then would go into the forest, at his\nown peril, and warn his friend of approaching danger. He did more: he\nforgot, or gave up all his own private interests, and embraced those\nof David. For, being the son of a king, he had the presumptive right\nto succeed his father upon the throne; but, instead of himself, he\nwanted David to reign in his father's place. He did even more: he\nembraced a line of conduct entirely opposed to the temporal interests\nof his own father, and he thus materially aided in placing David upon\nthe throne of Israel.\n\n* 1 Kings xviii.\n\nThis is a striking instance of the wonderful transforming power of\nlove. Now, if human love has such a power in this world, what shall\nwe say of the power of divine love in heaven! There we shall see God\nas He is, and that vision will kindle in us a love far greater than\never we had, or could have, for any one in this world. We shall,\ntherefore, spontaneously espouse God's cause, and embrace his\ninterests. We shall love all that He loves, and we shall find it\nimpossible to love them whom he does not and cannot love. Hence, we\nshall never love Lucifer, nor any of those fallen spirits who sided\nwith him in his rebellion against God, and became demons on that\naccount. Nor shall we ever love any of those who lived a bad life,\nstubbornly persisted in their sins, and died at enmity with God. They\nhave, by their own act, excommunicated themselves, as it were, from\nthe heart of God. They have, consequently, made it impossible for Him\never to love them. They have also made it impossible for us to love\nthem, even were they father, mother, or any one else that was dear to\nus in this world. If we can no longer love them, we shall certainly\nnot lose a single degree of our happiness on finding that they are\nnot in heaven.\n\n4. The fourth and last consideration I place before you is, that if\nthe salvation of all their own were necessary for the happiness of\nthe blessed, it might follow that very few, if any, could be happy in\nheaven. For it may be that there are only very few, if any, among the\nblessed, who see every member of their family, all their relatives\nand friends, around them in the abode of bliss. It would follow, too,\nthat even the angels are unhappy; for, before the rebellion of\nLucifer and his accomplices, they certainly loved each other, and\nprobably with more perfection and intensity than we ever loved any\none in this world. And now they see a vast multitude of their former\nfriends and associates in endless misery. Are they unhappy on that\naccount? Certainly not. It is evident, then, that if we once admit\nthat the salvation of our own is necessary for our individual\nhappiness, we find ourselves compelled to admit also that heaven is a\nplace of sadness and mourning, since there are many there who are not\nsurrounded by those whom they loved in this world. The absurdity\nwhich necessarily follows from such an admission is, by itself, a\nsufficient answer to the difficulty.\n\nOnce more: Remember that, in heaven, we shall be like God, because\nwe shall see Him as he is. We shall, therefore, be like God in\nbeatitude. Now, is God made unhappy because some of His creatures\nhave refused him obedience and love, and have, in consequence, lost\nthemselves forever? Certainly not. And did He ever love those same\ncreatures as much as we love father, or mother, brother, sister, or\nfriend? Certainly He did. His love for them was so great, that ours,\nhowever pure and ardent, sinks into insignificance when compared to\nHis. Did we ever offer ourselves to suffer every imaginable indignity\nand torture for our kindred? Did we ever offer even to die a most\nshameful and cruel death for them? We never did; and if we had even\nattempted it, we should have found our puny and imperfect love unable\nto carry us through the terrible sacrifice.\n\nGod alone is capable of so great a love. He assumed our nature, and\nin it He suffered more than human mind can conceive. Look at Him in\nthe garden, oppressed and overpowered with an agony of sorrow. Follow\nHim through the different stages of his bitter passion. Contemplate\nthat cruel scourging, the crowning with thorns, the filthy spittle\nwhich covers His sacred face, and the other insults and indignities\nheaped upon him. Follow Him to Mount Calvary; see Him there nailed\nupon an infamous gibbet, suffering every torture of mind and body to\nhis very last breath. And why did He undergo all this? Because He\nloved us. And now, are all they, whom He loved so well, and for whom\nhe suffered so much, around the throne of his glory in heaven? They\ncertainly are not. Are even all they, who were his special friends in\nthis world, around him in heaven? Surely we have every reason to fear\nthat one of them at least, Judas the traitor, is not there. And is\nJesus unhappy because they are not all there? Certainly not. If,\nthen, His happiness is not marred by the loss of those whom he loved\nso much, neither shall ours be, if we find that some of our own are\nlost. We shall be like him in beatitude, because we shall see him as\nhe is.\n\nIn the mean time, do all in your power to instil principles of virtue\ninto your children, if you are a parent; into your pupils, if you are\na teacher, or clothed in any other way with authority over your\nfellow-creatures. See that none of them be lost through your own\nfault. For if there is one thing above all others difficult to\nunderstand, it is how fathers and mothers can be happy in heaven,\nwhen they see their own children lost through their own negligence,\nor bad example? Again, how can teachers, guardians, and pastors of\nsouls be happy in heaven, when they see those committed to their care\nruined forever, through their negligence? Again, how can those men be\nhappy who have seduced others from the path of virtue, by immoral\ndiscourses, bad books, and evil actions? These certainly are hard\nthings to understand; and still we must believe that all they who\nenter heaven are happy. We must believe, moreover, that careless, and\neven bad parents, negligent teachers, seducers of the innocent, and\nwriters of bad books, will eventually be admitted into heaven, if\nthey die truly repentant. We must believe, moreover, that all such\npersons will be happy in heaven, no matter how many they have ruined,\nfor the simple reason that no unhappiness can ever find its way into\nthe abode of bliss.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIII.\n\nTHE LIGHT OF GLORY.\n\nHaving, in the foregoing chapters, endeavored to form an idea of\nheaven's happiness, we must now endeavor to understand something of\nthe different degrees in which each one of the blessed enjoys that\nunspeakable beatitude.\n\nIt is an article of faith that every one in heaven, except baptized\ninfants, is rewarded according to his own personal merits, acquired\nin this life by the assistance of God's grace. Baptized children, who\ndie before they reach the age of discretion, are admitted into\nheaven, in virtue of their adoption as children of God on the day of\ntheir baptism. But all others who have lived long enough to be\nresponsible or their deeds, besides being admitted there in virtue of\ntheir adoption as children of God, are, moreover, rewarded according\nto their own personal merits.\n\nBut, it seems to me, I hear you ask, Does not the happiness of heaven\nconsist in the Beatific Vision? Undoubtedly it does. And is the\nlittle boy, who dies before he can make an act of faith, or of\ncharity, admitted to that glorious vision as well as the Apostle and\nthe martyr? Certainly he is. And the little girl, who dies before\nreaching the age of discretion, is she too admitted to the vision of\nGod, as well as the Sister of Charity, the nun, and others who spend\ntheir lives in teaching the ignorant and ministering to the poor?\nUndoubtedly she is. And the murderer, who dies on the scaffold, after\nmaking an act of perfect contrition, is he, too, eventually admitted\nto the vision and possession of God? Yes, he, too, will see God face\nto face, and be made happy by that glorious vision. Well, then, if\nall see and possess God, how can there be a difference in the\nhappiness of the saints? Are they not all equally happy? This is the\nquestion we are now to answer, by examining the meaning and the\nnature of the Light of glory. This examination will make it evident,\nthat, though all see God, yet no two of the blessed enjoy precisely\nthe same degree or amount of happiness.\n\nTheologians define the Light of glory to be, \"A supernatural\nintellectual power infused into the soul, by which she is enabled to\nsee God, which she never could do by her own unassisted natural\npowers.\"* It is called supernatural, because it is not a natural\ntalent or power of our nature, as the talent for poetry, music,\npainting, and others, all of which may be developed and highly\nimproved by study. But the Light of glory is an elevation, expansion,\nor development of the mind, which comes directly from God, and is, in\nno sense, the result of human endeavors, except in so far as it has\nbeen deserved by a holy life. We shall understand better the meaning\nof the Light of glory by an illustration.\n\n* Per lumen gloriae intelligitur qualitas creata, et habitus virtusque\nintellectualis supernaturalis, ac per se infusa intellectui, qua\nredditur proxime potens et habilis ad videndum Deum.... Ita D.\nThomas, sicque ratione probatur: Ut virtutes infusae requiruntur, ut\neorum actus fiant connaturali modo, nempe a principio intrinseco et\nproportionato, ita etiam lumen ut fiat visio. Cum enim activitas ex\nparte intellectus sit in suo ordine deficiens et imperfecta, ideo\noportet ut lumen illi virtutem conferat altioris ordinis,\nsupernaturalem et actui proportionatam per quam elevatur ad\nefficiendam visionem cum illo. Suarez, de Deo, cap. xiv.\n\nLet us suppose that you never could learn mathematics or astronomy.\nIn spite of the most intense application, you never could master even\nthe multiplication table; and when you gazed upon the heavens, you\ncould never see there any more beauty and magnificence than does the\nuntutored savage. But, on a sudden, there is a flash of light from\nabove, and your mind is enlightened far beyond its natural capacity,\nand you can see all the heavenly bodies as they are. You now know\ntheir names, motions, distances, laws, and relations to each other,\nand to the whole universe. Formerly, they appeared all alike, except\nthe sun and the moon; but now, you see that no two of them are alike.\nEach one has its own size, velocity, beauty, and glory. You even soar\nfar beyond the discoveries of science, and you gaze with delight upon\nmillions of shining worlds, which the most powerful telescope never\ndid, and never can, reach. You can, moreover, in the twinkling of an\neye, calculate with astonishing precision the day, the hour, the\nminute, yea, the very second, at which an eclipse will occur. Gazing\nupon the heavens, which hitherto had given you so little\nsatisfaction, now becomes the source of the most exquisite and\nrational pleasure. For you now see in these countless worlds so much\nbeauty and magnificence, so delightful a harmony, that you can spend\nwhole nights in the contemplation of the heavens.\n\nThis sudden elevation and expansion of your mind to see such wonders\nin the natural order, illustrates what takes place in heaven the\nmoment a pure soul enters there. In the supposition just made, you\nreceive an accession or addition of intellectual power, which enables\nyou to see clearly and to understand what was invisible and\nunintelligible to you before the flash enlightened you. The Light of\nglory produces a similar effect upon the soul at her entrance into\nheaven. Our mind, which is now unable to see God except \"as through a\nglass, in a dark manner,\" is suddenly elevated in power, and enabled\nto see God as he is, face to face, and to contemplate his divine\nbeauty and his other perfections. Our individual mind is neither\ndestroyed nor changed into another: it is only strengthened and\nelevated in power and capacity far beyond anything we could ever have\nreached by our own unassisted endeavors.\n\nBut we shall still better understand the meaning of the Light of\nglory by contrasting it with the light of faith. What is faith? Faith\nis also a supernatural elevation of the mind, by which we are enabled\nto believe, as firmly as if we saw them, mysteries which are far\nabove our comprehension. It is called supernatural, because it comes\nfrom God alone; for no man ever can bestow faith upon himself. Here,\nthen, the light of faith and the Light of glory resemble each other,\ninasmuch as they both come immediately from God, and elevate man\nabove himself. But they vastly differ in intensity; for by faith we\nsee God imperfectly and unsatisfactorily, whereas by the Light of\nglory we see God as he is in himself. Faith, therefore, is as the\nfirst faint blush of the morning, while the Light of glory is as the\nsun shining in his meridian splendor.\n\nSo, then, the Light of glory is a supernatural addition to our mind,\nwhich enables it to cross the gulf between the Creator and the\ncreature. I say gulf, because no created intelligence can see God as\nhe is, by its own natural power. Hence, neither St. Augustine, nor\nSt. Thomas, nor any other giant intellect could see God as He is in\nhimself, any better than the man who never could learn his letters.\nIt is in this sense that we must understand St. Paul when, speaking\nof God, he says: \"Who alone hath immortality, and inhabiteth light\ninaccessible; whom no man hath seen, nor can see.\"* Evidently he\nmeans that no one can see God by the light of nature; for in another\nplace he tells us that when that which is perfect is come, we shall\nsee Him face to face.\n\n1 Tim. vi. 16.\n\nFrom all this it follows that all men are on a footing of perfect\nequality, so far as the power of seeing God is concerned. No one has\nthat power in himself by nature, and no one can give it to himself or\ndevelop it by study, as we can other powers we have received in the\nnatural order. It is as if we said that no man possesses the natural\npower to see thorough a stone wall, or thorough the earth. Certainly\nall men are equal here; for the man whose eagle eye can recognize a\nfriend at the distance of ten miles, is no nearer seeing thorough the\nearth than another, whose sight is so bad that he can scarcely\nrecognize his own father at a distance of a few steps. So it is with\nseeing God. No man has the power in himself by nature, and,\ntherefore, no one can develop it by study. Even the angels, who are\nso vastly superior to us in intelligence, could not see God as he is\nuntil they were elevated by the light of glory; and those among them\nwho became reprobates by their sin, never did and never shall see\nGod, although they still retain, even in their fallen state, more\nintelligence than man.\n\nI have been particular in explaining and insisting upon these things,\nlest it might be imagined that men of highly cultivated minds, such\nas philosophers, theologians, poets, and the like, shall see God\nbetter, and enjoy more of heaven's happiness than the ignorant, in\nvirtue of their superior natural gifts. They certainly shall not. God\ndoes not bestow a supernatural reward upon the natural gifts, or even\nupon the natural virtues, which are to be found among pagans as well\nas among Christians. But He does reward the faith, hope, charity, and\nother supernatural virtues, which his children have practised in this\nworld. Hence, theology teaches that not even the angels, who are so\nsuperior to us, see God any better in virtue of their nobler and more\nperfect intellect. Thus, supposing an angel and a man to be equal in\nmerit, they both receive the same amount of the Light of glory; they\nboth see God in the same degree of perfection; and both, therefore,\nenjoy the same degree of happiness. If we admit that the angel has a\nmore perfect vision of God, on account of his more perfect natural\nintellect, then we must also admit that he enjoys a portion of\nsupernatural beatitude, exclusively, in virtue of his natural powers,\nand not on account of his merits acquired by correspondence to divine\ngrace.* Evidently no such admission can be made; for heaven is a\nsupernatural reward of supernatural virtues, which have been\npractised, in this world, under the influence of divine grace, and\nnot a reward of natural endowments. If, then, no such doctrine can be\nadmitted when the question is between angels and men, much less can\nit be admitted when there is question of superior natural intellect\namong men. Hence, the man who never learned his letters, either for\nwant of natural talent or opportunity, shall undoubtedly see God, as\nwell as the philosopher, if he has led as good a life; and he shall\nsee Him better, and enjoy more of heaven's happiness, if he has lived\na holier life.\n\n* . . . Ipsa enim visio est praemium nostrum: ergo ubi paria sunt\nmerita, debet esse par visio: sed in homino et angelo possunt esse\nparia merita: ergo debet esse par visio. Ergo quantitas visionis\ndebet sumi a lumine gloriae quod datur secundum mensuram meritorum,\nnon autem a perfectione intellectus, quae non datur ex meritis. Et\nconfirmatur, quia ponamus angelum et hominem habere aequalia merita.\nVel ergo accipient aequale lumen gloriae vel inaequale. Si inaequale, non\nrespondebit meritis. Si aequale, ergo cum aequali lumine aequaliter Deum\nvidebunt: alioqui si angelus perfectius videret, tunc aliquam partem\nbeatitudinis haberet sine meritis, ex solis naturae viribus. Becan. de\nAttrib. Divin., quaest. x.\n\nOnce more: The light of glory is a supernatural elevation of the\nmind, which enables man to see God as He is in himself. It is given\nby God himself to those who have lived a supernatural life of faith,\nhope, and charity. Moreover, it is given to each in proportion to his\npersonal merits. It therefore becomes the measure of the degree of\nhappiness which each one of the blessed enjoys in the vision of God.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIV.\n\nDEGREES OF HAPPINESS IN HEAVEN.\n\nHaving seen that the Light of glory is the new power, or medium,\nthrough which the blessed see and enjoy God, we must now endeavor to\nunderstand how its different degrees of intensity become the source\nof vastly different degrees of happiness or enjoyment.\n\nIn order to understand how the different degrees of mental elevation\nproduce different degrees of happiness in the Beatific Vision, we\nmust first examine in what consist the different degrees of enjoyment\nin the creatures that now surround us. This will be as a mirror, in\nwhich we can see faint, but true, reflections of the vast difference\nthere is between the highest and the lowest in heaven.\n\nIn order to receive pleasure from creatures, it is not enough to be\nsurrounded with them, or even to possess them: we must, moreover, be\nendowed with organs, or faculties, through which we can receive and\nappropriate to ourselves the pleasures which, according to their\nnature, they can give. Thus, a grand concert, which pours the most\nexquisite pleasures into your soul, gives none at all to a deaf man,\nbecause he lacks the receiving organ, and hence the pleasure-giving\nobject is, in his regard, as if it had no existence.\n\nBut this is not all. Not only does our pleasure depend upon the\npossession of receiving faculties, but the amount also, or degree, of\nthat pleasure, depends upon the development and perfection of the\nsame receiving organs and faculties. The more highly developed and\ncultivated they are, the more intense, also, will be the satisfaction\nand pleasure we shall receive from any given object; while persons of\ninferior development will receive far less, although the object is\nthe same for all. Let us make this evident by an illustration.\n\nTake the thousands of persons who have read some literary work, say,\nfor instance, the Iliad of Homer. They all had eyes, and all could\nread; they all possessed the whole book as completely as if it had\nbeen written for each one in particular; and, no doubt, they all\nreceived pleasure from the perusal of that beautiful poem. But, did\nthey all receive the same amount of pleasure? They certainly did not.\nNot even two individuals ever received the same degree of pleasure or\nenjoyment from the perusal of that book. Each one received and\nappropriated to himself his own pleasure--which was great in\nproportion to the cultivation and elevation of his mind. Hence, while\na superior and highly cultivated mind is entranced at the beauty and\nsublimity of some particular passage, an inferior one sees neither\nmeaning nor beauty in it, and, perhaps, even casts the book aside in\ndisgust.\n\nIt would be easy to multiply illustrations; but this one is\nsufficient to show that the amount of pleasure we derive from the use\nof creatures depends upon the degree of development and perfection in\nour receiving faculties. So it is in heaven, among the blessed. They\nall see and possess God; they all love and enjoy Him; but it by no\nmeans follows that they all enjoy the same amount of happiness from\nthat blessed vision. And why so? Because each one sees and enjoys\nonly in proportion to his individual development and elevation of\nmind--which is given to him by the Light of glory. And, as that\nblessed Light is given to each one according to his own personal\nmerits, it follows that each one sees and enjoys God in proportion to\nthe holiness of the life he lived while upon earth.\n\nHence, they who have practised virtue in a heroic degree--they who\nhave sacrificed the pleasures of this world, honors, wealth, and even\nlife itself, for God, possess the highest elevation of mind, and,\nconsequently, the highest degree of enjoyment. They possess the most\nintense and perfect vision of the Divine Essence; they soar higher,\nand penetrate more deeply into the unfathomable being of God. They\nsee more of the divine beauty, wisdom, goodness, and other\nperfections of God, and partake more largely of the Divine Nature. In\na word, their higher elevation of mind, by a more intense Light of\nglory, is to them the source of the highest and most perfect\nenjoyment in the Beatific Vision; while persons of very inferior\nvirtue, though perfectly happy too, enjoy a vastly inferior degree of\nblessedness.\n\nBut this is not all. We have seen, in a former chapter, that the\nBeatific Vision does not consist in merely gazing upon the surpassing\nbeauty of God; and that the mere sight of Him, if it could be\nseparated from the possession of him, could not make any one happy.\nWherefore, the sight of God includes the possession of Him. It\nincludes, moreover, the intense love to which that vision gives\nbirth, as well as the consequent enjoyment of Him. Now, it is evident\nthat a more intense light of glory, or a greater elevation of the\nmind, inflames the soul with a more intense love or God. For, it not\nonly reveals to her more of His surpassing beauty, but it also\nreveals more of His unspeakable love for her; and her love for Him\nbecomes greater in proportion. And the greater the love between the\nsoul and God, the more perfect and complete also is the union\nexisting between them, and, consequently, the higher is the happiness\nenjoyed by the soul.\n\nThus it is that all the blessed see, love, and enjoy God in the\nBeatific Vision. They are all perfectly happy; and yet, among the\ncountless multitude of God's children, probably not two really enjoy\nthe same degree of happiness. Each one enjoys according to the\nelevation of his mind, which he has deserved by the holiness of his\nlife. Not only is there a difference in the degrees of enjoyment, but\nthere is a gulf between the highest and the lowest in heaven. It is,\nmoreover, an impassable gulf, which the lowest can never cross so as\nto reach the highest happiness of heaven. It were far easier for the\nlowest and most uncouth servant-maid in a king's palace to reach the\ndignity and glory of a queen, than it is for the lowest in heaven to\nreach the most intimate degree of union with God. Each one is happy\nin the degree and sphere which his life has deserved for him; but in\nthat degree each one will and must remain forever.\n\nI trust that you now understand something of the different degrees of\nhappiness in heaven; and that, at the same time, you are filled with\na holy ambition to reach a high degree of union with God. If so,\nthank God. For a high degree of glory in heaven is within the reach\nof us all, however poor, ignorant, or insignificant we may be here\nbelow. Heaven is not as this world, where the mere accident of birth,\nor the smile of fortune, instead of moral worth, generally determines\na man's position in society, as well as the amount of natural\nhappiness he shall enjoy. Hence, no poor girl ever imagines that, if\nshe be very virtuous, some great king will eventually espouse her,\nand elevate her to the dignity and glory of a queen. No poor boy ever\nbelieves that, if he behaves well, and obeys the laws of the land as\na good citizen, the king will, in consequence, eventually adopt him\nas one of his sons, and bestow upon him the honors and pleasures\nwhich may be enjoyed by royal children. But even supposing such wild\ndreams could be realized in this world, these ignorant and uncouth\npeople could not be made happy in their elevated position. And why?\nBecause the king, who has the power to give palaces, wealth,\nmagnificent dresses, and tables loaded with every imaginable luxury,\nhas not the power to bestow the elevation of mind, polish of manners,\nand other graces which befit queens and royal children. Hence, they\nwould feel out of place, and be unable to enjoy the happiness to\nwhich they have been elevated. Besides, they would see themselves\ndespised, and even ridiculed, by those whose birth and education have\nfitted them for high society. The mere fact, therefore, of their\nelevation to high honors, would not clothe them with the personal\nqualities which are necessary to enjoy the highest honors and\npleasures of this world.\n\nHow different all this is, when there is question of heaven! For, how\npoor and ignorant soever we may now be, we may reasonably aspire to a\nvery high degree of glory, and to the exquisite delights which come\nfrom a more intimate union with God. How insignificant soever we may\nbe, and however low our position in this world, we may aspire to move\nin the highest society in heaven. And not only may we aspire to all\nthis, and reach it, by the grace of God and the practice of virtue,\nbut, what is more, we shall be made fit for our high position. For\nthe moment the vision of God flashes upon the soul, we become like\nHim. We shall, therefore, be educated, filled with all knowledge,\nwisdom, and every other perfection. We shall be clothed with the\npersonal beauty, refinement, and other graces which befit spouses of\nJesus Christ and children of God. For you must ever bear in mind that\nthe glory of heaven, besides the elevation of our mind by the Light\nof glory, implies the elevation of our whole nature to the\nsupernatural state.\n\nWherefore, not only is our mind elevated far beyond its present\npowers by the Light of glory, but our body, also, is to be exalted by\nthe resurrection far beyond its present perfection. As we have\nalready seen, all the just are to rise in glory, but each one in his\nown degree of perfection. \"For, one is the glory of the sun, another\nthe glory of the moon, and another the glory of the stars. For star\ndiffereth from star in glory. So, also, in the resurrection of the\ndead.\" Here the Apostle of the Gentiles teaches us, in the plainest\nmanner possible, that among the saints there is a very great\ndifference in the degrees of personal beauty, grace, and splendor.\nThere is as much difference between the beauty and splendor of the\nhighest and those of the lowest, as we now see between the dazzling\nsplendor of the surf and the pale light of the moon. As the\nresurrection is a portion of heaven's rewards, it follows that the\nmore completely we have mortified our inordinate passions, and made\nour life conformable to that of Jesus Christ, the more also of\npersonal beauty and splendor shall we possess in heaven; and,\nconsequently, the more of heaven's happiness we shall enjoy.\n\nThese attributes of personal beauty and perfection, and elevation to\na high position, in heaven, are the very marks by which we shall\nimmediately recognize those who have been most holy, and who have\ndone most for God, in this world. It will no longer be as now, when\nthe wicked prosper, possess wealth, honors, and power, while the\nvirtuous are not infrequently poor, despised, and even persecuted\nunto death. Hence, the appearance of a man and his surroundings are\nnot a rule whereby we can rightly judge of his sanctity. Thus, when\nyou see a man of great personal beauty, highly educated, and polished\nin his manners, surrounded with all the magnificence which the world\ncan give, honored and idolized by his fellows, enjoying a high social\nposition, and all the pleasures of life, you do not, you cannot\njudge, from all this worldly glory, that he is one of the holiest men\nliving. He may, indeed, be a good man, but the glory which surrounds\nhim is not the standard by which you can judge of the amount of\nvirtue which he possesses.\n\nIn heaven, the glory which surrounds the saints is a rule, and an\ninfallible one, by which we can tell the amount of virtue they\npractised while living in mortal flesh. Thus, when you enter there,\nyou will see some who outshine others in splendor as the sun\noutshines the moon. You will see them wonderfully transformed into\nGod, shining like the Divinity in His presence; partaking of the\nDivine Nature in a high degree, and united to Him in the most\nintimate manner. You will see them elevated far above others in rank,\nhonored and loved in a special manner by the angels and saints. On\nseeing them, your first thought will be that these are the holiest\npersons in heaven. You will judge that their dazzling splendor, their\nwonderful resemblance to God, their intimate union with Him, the high\nposition they occupy, and the exquisite pleasures they enjoy, are all\nso many proofs that, while on earth, they loved God with their whole\nheart, and their neighbor as themselves; that they were poor in\nspirit, humble, pure, patient in adversity, and that perhaps some of\nthem laid down their lives for God, amidst the most excruciating\ntorments. Here is a correct judgment. For it is precisely their\nheroic virtue, and not the mere accident of birth or the smile of\nfortune, which gives them the superior beauty, glory, and happiness\nthey now enjoy.\n\nThen, again, you will see others, who, although perfectly happy, are\nnevertheless far inferior in their degree of union with God and\npersonal splendor. You will immediately infer that these practised\nvirtue in an inferior degree. Your judgment is right again; for, in\nheaven, the glory which surrounds every saint is a rule by which we\ncan judge of his moral worth, and of the amount of virtue which he\npractised while living in this world; because there it is all a just\nreward, and not the result of one's birth, or of any caprice of\nfortune.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XV.\n\nDEGREES OF ENJOYMENT THROUGH THE GLORIFIED SENSES.\n\nThe possession and enjoyment of God in the Beatific Vision is not the\nwhole happiness of man in heaven; nor is it the only one in which\nthere are different degrees of enjoyment. Our senses, also, as well\nas our minds, are to be elevated far beyond their present capacities\nfor enjoyment. They, too, are to receive a supernatural development,\nan exquisite delicacy of perception, and power of conveying pleasures\nto the soul, in proportion to the merits we have acquired by the\nholiness of our lives. They, consequently, who, have led the holiest\nlives, are not only the most intimately united to God, not only the\nmost completely transformed into Him by partaking more abundantly of\nthe Divine Nature; but their senses, also, are glorified and elevated\nin power of enjoyment far above theirs who have practised virtue in\nan inferior degree. Hence the highest in heaven will receive\nimmensely more pleasure thorough their senses, than others whose\nlives have not been so holy. Any contrary doctrine would savor of\nheresy.\n\nIf you were told, for instance, that a musician, who never served\nGod, but who, nevertheless, received the grace of a death-bed\nrepentance, shall, on account of his cultivated musical ear, enjoy\nmore pleasure from heavenly music than the Blessed Virgin, the\napostles, martyrs, and holy virgins, your whole soul would\nundoubtedly revolt at such a doctrine. You would maintain that if\nheaven is the reward of supernatural virtue, its whole happiness, its\nevery joy, and its every delight, whether from God himself or from\ncreatures, should be enjoyed in a higher degree by those who have\nloved and served Him in a more perfect manner, and sacrificed\nthemselves more completely for Him.\n\nYou would certainly be right in maintaining all this, for it is\ncertainly so. The highest in heaven will not only possess a greater\nelevation of mind--which is necessary to enjoy greater pleasure even\nfrom creatures--but their senses also will be more refined and acute,\nand will, therefore, enable them to enjoy more refined pleasures from\nthe objects of sense. It will be as already explained for the\nBeatific Vision. All shall see, hear, and otherwise enjoy the\ncreatures prepared by the Almighty to rejoice the senses of His\nchildren; but all shall not, on that account, enjoy the same amount\nof pleasure. Each one shall receive his own pleasure, according to\nthe supernatural perfection of his senses which he has deserved by\nthe holiness of his life.\n\nLet us endeavor to understand this, by supposing a grand concert\ngiven in a church, where all classes of society are represented. All\nhear the music, both vocal and instrumental, and all, no doubt,\nreceive pleasure. But do they all receive the same amount of\npleasure? They certainly do not. We may, for the sake of\nillustration, divide that vast assembly into three general classes.\nThe first consists of those who have little or no musical ear, and,\ntherefore, the concert affords them only an inferior pleasure. The\nnext class is composed of those who have a good natural ear for\nmusic, but who never have developed and cultivated it by study. These\nevidently receive a far greater pleasure than the former. But the\nthird class is composed of those who not only possess a natural\ntalent for music, but who have, moreover, developed it by patient and\nassiduous study. These last receive unbounded pleasure. They follow\nwith ease each instrument and voice into the most intricate harmony;\nthey receive the most exquisite pleasure precisely in those parts\nwhere the uneducated perceive little or no beauty, because the music\nis too scientific for them.\n\nHere you have the same object of pleasure for all. Every one present\nhears the whole concert as if he were there alone; and yet, what a\ndifference in the pleasure enjoyed by each one! We have divided these\npersons into three classes, but, in reality, each one forms a class\nby himself; for there are not two of those present, whether among the\neducated or the ignorant, who receive precisely the same amount of\npleasure. Each one appropriates and enjoys his own individual\npleasure, according to the peculiar development of his faculties.\n\nSo it is in heaven. All the blessed hear the magnificent harmony, but\nall do not, on that account, enjoy the same degree of pleasure. Each\none enjoys in proportion to his individual development, which is\ngiven him as a portion of his reward. And, as the reward is given in\nproportion to the holiness of their lives, it follows that the\nholiest enjoy more pleasure than others from heavenly music.\nEvidently, this holds true of the other senses, which also are\nelevated and refined according to each one's holiness of life. Hence,\nhowever talented and learned a man may now be in music, astronomy,\nphilosophy, poetry, or any other natural science, and how keen and\nperfect soever may be his senses, he will not enjoy more pleasure, in\nvirtue of these more perfect natural gifts, unless they have been\nconsecrated to the service of God.\n\nThis is a truth which you must never forget. For it is to be feared\nthat there is a half-formed notion in the minds of respectable and\nhighly educated persons, that their superior talents and education\nwill enable them to enjoy more of heaven's happiness than those who\neither have no great talents or are too poor to have them developed\nby study. There can be no greater illusion. If it were so, the poor,\nwho, have already suffered so much from their humble position, would\nseemingly have reason to complain on seeing the educated classes\nagain above them in heaven; and that, too, merely on account of their\nhigher education, and other natural advantages. Remember that God can\nand will elevate each one in the power of enjoyment, according to the\nholiness of his life, and not according to the natural advantages he\nenjoys in this world.\n\nBut although it is perfectly true that natural talents, as such, are\nnot rewarded, and, therefore, do not elevate their possessors to a\nhigher glory or power of enjoyment, the case is quite different if\nthese talents have been developed under the influence of grace, and\nconsecrated to God by supernatural motives. In such a supposition,\nthey will most certainly be rewarded with a higher degree of glory,\nand an increased power of enjoyment. Hence, philosophers,\ntheologians, and other learned men, who study for the glory of God;\npoets, who sing the praises of God and of his saints; musicians, who\ndevote their talents to the composition of sacred music; the men and\nthe women who consecrate their talents and lives to the education of\nyouth--all these shall undoubtedly have their talents rewarded with\nan increased power of enjoyment, because they have supernaturalized\nthem by a pure intention, and exercised them for the glory of God and\nthe salvation of souls. The rich man will certainly not be higher in\nheaven on account of his wealth; but he may increase his glory by\nmaking a proper use thereof. He may relieve the necessities of the\nfatherless and the widow; he may build up houses for the education of\nthe poor; he may increase the beauty and the majesty of God's\ntemples, and thus change his wealth into a means of reaching a very\nhigh degree of glory in heaven. So with you, if you be wealthy,\ntalented, and highly educated, although you will not be higher in\nheaven on account of these natural advantages, you may vastly\nincrease your glory by charity to the poor, by teaching the ignorant,\nby writing or translating good books, by purchasing and circulating\nsuch pious books among the poor, and by otherwise using your social\nposition for the advancement of religion, and glorifying God with the\nnatural advantages He has so liberally bestowed upon you.\n\nBut you may, perhaps, ask: Will not these different degrees of glory\ncause envy and, therefore, unhappiness in the lowest among the\nblessed? Will not kings and queens, and other great ones of this\nworld, be unhappy if they see the poor above them? when they see\nthose, to whom they imagined they could not even speak without\nlowering their dignity, shining far above them in splendor? I answer,\nthat if kings, queens, and other great ones of this world have the\nunspeakable good fortune of being admitted into heaven, they\ncertainly will not be envious of the greater glory they shall behold\nin those upon whom they formerly looked down.\n\nThere is no envy in heaven. If we once admit the possibility of such\na thing as envy, then farewell to the happiness of heaven. For in\nsuch a supposition no one could be happy. The lowest would envy the\nhappiness of those who are a little higher, and these would envy the\nhappiness of the highest, and these, again, would envy the happiness\nof the Blessed Virgin; and she, too, would be unhappy, because she\ndoes not possess the glory of the Hypostatic Union, which is the\nprivilege of Jesus Christ alone. The absurdity of all this is a\nsufficient answer to the question. Each one in heaven is satisfied\nwith his own lot, because it suits himself and no one else. As St.\nAugustine says: When a tall man and a little boy are both dressed in\na suit of the same precious cloth, each is suited and fitted to his\nsatisfaction. The little boy is neither envious nor unhappy because\nthe tall man has more cloth than he; and he certainly would not\nexchange with him. So also in heaven. Every one is there satisfied\nwith his own degree of glory, because it suits himself, and gratifies\nall the rational cravings of his nature. Not only are the lowest\nwithout envy, and perfectly satisfied with their degree of glory, but\nthey even rejoice at the higher glory of others. For they see that\nthose who enjoy the highest glory of heaven have deserved it by the\nheroic virtues they practised while on earth.\n\nChristian soul, I suppose that now you understand something of the\ndegrees of enjoyment in heaven, and that you are filled with noble\nambition to reach a high degree of union with God. You no doubt\ndesire to see your whole nature so elevated as to have the most\nperfect enjoyment of God himself, and of the creatures in store to\nrejoice the glorified senses of the just. Set to work in good earnest\nto live a holy life; for it is by so doing that we deserve the\nhighest powers of enjoyment. A few days of labor and struggle, a few\ndays of self-denial, a few days of suffering, and then, the\nundisturbed possession and enjoyment Of God himself, and of His\nbeautiful and pure creatures, forever! This is what is in store for\nthem that practise virtue and persevere unto the end.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVI.\n\nTHE GLORY OF JESUS AND MARY.\n\nBefore entering upon the contemplation of the excellent glory which\nsurrounds the blessed in heaven, we must endeavor to form a correct\nidea of God's grace, which enabled them to perform the great and\nnoble actions we are now to consider. They were all, except Jesus and\nMary, conceived in sin, and, therefore, subject to the same\ntemptations that daily assail us. They never could have triumphed and\nreached the supernatural glory which now surrounds them, had they\nbeen left to their own natural strength, or rather, weakness.\n\nWhen we enter a well-cultivated garden, filled with flowers of every\nshade of color and every degree of beauty, it never enters into our\nminds that they grew so of themselves, or gave to themselves their\ndelicate and exquisite perfumes. We know that the skill of the\ngardener had something to do with their growth and beauty; we know,\nmoreover, that rain and sunshine, the quality of soil, and other\nnatural influences, did what was totally beyond the power of the\ngardener; and finally we come to God, who is, ultimately, the sole\nAuthor of their very life, growth, and perfection.\n\nWe are now to enter God's glorious garden to contemplate the beauty\nof the flowers which He has planted and beautified by His grace.\nEvery saint is like a flower, beautiful in proportion to the amount\nof grace he received, and in proportion, also, to the amount of his\nown free co-operation with this grace. Some received the grace of the\napostleship, and all, except one, corresponded with that grace.\nOthers received the grace of martyrdom; others received the grace of\nthe priesthood; others the grace of trampling under foot the honors\nand pleasures of this world, by consecrating themselves to God in\nreligious communities; while others, again, received the grace of\nbecoming saints, while living in the world. Thus every one, by\ncorresponding with his own grace, which gave him a supernatural\nstrength, reached the glory to which he is entitled. No one in the\nwhole of heaven can say that he enjoys its happiness by his own\nnatural endeavors; for, without the grace of God, we cannot even have\na good thought, nor pronounce the name of Jesus, so as to deserve a\nsupernatural reward. Hence, the highest in heaven must say, with St.\nPaul: \"By the grace of God I am what I am: and His grace in me hath\nnot been void: but I have labored more abundantly than all they: yet\nnot I, but the grace of God with me.\"*\n\n* 1 Cor. xv. 10.\n\nIt is by the aid of this grace that the blessed have reached the\nglory of heaven; it is by this all-powerful grace that they have\ndeserved the unfading crown, whereof St. Paul speaks so boldly and\nconfidently, when he says: \"I have fought a good fight, I have\nfinished my course, I have kept the faith. As to the rest, there is\nlaid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the just Judge,\nwill render to me at that day; and not to me only, but to them also,\nwho love His coming.\"* This is the glorious crown we are now to\nconsider; and first of all, in Jesus Christ, who, in His human\nnature, is elevated and glorified far above all, in heaven.\n\n* 2 Tim. iv. 7.\n\nJesus is the Son of God; but He is also \"the Son of Man.\" As God, His\nglory is from everlasting to everlasting. It had no beginning, and it\nshall have no end. As its source is in His very essence, it can\nneither be increased nor diminished. But it is far different with the\nglory of the human nature which He assumed. That had a beginning, and\ncould be increased, and, as a matter of fact, was increased, until He\nexalted it above all that is not God, in heaven. Let us now\ncontemplate His bright glory, and rejoice with him in his surpassing\nblessedness.\n\nSee Him enthroned at the right hand of God his Father, clothed with\n\"great power and majesty.\" The personal union of the eternal Son of\nGod with the human nature gives Him, as man, undisputed pre-eminence\nover all, in power, holiness, beauty, and every other attribute\ncommunicable to a created nature. He is so completely possessed,\nembraced, and penetrated by the Divine Nature, that His adorable\nheart is the throne of the most perfect happiness ever enjoyed by\nman. That loving heart, which is purer than the sun's brightest rays,\nis filled to overflowing with the most exquisite joys emanating from\nthe very bosom of the most Holy Trinity.\n\nWhile on earth, no one ever loved God and man as He did; and now\nthere is none in all the heavens who is equally loved in return, both\nby God himself and the bright throngs that surround this throne. No\nman, therefore, ever did, or ever can enjoy a happiness so pure, so\nexquisite, and in so eminent a degree as He does.\n\nWhile on earth, His soul was sorrowful even unto death; but now it\nis inebriated with torrents of joy, too great for poor human language\nto express. While on earth, He likewise suffered in all his senses.\nHe endured hunger and thirst, cold and heat, fatigue, and the\nnumberless privations which His poverty entailed upon him. But it was\nespecially during His cruel passion that his sight, hearing, taste,\nand particularly his sense of feeling, were tortured to the utmost;\nand now His glorified senses have become the avenues of the most\nexquisite and refined pleasures. He now sees himself surrounded by\nthe thousands whom His precious blood has sanctified and beautified;\nand he continually hears the sweet harmony of their grateful songs.\nHis sacred body, which had been bruised and mangled, disfigured and\ndishonored by the filthy spittle of His enemies, is now the most\nbeautiful, perfect, and resplendent in the whole kingdom of heaven.\nIt is the very sun which, by its splendor, gives beauty and life to\nthe whole of heaven. In a word, Jesus, as man, is above all in power,\nmajesty, wisdom, glory, and enjoys the most perfect and complete\nhappiness that ever came from God.\n\nBut you will, perhaps, say: Does not Jesus enjoy all this unspeakable\nglory, simply and exclusively in virtue of His high privileges? Is it\nnot on account of the Hypostatic Union that He is thus exalted above\nall in glory? I answer: Although the Hypostatic Union, by its very\nnature, gives Him the right to the first place in heaven, it gives\nhim neither the glory nor the rewards which are due to Him as the\nRedeemer of mankind. The Hypostatic Union is a high privilege, a free\ngift of God, which He did not merit; for that privilege, in the\ndesigns of his Father, involved the office of Redeemer. This was His\nvocation in this world, and he corresponded to it faithfully. He\ntaught the world, first by example, next by His heavenly doctrines.\nThen He submitted willingly, and even cheerfully, to all the\nindignities of his bitter passion, and finally consummated the great\nwork of man's redemption by expiring upon the cross.\n\nIt is for all this life of poverty, suffering, and humiliation, that\nHe is rewarded, and so wonderfully glorified, and not exclusively on\naccount of the Hypostatic Union. Listen to St. Paul, and he will tell\nyou why Jesus is exalted above all in heaven: \"He humbled Himself,\nbecoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. For which\ncause God hath also exalted Him, and hath given Him a name which is\nabove all names, that in the name of Jesus, every knee should bow of\nthose that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.\"* Surely\nthis is far from saying that Jesus enjoys the highest glory of\nheaven, exclusively on account of the Hypostatic Union. It is given\nHim by his Father as a \"crown of justice,\" which he really deserved\nby his sufferings and obedience unto the death of the Cross.\n\n* Phil. ii. 8.\n\nIt is, moreover, the beautiful canticle which forever resounds\nthrough the vaults of heaven. Listen to it: \"Thou art worthy, O Lord,\nto take the book, and open the seals thereof: because Thou wast\nslain, and hast redeemed us in Thy blood, out of every tribe, and\ntongue, and people, and nation.\"* It is evident, then, that Jesus is\nrewarded in His human nature with the highest glory of heaven, on\naccount of his own individual merits.\n\n* Apoc. v. 9.\n\nLet us now spend a few moments in contemplating the glory of the\nBlessed Virgin. Jesus is the King of heaven; Mary is the Queen. She\ncertainly comes next to Jesus in dignity and merit, and her glory is,\ntherefore, next to His in splendor and magnificence. She is the woman\nof whom the beloved disciple speaks when he says: \"And a great wonder\nappeared in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under\nher feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars.\"* This certainly\nexpresses the highest glory and splendor imaginable. Human words can\nsay nothing more; for our highest ideas of glory are borrowed from\nthose beautiful worlds that shine above us in the blue ether. On her\nbosom she wears a jewel of unsurpassed splendor, whereon are written\nher three singular privileges. These are Immaculate, Mother of God,\nVirgin. These are high privileges which she alone enjoys, and which\nsingle her out at once as the Queen of angels and of men. The\nEternal, by assuming flesh from her, united her to Himself by a bond\nof intimacy which is second only to that of the Hypostatic Union. He\nshed His own bright glory around her, and enthroned her at the right\nhand of Jesus. The Almighty Father looks upon her with complacency,\nas his own beloved daughter, faultless in beauty and every other\nperfection. The Holy Ghost calls her His own spotless and faithful\nSpouse, over whom the breath of sin never passed; while Jesus who, in\nall His glory, is still flesh of her flesh, and bone of her bone,\ncalls her his own sweet and loving Mother. Can we conceive any\ngreater glory unless it be that of the Hypostatic Union?\n\n* Apoc. xii. 1.\n\nIn this world, a great king may see with grief that many other women\nsurpass his own mother, daughter, or spouse, in beauty, intelligence,\nvirtue, and other perfections; but, however grieved he may be, he is\ntotally powerless to remedy the evil, and he must continue to see\nothers outshining those who are the dearest to his heart. Not so in\nheaven. Never shall it be said there that there are women holier,\npurer, more intelligent, or more beautiful than the Blessed Virgin.\nFor God has the power to clothe her with attributes that will forever\nmake her superior to any mere creature. Not only has He the power,\nbut, as a matter of fact, he has adorned her by bestowing upon her\nevery gift of nature, grace, and glory, in an eminent degree. She,\nabove all saints, is \"full of grace,\" and is made a partaker of the\nDivulge Nature, and, therefore, her Immaculate Heart, which is purer\nthan crystal, is the home of the most perfect happiness ever enjoyed\nby woman.\n\nBut, remember well, she does not enjoy all this excellent glory\nexclusively on account of her glorious privileges. These are, like\nthose of Jesus, free gifts of God, which she did not merit. But she\nfreely and generously corresponded to all the designs of God, and,\ntherefore, she is rewarded with the highest glory of heaven. She too,\nas well as Jesus, was obedient unto death. She too was submissive to\nthe most trying dispensations of Providence. She too suffered\npatiently from every manner of privation; for she was poor. She too\nendured the most bitter anguish during the passion of her beloved\nSon, and had her pure soul overwhelmed with agonies whereof we can\nform no adequate conception. Hence, God hath also exalted her, and\ngiven her a name which is above every name except that of Jesus.\n\nThus we see that even Jesus and Mary, the bright King and Queen of\nheaven, are exalted above all angels and men in glory, on account of\nthe heroic virtue they both practised in this world, and not\nexclusively in virtue of their dignity and high privileges. They both\nlabored for it, both suffered for it, and both deserved it as a\n\"crown of justice,\" which a just Judge bestowed upon them as a reward\nof merit.\n\nIt is impossible to think of Jesus and Mary without, at the same\ntime, thinking of the illustrious St. Joseph. He is so intimately\nbound up with them, that we can neither forget him nor separate him\nfrom them. He was emphatically a hidden saint. He was truly \"a just\nman,\" as the Holy Ghost calls him. He was so humble, so pure, so\nunspeakably charitable to the Blessed Virgin. Then, too, he loved\nJesus so much, so tenderly, and took so great a care of Him during\nhis infancy. Whenever he received a command, he always obeyed so\npromptly, without excuse or murmur, though at times the commands\ninvolved great privations and sufferings. In a word, St. Joseph, too,\ncorresponded with the grace of his sublime vocation; and he now\nshines with exceeding glory near Jesus and Mary. He too is glorified\non account of His tender love for God, for Jesus and Mary, and for\nhis neighbor, and not exclusively in virtue of the glorious privilege\nof having been the guardian of Mary's purity, and the foster-father\nof Jesus. Therefore, His exceeding glory is also \"a crown of\njustice,\" wherewith a just Judge has encircled his brow.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVII.\n\nTHE GLORY OF THE MARTYRS.\n\nWe shall now contemplate the glory of the vast multitude of the\nblessed, who surround the thrones of Jesus and Mary. I quote from the\nApocalypse: \"After this, I saw a great multitude, which no man could\nnumber, of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues:\nstanding before the throne, and in the sight of the Lamb, clothed\nwith white robes, and palms in their hands.\"* This glorious multitude\nrepresents all the blessed. They may be divided into eight classes,\nnamely, the martyrs, the doctors and confessors, the virgins, the\nreligious, the penitents, the pious people, those of inferior virtue,\nand the baptized infants. In this chapter we shall consider the glory\nof the Martyrs.\n\n* Apoc. vii. 9.\n\nSee that beautiful army of martyrs--these brave soldiers of Jesus\nChrist--who died or Him, and like him, in the midst of the most cruel\ntorments. Theirs is truly \"a crown of justice.\" They are represented\nas holding palms in their hands, in token of the victory which they\ngained over the world. Their intimate union with God, the dazzling\nsplendor of their personal appearance, the high honors conferred upon\nthem, single them out at once as those champions of the faith who,\nwhile on earth, served God in a heroic degree. And they certainly\nserved Him with distinction; for they proved their love by laying\ndown their lives for Him. Laying down one's life for God has always\nbeen looked upon as the most perfect act of love possible; for\n\"Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life for\nhis friends.\"* Hence, the martyrs, as a class, have always been\nconsidered as deserving the highest honors of heaven.\n\n* John xv. 18.\n\nThe beautiful words of the Holy Ghost in reference to all the just\napply with peculiar force to the martyrs: \"But the souls of the just\nare in the hand of God: and the torment of death shall not touch\nthem. In the sight of the unwise they seemed to die: and their\ndeparture was taken for misery: and their going away from us for\nutter destruction; but they are in peace. And though in the sight of\nmen they suffered torments, their hope is full of immortality.\nAfflicted in a few things, in many they shall be rewarded: because\nGod hath tried them, and found them worthy of himself. As gold in the\nfurnace, He hath proved them; and as the victim of a holocaust, he\nhath received them.\"*\n\n* Wis. iii.\n\nWhat a bright and beautiful crowd they are! As a garden is beautified\nby flowers, so is heaven made more beautiful by the radiant\ncrimson-clad army of martyrs. Here is St. John the Baptist, the\nfearless precursor of Jesus. Here is the glorious St. Stephen, the\nfirst who laid down his life after the ascension of Jesus. Here are\nthe holy Apostles, those intrepid soldiers of Christ, who went forth\nfrom the council, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer\nfor the name of Jesus. The prediction of their Divine Master was\nverified in them: \"For they shall deliver you up in councils, and\nthey will scourge you in their synagogues. And you shall be brought\nbefore governors, and before kings for my sake. . . . And you shall\nbe hated by all men for my sake.\"* . . . \"Yea, the hour cometh that\nwhosoever killeth you, will think that he doeth a service to God.\"+\n\n* Matt. x. + John xvi.\n\nBut in spite of all this hatred and persecution, they sowed the seed\nof the word of God in the hearts of men, and watered it with their\nown blood. They now enjoy a peculiar glory in heaven; for, besides\nthe glory which belongs to them as martyrs, they also enjoy that\nwhich belongs to them as Apostles, promised to them in these words of\nour blessed Lord: \"Amen, I say to you, that you, who have followed\nme, in the regeneration, when the Son of Man shall sit on the seat of\nHis majesty, you shall also sit on twelve seats, judging the twelve\ntribes of Israel.\"*\n\n* Matt. xix. 28.\n\nHere are also so many holy Popes, and bishops, and priests, the\nworthy successors of the Apostles, who, like them, joyfully laid down\ntheir lives for the love of Jesus Christ. Here is also that countless\nmultitude of holy missionaries, who, like the Apostles, went forth\ninto all nations to preach the gospel. They, too, were \"brought\nbefore governors, and before kings,\" and sealed their faith with\ntheir blood. Here, too, are holy virgins, who preferred death, in all\nits horrid shapes, rather than stain their souls, or have another\nspouse besides Jesus, to whom they had consecrated themselves. The\ngrace of God changed them from timid, retiring virgins, into\ndauntless heroines, and enabled them to suffer death with superhuman\ncourage and constancy. Here are also married men and women, fathers\nand mothers, who loved God more than they loved their children. Here,\neven, are little children, who astounded the heartless tyrants by the\nadmirable patience and heroism which they displayed amidst the most\nrefined cruelties. Here, too, are venerable old men and women, who,\nin spite of the infirmities of age, ascended the scaffold with a firm\nstep, and suffered death with undaunted constancy. All these, like\nSt. Paul, have fought a good fight, and all, without exception, have\nreceived a \"crown of justice\" at the hands of a just Judge. They all\nenjoy the high rewards which Jesus promised to His heroic followers,\nwhen he said: \"Blessed are they that suffer persecution for justice'\nsake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when men\nshall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil\nagainst you falsely, for my sake: rejoice, and be exceeding glad:\nbecause your reward is very great in heaven.\"*\n\n* Matt. v.\n\nBut, before leaving these to consider the glory of others, we must\nremark that, although they are all martyrs, they do not, on that\naccount, all enjoy the same degree of glory. They are all stars; but\n\"star differeth from star in glory.\" Each martyr is clothed in his\nown brightness, which is great in proportion to the intensity of his\nlove for God, and the amount of suffering endured for Him. Some were\nsimply put to death, without any additional torture. Others were\nimprisoned, scourged, and then put to death; while others again were\ntortured for days, weeks, and even months, with the most frightful\ntorments. Again, some came to their martyrdom totally devoid of any\nprevious virtue; some even loaded with sin, and unbaptized: but they\nreceived a baptism of blood--which made them pure, and deserved for\nthem the high honors of heaven. Nevertheless, the glory that\nsurrounds such is far inferior to that which surrounds those who,\nlike St. John the Baptist, St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Andrew, and a\nhost of others, came to their martyrdom loaded with the merits of a\nlife spent in the practice of heroic virtue.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XVIII.\n\nTHE GLORY OF THE DOCTORS AND CONFESSORS.\n\nLet us now turn our eyes to another bright throng. It is composed of\nthe Doctors and Confessors of the Church. These too, as well as the\nmartyrs, enjoy the high honors of haven. Here we meet again the\nApostles, who were filled with the Holy Ghost, and instructed the\ninfant Church in all truth. There, too, are their worthy successors\nin the ministry--such men as St. John Chrysostom, St. Augustine, St.\nGregory, St. Thomas, and a multitude of others--whose vast intellects\nwere stored with the knowledge of God. They gained a signal victory\nover the devil--who is the father of lies. By their eloquence, and by\ntheir writings, they enlightened the Church, not only in their day,\nbut for all time to come. They are now crowned with the peculiar\nglory which is promised to all such: \"They that are learned shall\nshine as the brightness of the firmament: and they that instruct many\nunto justice, as the stars for all eternity.\"*\n\n* Dan. xii. 3.\n\nBut you must not imagine that the great lights of Christianity, such\nas the Apostles, or a St. Augustine, a St. Thomas, and others, who\nhave been proclaimed doctors of the Church, are alone in their glory.\nThis class also includes the glorious confessors of the Church--all\nholy Popes, bishops, and priests, who have zealously and faithfully\npreached the gospel to their flocks. It comprises also all those holy\nmissionaries who, like the Apostles, preached Jesus crucified to the\nheathens, and brought them into the one true fold. These holy\nconfessors, though not proclaimed doctors by the Church, nevertheless\nshine \"as the stars for all eternity.\"\n\nBut, besides these glorious confessors, there are still others who\npartake of the peculiar glory promised to them \"that instruct many\nunto justice.\" These are the innumerable multitudes of men and women\nwho compose the different religious orders of the Church--who spend\ntheir lives in the education of youth. There are, moreover, the\nwriters, translators, and publishers of good books, and others, who,\nthough not bound by any vows, devote themselves to the diffusion of\nreligious knowledge. Among these, particular mention must be made of\ngood parents, whose first care is to teach the knowledge and love of\nGod to their children. In a word, all they who have, in any way,\ninstructed others unto justice, partake of the peculiar glory of the\ndoctors and confessors of the Church, though, no doubt, in an\ninferior degree. For the promise of a special reward is not made\nexclusively to a few gifted intellects, but to all, without any\nexception. \"They that shall teach many unto justice, shall shine as\nthe stars for all eternity.\"\n\nYet, although it is true that instructing others unto justice\ndeserves a peculiar reward, we must not forget that the preaching of\nthe gospel will not, of itself, glorify any one, unless it is\naccompanied by a pure intention, and the practice of virtue. Even if\nJudas, as an apostle, instructed many unto justice, he certainly does\nnot now shine as a star on that account. Evidently, then, holiness of\nlife must accompany our teaching of others. This is what our Blessed\nLord tells us in the most positive manner, when he says: \"He that\nshall do and teach, he shall be called great in the kingdom of\nheaven.\"* Hence, you must ever remember that, how gifted soever you\nmay be, however eloquent, and how many soever you may have taught\nunto justice, you never can shine as a star in heaven, unless you at\nthe same time lead a Christian life. Without this, your preaching\nwill profit you nothing, even if others are saved by your eloquence.\n\n* Matt. v. 19.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XIX.\n\nTHE GLORY OF THE VIRGINS AND RELIGIOUS.\n\nHere are two other bright throngs that present themselves. They are\nthe holy Virgins and the Religious. Let us first contemplate the\nbright glory of the virgins. I quote again from the Apocalypse: \"And\nI heard a great voice from heaven. . . . And the voice which I heard\nwas as the voice of harpers, harping upon their harps. And they sang\nas it were a new canticle before the throne. . . . And no man could\nsay that canticle but those hundred and forty-four thousand. These\nare they who were not defiled with women: for they are virgins. These\nfollow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth.\"*\n\n* Apoc. xiv.\n\nThese evidently form a distinct class in heaven. It is composed of\nboth men and women who never married, nor lost their virtue by actual\nsin. I speak here of such as these, and not of any others. Hence, we\nmust exclude from this class all little children, who died before\nthey could be responsible for their deeds; for, though they all died\nvirgins, their virginity, which was a gift of nature, does not\ndeserve a \"crown of justice.\" Wherefore, in this place we shall\nconsider the excellent glory of those only, who, having grown to the\nage of discretion, led a life of purity, and died virgins. Evidently\nthese alone have purchased the glory promised to virgins. Many of\nthem led holy lives while living in the world--either with or without\nvow; while the great majority were so enraptured with the beauty and\npurity of Jesus, that they cheerfully gave up all the lawful\npleasures of the world, and consecrated themselves to Him by the vows\nof poverty, chastity, and obedience. In this life of suffering and\nself-denial they persevered unto the end.\n\nTheir day of trial and suffering is now over, and they are rewarded\nwith exceeding glory. Clad in their white robes, which denote the\nspotless purity of their lives, they enjoy a peculiar and intimate\nunion with Jesus, their beloved Spouse. While on earth, they would\nhave no other spouse but Him. They consecrated themselves to Him, and\nhe accepted the noble sacrifice. By His grace he sanctified and\nbeautified them, and made them worthy of the special glory they now\nenjoy. How beautiful they are! How glorious! They are the lilies of\nheaven. In the words of the Holy Ghost, we may exclaim: \"O how\nbeautiful is the chaste generation with glory! for the memory thereof\nis immortal: because it is known both with God and with men. When it\nis present, they imitate it: and they desire it when it hath\nwithdrawn itself: and it triumpheth forever, winning the reward of\nundefiled conflicts.\"*\n\n* Wis. iv.\n\nYet, while it is true that those who die virgins are rewarded with a\npeculiar glory, we must not forget that virginity alone can neither\ndeserve the high honors of heaven, nor even save any one, unless it\nis accompanied by the virtues which befit a spouse of Christ. There\nare many foolish virgins, who are not even admitted to the\nwedding--feast, because they are not adorned with charity, and other\nvirtues which belong to their state.\n\nWe must ever remember that the crown worn by the virgins in heaven is\nonly an accidental glory; for if it were essential, no one except\nvirgins could be happy there. Virginity is, therefore, far from being\nthe greatest of virtues, or the most necessary to reach the high\nhonors of heaven. For, to use the strong language of the Apostle, if\nyou could speak with the tongues of angels and men; and if you knew\nall mysteries, and had all knowledge; and if you had faith, so as to\nremove mountains, and have not charity--even though you be a\nvirgin--you are become as sounding brass and a tinkling cymbal.\nNeither will your virginity, nor all other gifts, profit you anything\nwithout charity.\n\nSee, therefore, that you endeavor to clothe your soul with those\nvirtues which befit a spouse of Jesus Christ. Love God above all\nthings. Be extremely charitable to all. Be humble, modest, reserved.\nLead a life of mortification, silence, and prayer. For unless you\nlead such a life as your vocation requires, you expose yourself to\nhear the terrible words spoken to the foolish virgins. When they came\nto the wedding, they stood at the door, and said, \"Lord, Lord, open\nto us. But He answering, said: Amen, I say to you, I know you not.\"*\n\n* Matt. xxv. 11.\n\nBut if you do lead the charitable life of a true spouse of Christ,\nyou shall undoubtedly reach a high degree of glory in heaven; and,\nbesides, you will wear the virgins' crown, and enjoy the special\nintimate union with Jesus which is promised to all those who,\ndespising the short-lived pleasures of this world, have consecrated\nthemselves to His divine service.\n\nLet us now spend a few moments in contemplating the high glory of the\nreligious. This class is composed exclusively of men and women who,\nwhile on earth, consecrated themselves to God by the vows of poverty,\nchastity, and obedience. Many of them--perhaps the great majority are\nvirgins, while other are not. For many of them, like a St. Francis\nBorgia, were widowers; and others, like a St. Frances of Rome, were\nwidows. Others again, there are, who, when young and foolish,\ncommitted sin, by which they may have ceased to be virgins, but who\nnevertheless received a most marked vocation to the religious life.\nAll these, as well as virgins, enjoy a peculiar glory in heaven,\nwhich is due to them as a \"crown of justice,\" on account of the great\nsacrifices they made to God by the vows of religion.\n\nBy the vow of poverty, they not only stripped themselves of all their\npossessions--they, moreover, gave up the natural right which all men\nhave to possess property. By the vow of chastity, they gave up the\nnatural right which all men have to enjoy the lawful pleasures of the\nbody. By the vow of obedience, they not only relinquished forever the\nright to dispose of themselves, but they also placed themselves in\nthe hands of their superiors, to be ruled and governed by them as if\nthey were little children. Thus, by one single act, religious persons\nabandon all that is dearest to the heart of man according to nature;\nfor they not only give up all their possessions--the world, with its\nhonors and pleasures--they not only sacrifice their liberty--they\nalso abandon father and mother, brother and sister, friends and\nrelatives. In a word, they cut themselves away from the world, and\nall that makes life bright and desirable, according to nature. And\nwhat is more, they embrace a life of continual mortification and\nself-denial.\n\nIt is true, the grace of God, which enables men and women to make\nsuch sacrifices, makes the life of religious tolerable; but this does\nnot prevent it from being a life of a continual and painful struggle\nagainst the inclinations and cravings of nature. From all this, it\nfollows that religious, as such, whether virgins or not, enjoy an\nexceeding glory in heaven on account of the sublime sacrifice of\nthemselves they have made to God by the three vows of religion. This\nis what our Blessed Lord promises, when he says: \"And every one that\nhath left house, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or\nwife, or children, or lands for my name's sake, shall receive a\nhundred-fold, and shall possess life everlasting.\"\n\nIn speaking of the three vows, theologians compare them to martyrdom.\nThey maintain that, as a man who lays down his life for the faith\nenters heaven immediately, without any detention in purgatory, so\nalso does a religious who dies immediately after taking his vows.\nWhatever temporal punishment was due to him on account of His sins,\nis entirely cancelled by that one act. And the reason they give is,\nthat the act of sacrificing one's self to God by the vows of religion\nis, like martyrdom, one of the noblest and most heroic acts that man\ncan perform.\n\nIf then, virgins, as such, are rewarded with a peculiar glory in\nheaven, what shall we say of the glory and splendor which surrounds\nreligious? For virgins make only one great sacrifice, by the practice\nof perfect chastity, while religious, who make the same sacrifice,\nadd to this two others, namely, poverty and obedience. And experience\nteaches that these two additional vows are, for most persons, far\nmore difficult, because they involve far more suffering and\nself-denial than the mere practice of chastity. From all this it\nfollows, that virgins who are religious, enjoy a far higher degree of\nglory in heaven than those who are not religious. It follows, also,\nthat religious, as such, whether virgins or not, enjoy an exceeding\nglory in heaven, in virtue of the great sacrifices they have made for\nGod by the three vows of religion. Like Jesus, they were poor,\nchaste, and obedient unto death; and like Him also, they are exalted\nto the high honors of heaven.\n\nBut, although it is true that religious, as such, enjoy a high glory\nin heaven, it must not be inferred that they all enjoy the same\ndegree of glory. There is, perhaps, not a class in heaven in which\nthe degrees of glory are so various. Some of them died only a few\ndays after taking their vows; others, on the day itself; while others\nlived half a century, and more, in the practice of the most heroic\nvirtue. Some were called by the grace of God after a life of\nworldliness and sin; while others had already reached a high degree\nof sanctity when they offered their sacrifice to God. Others again,\nafter their consecration to God, were extremely faithful to grace,\nand gave all the energies of their nature to the acquirement of\ngreater perfection; while others were sadly wanting in generosity to\nGod, and aimed at only an inferior degree of holiness. Again, some\nhad few or no temptations from the day upon which they took their\nvows; while for others that act seemed to be a declaration of war,\nfor they began to be assailed by every manner of temptation to\nviolate their vows and go back into the world. But, aided by the\nall-powerful grace of God, they resisted manfully, and fought the\ngood fight unto the end.\n\nThese, and a thousand other differences, give rise to various degrees\nof glory among the religious, who, having finished their course, have\nreceived the crown of life. They who, like a St. Aloysius, a St.\nStanislaus, a St. Theresa, and many others, practised every virtue in\na heroic degree, are among the brightest and the highest in glory;\nwhile they who led less perfect lives are far inferior. Nevertheless,\nall, without exception, enjoy a peculiar glory, which is due to them\nas a \"crown of justice\" for the great sacrifice they made to God by\nthe three vows of religion.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XX.\n\nTHE GLORY OF PENITENTS AND PIOUS PEOPLE.\n\nWho are they that compose yonder bright multitude? They are headed by\na queen who does not wear a virgin's crown; and yet, she is so\nbeautiful, and enjoys so intimate a union with Jesus. Who is she? She\nis Mary Magdalen, the bright queen of Penitents, and the star of hope\nto all who have grievously sinned in this world.\n\nShe was once a sinner, and such a sinner! Her soul was the home of\nseven devils! She was a hireling of Satan, to catch the souls of men.\nBut a flash of light came forth from the Heart of Jesus, and in that\nlight she saw herself sinful and hateful in the eyes of God. His\ngrace filled her heart with a deep and crushing sorrow for her many\nsins. Prostrate at the feet of Jesus, she kissed them, and washed\nthem with the tears of true repentance. Jesus, who never despised or\nrejected repentant sinners, commanded the devils to depart from her;\nHe then washed her soul, and made her clean as an angel. Her many\nsins were forgiven her, because she loved much; for her deep\ncontrition was not dictated by servile fear, but by pure love. After\nthe ascension of Jesus, she shut herself up in a grotto, where she\nwept and did bitter penance during the remainder of her days. When\nher last hour was come, the angels descended from heaven, and took\nher pure soul to the bosom of Jesus. Her intense love and her\npenitential tears deserved for her a \"crown of justice.\" They\nbeautified and glorified her far above many a one who never sinned\ngrievously; for she is crowned with the high honors of heaven, and\nenjoys a union with Jesus far more intimate than many who never\noffended God.\n\nNor is she alone in this exceeding glory wherewith an ardent love and\npenance clothe sinners. Thousands of others who sinned grievously,\nand imitated her penance, are now shining in glory far above others\nwho never sinned. Think you that St. Peter, who denied his Lord, is\nbelow all those who preserved their innocence, and even below all the\nbaptized infants in heaven? Think you that St. Paul, who once\npersecuted the Church, is now below all on that account? Think you\nthat the great St. Augustine, St. Mary of Egypt, St. Pelagia, and a\nhost of other illustrious penitents, are all below mere babes on\naccount of their sins? They certainly are not. Their intense love for\nGod, their sorrow, and their tears atoned for their sins, and placed\nthem far, very far above many who, though they never sinned\ngrievously, never performed an act of heroic virtue in their whole\nlives.\n\nRemember that charity, by which is meant love for God and for our\nneighbor, is the greatest of virtues, and has the power of elevating\nthe greatest sinners to the highest glory of heaven. Mary Magdalen,\ntherefore, though once a great sinner, is, at this moment, enjoying a\nmost intimate union with Jesus, and shines like a very star, in the\npresence of God.\n\nEven in this world she is glorified far above many who were not\nsinners. When Jesus sat at the table of Simon the Leper, Mary\nMagdalen anointed Him with precious ointment. Some of the Apostles\ncomplained of the waste; but Jesus defended her conduct, and added:\n\"Amen, I say to you, wheresoever this gospel shall be preached, that\nalso which she hath done, shall be told for a memorial of her.\"*\nAgain, we read in the Gospel of St. Mark, that Jesus, \"rising early\nthe first day of the week, appeared first to Mary Magdalen, from whom\nHe had cast out seven devils.\"+ Again, in the Litany of the Saints,\nthe Church places the name of Mary Magdalen before all the virgins.\nThis is certainly a high honor. Her feast, also, is one of a higher\norder than that of Martha her virgin sister, and above that of many\nother virgins; for she is the only woman, besides the Blessed Virgin\nMary, who, in her mass, enjoys the privilege of the Credo. No other\nwoman, whether a virgin-saint or not, enjoys that privilege, unless\nshe is the patroness of a particular church. In that case, the Credo\nis said in her own church, but nowhere else; while for Mary Magdalen\nit is said in every church of the world. There is, moreover, a\ncongregation of Magdalens, whereof she is the model and patroness. It\nis attached to the order of the Good-Shepherd, and is filled, not\nonly with women who have sinned, but with virgins, too, who have\nfallen in love with the beautiful penitential spirit of Mary\nMagdalen.\n\n* Matt. xiv. 9. + Mark xvi. 9.\n\nAll this must certainly be very consoling to those who have sinned\ngrievously, and who have, perhaps, thought that, on account of their\nsins, they have lost all right to a high place in heaven. Mary\nMagdalen, St. Peter, St. Augustine, and a host of other illustrious\npenitents, teach us that a high degree of glory is ours, no matter\nwhat sins we have committed, if we love ardently, lead a penitential\nlife, and practise other virtues in an eminent degree.\n\nThere is one more beautiful throng standing around the throne of God,\nand enjoying a high degree of glory in heaven. It is made up of the\nvast multitude of men and women who sanctified themselves while\nliving in the world. They are known as the Pious people. They lived\nin the world, but were not of it. They did not live according to its\nspirit; for its spirit is the sworn enemy of God. Many of them, while\nsurrounded with the wealth and magnificence of this world, practised\nthe virtues of the cloister. Others belonged to the middle classes of\nsociety; and others, again, to the poorer classes. But in whatever\nclass their lot was cast, they all sanctified themselves by loving\nGod and their neighbor, and by acquitting themselves of their\nrespective duties. What a beautiful and glorious throng they are!\n\nHere are kings and queens who, in their exalted position, knew how to\nbe humble, and who used their wealth and position for the benefit of\ntheir subjects. Here are representatives of all professions and\ntrades in society--lawyers, physicians, soldiers, tradesmen, and\ncultivators of the soil. Here, too, are the servants of the rich, who\nthought it a kindness to be allowed to do all drudgery, in order to\nhave wherewith to live. Here are good husbands and wives, who truly\nloved each other, and were faithful unto death. Here are those good\nparents whose first care was to teach their children the knowledge\nand love of God. Here, too, are the good children who honored their\nparents, and cared for them with a tender charity, when age and\ninfirmity had rendered them helpless. Here, too, are young men, and\nyoung women, who, though they had no call to consecrate their\nvirginity to Jesus Christ, led the lives of angels amid the\nfascinations of the world.\n\nAll these have led pious lives. They mortified their passions; they\nwere given to prayer; they frequented the sacraments; they performed\nacts of charity according to their means; and practised the virtues\nof their rank and calling. All these have, therefore, reached the\nhonors and distinctions which God distributes among them who have\nserved Him with fidelity. Though they are neither martyrs, nor\ndoctors, nor religious, they all led holy lives; they all have\nreceived a \"crown of justice,\" which was due to them as a reward for\ntheir love of God, and for the virtues they practised while on earth.\nMany of them were great saints, such as a St. Louis, king of France;\na St. Elizabeth, queen of Portugal; a St. Monica, widow; a St.\nGenevieve, the virgin-shepherdess; a St. Zita, the angelic\nservant-girl; and many others, whom the Church has placed upon her\naltars, and proposed to our imitation.\n\nYou see, then, that the high honors of heaven do not belong,\nexclusively, to any privileged classes, as you might imagine the\nmartyrs, doctors, virgins, and religious to be. A high degree of\nglory is offered to all, and by the grace of God is attainable by\nall, without any exception. If, therefore, you have hitherto looked\nupon it as a presumption to aim at a high degree of glory, because\nyou were neither a consecrated virgin nor a religious, banish such a\nthought from your mind. For, instead of being a presumption, it is a\nvirtue to aspire to a high sanctity, and, consequently, to a high\ndegree of union with God in heaven. Therefore, whether you are\nmarried or single, rich or poor, learned or ignorant, you are called\nupon by your Lord Jesus to fight the good fight unto the end, with a\nsolemn assurance that, when you have finished your course, a just\nJudge will encircle your brow with a \"crown of justice,\" and admit\nyou into the society of those who signalized themselves in His\nservice.\n\nBefore closing this chapter, we must say a few words, at least, about\nthe two remaining classes of the blessed, and, probably, by far the\nmost numerous in heaven. The one is composed of those who were not\npious, nor generous to God. Many of them sinned often, and\ngrievously, and did very little to atone for their sins; and the\nvirtues they practised were few, and never brought to any perfection.\nThis class also includes all those who spent their whole lives in\nsin, and who were saved, like the thief on the cross, by the grace of\na death-bed repentance. Evidently, neither these, nor others who\npractised scarcely any virtue, are crowned with the high honors of\nheaven, which are the reward of a virtuous life. They are,\nnevertheless, perfectly happy, in their own degree, and sing the\nmercies of God, who saved many of them almost in spite of themselves.\nTheirs may be called a crown of mercy, rather than one of justice.\n\nThe other class is composed of baptized infants, and of children who\ndied before they were responsible for their deeds. These form by far\nthe most numerous class in heaven, if it be true that one-half of all\nthe children that are born die before the age of seven. But in heaven\nthey are no longer children; for their elevation to glory has\ndeveloped them into men and women. They therefore enjoy the full\nperfection of human nature, as well as those who died adults. They\nare, moreover, admitted to the Beatific Vision, and, consequently,\nthey see, love, and enjoy God, and partake of the additional\npleasures of heaven, as well as they who lived longer on earth. They,\nand they alone, enjoy the happiness of heaven entirely as a free gift\nof God, without any co-operation of their own. They are in heaven in\nvirtue of their adoption as children of God, and through the merits\nof Jesus Christ.\n\nWhatever may be their degree of glory, we certainly can never place\nthem on a level with the Apostles, martyrs, confessors, virgins,\nreligious, and pious people who have fought a good fight against the\nworld, the devil, and the flesh. They never sinned, it is true, but\nneither did they ever make an act of faith, of hope, of charity, or\nperform any other act of virtue. Hence, theirs may be called a crown\nof liberality; for they enjoy their beatitude as a free gift of\nGod's unspeakable liberality. Their never-ending song is, therefore,\none of gratitude to God for taking them out of the world before their\nsouls could be defiled by sin, or their little hearts turned away\nfrom virtue by the fascinations of the world.\n\nHere, then, kind reader, we have the whole multitude that we saw\nstanding around the throne of God. Though we have divided them into\ndifferent classes, and considered their glory separately, you must\nnot infer from this that the blessed are really separated from each\nother in heaven. For how greatly soever the glory of the highest may\ndiffer from that of the lowest, they all, nevertheless, compose one\ngreat family of brothers and sisters, of whom God is the Father,\nJesus Christ the Elder Brother as well as the King, and Mary the\nMother as well as the Queen. They all mingle together, converse, and\notherwise enjoy each other's society; for they are all united by the\nbond of the purest charity. They all exclaim, with the royal Prophet:\n\"to Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell\ntogether in unity. . . . For there, the Lord hath commanded blessing,\nand life for evermore.\"* They all are happy, because they all see,\nlove, and enjoy God, as well as the additional pleasures with which\nHe perfects and completes the happiness of His beloved children. They\nare all filled to overflowing with the happiness of which the royal\nProphet speaks, when he says: \"They shall be inebriated with the\nplenty of Thy house: and thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of\nThy pleasure. For with Thee is the fountain of life.\"+ By their union\nwith the Fountain of Life, which is God himself, the blessed see all\ntheir desires fulfilled, and, knowing not what more to crave, they\nrest in God as their last end, and enjoy him forever.\n\n* Ps. cxxxli. + Ps. xxiv.\n\n\n\n\nCHAPTER XXI.\n\nTHE ETERNITY OF HEAVEN'S HAPPINESS.\n\nHaving endeavored, in the foregoing pages, to form to ourselves some\nidea of the glorious happiness reserved for us in heaven, there still\nremains to say something of its crowning glory--the eternity of its\nduration. This is not only its crowning glory, but it is, moreover,\nan essential constituent of that unspeakable joy which now inebriates\nthe souls of the blessed. A moment's reflection will make this\nevident.\n\nLet us suppose, for the sake of illustration, that on the last day,\nGod should thus speak to the blessed: \"Dearly beloved children, you\nare now happy, and you shall continue so for a very long time, but\nnot forever. When I promised you eternal life, I did not really mean\na life without end, I alone can live forever. I have created a little\nbird whose office it is, every thousand years, to take away from the\nearth one grain of sand, or a drop of water, and carry it to the\nplace I have appointed. And when it will have thus removed the whole\nearth, all the oceans, rivers, and lakes, you shall all die a second\ndeath, and be no more forever.\"\n\nHow many ages do you think it would take, at that rate, to remove\nthis whole world to another place? Of course, you cannot even form a\nconception of the countless ages it would require. The most gifted\nmind is bewildered and lost in those millions and billions of ages.\nIt seems as if that little bird never would come to the last atom;\nand to us, children of time, that vast duration seems like an\neternity. And yet, if such a revelation were made to the blessed,\nthey would again sorrow and mourn: the tears would again flow from\ntheir eyes, because the canker-worm that eats away all earthly\nhappiness would have found entrance into heaven.\n\nEvidently, then, the eternity of heaven is essential to complete the\nhappiness of God's children.\n\nAmong the many defects which mar our happiness in this world, there\nare three capital ones, which we shall consider for a few moments.\nThe happiness of this world is not and cannot be permanent, because\nwe are changeable, because the objects of our happiness are also\nsubject to change, and finally, because death must eventually tear us\naway from this world.\n\n1. We ourselves are changeable by nature. This is a defect which must\ncling to us as long as we remain pilgrims here below. The objects\nwhich made us so happy in our childhood are no longer able to give us\nany pleasure. Our growth to mature age has completely changed us in\ntheir regard. Where is the man that could now spend the day with the\nplaythings of his childhood? Where is the woman that could spend her\ntime in dressing and adorning a doll? We are changed, and other\nobjects have become necessary. But, in our mature years, we still\ncontinue to change, and those objects which make us happy to-day,\nmay, in a few days, be a source of annoyance to us, and even of\nwretchedness. The changes of the weather, our passions, our health,\nour associations, a want of success in our undertakings, an unkind\nword or look--all these, and a thousand other things, influence us\nand change our dispositions at times so completely, that nothing in\nthe whole world can make us feel happy. We are disgusted with\neverything that only yesterday made us as happy as we could expect to\nbe in this world.\n\nSo great is our natural fickleness, that we are continually exposed\nto change, even in regard to God, and thus lose the only happiness\nworth possessing--His friendship. For, after having, in all\nsincerity, promised and even sworn fidelity to Him, we may, at any\nmoment, give way to our passions, and, like Peter, deny Him; or, like\nJudas, sell Him for a temporary gratification.\n\nThis fickleness, which so stubbornly clings to us in our present\nstate of existence, and which puts an end to so many of our joys, is\nentirely removed by our union with God in the Beatific Vision. \"We\nshall be like Him, because we shall see Him as he is.\" One of the\nessential attributes of God is immutability, or the total absence of\nchange, or even of the power to change. He is the selfsame forever.\nHe is, as St. James beautifully expresses it, \"The Father of lights,\nwith whom there is no change nor shadow of alteration.\"* By our union\nwith Him we are \"made partakers of the Divine Nature,\" and\nconsequently, of the divine immutability. Our natural fickleness will\ndie in our temporal death, never to rise again, and our whole nature\nwill be clothed with immutability, and remain the selfsame forever.\n\n* James i. 17.\n\nHence, we shall no longer be tossed to and fro by every wind of\npassion, nor by the vicissitudes of present time. We shall no longer,\nas now, be joyful one day, and then be cast down and sorrowful on the\nnext; in the enjoyment of perfect health one day, and racked with the\npangs of disease on the next; enjoying the society of our\nfellow-beings one day, and finding it intolerable on the next;\noverflowing now with devotion and the love of God, and then ready to\nabandon His service in disgust. We shall become immutable, and\ntherefore when millions of ages have rolled by, we shall still be\nenjoying the same happiness as we did when the vision of God first\nflashed upon tour souls.\n\n2. But there is a second defect which, even if we were immutable\nourselves, would prevent our earthly happiness front being permanent,\nand it is this: the objects from which we derive our happiness are\nalso subject to change. Their beauty fades away; they lose their\nfreshness, and along with it the power of making us happy. It was\nthis defect which marred the happiness of Solomon. His position and\ncircumstances placed within his reach all the pleasures which the\nheart of man can enjoy here below. He was a king, a husband, and a\nfather; he was filled with a wisdom greater than ever was vouchsafed\nto any other man. He built temples and cities; he was visited by\nkings and queens, admired and almost worshipped as a god, on account\nof the magnificence with which he was surrounded; and yet he was not\nhappy. But listen to his own confession, and ponder it well: \"I\nheaped together for myself silver and gold, and the wealth of kings\nand provinces; . . . and I surpassed in riches all that were before\nme in Jerusalem; my wisdom also remained with me. And whatever my\neyes desired, I refused them not: and I withheld not my heart from\nenjoying every pleasure, and delighting itself in all the things I\nhad prepared. And when I turned myself to all the works which my\nhands had wrought, and the labors wherein I had labored in vain, I\nsaw in all things vanity, and vexation of mind, and that nothing was\nlasting under the sun.\"*\n\n* Eccl. ii.\n\nHere is the confession of the wisest of men--a man who tasted more of\nthis world's happiness than any other; and he found it imperfect, and\neven vexatious, because \"nothing was lasting under the sun.\"\n\nBut this is not all. Creatures not only change, fade away, and lose\ntheir power of giving us pleasure, but they may even turn against us,\nand, after having been almost a heaven to us, become a very hell, by\nthe addictions and woes they bring upon us. This is especially the\ncase if the object of our happiness is a human creature. Look at the\ndissensions and quarrels among friends and relatives, who once loved\neach other so well. Look at the almost incredible number of divorces\nwhich take place nearly every day. They tell us that the happiness\nwhich comes to us from human creatures is not lasting, because man is\nmutable. Take the virtuous and unfortunate Catherine of Aragon as an\nillustrious example. When Henry married her, he certainly made her\nhappy at first. But as time rolled on, he changed in her regard. His\nlove grew cold; he gradually despised her, took away from her the\ntitle of queen, banished her from his presence, and married another\nwoman! What a terrible reverse of fortune! He, who at first had been\nher joy, changed and became the cause of her deepest sorrow and\nwretchedness.\n\nOh, how differently shall we fare in our heavenly home! For the\nobjects of our love there are not mutable, as in this world. He who\nis the very source of our exceeding happiness, is the eternal,\nimmutable God. When He shall have united us to himself, and made us\n\"partakers of the Divine Nature,\" he never will change in our regard,\ntire of us, despise us, and cast us away from him, as creatures do.\nNo, never, never. The bare thought of such a misfortune would spread\na shade of gloom on the bright faces of the blessed. Once united to\nHim in the Beatific Vision, he will love us forever more. Never can\nthere come a day when He will frown upon us, and make us feel that\nhis love for us has grown cold. No, never, never. Never will there\ncome a day when His divine beauty will fade away, or when he will\nlose his power of making us happy, as is the case with the creatures\nthat now surround us; and therefore we shall never see the day when\nour happiness will change, or cease to exist.\n\nBut there is still more. Not only is God immutable, and therefore\nunable to change in our regard, but all the companions of our bliss\nhave also become immutable in their love for us. Hence, there never\nwill come a day then we shall see ourselves despised and even hated\nby our fellow-creatures, as so often happens in this world. All those\ndefects which now make us so unamiable will be totally removed by\nour union with God, and no one will ever see anything in us but\nwhat is good and deserving of love. From this it follows, that\neven the happiness which comes to the blessed from creatures is\npermanent--eternal.\n\n3. Let us now pass to the third defect of all earthly happiness. Even\nif both we and the objects which make us happy were immutable, our\nblessedness could not be lasting, because death, inexorable death,\nmust eventually tear us away from them, or tear them away frown us.\nAll earthly happiness, glory, and greatness end in death. \"And as it\nis appointed unto men once to die,\"* it follows that all, both great\nand small, must eventually see the end of all that makes life bright\nand desirable according to nature. All must die, and no one can take\nalong with him his glory or earthly happiness; for, as the Holy Ghost\ntells us: \"Be thou not afraid, when a man shall be made rich, and\nwhen the glory of his house shall be increased. For when he shall\ndie, he shall take nothing away; nor will his glory descend with\nhim.\"+\n\n* Heb. ix. 27.\n+ Ps. xlviii.\n\nWhere is now the happiness and the glory of those mighty kings and\nqueens who were once surrounded with all the magnificence of this\nworld? The grave answers: \"It is no more.\" Where is now the glory of\nthose mighty conquerors, who placed their supreme happiness in\nsubjugating nations to their sway, in making widows and orphans, and\nin spreading devastation and ruin wherever they went? It is no more!\nWe can say of them, in the words of the royal Prophet: \"I have seen\nthe wicked highly exalted, and lifted up like the cedars of Libanus.\nAnd I passed by, and lo! he was not: and I sought him: and his place\nwas not found.\"* Death laid its cold hand upon them, and put an end\nto their earthly happiness.\n\n* Ps. xxxvi.\n\nIn heaven, that awful death shall be no more. We have the word of the\nLiving God for it: \"And God shall wipe away all tears from their\neyes: and death shall be no more, nor mourning, nor crying, nor\nsorrow shall be any more, for the former things are passed away.\"* In\nvery deed, \"the former things have passed away\"--sorrow, mourning,\npoverty, labor, the vicissitudes of time, temptations to sin--all\nthese things have passed away, never more to return. The children of\nGod have entered into the enjoyment of their inheritance, which shall\nnever be torn from them, because \"death shall be no more.\" Never\nshall they see the dawn of a day when father and mother must bid\nfarewell--a long and sad farewell--to their heart-broken children,\nbecause \"death shall be no more.\" Nevermore will there come a day\nupon which affectionate children must print the last kiss upon the\ncold and pallid cheek of their dying parents, because \"death shall be\nno more.\" Never more shall we see our kindred and friends slowly\ndescending into the grave, nor hear the cold and cruel clods of earth\nfalling upon them, because \"death shall be no more.\" \"Death is\nswallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy victory? O death,\nwhere is thy sting?\"+ This is the joyful song of triumph which ever\nresounds through the vaults of heaven, because \"The just shall live\nforever more: and their reward is with the Lord, and the care of them\nwith the Most High. Therefore shall they receive a kingdom of glory,\nand a crown of beauty at the hand of the Lord.\"**\n\n* Apoc. xxi. + 1 Cor. xv. ** Wis. v.\n\nIn conclusion, let me exhort you, Christian soul, to meditate often\nand seriously on the happiness of heaven. Such meditations, besides\ndeepening our knowledge of God, and of the things He has prepared for\nthem that love him, have a wonderful power of detaching our hearts\nfrom the transitory pleasures and honors of this world. They,\nmoreover, create in our soul an unquenchable thirst for the vision\nand possession of God, while they infuse into us a new courage to\nbattle manfully against all the obstacles which beset our path in the\npractice of virtue.\n\nSuch meditations fill us, moreover, with a laudable and noble\nambition of reaching a high degree of union with God. This was the\nambition of the saints, and it should be ours also. It was this\ndesire of a most intimate union with God, that caused them to deny\nthemselves even the most innocent pleasures of this world, and to\nundergo sufferings, the bare recital of which makes our poor nature\nshudder. They knew that \"our present tribulation, which is momentary\nand light, worketh for us above measure exceedingly an eternal weight\nof glory.\"* Their meditations on eternal truths had convinced them\n\"that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be\ncompared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us.\"+\n\n* 2 Cor. iv. 17. + Rom. viii. 18.\n\nIn the thirty-seventh chapter of her life, St. Theresa speaks thus:\n\"I would not lose, through any fault of mine, the least degree of\nfurther enjoyment. I even go so far as to declare that, if the choice\nwere offered to me, whether I would rather remain subject to all the\nafflictions of the world, even to the end of it, and then ascend, by\nthat means, to the possession of a little more glory in heaven; or\nelse, without any affliction at all, enjoy a little less glory, I\nwould most willingly accept of all the troubles and afflictions for a\nlittle more enjoyment, that so I might understand a little more of\nthe greatness of God; because I see that he who understands more of\nHim, loves and praises Him so much the more.\" Here is the ambition of\na great saint. It is not after crowns or sceptres, or the glory of\nthis world, that she sighs, but after a single degree of higher\nenjoyment in heaven; and to obtain that, she is willing to remain\nsuffering in this wretched world till the end of time.\n\nLet such be your ambition in the future. If not in so sublime a\ndegree, let it, at least, be directed only to the acquisition of\n\"treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consume, and where\nthieves do not break through and steal.\"* Labor incessantly for that\n\"inheritance incorruptible, undefiled, that cannot fade, reserved in\nheaven for you.\"+ \"Be faithful until death,\" says our Lord Jesus\nChrist, \"and I will give thee the Crown of Life.\"**\n\n* Matt. vi. 19. + 1 Pet. i. 4. ** Apoc. ii. 10.","title":"The Happiness of Heaven: By a Father of the Society of Jesus","tradition":"scripture-revelation","translated_text":null,"word_count":47498}