Chapter 3. On the Joy of the Will,

THERE are three things which produce the greatest love in the will. One is a most ardent and inextinguishable love of God and of our neighbour ; for love is the chief ingredient of every thing loved. He that loves, thinks that every thing which he loves, is most beautiful and excellent ; and therefore he rejoices greatly when he sees them; and when absent from them grieves inconsolably. We see parents, who naturally have great love for their children, consider them the most beautiful, talented, and prude-nt, although they are often de formed and devoid of judgment and know ledge. And if a choice were given to them, they would not exchange their sons for any others, however superior to their own in the judgment of men. We often, too, behold people, either by chance or any other cause, in love with deformed persons,

to converse with whom they consider a great pleasure, and to be separated from them a great calamity. This would cer tainly not be the case, unless, as we have said, love is the ingredient of every thing loved. And since this is the case, how great will be the joy of the saints, to con verse with God and all 'the blessed, whom they will ever love with the most ardent affection, and who not falsely, but very truly, are most beautiful and excellent, and from whom they know they will never be removed. On the other hand, one of the greatest torments of hell will be, to be united with those whom we shall hold in the utmost horror, and who we know cir cumvented us with a thousand artifices.

Another circumstance that will cause great joy in the mind of the blessed, will be a certain inexpressible repose, and satiety without fulness, which will make them happy and contented in every way. Here on earth no one is contented with his lot, no one but wishes for more than he has, which he cannot obtain. Hence all are hungry, all thirsty, all live in discon tent. Nor ought this to appear wonderful to us, since our soul is capable of an infi nite and eternal good, and created things are frail and insignificant, which cannot last long. What then will be the joy of that man, who shall see ^ himself in a place where he will live quite contented! where he will desire nothing, fear nothing.

require nothing, nor seek for any thing more! 0 Peace! that exceedeth every pleasure which the world can give, and which alone is found in the heavenly Jeru salem, the city of our great and peaceful King ! For thee my soul sigheth, full of troubles and temptations : in the recollection and expectation of thee alone, it resteth for a little time.

The third circumstance that will give joy to the blessed, is perfect justice, and that more perfect than original justice was in Adam. The one subjected the inferior part to the superior, till the latter was subject to God : but the other will subject the inferior to the superior, and the superior to God, by a most firm and indissoluble union. The one was like a woollen or linen vest: but the other will be all of gold or silk, which will make the will most beautiful and lovely to God, to itself, to the angels, and to all the blessed. This is that perfect justice which hath no stain, not even a venial one ; so that of such a soul clothed with such a garment it may be said : " Thou art all beautiful, my be loved, and there is no spot in thee." This includes all those virtues which admit of no imperfection, and how great joy and pleasure this justice brings with it, the wise man beareth witness in the Proverbs, " A secure mind is like a continual feast." (chap, xv.) That mind alone is secure, whose conscience never stings, and which

by perfect justice is so established in good% that it cannot fall, even for a moment. Of this St. Paul beareth witness when he says, " The kingdom of God is not ^meat and drink; but justice, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost/' (Epistle to the Romans, chap. xiv. 17.) Here the holy Apostle plainly teaches us, that the kingdom of heaven possesses in itself great joy; but that it does not consist in the pleasure of meat and drink, as carnal men might perhaps wish, but in justice, which produces in the mind a solid peace and true joy.^ For he that is perfectly just, hath not in his heart any thing to reprehend him, nor in his actions what others might reprehend. Hence arises a solid and sweet peace with God, with himself, and with all others: hence, an unspeakable joy in the Holy Ghost, with which no earthly or temporal pleasure can bear any comparison.