Chapter 4. On the Joy of the Memory.

THE memory will supply no small mat ter for joy, from the recollection of the past. First, the recollection of the benefits of God in the spiritual and corporal, the natu ral and supernatural life, as well as the temporal and eternal, will bring incredible joy, when the just recollect in how many

ways the blessings of heavenly sweetness were given to them. Then the recollec tion of the dangers from which God delivered them so wonderfully, in every age and every state, will be a source of un bounded joy. And amongst other dangers I consider this the chief, that often they were near committing mortal sin, and therefore near hell, and yet that God. moved by His goodness alone, prevented the sin. This singular mercy of God being often considered by the elect in their most peaceful kingdom, will give them the greatest delight. And if the saints had not the recollection of these things in heaven, how could they, as the Psalmist saith, sing the mercies of the Lord for ever ? "Nothing will be sweeter in the city/' says St. Au gustine, " than this canticle for the glory of the grace of Christ, by which we were redeemed/'"'

What shall I say of the course of ages from the beginning, even to the end of time? What pleasure will the remem brance of so many vicissitudes bring, of such a variety of things, which the wonderful providence of God so wisely governed, ruled, and conducted to their proper ends ! This perhaps is "the stream of the river which maketh the city of God joyful." What is the course of ages flowing with so great velocity and never interrupting its

course, except 'the stream of the river' that rolls its waters continually, till they disappear and are lost in the ocean ? And then, whilst the stream floweth and time flieth, many doubt of the providence of God: and some even of His servants are disturbed by this ( stream of the river/ which often brings evil to the good, and blessings to the wicked ; which takes away the good land from the just, and carries it to the camp of the wicked, and brings them so many temptations, that they seem to complain of the providence of God. Hear the royal Prophet : " But my feet were al most moved : my steps had well nigh slipt. Because I had a zeal on occasion of the wicked, seeing the prosperity of sinners:" and a little lower : ' ' Behold these are sinners ; and yet abounding in the world they have obtained riches. And 1 said: then have I in vain justified my heart, and washed my hands among the innocent. And I have been scourged all the day," cfcc. (Psalm Ixxii.) Hear Jeremias: :( Thou ^indeed, 0 Lord, art just, if I will plead with thee, but yet I will speak what is just to thee. Why doth the way of the wicked prosper: why is it well with all them that transgress, and do wickedly? Thou hast planted them, and they have taken root: they prosper and bring forth fruit: thou art near in their mouth, and %far from, their reins." (chap, xii.) Hear the pro- 1 het Habacuc : " Why lookest thou upon

them that do unjust things, and boldest thy peace, when the wicked devoureth the man that is more just than himself? And thou wilt make men as the fishes of the sea, and as the creeping things that have no ruler." (chap, i.) But when the course of time shall be accomplished, and the river shall be lost in the sea, then the saints in heaven, calling to mind all its revolutions, shall clearly read the reason of its vicissitudes in the book of .divine providence, and thereby it is incredible, how 'the stream of this river/ represented to them by memory, will make joyful the city of God ! There they will see, why God permitted the first angel and the first man to fall: why the mercy of God liberated man, and did not liberate the angel. There they will see, why God chose for His peculiar people the children of Abraham, who, nevertheless, he foresaw, would be a stiff-necked people : and how great blessings he was preparing, on account of their obstinacy, for the Gen tiles. In fine, to omit speaking of His uni versal providence, there they will see why He permitted many, and nearly all the just, to suffer afflictions; it was, that He might crown them more gloriously. And thus, from the remembrance of them, they will bless with great joy all those crosses which they suffered, since they see them changed into eternal crowns, and they will exclaim with the Prophet: " According to

the multitude of my sorrows in my heart, thy comforts have given joy to my soul."

Chapter 5. On the Joy of the Eyes.

LET us now consider the joys of a glorified body. And first, there will be the joy of the sense of " seeing/' which amongst corporal senses is the most noble, and its office the most extensive. This sense then will rejoice at the splendour and beauty of its own body in heaven ; for it will see the body ( reformed 'by Christ, ' and made like to the body of His glory/ as St. Paul mentions in ^his Epistle to the Philippians. Nor will its brightness be less than that of the sun, for the Apostle testifies in the Acts of the Apostles, that he saw Christ (to whose splendour we shall be made con formable,) shining above the brightness of the sun : and our Lord himself in St. Mat thew says: "Then the just shall shine as the sun in the kingdom of their Father." What a glorious spectacle therefore will be presented to the eyes of the blessed, when they shall behold their hands, their feet, and all their members, sending forth rays of light ; so that they will no more stand in need of the sun, or of the moon, or of any other inferior light, to dissipate the dark ness ! But not only will their own bodies

shine as the sun, but the bodies of all the saints also, and especially the body of Christ himself and of His most blessed Mother. How doth one sun rejoice at his rising- the whole earth ! What then will it be, to behold innumerable suns, most beau tiful not only by their brightness, but also by the variety and glory of the members ! Nor will the blessed be here obliged to close their eyes, lest they should be injured by the dazzling splendour: for the eyes themselves will be blessed, and therefore made impassible and immortal. For He who will make the eyes of the soul like to His glory, lest seeing God face to face they should be overpowered, will also endow the eyes of the body with impassibility, that they may behold not one sun only but many without injury.

It will also be an addition to the joy of the eyes, as St. Augustine teaches us in his " City of God/' that the blessed martyrs will display the most illustrious marks of their virtues, in those particular parts of the body in which they endured torments. What joy, therefore, will it be to see St. Stephen adorned with as many illustrious jewels as he endured blows of the stones in his body ! What to see St. John the Bap tist, St. James the Great, and St. Paul the Apostle — besides others almost infinite in number, who suffered for Christ — all shining in unspeakable beauty, more resplendent than any gold ! What to behold St. Bar-

tholpmew, who was flayed alive, then so glorious beyond the beauty of the richest purple ! And, not to mention others, what will it be to behold St. Peter and St. Andrew, and many others who endured the punishment of the cross, now with their hands and feet shining like stars in the greatest splendour ! And with regard to Christ, the King of the martyrs, who for His own glory, and for our comfort, hath deigned to bear the marks of the cross, no tongue can express with what glory these most sacred marks will shine ! And all the glory of the saints, when compared with that of Christ, is less than the beauty of the stars when compared with the beauty of the sun.

But what shall I say of the pleasure which the eyes will derive from viewing this most extensive city, which Tobias and St. John, not being able to find sufficient words to express, have described it as adorned with gems and precious stones ! What of this new heaven and new earth, which is promised us in the Holy Scripture after the last day ? What of the renovation of this whole universe into a better state? For, as these things are unknown to us, so will they delight the eyes of the blessed, when their beautv shall be seen.