Ascent in the Empyrean Hieronymous Bosch
(1450-1516)
Netherlands
Reflection #33
To See and Love God in the
Next Life Is the Joy of the
Blessed in Paradise
Let us see what it is in Heaven that makes those holy citizens completely happy. The soul in Heaven, seeing God face to face and knowing His infinite beauty and all His perfections, which render Him worthy of infinite love, cannot but love Him with all its powers, and loves Him more than itself. Nay, even forgetting itself, as it were, it thinks of nothing and desires nothing but to see Him happy who is its Beloved and its God; and seeing that God, the only Object of all its affections, enjoys an infinite happiness, this happiness of God constitutes its entire Paradise. If a soul were capable of anything infinite, its own joy would also be infinite in seeing that its beloved is infinitely happy; but as a creature is not capable of infinite joy, the soul is at least satiated with joy, so that it desires nothing more. And this is that happiness for which David sighed when he said: "I shall be satisfied when Thy glory shall appear." (Psalms 16:15).
Thus is fulfilled what God says to the soul when He puts it in possession of Paradise: "Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." (Matthew 25:21). He does not bid the joy enter into the soul, because this His joy, being infinite, cannot be contained in the creature; but He bids the soul enter into His joy, that it may receive a portion of it, and a portion so great as to satiate it and fill it with delight.
Therefore, I think that in prayer, among all the acts of love for God, there is no act of love more perfect than taking delight in the infinite happiness which God enjoys. This is certainly the continual exercise of the Blessed in Heaven; so that he who often rejoices in the happiness of God begins in this life to do that which he hopes to do in Heaven through all eternity.
The love of God with which the Saints in Paradise burn is so great that, if a fear of losing Him or of not loving Him with all their powers (as now they love Him) should ever enter their minds, this fear would cause them to experience a very hell of anguish. But no, for they are as sure as they are sure of God that they will love Him always with all their powers and that they will be ever loved by God, and that this mutual love will never change throughout eternity. O my God, make me worthy of this certainty through the merits of Jesus Christ.
This happiness which constitutes Paradise, moreover will be increased by the splendor of that delightful City of God, by the beauty of its inhabitants and by their companionship, especially by that of the Queen of all, Mary, who will appear fairer than all, and by that of Jesus Christ, whose beauty again will immensely surpass that of Mary.
The joy of the Blessed will be increased by the knowledge of the dangers of losing so great a Good which each one has passed through in this life. What, then, will be the thanksgiving offered to God by one who had unhappily deserved Hell by his sins and now finds himself there on high, whence he will see so many condemned to Hell for less sins than his own, while he is saved and sure of not losing God, destined to enjoy eternally in Heaven those boundless delights of which he will never grow weary! In this life, however great and continual our joys, in time they weary us; but as for the delights of Paradise, the more they are enjoyed, the more they are desired, so that the Blessed are always fully satisfied with these delights and always desire them; they ever desire them and ever obtain them. Wherefore, that sweet song with which the Saints praise God and thank Him for the happiness He has given them is called a new canticle: "Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle." (Psalms 97:1). It is called new because the joys of Heaven seem ever as new as when they were tasted the first time, because they always possess them yet always long for them; they ever desire them and ever experience them. Thus, as the damned are called "vessels of wrath," the Blessed are called "vessels of divine love."
Justly, then, does St. Augustine say that, to gain the eternal blessedness, there ought to be eternal labor. Hence, it was little that the anchorites did with their penitential works and prayers to gain Paradise; it was little for the Saints to leave their riches and kingdoms to gain Paradise; little that so many martyrs suffered in enduring racks and burning irons and cruel deaths to gain Paradise.
Let us at least take care to suffer joyfully the crosses which God sends us, because all of them, if we are saved, will procure for us eternal joys. When infirmities, pains or other adversities afflict us, let us life up our eyes to Heaven and say: "One day all these pains will have an end, and after that I hope to enjoy God forever." Let us take courage to suffer and to despise all the things of the world. Blessed is he who at death will be able to say with St. Agatha: "O Lord, who hast taken from me the love of the world, receive my soul." Let us endure everything, let us despise all that is created; Jesus awaits us and stands with the crown in His hands to make us kings in Heaven, if we be faithful to Him.
But how can I, O my Jesus, aspire to so great a good, I, who have so often for the sake of the miserable pleasures of earth renounced Paradise before Thy face and have trodden underfoot Thy grace? Yet Thy Blood gives me courage to hope for Paradise, though I have so often deserved Hell. Yes, I hope for it because Thou hast died upon the Cross precisely in order to bestow Paradise upon those who have not deserved it. O my Redeemer and my God, I resolve to lose Thee no more; do Thou give me help to be faithful to Thee; Thy Kingdom come; through the merits of Thy Blood, grant me one day to enter Thy Kingdom; and in the meantime, until death shall come, enable me to fulfill Thy will perfectly, which is the greatest good and is a paradise such as can be possessed upon earth by him who loves Thee.
Therefore, O ye souls who love God, while we live in this vale of tears, let us ever sigh for Paradise and say:
Thus is fulfilled what God says to the soul when He puts it in possession of Paradise: "Enter thou into the joy of thy Lord." (Matthew 25:21). He does not bid the joy enter into the soul, because this His joy, being infinite, cannot be contained in the creature; but He bids the soul enter into His joy, that it may receive a portion of it, and a portion so great as to satiate it and fill it with delight.
Therefore, I think that in prayer, among all the acts of love for God, there is no act of love more perfect than taking delight in the infinite happiness which God enjoys. This is certainly the continual exercise of the Blessed in Heaven; so that he who often rejoices in the happiness of God begins in this life to do that which he hopes to do in Heaven through all eternity.
The love of God with which the Saints in Paradise burn is so great that, if a fear of losing Him or of not loving Him with all their powers (as now they love Him) should ever enter their minds, this fear would cause them to experience a very hell of anguish. But no, for they are as sure as they are sure of God that they will love Him always with all their powers and that they will be ever loved by God, and that this mutual love will never change throughout eternity. O my God, make me worthy of this certainty through the merits of Jesus Christ.
This happiness which constitutes Paradise, moreover will be increased by the splendor of that delightful City of God, by the beauty of its inhabitants and by their companionship, especially by that of the Queen of all, Mary, who will appear fairer than all, and by that of Jesus Christ, whose beauty again will immensely surpass that of Mary.
The joy of the Blessed will be increased by the knowledge of the dangers of losing so great a Good which each one has passed through in this life. What, then, will be the thanksgiving offered to God by one who had unhappily deserved Hell by his sins and now finds himself there on high, whence he will see so many condemned to Hell for less sins than his own, while he is saved and sure of not losing God, destined to enjoy eternally in Heaven those boundless delights of which he will never grow weary! In this life, however great and continual our joys, in time they weary us; but as for the delights of Paradise, the more they are enjoyed, the more they are desired, so that the Blessed are always fully satisfied with these delights and always desire them; they ever desire them and ever obtain them. Wherefore, that sweet song with which the Saints praise God and thank Him for the happiness He has given them is called a new canticle: "Sing ye to the Lord a new canticle." (Psalms 97:1). It is called new because the joys of Heaven seem ever as new as when they were tasted the first time, because they always possess them yet always long for them; they ever desire them and ever experience them. Thus, as the damned are called "vessels of wrath," the Blessed are called "vessels of divine love."
Justly, then, does St. Augustine say that, to gain the eternal blessedness, there ought to be eternal labor. Hence, it was little that the anchorites did with their penitential works and prayers to gain Paradise; it was little for the Saints to leave their riches and kingdoms to gain Paradise; little that so many martyrs suffered in enduring racks and burning irons and cruel deaths to gain Paradise.
Let us at least take care to suffer joyfully the crosses which God sends us, because all of them, if we are saved, will procure for us eternal joys. When infirmities, pains or other adversities afflict us, let us life up our eyes to Heaven and say: "One day all these pains will have an end, and after that I hope to enjoy God forever." Let us take courage to suffer and to despise all the things of the world. Blessed is he who at death will be able to say with St. Agatha: "O Lord, who hast taken from me the love of the world, receive my soul." Let us endure everything, let us despise all that is created; Jesus awaits us and stands with the crown in His hands to make us kings in Heaven, if we be faithful to Him.
But how can I, O my Jesus, aspire to so great a good, I, who have so often for the sake of the miserable pleasures of earth renounced Paradise before Thy face and have trodden underfoot Thy grace? Yet Thy Blood gives me courage to hope for Paradise, though I have so often deserved Hell. Yes, I hope for it because Thou hast died upon the Cross precisely in order to bestow Paradise upon those who have not deserved it. O my Redeemer and my God, I resolve to lose Thee no more; do Thou give me help to be faithful to Thee; Thy Kingdom come; through the merits of Thy Blood, grant me one day to enter Thy Kingdom; and in the meantime, until death shall come, enable me to fulfill Thy will perfectly, which is the greatest good and is a paradise such as can be possessed upon earth by him who loves Thee.
Therefore, O ye souls who love God, while we live in this vale of tears, let us ever sigh for Paradise and say:
"O beauteous home! where love's reward
Love will itself bestow;
Where my so sweet and loving Lord
Himself unveiled will show;
When shall I see that blest abode,
And there behold and love my God?
When will that wished-for dawn arise?
While now I cry, 'twixt smiles and tears,
Ah, when? Ah, when shall end my fears?
O Paradise! O Paradise!"
[Excepted from 'Devout Reflections and Meditations' by St. Alphonsus Liguori] (Public domain)
Love will itself bestow;
Where my so sweet and loving Lord
Himself unveiled will show;
When shall I see that blest abode,
And there behold and love my God?
When will that wished-for dawn arise?
While now I cry, 'twixt smiles and tears,
Ah, when? Ah, when shall end my fears?
O Paradise! O Paradise!"
[Excepted from 'Devout Reflections and Meditations' by St. Alphonsus Liguori] (Public domain)
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