able to see God except "as through a glass, in a dark manner," is suddenly elevated in power, and enabled to see God as He is, face to face, and to contemplate His Divine beauty and His other perfections. Our individual mind is neither destroyed nor changed into another: it is only strengthened and elevated in power and capacity far beyond anything we could ever have reached by our own unassisted endeavours. But we shall still better understand the meaning of the Light of glory by contrasting it with the light of faith. What is faith? Faith is also a supernatural elevation of the mind, by which we are enabled to believe, as firmly as if we saw them, mysteries which are far above our comprehension. It is called supernatural, because it comes from God alone; for no man ever can bestow faith upon himself. Here, then, the light of faith and the Light of glory resemble each other, inasmuch as they both come immediately from God, and elevate man above himself. But they vastly differ in intensity; for by faith we see God imperfectly and unsatisfactorily, whereas by the Light of glory we see God as He is in Himself. Faith, therefore, is as the first faint blush of the morning, while the Light of glory is as the sun shining in his meridian splendour. So, then, the Light of glory is a supernatural addition to our mind, which enables it to cross the gulf between the Creator and the creature. I say gulf, because no created intelligence can see God as He is by its own natural power. Hence, neither St. Augustine nor St. Thomas, nor any other giant intellect, could see God as He is in Himself, any better than the man who never could learn his letters. It is in this sense that we must understand St. Paul, when, speaking of God, he says: "Who alone hath immortality, and inhabiteth light inaccessible; Whom no man hath seen, nor can see." Evidently he means that no one can see God by the light of nature; for in another place he tells us that when that which is perfect is come, we shall see Him face to face. * From all this it follows that all men are on a footing of perfect equality, so far as the power of seeing God is concerned. No one has that power in himself by nature, and no one can give it to himself or develop it by study, as we can other powers we have received in the natural order. It is as if we said that no man possesses the natural power to see through a stone wall, or through the earth. Certainly all men are equal here; for the man whose eagle eye can recognise a friend at a distance of ten miles, is no nearer seeing through the earth than another, whose sight is so bad that he can scarcely recognise his own father at a distance of a few steps. So it is with seeing God. No man has the power in himself by nature, and therefore no one can develop it by study. Even the angels, who are so vastly superior to us in * I Tim. vi. 16. intelligence, could not see God as He is until they were elevated by the Light of glory; and those amongst them who became reprobates by their sin, never did and never shall see God, although they still retain, even in their fallen state, more intelligence than man. I have been particular in explaining and insisting upon these things, lest it might be imagined that men of highly cultivated minds, such as philosophers, theologians, poets, and the like, shall see God better, and enjoy more of heaven's happiness, than the ignorant, in virtue of their superior natural gifts. They certainly shall not. God does not bestow a supernatural reward upon the natural gifts, or even upon the natural virtues, which are to be found among pagans as well as among Christians. But He does reward the faith, hope, charity, and other supernatural virtues which His children have practised in this world. Hence, theology teaches that not even the angels, who are so superior to us, see God any better in virtue of their nobler and more perfect intellect. Thus, supposing an angel and a man to be equal in merit, they both receive the same amount of the Light of glory; they both see God in the same degree of perfection, and both, therefore, enjoy the same degree of happiness. If we admit that the angel has a more perfect vision of God, on account of his more perfect natural intellect, then we must also admit that he enjoys a portion of supernatural beatitude, exclusively, in virtue of his natural powers, and not on account of his merits acquired by correspondence to Divine grace.* Evidently no such admission can be made; for heaven is a supernatural reward of supernatural virtues, which have been practised, in this world, under the influence of Divine grace, and not a reward of natural endowments. If, then, no such doctrine can be admitted when the question is between angels and men, much less can it be admitted when there is question of superior natural intellect among men. Hence, the man who never learned his letters, either from want of natural talent or opportunity, shall undoubtedly see God as well as the philosopher if he has led as good a life; and he shall see Him better, and enjoy more of heaven's happiness, if he has lived a holier life. Once more: The Light of glory is a supernatural elevation of the mind, which enables man to see God as He is in Himself. It is given by God Himself to those who have "Ipsa enim visio est præmium nostrum: ergo ubi paria sunt merita, debet esse par visio: sed in homine et angelo possunt esse paria merita, ergo debet esse par visio. Ergo quantitas visionis debet sumi a lumine gloriæ quod datur secundum mensuram meritorum, non autem a perfectione intellectus, quæ non datur ex meri tis. Et confirmatur, quia ponamus angelum et hominem habere æqualia merita. Vel ergo accipient æquale lumen gloriæ vel inæquale. Si inæquale, non respondebit meritis. Si æquale, ergo cum æquali lumine æqualiter Deum videbunt: alioqui si angelus perfectius videret, tunc aliquam partem beatitudinis haberet sine meritis, ex solis naturæ viribus" (Becan. De Attrib. Divin. quæst. x). lived a supernatural life of faith, hope, and charity. Moreover, it is given to each in proportion to his personal merits. It therefore becomes the measure of the degree of happiness which each one of the Blessed enjoys in the vision of God. CHAPTER XIV. DEGREES OF HAPPINESS IN HEAVEN. HAVING Seen that the Light of glory is the new power, or medium, through which the Blessed see and enjoy God, we must now endeavour to understand how its different degrees of intensity become the source of vastly different degrees of happiness or enjoyment. In order to understand how the different degrees of mental elevation produce different degrees of happiness in the Beatific Vision, we must first examine in what consist the different degrees of enjoyment in the creatures that now surround us. This will be as a mirror, in which we can see faint, but true reflections of the vast difference there is between the highest and the lowest in heaven. In order to receive pleasure from creatures, it is not enough to be surrounded with them, or even to possess them: we must, moreover, be endowed with organs, or facul I |