Salesian Literature

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4.  Eternal Happiness   

Sermon for the Second Sunday of Lent, February 20, 1622, concerning our inability to comprehend eternal happiness, the ability of the soul in Heaven to use its faculties to understand clearly and to love ardently, the soul's joy in heavenly conversations with the angels, saints, Our Lady, Our Lord, and with the Most Holy Trinity, the soul's great joy in recalling Our Lord's mercies to it, His Passion and death, and in seeing the love of His Heart for it, each soul's great delight in receiving a secret name known to God alone, the kiss given by God to the blessed soul, and the endlessness of the joys of eternity.

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"I know a man in Christ—whether he was in or outside the body I do not know, God knows

—who was snatched up to the third heaven. . .

and heard secret words, words which it is not granted to man to utter.' - 2 Cor. 12:2-4

 

When the great Apostle St. Paul was snatched up and raised even to the third heaven, he did not know whether he was in or outside his body, and he affirmed that no man may or could tell what he saw there or what wonders he learned when they were shown him in his rapture. Now, if he who saw them cannot speak of them—if even after having been snatched up even to the third heaven, he dares not say a word of what he witnessed—much less should we presume to do so, we who have never been raised even to the first or the second, let alone the third heaven.

 

The discourse on the Gospel [Matt.17:1-9] which I am to give you today treats of eternal happiness. I must begin by giving you a parable. In treating of the marvellous things of the next world in his Dialogues, St. Gregory the Great affirms the following:  "Picture a pregnant woman who is put into prison, where she remains until the time of her delivery. She even gives birth there and is then condemned to pass the remainder of her life in the dungeon and to bring up her child there. As he grows older, the mother desires to give him some idea of things in the outside world, for having lived only in that continual darkness he has no idea of the light of the sun, the beauty of the stars, or the loveliness of nature. Since the mother wants to teach him all these things, they lower a lamp or a lighted candle to her. With this she attempts to make him conceive, as best she can, the beauty of a bright day. She tells him: 'The sun and the stars are made like this and spread out a great light.' It is all in vain, for the child, having had no experience of the light of which his mother speaks, cannot understand.

 

"Then the poor woman tries to give him an idea of the beauty of hills covered with trees and various fruits: oranges, lemons, pears, apples, and the like. But the child knows nothing of all that, nor of how it can be. And although his mother, holding in her hand some leaves of those trees, may tell him: 'My child, they are covered with leaves like these' and, showing him an apple or an orange, 'They are also laden with fruits such as these; are they not beautiful?' the child remains in his ignorance. His mind simply cannot comprehend what his mother wants to teach him, for all that she uses is nothing compared to the reality itself."[1]

 

The limitations are the same, my dear souls, with all that we can say of the grandeur of eternal happiness and of the pleasure and beauties with which Heaven is filled. Indeed, there is greater proportion between the light of a lamp and the splendour of those great luminaries that shine upon us, between the beauty of the leaf or fruit of a tree and the tree itself laden with both flowers and fruit, between all that this child comprehends of what his mother tells him and the reality itself of the things spoken of, than there is between the light of the sun and the splendour which the blessed enjoy in glory; between the beauty of a meadow sprinkled with flowers in the springtime and the beauty of these heavenly gardens; between the loveliness of our hills covered with fruits and the loveliness of the eternal hills. But be that as it may, and we may be certain that we can say nothing in comparison to the reality; still we ought to say something about it.

 

I have already preached here many times on today's Gospel and on this topic. Therefore I want to speak on a point which I have never yet treated. But before beginning it, I must clarify some difficulties which might prevent you from really understanding what I want to say. I do this eagerly because I want this point well thought over, considered, and understood by you.

 

The first difficulty seen in the question is: Can the souls of the blessed, separated from their bodies, see, hear, consider, and understand? Can they, in short, exercise the functions of the mind as freely as when they were united to their bodies? I answer that not only can they act as before, but much more perfectly. And to support this theory I shall give you a story from St. Augustine, an author in whom one can place complete trust. He relates that he was acquainted with a physician from Carthage who was as famous in Rome as in that city, both because he excelled in the art of medicine and because he was a very good man, one who did many charitable works and served the poor gratis. His charity towards his neighbour moved God to lift him out of an error into which he had fallen as a young man. God always greatly favours those who practise charity toward their neighbour; indeed, there is nothing that draws down His mercy upon us more abundantly. Our Lord has declared it His own special commandment [Jn. 15:12], the one He loves and cherishes most. For after that of the love of God, there is none greater [Matt. 22:37-40].

 

St. Augustine recounts how this physician told him that when young he began to doubt whether the soul, separated from the body, can see, hear, or understand anything. One day, while in this error, he fell asleep. Suddenly, a handsome young man appeared to him in his sleep and said: "Follow me." The physician did so, and his guide led him into a large and spacious field where on one side he showed him incomparable beauties, and on the other allowed him to hear a concert of delightful music. Then the physician awoke. Some time after, the same young man again appeared to him in sleep and asked: "Do you recognize me?" The physician answered that he did indeed recognize him distinctly, that it was he who had conducted him to the beautiful field where he had heard such pleasing music.  "But how can you see and recognize me?" asked the youth. "Where are your  eyes?"  "My eyes," he replied, "are in my body."  "And where is your body?" "My body is lying in my bed." 'And are your eyes open or closed?" "They are closed." "If they are closed, they can see nothing. Admit, then, since you see me even with your eyes closed, recognize me distinctly, and have heard the music even though your senses slept, that the functions of the mind do not depend on the corporal senses, and that the soul, even when separated from the body, can neverthe­less see, hear, consider and understand." Then the sacred dream ended and the youth left the physician, who never after doubted this truth.

 

This is how St. Augustine tells it. He further mentions that the physician told him that he heard that divine music sung on his right in the field mentioned. But he firmly added: "I do not remember what he saw to his left." I mention this to point out how precise that glorious saint was, saying only what he knew to be the truth in this story. After this we must never again allow this "difficulty" entrance into our minds, namely, whether our souls, when separated from our bodies, will have full and absolute liberty to perform their functions and activities. For then our understanding will see, consider and understand not only one thing at a time, but several together; we shall be able to give our attention to several things at one time without one of them displacing any other.

 

Here, we cannot do that, for whoever wants to think of more than one thing at a time always gives less attention to each and his attention is less perfect in all of them.[2] It is the same with the memory; it will furnish us with many recollections, and one will not interfere with the others. Our will will also have the facility of willing many different things without being weakened or loving any one less ardently than the other. That can never be done in this life while the soul inhabits the body. Here our memory does not have complete liberty in its operation. It cannot have many recollections, at least at the same time, without one interfering with the other. Likewise, our will loves with less ardour when it loves many things together. Its desires and willing are less passionate and ardent when there are many of them.

 

The second difficulty concerns the opinion which many hold that the blessed in the heavenly Jerusalem are so inebriated with the abundance of divine consolation that this inebriation takes from them the power to act. They think it is the same as with the consolations sometimes received on earth. These cause the soul to fall into a certain spiritual sleep so that for a time it is incapable of moving or even of knowing where it is, just as the royal Prophet testifies in his Psalm, In convertendo: "We became like men comforted" [Ps.  125 (126):1]; or else, according to the Hebrew text and the Septuagint," "like men dreaming, when the Lord brought back the captives of Zion."[3] But it is not like this in eternal glory. There the abundance of consolation will not take away awareness or our power to act. Harmony is the excellence of our actions,[4] and in Heaven our actions will not disturb harmony but will perfect it in such a way that our actions will not be detrimental to each other, but each will aid the other to continue and persevere for the glory of the pure love of God, which will render them capable of subsisting together.

 

Do not imagine then, my dear souls, that our spirit will be dulled or drowsy by the abundance and joys of eternal happiness. Quite the contrary! It will be very alert and agile in its various activities. And though it is written that Our Lord will inebriate His beloved: "Drink, My friends, and be inebriated, My dearly beloved" [Ps. 35 (36):9; Cant. 5:1], this inebriation will not render the soul less capable of seeing, considering, understanding, and performing the various activities which the love of her Beloved will suggest to her, as we have just stated. It shall move the soul to increase its movements and loving glances by ever inflaming it with new ardour.

 

The third difficulty or misconception from which I wish to free you is the thought that in eternal glory we shall be subject to distractions just as we are while in this mortal life. No, and the reason is, as we have just said, that we shall then be capable of giving our attention to many different things at the same time, without one act interfering with the other. Rather, each will perfect the other. The many subjects we will have in our understanding, the many recollections in our memory, or the many desires of our will will not interfere with each other, nor will one be better understood than any other. Why is this? For the simple reason, my dear Sisters, that all is perfected and brought to perfection in the eternal beatitude of Heaven.

 

Now, what shall we say of this beatitude? The word "beatitude," or "happiness," indicates clearly what it is, for it signifies a place of consolation where all joys and blessings are found and experienced. In this world we consider as most happy a mind that can concentrate on many subjects at the same time, as is evident from the praise bestowed on that man who was able to be attentive to seven topics at the same time (cf. Pliny's Natural History), and as is evident from the praise given to that heroic captain who knew the hundred or fifty thousand soldiers under his command, each by name. How happy will we consider our own mind when, in beatitude, it will be able to have so many and such varied interests!  But, my God, what can we possibly say of that indescribable felicity which is eternal, invariable, constant and permanent, and, as the ancient French say, "sempiternelle"?

 

I do not intend, my dear Sisters, to treat of the felicity which the blessed have in the clear vision of the face of God, whom they see, and shall forever see in His essence [cf. 1 Cor. 13:12], for that regards essential felicity, and I do not wish to treat of that, beyond a few words at the end. Nor shall I treat of the eternity of this glory of the saints, but only of a certain accidental glory which they receive in the conversation they have together. O what divine conversation! But with whom? With three kinds of persons: with themselves, with the angels, the archangels, the cherubim, the holy Apostles, the confessors, the virgins, with the glorious Virgin, our Lady and Mistress; with the most holy humanity of Our Lord; and lastly, even with the most adorable Trinity, the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.

 

But, my dear Sisters, you must know that all the blessed will know one another, each by name, as we shall understand better from the Gospel, which shows us our Divine Master on Mount Tabor accompanied by St. Peter, St. James and St. John. While they looked upon the Saviour who was praying [Lk. 9:29], He was transfigured before them [Matt. 17:2], allowing to appear in His body a little portion of the glory which He had continually enjoyed from the moment of His glorious Conception in Our Lady's womb. He withheld this glory by a continual miracle, keeping it confined and hidden in the superior part of His soul.

 

The Apostles saw His face become more dazzling and brilliant than the sun. Indeed, this light and glory was spread even over His clothes to show us that it was so diffusive as to be shared by His very clothes and whatever was about Him. He shows us a spark of eternal glory and a drop of that ocean, of that sea of incomparable felicity, to make us desire it in its entirety.[5] So the good St. Peter, as head of the others, spoke for all and exclaimed in full joy and consolation: "O how good it is for us to be here!" He seems to mean: "I have seen many things, but nothing is so desirable as remaining here." The three disciples recognized Moses and Elijah even though they had never seen them before, one having retaken his body, or a body formed of air, and the other being in the same body in which he was carried away in the triumphal chariot [4 Kgs. (2 Kgs.) 2:11]. Both were talking with our Divine Master of the excess which He was about to fulfil in Jerusalem [Lk. 9:31], the excess which was the death He was about to suffer out of love. Immediately after this conversation, the Apostles heard the voice of the Eternal Father saying: "This is My Son, My Chosen One; listen to Him."

 

Let me remark first of all that in eternal felicity we will know each other, since in this little spark of it which the Saviour gave to His Apostles He willed that they recognize Moses and Elijah, whom they had never seen. If this is true, O my God, what contentment will we receive in seeing again those whom we have so dearly loved in this life! Yes, we will even know the new Christians who are only now being converted to our holy Faith in the Indies, Japan, and the Antipodes. The good friendships of this life will continue eternally in the other. We will love each person with a special love, but these particular friendships will not cause partiality because all our affections will draw their strength from the charity of God which, ordering them all, will make us love each of the blessed with that eternal love with which we are loved by the Divine Majesty.

 

O God! What consolation we will have in these heavenly conversations with each other. There our good angels will give us greater joy than we can imagine when we recognize them and they speak to us so lovingly of the care they had for our salvation during our mortal life, reminding us of the holy inspirations they gave us, as a sacred milk which they drew from the breast of the Divine Goodness, to attract us to seek the incomparable sweetness we now enjoy. "Do you remember," they will say, "the inspiration I gave you at such time, in reading that book, or in listening to that sermon, or in looking at that image?" For example, St. Mary of Egypt's good angel will remind her of the inspiration which converted her to Our Lord and which was the foundation of her heavenly destiny. O God! Will not our hearts melt with indescribable delight in hearing these words?

 

Each of the saints will have a special conversation accord­ing to his rank and dignity. One day our glorious Father, St. Augustine (of whom I speak, since I know it pleases you),[6] had a desire to see triumphant Rome, the glorious St. Paul preaching, and Our Lord among the people curing the sick and working miracles. Oh, my dear souls, what consolation this great saint now has in contemplating the heavenly Jerusalem in its triumph, the great Apostle Paul (I do not say great in body for he was small, but great in eloquence and sanctity) preaching and intoning those praises he will give throughout eternity to the Divine Majesty in glory! But what incomparable consolation for St. Augustine to see Our Lord work the perpetual miracle of the blessed's felicity which His death has acquired for us! Imagine the divine conversation these two saints might have with each other, with St. Paul saying to St. Augustine: "My dear Brother, do you not recall that in reading my epistle [Rom. 13:12-14] you were touched by an inspiration which moved you to be converted, an inspiration which I had obtained for you from the divine mercy of our good God by the prayer I offered for you at the very moment you were reading what I had written?" Will not this, dear Sisters, bring an incomparable sweetness to our holy Father's heart?

 

Let us imagine this: Suppose that Our Lady, St. Magdalene, St. Martha, St. Stephen and the Apostles were to be seen for the space of a year in Jerusalem, as for a great jubilee, who among us, I ask you, would wish to remain here? For myself, I think we would embark at once, exposing ourselves to the peril of all the hazards which fall upon travellers, so that we might experience the grace of seeing our glorious Mother and Mistress, Magdalene, Mary Salome, and the others. After all, pilgrims expose themselves to all these dangers only to go and revere the places where these holy persons have placed their feet. If this is so, my dear souls, what consolation will we receive when, entering Heaven, we will see the blessed face of Our Lady, all radiant with the love of God! And if St. Elizabeth was so carried away with joy and contentment when, on the day of Our Lady's visitation, she heard her intone that divine canticle, the Magnificat [Lk. 1:39-55], how much more will our hearts and souls thrill with inexplicable joy when we hear this sacred Chantress intone the canticle of eternal love![7]  O what a sweet melody! Without doubt, we will be carried away and experience most loving raptures which, however, will take from us neither the use of reason nor of our faculties. Both will be marvellously strengthened and perfected by this divine meeting with the holy Virgin, to better praise and glorify God, who has given her and each of us so many graces—among them, that of conversing familiarly with her.

 

But, you may ask, if it is true, as you say, that we will converse with all those in the heavenly Jerusalem, what will we say? Of what shall we speak? What will be the subject of our conversation? O God! My dear Sisters! What subject? Surely of the mercies which the Lord has shown us here on earth and by which He has made us capable of entering into the joy of a happiness which alone can satisfy us. I say "alone" because in this word "felicity" every sort of good is comprised. They are, however, but one single good, the joy of God in eternal felicity. It is this unique good which the divine lover[8] in the Canticle of Canticles asked from her Beloved (she practices true wisdom here, for following the advice of the wise man[9] [Ecclus. (Sir.) 7:40], she considers the end, and then, in light of this, the means). "Kiss me," she cries, "O my dear Beloved, with the kiss of Your mouth." [cf. Cant. 1:1 (2)]. This kiss, as I shall soon exclaim, is nothing other than the happiness of the blessed.

 

But of what else will we speak in our conversations? Of the death and Passion of our Lord and Master. Ah, do we not learn this in the Transfiguration, in which they spoke of nothing so much as the excess He had to suffer in Jerusalem, excess which was none other, as we have already seen, than His sorrowful death? Oh, if we could comprehend something of the consolation which the blessed have in speaking of this loving death, how our souls also would expand in thinking of it!

 

Let us pass on, I pray you, and say a few words about the honour and grace that we will have in conversing even with our incarnate Lord. Here, undoubtedly, our felicity will reach an inexpressible and unutterable height. What will we do, dear souls, what will we become, I ask you, when through the Sacred Wound of His side we perceive that most adorable and most lovable Heart of our Master, aflame with love for us—that Heart where we will see each of our names written in letters of love! "Is it possible, O my dear Saviour," we will say, "that You have loved me so much that You have engraved my name in Your Heart?" It is indeed true. The Prophet, speaking in the name of Our Lord, says to us: "Even if it should happen that a mother forget the child she carried in her womb, I will never forget you, for I have engraved your name in the palms of my hand" [Is. 49:15-16]. But Jesus Christ, enlarging on these words, will say: "Even if it were possible for a woman to forget her child, yet I will never forget you, since I bear your name engraved in My Heart."

                                                   

Surely, it will be a subject of very great consolation that we should be so dearly loved by Our Lord that He always bears us in His Heart. What delight for each of the blessed to see in this most sacred and most adorable Heart the thoughts of peace [Jer. 29:11] He had for them and for us, even at the hour of His Passion! Thoughts which not only prepared for us the principal means of our salvation, but also the divine attractions, inspirations, and good movements that this most gentle Saviour wished to make use of to draw us to His most pure love![10] These visions, this gazing, these particular considerations that we will make on this sacred love by which we have been so dearly, so ardently, loved by our sovereign Master, will inflame our hearts with unparalleled ardour and delight. What ought we not do or suffer in order to enjoy these unutterably pleasing delights! This truth is shown to us in today's Gospel; for do you not see that Moses and Elijah spoke and conversed very familiarly indeed with our transfigured Lord?

 

Our felicity will not stop at this, my dear souls. It will pass farther, for we will see face to face [1 Cor. 13:12] and very clearly the Divine Majesty, the essence of God, and the mystery of the Most Holy Trinity. In this vision and clear knowledge consists the essence of felicity. There we will understand and participate in those adorable conversations and divine colloquies which take place between the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.[11] We shall listen to how melodiously the Son will intone the praises due to His heavenly Father,[12] and how He will offer to Him on behalf of all people the obe­dience that He gave to Him all during His earthly life. In exchange we shall also hear the Eternal Father, in a thunderous but incomparably harmonious voice, pronounce the divine words which the Apostles heard on the day of the Transfiguration: "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased." And the Father and the Son, speaking of the Holy Spirit, will say: "This is Our Spirit, in whom, proceeding One from the Other, We have placed all Our love."

 

Not only will there be conversation between the Divine Persons, but also between God and us. And what will this divine conversation be? Oh, what will it be indeed! It will be such as no man may speak. It will be an intimate conversation so secret that no one will understand it except God and the soul with whom it is made. God will say to each of the blessed a word so special that there will be no other like it. But what will this word be? Oh, it will be the most loving word that one can ever imagine. Think of all the words which can be spoken to melt a heart, and the most affectionate names that can be heard, and then say that these words are meaningless in comparison with the word which God will give to each soul in Heaven above. He will give to each a name [Apoc. 2:17], will say to each a word. Suppose that He will say to you: "You are My beloved, you are the beloved of My Beloved; that is why you will be so dearly loved by Me. You are the chosen one of My Chosen One who is My Son." That is nothing, my dear souls, in comparison with the delight which will accompany this word or this holy and sacred name which the Lord will permit the blessed soul to hear.

 

Then it will be that God will give to the divine lover that kiss she has so ardently desired and asked for, as we have already said. Oh, how amorously she will chant her canticle of love: "Let Him kiss me," the Beloved of my soul, "with the kiss of His mouth"; and she will add:  "Incomparably better is the milk that flows from His dear breasts than the most delicious wines," and the rest. [Cant. 1:1-3 (2-4)]. What divine ecstasies, what loving embraces between the all-sovereign Majesty and this dear lover when God gives her this kiss of peace! It will be so, and not with one lover only, but with each of the citizens of the heavenly Jerusalem, among whom there will be a marvellously pleasing conversation upon the sufferings, pains and torments which Our Lord endured for each of us during the course of His mortal life. It will be a conversation which will give such consolation, but one which the angels are not capable of (according to the opinion of St. Bernard) because although Our Lord is their Saviour and they have been saved by His death, He is, nevertheless, not their Redeemer, because He has not ransomed them as He has humankind. This is why we will receive great felicity and singular contentment in speaking of this glorious Redemp­tion by means of which we have been saved and made like angels [Mk.   12:25], as our Divine Master has said.

 

In the heavenly Jerusalem, then, we will enjoy a very pleasing conversation with the blessed spirits, the angels, the cherubim and seraphim, the saints, with our Lady and glorious Mistress, with Our Lord and with the thrice holy and adorable Trinity—a conversation which will last forever and will be perpetually cheerful and joyous. Now if in this life we have so much pleasure in hearing that which we love spoken of that we cannot be silent about it, what joy, what jubilation will we receive in hearing chanted eternally the praises of the Divine Majesty, whom we should love, and whom we will love, more than we can comprehend in this life! If we take so much delight in the simple imagination of this unending felicity, how much more will we have in the actual possession of it! An endless felicity and glory, one that will last eternally and one which we can never lose! Oh, how greatly will this assurance increase our consolation! Let us walk gayly and joyously, dear souls, among the difficulties of this passing life; let us embrace with open arms all the mortifications and afflictions that we will meet on our way, since we are sure that these pains will have an end when our life ends, after which there will be only joy, only con­tentment, only eternal consolation. Amen.

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[1] Cf. Treatise on the Love of God, Book VI, chapter 4.

[2] Cf. Treatise on the Love of God, Book I, chapter 10.

[3] Cf. Treatise on the Love of God, Book IX, chapter 12.

[4] Cf. Treatise on the Love of God, Book V, chapter 3.

[5] Cf. Introduction to the Devout Life, Part III, chapter 2.

[6] St. Francis de Sales and St. Jane de Chantal gave the Sisters of the Visitation the Rule of St. Augustine when the Congregation was raised to the rank of an order in the Church in 1618. This is why St. Francis speaks of St. Augustine as their "Father."

[7] Cf. Treatise on the Love of God, Book V, chapter 11.

[8] Here the "divine lover" is the soul who loves Our Lord; the "Beloved" is Our Lord Jesus Christ. In this book the words "lover," "beloved" and "spouse" are capitalized or not capitalized depending on whether they refer to Christ or to the faithful soul.

[9] Cf. Sermons on Our Lady, "The Assumption," Aug. 15, 1618.

[10] Cf. Introduction to the Devout Life, Part V, chapter 13; Treatise on the Love of God, Book XII, chapter 12.

[11] Cf. Treatise on the Love of God, Book III, chapter 11 and chapter 13.

[12] Cf. Treatise on the Love of God, Book V, chapter 11.

 

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