tion is that which they have of objects in the Word and Wisdom of God; the vesper or evening cognition, which is less clear, is that which they have, out of God, by themselves or by divine revelation; such as are the mysteries of faith, which here seen dimly, shall there be made known; as it is written, "we all with open face, beholding as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to glory," or their own condition, for they see all things in the mirror of the divinity, and what can they be ignorant of, who in their degree know Him who knoweth all things; or the glories of their fellow citizens; or the causes of the operations of nature; or our prayers; or our fortunes1; or ought else which God reveals to them.

And such is God, that to see Him is to love Him, and therefore Beatific Love is a constraining necessity of the saints in heaven. So wrapt are their wills, that a sweet and holy need compels them ever to love Him; and they "rest not day and night, saying, Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God Almighty, Who wast, and art, and art to come." And this sight of God

d Greg. Dial. 11. 33. 1 Cor. xiii. 9.

e Apoc. v. 8. Apoc. iv. 18.

f Luke xv. 7.

taketh away all power of sinning, for the deceit which all sin implies is revealed by that Vision of Truth, and joy shall be theirs for ever; for happiness to be complete implies eternity, and that happiness consists in the enjoyment of Him who is eternal.

After this, it were needless to speak of the gifts of body and soul accorded to the saints, of the place of heaven which St. Paul describes. as the third heaven, above the air, and the starry firmament; neither shall we speak of the golden crowns, the palm branches, nor yet of that special prerogative, the Aureola, which crowns. the rest of all God's graces". All these things surpass the intellect of man; and "eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, nor hath it entered into the thought of man to conceive, what things God hath prepared for them that love;" yet the thought of them, faint and imperfect though it be, is that which crowns virtue, dignifies humility, gilds the lowliest lot, and turns the saddest passages of life into a blessed preparation for heaven.

Non nostri jam dominatur corruptio mortaliter viventibus, et cum ipsâ æternâ vitâ manentibus. Neque enim indigebimus illic h Apoc. xiv. 4. vii. 14.

vestimento, ubi erimus immortalitate vestiti ; nec cibus nobis deerit, quando Ipse Panis vivus, Qui propter nos de cælo descendit Sui præsentiâ animas nostras satiabit; nec potus nobis deerit, præsenti Fonte vitæ. "Saturabit enim nos ab ubertate Domûs suæ, et torrente deliciarum suarum corda nostra rigabiti." Estus illic non patiemur, illic est enim Refrigerium nostrum, qui sub umbrâ alarum suarum protexit nos et protegit. Frigus illic non patiemur, est enim ibi Sol justitiæ, qui Suo amore calefaciens corda nostra, radiis divinitatis suæ illuminet oculos nostros, ut videant divinitatem et æqualitatem Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti. Non ibi fatigabimur, nobiscum enim erit Virtus nostra, Cui nunc dicimus, 'Diligam Te Domine virtus mea.' Non ibi dormiemus, non enim ibi sunt tenebræ, quæ excludere possint permanentem Diem, Nulla ibi erit negociatio, nulla servitus, nullum opus, et quid illic acturi sumus? Fortasse illud quod scriptum est Vacate et Videte, quoniam ego sum Deus *.'

iPs. XXXV.

k Ps. xlviii. S. Aug. Serm. ad Catech. ii. 12.

Adumbration of belief in the Bona, account of the Creed, 7.

Attributes of God, 41. of the Constantinople, 315.