is, my dear brethren, that constitutes the perfect happiness of the elect in heaven; they shall behold the Son of God, not only in His human nature, but also in the complete, infinite, and all-perfect beauty of His Godhead and divine nature. In this vision of God, from which love and joy necessarily spring, consists the essential happiness of the elect, as theologians tell us; so that if there were no other joy in heaven but this vision alone, still the happiness of the blessed would be perfect. Oh, rejoice, just souls that serve the Lord! If we go to heaven, as we hope, we shall see God, love God, and rejoice in God for all eternity. The immensity of this joy we shall now make the subject of our meditation, namely.
Plan of Discourse.
The souls of the elect in heaven shall be filled with joy in the sight, love, and possession of God. Such is the whole subject. Let us begin here on earth this heavenly occupation, that is, think of God, love God, rejoice in God. Such shall be the conclusion.
And that we may make it and constantly adhere to it, give us Thy light and grace, O glorious Saviour! through the merits of Mary, Thy Mother, and the intercession of our holy guardian angels.
The joy of the elect in seeing God can be inferred from the joy they have outside of God.
If a blessed soul in heaven finds such unspeakable delight in the knowledge and possession of those things that are outside of God, what infinite joy it must experience in God Himself, who has imparted all their wonderful beauty and properties to those things? If such magnificence and glory are to be seen in the forecourts of heaven, such riches in the dwelling-place of the blessed, what must there not be in Him who is the Creator and Lord of all the heavens? If creatures, who are only small drops fallen from the sovereign Good, are so beautiful, sweet, and pleasing, that they make a delightful paradise for the soul, what must not God be, who is the living Source and Origin of all sweetness, all beauty, all delight? And how the soul will rejoice when it is allowed to satiate itself fully at that Fountain! Such is the reasoning employed by St. Augustine. “If,” he says, “heavenly goods are so great and so noble, what must not God Himself be who has prepared them? If you seek for greatness, God is greater than heaven and earth; if you seek for beauty, God is