PREPARATION FOR REFLECTIONS ON THE UNION OF THE SAINTS WITH GOD
The victorious love that the saints practise in heaven consists in the final, unchanging and eternal union of the soul with God. But what is this union? The more pleasant and excellent are the objects our senses encounter, the more earnestly and eagerly they concentrate on them and enjoy them.
The more beautiful are things, the more pleasant they are to gaze at. The more effectively they are lighted, the more eagerly and strongly the eyes look at them. The sweeter and more pleasant the sound or music, the more it attracts the attention of the ear. So each object exerts a powerful but lovable pressure on the senses to which it is destined. The pressure is more or less strong according to the greater or lesser excellence of the objects, provided that it is proportionate to the capacity of the senses to enjoy it. The eye is so much attracted by light. Yet it cannot tolerate extremes, nor can it look steadily at the sun. A piece of music, however beautiful it may be, if it is too loud and too close to us, it hurts and annoys our ears. The truth is the object of our intellect. As a result, the intellect has its entire satisfaction in discovering and knowing truths. Accordingly, the more excellent are the truths, the more carefully and attentively our mind applies itself to reflect on them.
Theotimus, what pleasure those ancient philosophers enjoyed who had an excellent knowledge of so many splendid natural truths? Undoubtedly all other pleasures were nothing compared to their beloved philosophy. For its sake some of them gave up honours, others great riches and still others their country. One of them plucked out his eyes, depriving himself forever of the enjoyment of the beautiful and pleasant bodily light. This was to devote himself more freely to reflect on the truth of things by the light of the spirit. We read this of Democritus.[1] So delicious is the knowledge of truth! Aristotle has said very often that human enjoyment and happiness consists in wisdom, that is, the knowledge of the eminent truths.
When our mind is raised above the natural light, it begins to see the sacred truth of faith. O God, Theotimus, what rejoicing! The heart melts away with joy as it hears the word of its heavenly Spouse. For it is found to be sweeter and tastier than honey (Ps 119:103) of all human sciences. God has imprinted his mark, his traces and sign of passage on all created things. The knowledge we have of his divine Majesty through creatures appears only to be the sight of God’s feet. In comparison with it, faith is a view of the very face of his divine Majesty. We do not see it in the full day of glory but we see it, however, as in the prime dawn of the day. This happened to Jacob near the ford of Jabbok (Gen 32: 24-30). He saw the angel with whom he fought only in the dim light of the dawn. Yet, overwhelmed by contentment, he does not stop exclaiming: I have seen the Lord face to face and my soul has been saved. O how delightful is the holy light of faith! We know with unparalleled certitude not only the story of the origin of creation and its true purpose but also that of the eternal birth of the great and supreme divine Word. In him and through him all things came into being (Jn 1:3). With the Father and the Holy Spirit, he is the one only God. He is very unique, most adorable and blessed for ever and ever. Amen. Ah! As saint Jerome said to Paulinus, “Plato the learned never knew this. Demosthenes the eloquent was ignorant of it." “Lord", says a great king [David], How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth! (Ps 119:103). Were not our hearts burning within us while he was talking to us on the road (Lk 24:32) declared those happy pilgrims of Emmaus. They were speaking of the flames of love which touched their hearts by the word of faith.
If divine truths are so sweet, being proposed in the dim light of faith, O God, what shall those truths be when we contemplate them in the midday light of glory! The queen of Sheba, hearing of the great reputation of Solomon, left everything to come and see him. When she arrived in his presence and listened to the wonderful wisdom that he poured forth in his discourse, she was lost in admiration. She cried out that what she had learned by hearing such a heavenly wisdom was not even half the knowledge the sight and experience gave her. Ah! How beautiful and loving are the truths of faith! But when we arrive in the heavenly Jerusalem, we shall see the great Solomon, the king of glory, seated in the glory of his wisdom. He will manifest with an incomprehensible clarity the eternal marvels and secrets of his supreme truth and with such a light that our mind shall see in its very presence what here below it had believed. Ah, dearest Theotimus, what raptures! What ecstasies! What admiration! What love! What sweetness! “No, never," we shall say in that sweet excess, “No, never could we have thought that we would see truth so delightful!" We have truly believed all the glorious things that were said of you, O great city of God (Ps 87:2). However, we could not conceive the infinite depth of your delights.
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[1] A great philosopher 490 B.C who held an atomic theory, see Vincent Kerns, p. 135.