The Interior Temple

On this feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica, for a portion of the Lessons proclaimed at Matins, the Carthusians listened to an excerpt from ‘The Life in Christ’ by the fourteenth-century Byzantine writer, Nicholas Cabasilas. Contained in these writings are instructions concerning the house of prayer not built by human hands, that is, the soul of man. It is a reflection on the Gospel story of Jesus casting out those who bought and sold in the Temple.

Virtuous men keep prompt vigilance against the roots of evil and resist it from the outset; guarding their heart for God alone, dedicating it to Him as a temple, a remembrance of God. They know, in fact, that this sacred place should not be exposed to folly. They know that nothing equals the sacred soul that is consecrated to God. It must be very impenetrable to those who sell and buy, and be free from hawkers and moneychangers. For him who prays, this house of prayer must be free from turmoil. Truthfully, the term ‘house of prayer’ was not always present in the temple of Jerusalem where at times no one was praying. Instead, the expression ‘house of prayer’ well suits Christians, who according to the prescription of Saint Paul (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:17), must be constantly devoted to union with God through constant prayer.

Let us consider this further: The Saviour who repelled other offences by means of words in one case employed both His Tongue and His indignation, Hand and whip alike, giving us occasion to consider how important He regards this matter. It was not so much because He wished to honour that Temple that He did these things, since He foresaw that it would be razed to the ground; rather He did this because He wanted to show how much He desires that each one of the faithful with whom He promised to abide should be freed from anxieties and cares, and at the same time how vehement was His passion and how great the need for constancy and sober reason. Above all, it is the Saviour Himself Who takes the matter in hand. Unless we receive Him within ourselves it is impossible to cast out that which disturbs. It was for these reasons that the Mosaic Law decreed that sacrilege was punishable by death and that the Holy of Holies had to have a veil. Uzzah died because he wanted to support with his unhallowed hand the tottering Ark (cf. 2 Samuel 6:6-7); and Uzziah acquired leprosy from the holy things (cf. 2 Chronicles 26: 16, 19). There are many such things which require that the baptised soul, like a pure and sacred precinct, should be inviolate for the true God. It is important, therefore, that those who live in Christ should keep the soul uncorrupted by worldly cares. Even if something enters the mind which seems to be important, it should not turn aside its reasoning, just as Peter, when he heard the Saviour’s call, paid no heed at all to the things which he had in hand. In fact, anyone who lives in Christ, hears a continuous and constant call by the grace infused from the sacraments.

The grace which dwells in the believer, as Saint Paul teaches, is the Spirit of the Son of God crying in our hearts, ‘Abba! Father’! (Galatians 4:6). In this way they despise all things in order that they may always be able to follow Christ, for as it says, ‘it is not good to forsake the Word of God and to serve tables’ (Acts 6:2). They do this first because for them nothing comes before God, and second, because they expect to find all other things with Him, since He is the dispenser of all good things. Indeed those who first seek the Kingdom of God have a promise from Him Who cannot deceive that all other things will follow (cf. Saint Matthew 6:33). For these reasons the Saviour withdraws from all earthly cares those who cleave to Him. He does not want them to weary themselves with anxiety for the things He has already taken care of for them. If, then, it is harmful to be anxious about these things, what shall we say about being distressed over them? This not only distracts the soul from the remembrance of God, but it also completely obscures the intellect.

Praise of the Just is Blame for the Unjust

It is a long trial he asks who asks a long life. For the life of man upon earth is a trial. By this alone are you just, that you acknowledge and proclaim you should be damned on account of your sins. If you say you are just, you are a liar (cf. 1 Saint John 2:4), and are condemned by the Lord, the Truth, as being contrary to Him. Say that you are a sinner, so that speaking the truth you may agree with the Lord, the Truth, you who need liberation (cf. Saint John 8:32).

You please yourself because you do not understand that you have nothing good from yourself. From yourself you have nothing but evil. Therefore you owe no thanks to yourself. All evil comes to you from yourself. And so you owe yourself great punishment as penalty. Be such a man as may be praised. For no one but a good man is truly praised (cf. Saint Matthew 19:10). And good he is not, who so wishes to be praised. Therefore he is not praised. When you are charming to your praiser, it is not really to your praiser that you are charming, for it is no longer you who are being praised. So vain are you. When one says: ‘How good, how just he is’, the one who is such is praised, not you who are not such. Rather, you are no little blamed, so bad and so unjust are you. For the praise of the just is blame for the unjust. Therefore blame for you, an unjust man. When, therefore, you applaud the just man's praiser, you are applauding your truest blamer, because you are unjust. For he is not just who thinks himself just. Not even if he be an infant of one day (cf. Job 14:5).

He who rejoices in praise loses the praise. If you love praise, love not the praises meant for a saint; that is, if you wish praise, wish not to be praised. For he cannot truly be praised who wishes praise. He receives praise whose good qualities are vaunted. But he who wishes to be praised is not only void of good, but is moreover full of great and diabolical evil, that is, arrogance. Hence he is not praised. The just man, on the contrary, is always praised, nor is there any blaming him. Blame really is a reproach for evils. But what the just man has not, for it he cannot be reproached. Hence he cannot be blamed. Without exception, all praise of the just is blame for the unjust, and all blame of the wicked is for the just true praise. When someone is praised for good, it profits not the one praised but the praiser.

~ Meditations of Guigo, Prior of the Charterhouse ~

Thirty-second Sunday in Ordinary Time

First Reading, 2 Maccabees 7:1-2, 9-14
As we're just a few weeks away from the start of the Advent Season this Reading, although written before the birth of Christ, contains Christian ideals: namely, being a disciple of the Lord at all costs and the belief in the resurrection. Hopefully none of us will ever be put to death because of our faith but even putting aside the fact that these men were about to be martyred, this Reading offers a lesson about how to become instruments of the Almighty by abandoning our ways and embracing His ways. As these men express a belief in being raised from the dead and living forever, they probably have no idea that God has used them to prophesy the coming of Christ. Most likely they are expecting their resurrection to come from the workings of the One Creator God and are clueless to the fact that they are prophesying about what will later be revealed as the Triune God; and the second Person of the Triune God would reveal Himself through the Incarnation and as Man He would destroy death forever; and through Him is the hope of resurrection for all. It is only those who have lived after Christ's Resurrection and those of us who are currently living our earthly existence that can fully appreciate the magnitude of the statements made by these men in this Reading. God's words today can still be heard through the voice of others. Has anyone ever said anything to you that was an answer to a prayer? Has anyone ever been at the right place and the right time whose presence turned your tough situation into a pleasant memory? Have you ever said anything to someone which turned out to be an answer to their prayer? Chances are the answer is yes to all three questions even if you don't recall or were not apprised by the other party that you were an answer to their prayer. It's easy to get caught up in our busy lives and completely miss the workings of God. But these are the kinds of things that God does through us when we simply say yes to Him. Occasionally, spoken words seem to be insignificant for the moment; and then somewhere down the road those words have extraordinary relevance. Frequently reflecting on the Power within us can all the more enrich our spiritual life. Have you ever wondered what it would be like to meet a prophet? If so, look in a mirror or look at the person sitting next to you at Mass.

Second Reading, 2 Thessalonians 2:16-3:5
The human heart bears a tremendous burden. Sacred Scripture tells us that God judges by the heart alone (cf. 1 Samuel 16:7). In this Reading, Saint Paul's prayer for us is that our Lord will encourage our hearts and strengthen them in every good deed and word. In the oldest Catholic translation of Scripture in English, the Douay-Rheims version, the word ‘heart’ or a derivative of it appears there 1,067 times. What an interesting piece of apparatus God has given us in the human heart! It is capable of expressing a mixed bag of emotions. Quite often the battle between good and evil takes place within our own hearts. The human heart has more to it than we can fully comprehend; and because of this its importance can never be underestimated. Why else would God want permission from us to take complete possession of it? When God holds our hearts in the Palm of His Hand so much good can come from it - the impossible becomes very possible. But when the door of the heart is slammed shut, leaving God on the outside, it is capable of concocting unspeakable evils. Prejudices, dislikes, pure hatred and harbouring anger are negative forces that could dwell within our hearts because in our human weakness we find it very difficult to let our Lord be its Master. There is always that part of us that desires to be our own boss. And even when we attempt to let God take charge, the serpent is always there whispering in our ears that what our Lord promises simply isn't true. Cultivating a humble heart will breed sympathy and understanding for one another's weaknesses. Prayer is the best defence against the one who is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (cf. 1 Saint Peter 5:8). May we continue to pray for a complete conversion of our hearts: ‘Iesu, mitis et humilis Corde, fac cor nostrum secundum Cor tuum’ – (Jesus, meek and humble of Heart, make our hearts like unto Thine).

Gospel, Luke 20:27-38
It's quite obvious that the Sadducees are attempting to make a complete mockery of Jesus. They are asking Him to teach how multiple marriages will fare in the resurrected state even though the Sadducees have no belief in a resurrection. As Christians, we are able to look beyond the horizons of earthly existence and know perfection is waiting for us even though the meaning of perfection in an eternal state is indecipherable: ‘Eye has not seen, nor ear heard: neither has it entered into the heart of man, what things God has prepared for those that love Him’ (1 Corinthians 2:9). What Jesus makes clear, though, is that conjugal love will not exist in the resurrected life. In heaven we will find out and perhaps be downright shocked by how limited and conditional is the love we offer in this world. Married love, creating a new family, love for our children and love for parents is just about the fullest extent of love that human beings can currently comprehend. Does anyone really understand the kind of love that would make Love Himself die to save all of humanity -- past, present, and future? In the sacred bond of married life, considering the elimination of conjugal love in the afterlife right now might seem disappointing because we don't understand how unflawed and beautiful Love is in heaven which is also coupled with an equal inexplicability of how limited the love is we currently share. Our faith and our hope can imaginatively transport us to something better but our imaginations cannot conjure up the infinite reality of God's love. In heaven, our royal priesthood will be exercised in unmarred proficiency as we offer worship, praise and adoration to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit for all eternity. In Saint John's Gospel Jesus says: ‘The Father and I are One’ (Saint John 10:30). It is this transforming union of God and humanity that so few experience in the here and now but most assuredly all who love God will experience in the hereafter.

Imagination

It is our opinion that the imagination should be used only when it is strictly necessary; for it is a purely human function and its use is not therefore substantially prayer. This alone is one reason why it should be kept within bounds.

Any purely human faculty, under the influence of grace, can be raised and used for a supernatural end; but the fact remains that the imagination, like all sense activity, is quickly exhausted and soon tires of its object. To form and keep before one’s mind imaginary pictures is very fatiguing, and it is impossible to keep it up for long. We must, therefore, avoid allowing it to play an important or essential part in our prayer. If we are to obey the Gospel command, our prayer must be simple and continuous.

Nor for that matter can the imagination touch supernatural truths, which can only be apprehended by pure faith. All it can do is to play with the shadows of these realities, which are invisible and can only be the object of the theological virtues. Does that mean that we must banish all images from our prayer? That is not possible. But we do suggest that they should be resorted to only when necessary and not otherwise.

If we are thinking of meditating on the Passion of Our Lord, it is as present in our souls that we must first think of Him. Then, with the help of a Crucifix for example, we may, by using our imagination, dwell on all He suffered for us upon the Cross. But all the time we must never lose sight of the fact that Jesus is in our heart. This will not in any way affect the ardour or strength of our feelings of compassion for Our Lord. On the contrary, it is pure faith which gives these feelings their reality and depth; which assures us that just as our sins really made Our Lord suffer in His Passion, so our acts of love have really consoled Him. What an encouragement for a fervent soul to know that it can now, by its love, console Jesus alone in His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. And this is not just imagination: it is the sublime reality of faith.

~ Dom Jean-Baptiste Porion ~

The God-Love That Reveals Himself in Christ Fascinated Her

Dear readers of Secret Harbour, I have received some emails this morning from fellow readers informing me that our Holy Father’s Wednesday General Audience yesterday was devoted to a Carthusian, Marguerite d’Oingt. Many thanks to those who emailed me about this! Here’s what Pope Benedict had to say:

(Translation by ZENIT)

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

With Marguerite d'Oingt, of whom I would like to speak to you today, we are introduced to Carthusian spirituality, which is inspired in the evangelical synthesis lived and proposed by Saint Bruno. We do not know her date of birth, although some place it around 1240. Marguerite came from a powerful family of the old nobility of Lyonnais, the Oingt. We know that her mother was also called Marguerite, that she had two brothers -- Giscard and Louis -- and three sisters: Catherine, Elizabeth and Agnes. The latter followed her to the Carthusian monastery, succeeding her as prioress.

We have no information on her childhood, but through her writings we can intuit that she spent it peacefully, in an affectionate family environment. In fact, to express God's unbounded love, she valued images linked to the family, with particular reference to the figures of the father and mother. In one of her meditations she prays thus: ‘Very sweet Lord, when I think of the special graces that You have given me by Your solicitude: first of all, how You took care of me since my childhood, and how You removed me from danger and called me to dedicate myself to Your holy service, and how You provided everything that was necessary for me to eat, drink, dress and wear, and You did so in such a way that I had no occasion to think of these things but of your great mercy’ (Marguerite d'Oingt, Scritti Spirituali, Meditazione V, 100, Cinisello Balsamo, 1997, p. 74).

We always intuit in her meditations that she entered the Carthusian monastery of Poleteins in response to the Lord's call, leaving everything behind and accepting the severe Carthusian Rule, to belong totally to the Lord, to be with Him always. She wrote: ‘Sweet Lord, I left my father and my mother and my siblings and all the things of this world for love of You; but this is very little, because the riches of this world are but thorns that prick; and the more they are possessed the more unfortunate one is. And because of this it seems to me that I left nothing other than misery and poverty; but You know, sweet Lord, that if I possessed thousands of worlds and could dispose of them as I pleased, I would abandon everything for Your love; and even if You gave me everything that you possess in heaven and on earth, I would not consider myself satiated until I had You, because You are the life of my soul, I do not have and do not want to have a father and mother outside of You’ (ibid., Meditazione II, 32, p. 59).

We also have little data on her life in the Carthusian monastery. We know that in 1288 she became its fourth prioress, a post she kept until her death, which took place on 11 February 1310. From her writings, however, we do not deduce particular turns in her spiritual itinerary. She conceives the entirety of life as a journey of purification up to full configuration with Christ. He is the book that is written, which daily influences her heart and life, in particular his saving Passion. In the work ‘Speculum’, referring to herself in the third person, Marguerite stresses that by the Lord's grace ‘she had engraved in her heart the holy life that Jesus Christ, God led on earth, His good examples and His good doctrine. She had placed the sweet Jesus Christ so well in her heart, that it even seemed to her that He was present and that He had a closed book in His Hand, to instruct her’ (ibid., I, 2-3, p. 81). ‘In this book she found written the life that Jesus Christ led on earth, from His birth to His ascension into heaven’ (ibid., I, 12, p. 83). Every day, beginning in the morning, Marguerite dedicated herself to the study of this book. And, when she had looked at it well, she began to read the book in her own conscience, which showed the falsehoods and lies of her own life (cf. ibid., I, 6-7, p. 82); she wrote about herself to help others and to fix more deeply in her heart the grace of the presence of God, that is, to make her life every day marked by confrontation with the words and actions of Jesus, with the Book of His life. And she did this so that Christ's life would be imprinted in her soul in a stable and profound way, until she was able to see the Book in her interior, that is, until contemplating the mystery of God Trinity (cf. Ibid., II, 14-22; III, 23-40, p. 84-90).

Through her writings, Marguerite gives us some traces of her spirituality, enabling us to understand some features of her personality and of her gifts of governance. She was a very learned woman; she usually wrote in Latin, the language of the erudite, but she also wrote in Provençal French, and this too is a rarity: thus her writings are the first of those known to be written in that language. She lived a life rich in mystical experiences, described with simplicity, allowing one to intuit the ineffable mystery of God, stressing the limits of the mind to apprehend it and the inadequacy of the human language to express it. She had a lineal personality, simple, open, of gentle affectivity, great balance and acute discernment, able to enter into the depth of the human spirit, discovering its limits, its ambiguities, but also its aspirations, the soul's tensions toward God. She showed outstanding aptitude for governance, combining her profound mystical spiritual life with service to her sisters and to the community. Significant in this connection is a passage of a letter to her father. She wrote: ‘My sweet father, I let you know that I am very occupied because of the needs of our house, so that it is not possible for me to apply my spirit to good thoughts; in fact, I have so much to do I do not know which way to turn. We have not gathered wheat in the seventh month of the year and our vineyards were destroyed by the storm. Moreover, our church is in such poor conditions that we are obliged to reconstruct it in part’ (ibid., Lettere, III, 14, p. 127).

A Carthusian nun thus describes the figure of Marguerite: ‘Revealed through her work is a fascinating personality, of lively intelligence, oriented to speculation and at the same time favoured by mystical graces: in a word, a holy and wise woman who is able to express with a certain humour an affectivity altogether spiritual’ (Una Monaca Certosina, Certosine, in Dizionario degli Istituti di Perfezione, Rome, 1975, col. 777). In the dynamism of mystical life, Marguerite values the experience of natural affections, purified by grace, as privileged means to understand more profoundly and to second divine action with greater alacrity and ardour. The reason lies in the fact that the human person is created in the Image of God, and because of this is called to build with God a wonderful history of love, allowing Himself to be totally involved in His initiative.

The God-Trinity, the God-Love that reveals Himself in Christ fascinated her, and Marguerite lived a relationship of profound love for the Lord and, in contrast, sees human ingratitude to the point of vileness, to the paradox of the Cross. She says that the Cross of Christ is similar to giving birth. Jesus' pain is compared with that of a mother. She wrote: ‘The mother who carried me in her womb suffered greatly in giving birth to me, during a day or a night, but you, most sweet Lord, were tormented for me not one night or one day, but for more than 30 years!. How bitterly You suffered because of me during your whole life! And when the moment of birth arrived, Your work was so painful that Your holy Sweat became as drops of Blood, which were shed over all Your body to the ground’ (ibid., Meditazione I, 33, p. 59). Evoking the accounts of the Passion, Marguerite contemplated these sorrows with profound compassion. She said: ‘You were placed on the hard bed of the Cross, so that you could not move or turn or wave Your Limbs as a man usually does when suffering great pain, because You were completely stretched and You were pierced with the nails . . . and . . . all Your Muscles and Veins were lacerated. But all these pains . . . were still not sufficient for You, so much so that You desired that Your Side be pierced so cruelly by the lance that Your docile Body should be totally ploughed and torn and Your Blood spurted with such violence that it formed a long path, almost as if it were a current’. Referring to Mary, she said: It was no wonder that the sword that destroyed Your Body also penetrated the heart of your glorious Mother who so wanted to support you . . . because Your love was higher than all other loves’ (ibid., Meditazione II, 36-39.42, p. 60f).

Dear friends, Marguerite d'Oingt invites us to meditate daily on the life of sorrow and love of Jesus and of His Mother, Mary. Here is our hope, the meaning of our existence. From contemplation of Christ's love for us are born the strength and joy to respond with the same love, placing our life at the service of God and of others. With Marguerite we also say: ‘Sweet Lord, all that You did, for love of me and of the whole human race, leads me to love You, but the remembrance of Your most holy Passion gives unequalled vigour to my power of affection to love You. That is why it seems to me that . . . I have found what I so much desired: not to love anything other than You or in You or for love of You’ (ibid., Meditazione II, 46, p. 62).

At first glance this figure of a medieval Carthusian nun, as well as her life and her thought, seems distant from us, from our life, from our way of thinking and acting. But if we look at the essential aspect of this life, we see that it also affects us and that it would also be the essential aspect of our own existence.

We have heard that Marguerite considered the Lord as a book, she fixed her gaze on the Lord, she considered Him a mirror in which her own conscience also appeared. And from this mirror light entered her soul: She allowed the Word to come in, the life of Christ in her own being and thus she was transformed; her conscience was enlightened, she found criteria, light and was cleansed. It is precisely this that we also need: to let the words, life and light of Christ enter our conscience so that it is enlightened, understands what is true and good and what is wrong; may our conscience be enlightened and cleansed. Rubbish is not only on different streets of the world. There is rubbish also in our consciences and in our souls. Only the light of the Lord, His strength and His love is what cleanses us, purifies us, showing us the right path. Therefore, let us follow holy Marguerite in this look toward Jesus. Let us read the book of His life, let us allow ourselves to be enlightened and cleansed, to learn the true life. Thank you.

What Must Be Done

In the Carthusian Order, the Office of the Dead is not only prayed on the Commemoration of All Souls, 2 November, which is today, but also on 13 November, which is when the Order prays for all their dearly departed monks or nuns, their families and relatives. Along with the daily praying of the Canonical Office, and the daily offering of the Office of Our Lady, the Office of the Dead is prayed weekly by the Carthusian Fathers in the solitude of their cells, praying for all the departed. On 2 and 13 November and when a member of their monastic community dies, however, the Office of the Dead is prayed in choir in the church. When a relative or family member of a monk or nun dies, the entire community prays Vespers of the Dead for the whole week in the solitude of the cell. The Carthusian Office of the Dead is known as the Agenda which translates as, “what must be done.”

Death in the Carthusian Order maintains the same hiddenness as did life on earth. When a monk or nun dies, he or she is buried on the grounds of the monastery. The grave is marked by a simple wooden cross in the ground without the name of the monk or nun buried there, maintaining their anonymity.

The Highest Good

On this Solemnity of All Saints the Carthusians at Matins listened to a piece from Saint Anselm's Proslogion. We learn more about the saints and how to be a saint from this Discourse. This particular excerpt has several themes to ponder. First, God is wholly God forever. He is the Supreme Good. In other words, the saints are saints because of God, Who is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Second, the saints in heaven receive all goods because they love the one Good, Who is every good. Third, Saint Anselm challenges us to consider our own longings, our own desires; and then he explains that the fulfillment of those desires are to be found in heaven, where the saints dwell. Complete fulfillment or even a partial fulfillment, however, would be without joy, if it weren’t for God, the Source of all joy. Jesus promised a joy that is complete. The key to entering wholly into that joy, as Saint Anselm continues, is to rejoice, a great challenge for us in this highly secularized culture we live in. Finally, as if to expose our own human weaknesses while encouraging us to hand them over to God that He may extract good from them, Saint Anselm demonstrates his impatience in receiving the fulfillment of joy, by praying for his advancement in joy day after day. As mentioned at the start, the saints are saints because of God; and Saint Anselm shows us that becoming a saint begins here and now, by laying up treasures in heaven, that our hearts may be there as well (cf. Matthew 6:20-21).

You alone, Lord, You are Who You are, and You are the One Who is. Things that obey the law of change, one thing in the whole and another in the parts, is not altogether what it is. And what begins from non-existence, and can be conceived not to exist, and unless it subsists through something else, returns to non-existence; and what has a past existence, which is no longer, or a future existence, which is not yet, this does not properly and absolutely exist. But You, O Lord, You are what You are because whatever You are at any time, or in any way, You are as a whole and forever. In fact, You are He Who You are, properly and simply; for You have neither a past existence nor a future, but only a present existence; nor can You be conceived as at any time non-existent. But You, O Lord, are Life, and Light, and Wisdom, and Blessedness. And yet You are only One Supreme Good; You are all-sufficient to Yourself, and do not need anything; and You are He Whom all things need for their existence and wellbeing. This Good is You, God the Father; this is Your Word, Your Son. In fact, the Word by which You do express Yourself, that of You nothing can be born other than what You are. Your Word is truthful, as You are truthful, hence, it is Truth itself, just as You are, no other truth than You. And You are of so simple a nature, that of You nothing can be born other than what You are.

This highest good is the one love unique and common to You and to Your Son, that is, the Holy Spirit proceeding from both. For this love is not unequal to You or to Your Son; seeing that You do love Yourself and Him, and He, You and Himself, to the whole extent of Your Being and His. The Holy Spirit cannot differ from You, Father, or from Your Son, since He is the equal of both. Since He is Supreme Simplicity, He can only proceed from the Father and the Son. But what each is, separately, this is the whole Trinity at once, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit; seeing that each separately is none other than the supremely simple Unity, and the supremely unitary Simplicity which can neither be multiplied nor varied. Moreover, there is a single necessary Being. Now, this is that single, necessary Being, in which is every good, and a single entire Good, and the only Good. Now, my soul, arise and lift up all your understanding, and conceive, so far as you can, of what character and how great is that Good!

If individual goods are delectable, conceive in earnestness how delectable is that Good which contains the pleasantness of all goods. It is a joy, however, very different from what we have experienced in created objects, as different as the Creator from the creature. If the created life is good, how good is the creative life! If the salvation given is delightful, how delightful is the Salvation which has given all salvation! If wisdom in the knowledge of the created world is lovely, how lovely is the Wisdom which has created all things from nothing! What goods and how great, belong to those who enjoy this Good! Joy is multiplied in the blessed from the blessedness and joy of others. Who shall enjoy this Supreme Good? And what shall belong to him, and what shall not belong to him? Whatever he wishes shall be his, and whatever he shall not wish shall not be his. These goods of body and soul will be such as eye has not seen nor ear heard, neither has the heart of man conceived (cf. Isaiah 64:4; 1 Corinthians 2:9). Why, then, do you wander abroad, small man, in your search for the goods of your soul and your body? Love the One Good in which are all goods, and it suffices; desire the Simple Good which is every good, and it is enough.

What are your longings, my flesh? What do you yearn for, my soul? What fulfills your desires is in heaven. If beauty delights you, there shall the righteous shine forth as the sun (cf. Saint Matthew 13:43). Do you delight in swiftness or endurance, or freedom of body, which no one can withstand? The resurrection of the dead shall be like the angels, because it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body (cf. 1 Corinthians 15:44). If it is a long and healthy life that pleases you, in God there is an eternity of health, for the righteous shall live forever (cf. Wisdom 5:16), and the salvation of the righteous comes from the Lord (cf. Psalm 36:39). If it is satisfaction of hunger, they shall be satisfied when the glory of the Lord has appeared (cf. Exodus 16:7; Psalm 16:15). Do you want to taste an unspeakable joy? There draw water with joy from the springs of salvation (cf. Isaiah 12:3). If it is melody, there the choirs of angels sing forever before God. If it is chaste delights, in heaven you shall drink from the river of divine delights (cf. Psalm 35:9). If it is wisdom that delights you, the very Wisdom of God will reveal itself to you. Do you want the delights of friendship? There you will love God more than yourself, and others as yourself. God shall love you more than you yourself; for you love Him, and yourself, and others, through Him, and He, Himself and all, through Himself.

Are you looking for harmony? You’ll find it in heaven because the elect will have a single will. If power, you shall have all power to fulfill your will, as God to fulfill His. As God will have power to do what He wills, through Himself, so the blessed will have power, through Him, to do what they will. If honor and riches, God shall make His good and faithful servants rulers over many things (cf. Saint Luke 12:42). In fact, they shall be called sons of God, and share in His divinity; and where His Son shall be, there they shall be also, heirs indeed of God, and joint-heirs with Christ (cf. Romans 8:17). If true security delights you, undoubtedly they shall be as sure that those goods, or rather that Good, will never and in no way fail them; as they shall be sure that they will not lose it of their own accord; and that God, Who loves them, will not take it away from those who love Him; and that nothing more powerful than God will separate Him from them against His will and theirs.

The possession of the highest Good is accompanied by an indescribable happiness. If you could dive into that ocean of joy, your human heart, so poor, so experienced in pain, even submerged in it, would be filled with delight. Ask your inmost mind whether it could contain its joy over so great a blessedness on its own. Yet assuredly, if any other whom you did love altogether as yourself possessed the same blessedness, your joy would be doubled, because you would rejoice no less for him than for yourself. But, if two, or three, or many more, had the same joy, you would rejoice as much for each one as for yourself, if you did love each as yourself. Thus, in that perfect love of innumerable blessed angels and sainted men, where none shall love another less than himself, every one shall rejoice for each other as for himself.

How shall the human heart contain its joy over its own great good, how shall it contain so many and so great joys? Doubtless, seeing that everyone loves another so far as he rejoices in the other's good, and as, in that perfect felicity, each one should love God beyond compare, more than himself and all the others with him; so he will rejoice beyond reckoning in the felicity of God, more than in his own and that of all the saints with him. The elect shall love God with all their heart, and all their mind, and all their soul. But if all the heart, all the mind, and all the soul will not equal the greatness of this love, how will they be able to support the fullness of their joy? My Lord and my God, You are the hope and joy of my heart. You have promised this happiness for my soul, saying through the Mouth of Your Divine Son: “Ask and you shall receive, that your joy may be full” (Saint John 16:24).

My meditation revealed the existence of an overabundance of joy that fills the heart, soul and mind. It penetrates the whole person and will still remain beyond measure. Not all of that joy shall enter into those who rejoice; but those who rejoice shall wholly enter into that joy. Speak to Your servant in his inmost heart the joy that is prepared for those who enter into Your Kingdom of heaven; Your saints will enjoy those things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has it entered into the heart of man (cf. 1 Corinthians 2:9). My words and thoughts could never conceive how greatly those blessed ones of Yours shall rejoice. They shall rejoice according as they shall love; and they shall love according as they shall know. How far they will know You, Lord, then, and how much they will love You! Hear, O Lord, my voice: If I cannot attain to full joy in this life, may I at least advance from day to day, until that joy shall come to the full. Meanwhile, let my mind meditate upon it; let my tongue speak of it. Let my heart love it; let my mouth talk of it; let my soul hunger for it; let my flesh thirst for it; let my whole being desire it, until I enter into the joy of my Lord, Who is the Triune God, blessed forever. Amen.