THE LIGHT OF GLORY.
Having, in the foregoing chapters, endeavored to form an idea of
heaven's happiness, we must now endeavor to understand something of
the different degrees in which each one of the blessed enjoys that
unspeakable beatitude.
It is an article of faith that every one in heaven, except baptized
infants, is rewarded according to his own personal merits, acquired
in this life by the assistance of God's grace. Baptized children, who
die before they reach the age of discretion, are admitted into
heaven, in virtue of their adoption as children of God on the day of
their baptism. But all others who have lived long enough to be
responsible or their deeds, besides being admitted there in virtue of
their adoption as children of God, are, moreover, rewarded according
to their own personal merits.
But, it seems to me, I hear you ask, Does not the happiness of heaven
consist in the Beatific Vision? Undoubtedly it does. And is the
little boy, who dies before he can make an act of faith, or of
charity, admitted to that glorious vision as well as the Apostle and
the martyr? Certainly he is. And the little girl, who dies before
reaching the age of discretion, is she too admitted to the vision of
God, as well as the Sister of Charity, the nun, and others who spend
their lives in teaching the ignorant and ministering to the poor?
Undoubtedly she is. And the murderer, who dies on the scaffold, after
making an act of perfect contrition, is he, too, eventually admitted
to the vision and possession of God? Yes, he, too, will see God face
to face, and be made happy by that glorious vision. Well, then, if
all see and possess God, how can there be a difference in the
happiness of the saints? Are they not all equally happy? This is the
question we are now to answer, by examining the meaning and the
nature of the Light of glory. This examination will make it evident,
that, though all see God, yet no two of the blessed enjoy precisely
the same degree or amount of happiness.
Theologians define the Light of glory to be, "A supernatural
intellectual power infused into the soul, by which she is enabled to
see God, which she never could do by her own unassisted natural
powers."* It is called supernatural, because it is not a natural
talent or power of our nature, as the talent for poetry, music,
painting, and others, all of which may be developed and highly
improved by study. But the Light of glory is an elevation, expansion,
or development of the mind, which comes directly from God, and is, in
no sense, the result of human endeavors, except in so far as it has
been deserved by a holy life. We shall understand better the meaning
of the Light of glory by an illustration.
* Per lumen gloriæ intelligitur qualitas creata, et habitus virtusque
intellectualis supernaturalis, ac per se infusa intellectui, qua
redditur proxime potens et habilis ad videndum Deum.... Ita D.
Thomas, sicque ratione probatur: Ut virtutes infusæ requiruntur, ut
eorum actus fiant connaturali modo, nempe a principio intrinseco et
proportionato, ita etiam lumen ut fiat visio. Cum enim activitas ex
parte intellectus sit in suo ordine deficiens et imperfecta, ideo
oportet ut lumen illi virtutem conferat altioris ordinis,
supernaturalem et actui proportionatam per quam elevatur ad
efficiendam visionem cum illo. Suarez, de Deo, cap. xiv.
Let us suppose that you never could learn mathematics or astronomy.
In spite of the most intense application, you never could master even
the multiplication table; and when you gazed upon the heavens, you
could never see there any more beauty and magnificence than does the
untutored savage. But, on a sudden, there is a flash of light from
above, and your mind is enlightened far beyond its natural capacity,
and you can see all the heavenly bodies as they are. You now know
their names, motions, distances, laws, and relations to each other,
and to the whole universe. Formerly, they appeared all alike, except
the sun and the moon; but now, you see that no two of them are alike.
Each one has its own size, velocity, beauty, and glory. You even soar
far beyond the discoveries of science, and you gaze with delight upon
millions of shining worlds, which the most powerful telescope never
did, and never can, reach. You can, moreover, in the twinkling of an
eye, calculate with astonishing precision the day, the hour, the
minute, yea, the very second, at which an eclipse will occur. Gazing
upon the heavens, which hitherto had given you so little
satisfaction, now becomes the source of the most exquisite and
rational pleasure. For you now see in these countless worlds so much
beauty and magnificence, so delightful a harmony, that you can spend
whole nights in the contemplation of the heavens.
This sudden elevation and expansion of your mind to see such wonders
in the natural order, illustrates what takes place in heaven the
moment a pure soul enters there. In the supposition just made, you
receive an accession or addition of intellectual power, which enables
you to see clearly and to understand what was invisible and
unintelligible to you before the flash enlightened you. The Light of
glory produces a similar effect upon the soul at her entrance into
heaven. Our mind, which is now unable to see God except "as through a
glass, in a dark manner," is suddenly elevated in power, and enabled
to see God as he is, face to face, and to contemplate his divine
beauty and his other perfections. Our individual mind is neither
destroyed nor changed into another: it is only strengthened and
elevated in power and capacity far beyond anything we could ever have
reached by our own unassisted endeavors.
But we shall still better understand the meaning of the Light of
glory by contrasting it with the light of faith. What is faith? Faith
is also a supernatural elevation of the mind, by which we are enabled
to believe, as firmly as if we saw them, mysteries which are far
above our comprehension. It is called supernatural, because it comes
from God alone; for no man ever can bestow faith upon himself. Here,
then, the light of faith and the Light of glory resemble each other,
inasmuch as they both come immediately from God, and elevate man
above himself. But they vastly differ in intensity; for by faith we
see God imperfectly and unsatisfactorily, whereas by the Light of
glory we see God as he is in himself. Faith, therefore, is as the
first faint blush of the morning, while the Light of glory is as the
sun shining in his meridian splendor.
So, then, the Light of glory is a supernatural addition to our mind,
which enables it to cross the gulf between the Creator and the
creature. I say gulf, because no created intelligence can see God as
he is, by its own natural power. Hence, neither St. Augustine, nor
St. Thomas, nor any other giant intellect could see God as He is in
himself, any better than the man who never could learn his letters.
It is in this sense that we must understand St. Paul when, speaking
of God, he says: "Who alone hath immortality, and inhabiteth light
inaccessible; whom no man hath seen, nor can see."* Evidently he
means that no one can see God by the light of nature; for in another
place he tells us that when that which is perfect is come, we shall
see Him face to face.
1 Tim. vi. 16.
From all this it follows that all men are on a footing of perfect
equality, so far as the power of seeing God is concerned. No one has
that power in himself by nature, and no one can give it to himself or
develop it by study, as we can other powers we have received in the
natural order. It is as if we said that no man possesses the natural
power to see thorough a stone wall, or thorough the earth. Certainly
all men are equal here; for the man whose eagle eye can recognize a
friend at the distance of ten miles, is no nearer seeing thorough the
earth than another, whose sight is so bad that he can scarcely
recognize his own father at a distance of a few steps. So it is with
seeing God. No man has the power in himself by nature, and,
therefore, no one can develop it by study. Even the angels, who are
so vastly superior to us in intelligence, could not see God as he is
until they were elevated by the light of glory; and those among them
who became reprobates by their sin, never did and never shall see
God, although they still retain, even in their fallen state, more
intelligence than man.
I have been particular in explaining and insisting upon these things,
lest it might be imagined that men of highly cultivated minds, such
as philosophers, theologians, poets, and the like, shall see God
better, and enjoy more of heaven's happiness than the ignorant, in
virtue of their superior natural gifts. They certainly shall not. God
does not bestow a supernatural reward upon the natural gifts, or even
upon the natural virtues, which are to be found among pagans as well
as among Christians. But He does reward the faith, hope, charity, and
other supernatural virtues, which his children have practised in this
world. Hence, theology teaches that not even the angels, who are so
superior to us, see God any better in virtue of their nobler and more
perfect intellect. Thus, supposing an angel and a man to be equal in
merit, they both receive the same amount of the Light of glory; they
both see God in the same degree of perfection; and both, therefore,
enjoy the same degree of happiness. If we admit that the angel has a
more perfect vision of God, on account of his more perfect natural
intellect, then we must also admit that he enjoys a portion of
supernatural beatitude, exclusively, in virtue of his natural powers,
and not on account of his merits acquired by correspondence to divine
grace.* Evidently no such admission can be made; for heaven is a
supernatural reward of supernatural virtues, which have been
practised, in this world, under the influence of divine grace, and
not a reward of natural endowments. If, then, no such doctrine can be
admitted when the question is between angels and men, much less can
it be admitted when there is question of superior natural intellect
among men. Hence, the man who never learned his letters, either for
want of natural talent or opportunity, shall undoubtedly see God, as
well as the philosopher, if he has led as good a life; and he shall
see Him better, and enjoy more of heaven's happiness, if he has lived
a holier life.
* . . . Ipsa enim visio est præmium nostrum: ergo ubi paria sunt
merita, debet esse par visio: sed in homino et angelo possunt esse
paria merita: ergo debet esse par visio. Ergo quantitas visionis
debet sumi a lumine gloriæ quod datur secundum mensuram meritorum,
non autem a perfectione intellectus, quæ non datur ex meritis. Et
confirmatur, quia ponamus angelum et hominem habere æqualia merita.
Vel ergo accipient æquale lumen gloriæ vel inæquale. Si inæquale, non
respondebit meritis. Si æquale, ergo cum æquali lumine æqualiter Deum
videbunt: alioqui si angelus perfectius videret, tunc aliquam partem
beatitudinis haberet sine meritis, ex solis naturæ viribus. Becan. de
Attrib. Divin., quæst. x.
Once more: The light of glory is a supernatural elevation of the
mind, which enables man to see God as He is in himself. It is given
by God himself to those who have lived a supernatural life of faith,
hope, and charity. Moreover, it is given to each in proportion to his
personal merits. It therefore becomes the measure of the degree of
happiness which each one of the blessed enjoys in the vision of God.