There stand,encompassed with inconceivable light,the everlasting thrones,from which the evil spirits were hurled,in which the elect are seated.See how the delightful city shines with beaten gold,how it glitters with costly jewels,inlaid with precious stones,transparent as crystal,reflecting red roses,white lilies,and all living flowers.Now,look on the beautiful heavenly fields themselves.Lo!here all delights of summer,here sunny meads of May,here the very valley of bliss,here the glad moments are seen flitting from joy to joy;here harps and viols,here singing,and leaping,and dancing,hand in hand for ever!here the gratification of every desire,here pleasure without pain in everlasting security!Now,look how the countless multitude drink to their hearts'desire at the living fountains of gushing water;look how they feast their eyes on the pure,clear mirror of the revealed Divinity,in which all things are made plain and evident to them.Steal a little nearer,and mark how the sweet queen of the celestial kingdom,whom thou lovest with so much ardour,soars aloft in dignity and joy over the whole celestial host,reclining tenderly on her beloved,encircled with rose-flowers and lilies of the valley.See how her ravishing beauty fills with delight and wonder all the heavenly choirs.Oh,now behold what will rejoice thy heart and soul,and see how the mother of compassion has turned her compassionate eyes towards thee and all sinners,and how powerfully she appeals to her beloved Son,and intercedes with Him.Now,turn round with the eyes of thy pure understanding,and behold also how the high seraphim and the love-abounding souls of the seraphic choirs blaze up perpetually in Me;how the bright company of the cherubim have a bright infusion and effusion of My eternal inconceivable light,how the high thrones and hosts,the lordships,powers,and dominations,regularly fulfill My beautiful and eternal order in the universality of nature.Mark,too,how the third host of angelic spirits executes My high messages and decrees in the particular parts of the world;and see,how lovingly,how joyfully,and variously the multitude is marshalled,and what a beautiful sight it is!
Turn next thy glance and see how My chosen disciples and best beloved friends sit in repose and honour upon their awful judgment-seats,how the martyrs glitter in their rose-coloured garments,the confessors shine in their vernal beauty,how refulgent the virgins appear in their angelic purity,how all the heavenly host overflows with divine sweetness!Oh,what a company!Oh,what a joyous band!Blessed,thrice blessed is he who was born to dwell where they dwell!Lo,to this very fatherland I shall carry home from misery and tribulation,arrayed in all the richness of her rich morning gift,My beloved bride in My arms.I shall adorn her interiorly with the beautiful garment of the eternal light of that glory which will exalt her above all her natural powers.She will be clothed exteriorly with the glorified body,which is seven times brighter than the sun's light,swift,subtle,and to suffering,impassive;then I shall put on her the crown of delight,and on the crown a golden garland.
The Servant.--Gentle Lord,what is the morning gift,and what the crown and golden garland?
Eternal Wisdom.--The morning gift is a clear vision of that which here below thou dost merely believe in,an actual comprehending of that which now thou hopest for,and a heartfelt pleasant enjoyment of that which on earth thou lovest.As to the beautiful crown,it is essential reward,but the blooming garland is accidental reward.
The Servant.--Lord,what is that?
Eternal Wisdom.--Accidental reward consists in such particular delight as souls obtain by particular and meritorious works wherewith they have conquered here below,even as the souls of great doctors,steadfast martyrs,and pure virgins.But Essential reward consists in the contemplative union of the soul with the pure Divinity,for rest she never can till she be born above all her powers and capacities,and introduced to the natural entity of the Persons,and to the clear vision of their real essence.And in the emanation of the splendour of Their essence she will find full and perfect satisfaction and everlasting happiness;and the more disengaged and abstracted the self-expression of such souls is,the more free will be their soaring exaltation;and the more free their exaltation,the deeper will be their penetration into the vast wilderness and unfathomable abyss of the unknown Godhead,wherein they are immersed,overflowed,and blended up,[5]so that they desire to have no other will than God's will,and that they become the very same that God is:in other words,that they be made blessed by grace as He is by nature.Raise then thy countenance joyfully,forget for a while all thy tribulations,comfort thy heart in this dark silent scene with the secret vision which thou now enjoyest of the society of the blessed,and behold how blooming and fair those faces appear which here on earth were so often red with shame for My sake;lift up thy glad heart and speak as follows:Where now is that bitter shame which so cruelly pierced your pure hearts?Where now the bowed heads,the cast down eyes?where the suppressed sorrow of heart,the deep sighs and bitter tears?where the pale looks,the dire poverty,and manifold infirmities?Where is now the miserable voice thus speaking:"Alas,my Lord and my God,how sad at heart I am!"Where are all those now who so greatly oppressed and despised you?No more are heard such words at these:"Ho,for the combat!ho,for the strife!
