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 HEAVEN

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HEAVEN

plained by the representatives of this opinion, is not, properly speaking, extrinsic, as is often wrongly as- serted; but- it is rather intrinsic, because it is strictly due to the final state of blessedness and especially to the beatific vision. This is substantially the opinion of the Scotists, likewise of many others, especially in recent times. Nevertheless the Thomists, and with them the greater number of theologians, maintain that the beatific vision of its very nature directly excludes the possibility of sin. For no creature can have a clear intuitive view of the Supreme Good without being by that very fact alone irresistibly drawn to love it efficaciously and to fulfil for its sake even the most arduous duties without the least repugnance. The Church has left this matter undecided. The present writer rather inclines to the opinion of the Scotists because of its bearing on the question of the liberty of Christ. (See Hell, Impenitence of the Damned.)

V. Essential Bb.\titude. — We distinguish objec- tive and subjective beatitude. Objective beatitude is that good the possession of which makes us happy; subjective beatitude is the possession of that good. The essence of objective beatitude, or the essential object of beatitude is God alone. For the possession of God assures us also the possession of every other good we may desire; moreover, everything else is so immeasurably inferior to God that its possession can only be looked upon as something accidental to beati- tude. Finally, that all else is of minor importance for beatitude is evident from the fact that nothing save God alone is capable of satisfying man. Accordingly the essence of sul)jective Ijeatitmle is the possession of God, and it consists in the acts of vision, love, and joy. The blessed love God with a twofold love; with the love of complacency, by which they love God for His own sake, and secondly with the love less properly so called, by which they love Him as the source of their happiness (amor concupiscentitc) . In consonance with this twofold love the blessed have a twofold joy; firstly, the joy of love in the strict sense of the word, by which they rejoice over the infinite beatitude which they see in God Himself, precisely because it is the happiness of God whom they love, and secondly, the joy springing from love in a wider sense, by which they rejoice in God because He is the source of their own supreme happiness. These five acts constitute the essence of (subjective) beatitude, or in more precise terms, its physical essence. In this theologians agree.

Here theologians go a step farther and inquire whether among those five acts of the blessed there is one act, or a combination of several acts, which con- stitutes the essence of beatitude in a stricter sense, i. e. its metaphysical essence in contradistinction to its physical essence. In general their answer is affirma- tive; but in assigning the metaphysical essence their opinions diverge. The present writer prefers the opinion of St. Thomas, who holds that the metaphysi- cal essence consists in the vision alone. For, as we have just seen, the acts of love and joy are merely a kind of secondary attributes of the vision; and this remains true, whether love and joy result directly from the vision, as the Thomists hold, or whether the beatific vision by its very nature calls for confirmation in love and God's efficacious protection against sin.

VI. Accidental Be.\titude. — Besides the essential object of beatitude the souls in heaven enjoy many blessings accidental to beatitude. We shall mention only a few: (1) In heaven there is not the least pain or sadness; for every aspiration of nature must be finally realized. The will of the blessed is in perfect harmony with the Divine will; they feel displeasure at the sins of men, but without experiencing any real pain. (2) They delight greatly in the company of Christ, the angels, and the saints, and in the reunion with so many who were dear to them on earth. (3) After the resurrection the union of the soul with the glorified body will be a special source of joy for the blessed.

(See Resurrection.) (4) They derive great pleasure from the contemplation of all those things, both cre- ated and possible, which, as we have shown, they see in God, at least indirectly as in the cause. And, in particular, after the last judgment the new heaven and the new earth will afford them manifold enjoy- ment. (See Judgment, General.) (5) The blessed rejoice over sanctifying grace and the supernatural virtues that adorn their soul; and any sacramental character they may have also adds to their bliss. (6) Very special joys are granteil to the martyrs, doctors, and virgins, a special proof of victories won in time of trial (.\poc., vii, 11 sq.; Dan., xii, 3; Apoc, xiv, .'5 sq.). Hence theologians speak of three particular crowns, aureolas, or glorioles, by which these three classes of blessed souls are accidentally honoured be- yond the rest. Aureola is a diminutive of aurea, i. e. a)(rc(i corona (golden crown). Cf. St. Thomas, "Suppl.", 9, 9G; Bram, "Ueberdie Aureola" in "Katholik", IT, 1881, 28-34; Gutberlet, "Die Gloriole der Seligen" in "Theol. pract. (Juartalschrif t " (1902), pp. 749-67.

Since eternal happiness is metaphorically called a marriage of the soul with Christ, theologians also speak of the bridal endowments of the blessed. They distinguish seven of these gifts, four of which belong to the glorified body — light, impassibility, agility, sub- tility (see Resurrection); and three to the soul — vision, possession, enjojTnent {risio, comprelicnsio, fruitio). Yet in the explanation gi\en by the theolo- gians of the three gifts of the soul we find but little conformity. We may identify the gift of vision with the habit of the light of glory, the gift of possession with the habit of that love in a wider sense which has found in God the fulfilment of its desires, and the gift of enjojTnent we may identify with the habit of love properly so called {habitus caritatix) which rejoices to be with God; in this view these three infu.sed habits would be considered simply as ornaments to beautify the soul. (Cf. St. Thoma.s, Suppl., Q. xcv.)

VII. Attributes of Beatitude. — There are vari- ous degrees of beatitude in heaven corresponding to the various degrees of merit. This is a dogma of faith, defined by the Council of Florence (Denz., n. 693 — old, n. 5SS). Holy Writ teaches this truth in very many passages (e. g., wherever it speaks of eter- nal happiness as a reward), and the Fathers defend it against the heretical attacks of Jovinian. It is true that, according to Matt., xx, 1-16, each labourer re- ceives a penny; but by this comparison Christ merely teaches that, although the Gospel was preached to the Jews first, yet in the Kingdom of Heaven there is no distinction between Jew and Gentile, and that no one will receive a greater reward merely because of being a son of Juda (cf. Knabenbauer on this pas- sage). The various degrees of beatitude are not lim- ited to the accidental blessings, but they are found first and foremost in the beatific vision itself. For, as we have already pointed out, the vision, too, admits of degrees. These essential degrees of beatitude are, as Sudrez rightly observes (" De beat.", d. xi, s. 3, n. 5), that threefold fruit Christ distinguishes when He says that the word of God bears fruit in some thirty, in some sixty, in some a hundredfold (Matt., xiii, 23). And it is by a mere accommodation of the text that St. Thomas (Suppl., Q. xcvi, aa. 2 sqq.) and other theologians apply this text to the different degrees in the accidental beatitude merited by married persons, widows, and virgins.

The happiness of heaven is essentially unchange- able; still it admits of some accidental changes. Thus we may suppose that the blessed experience special joy when they receive greater veneration from men on earth. In particular, a certain growth in knowledge by experience is not excluded; for instance, as time goes on, new free actions of men may become known to the blessed, or personal ob.scrvation and experience may throw a new light on things already known. And