al health of body and mind. Another again, who, in the
practice of virtue, has had all manner of temptations from the devil,
the world, and his own flesh, delights in viewing heaven as a place
totally free from temptation, where the danger, or even the
possibility of sin, shall be no more.

All these, and other similar views of heaven, are true, inasmuch as
they represent it as a place entirely free from evil and suffering,
and, at the same time, as an abode of positive happiness.
Nevertheless, they are all imperfect views, because not one of them
takes in the whole of heavenly bliss, such as God has revealed it to
us. They all ignore the Beatific Vision, which is the essential
happiness of heaven.

But even among those who look upon heaven as a place where we shall
see God, very few indeed understand what is implied in the vision of
God. They imagine that we shall simply gaze upon an object whose
surpassing perfection will make us happy in a way which they do not
understand. These last do not fully comprehend what is meant by the
Beatific Vision, though they view heaven as a place where we shall
see God. Let us, therefore, endeavor to understand what faith and
theology teach us concerning the Beatific Vision. We shall see that
it is the essential happiness of the blessed which not only fills
them with the purest and completest satisfaction, but that it is,
moreover, in virtue of this Beatific Vision that they are enabled to
enjoy the additional or secondary pleasures which cluster around the
throne of God.

Theologians divide the happiness of heaven into essential and
accidental. By essential is meant the happiness which the soul
receives immediately from God in the Beatific Vision. By accidental
are meant the additional pleasures or joys which come to the blessed
from creatures. Thus, when our Blessed Lord says: "There shall be joy
in heaven upon one sinner doing penance," He evidently means a new
joy, which the blessed did not possess until sorrow for sin entered
that sinner's heart. They were already happy in the Beatific Vision,
and would not have lost the slightest degree of their blessedness,
even if that sinner had never repented of his sins. Still, they
experience a new joy in his conversion, because therein they see God
glorified; and, moreover, they have reason to look for an additional
brother or sister to share their bliss. Yet, although the blessed do
rejoice in the conversion of the sinner, they do so