im etiam posset dici quod defectus esset in
Papa Lino quod non pervenerit ad gloriam Petri.--S. Thom., Suppl. q.
92, art. 3.

CHAPTER IV.

THE BEATIFIC VISION. (CONTINUED.)

In the Beatific Vision our will is also to be glorified, and then we
shall be happy in loving and being loved.

We have seen in the foregoing chapter that our intellectual faculties
are glorified, and that our natural thirst for knowledge is forever
quenched. But we have another faculty, called the will, or the loving
power of the soul. This faculty is also to be glorified in the
Beatific Vision. Then our continual desire for happiness, which we
vainly sought in creatures, will be completely gratified. We shall
now see that, in the Beatific Vision, our will or moral nature is
elevated, ennobled, and made like God by a participation of His
sanctity, beatitude, and love. But let us first cast a glance at
ourselves, as we now are in our fallen state.

When our first parents revolted against God, they abandoned the
eternal rule of rectitude, which is God's Will. Their passions, which
heretofore had been under the control of reason, revolted against
them, and their will was turned away from God. We, their children,
have inherited all the consequences of their fall. We seek ourselves
inordinately--follow our own capricious will, which leads us into
excesses, at which we blush, in our sober moments. We stubbornly
persist in seeking our happiness in creatures, though reason itself
loudly proclaims that in them it cannot be found. Evidently, then,
our will has been sadly perverted in the fall of our first parents.

One of the objects of the Christian religion was to bring back our
will to a conformity with the Divine Will, and to cause it to love
God above all things. Yet, in spite of its manifold teachings, in
spite too of the sacraments, and the many graces we daily receive, in
spite of prayer, meditation, and other spiritual exercises, this
grand object is but partially attained in this world. For we find our
perverse will again and again rising in rebellion against God. When a
command is imposed upon us which does not chime in with our wishes,
private interests, views, or natural inclination, we not unfrequently
must drag ourselves by main force to perform what is commanded. And
if we do obey, it is often only after doing all in our power, by
excuse or pretext, to escape the obligation of obeying. Indeed, we
all can say with the apostle: "I