A treatise of the difference bbtwixt [sic] the temporal and eternal composed in Spanish by Eusebius Nieremberg ... ; translated into English by Sir Vivian Mullineaux, Knight ; and since reviewed according to the tenth and last Spanish edition.

Cap. VI.

The excellency and perfection of the Bodies of the Saints in the life eternal.

WE will not forbear also to consider, what man shall be when he is eternal, when being raised again at the great day he shall enter Soul and Body

into Heaven. Let us run over, if you please, all those kinds of goods which expect us in that Land of pro∣mise. When God promised Abraham the Country of Palestine, he commanded him to look upon it, and travel and compass it from side to side.* 1.1 Lift up thine eyes, saith the Lord, and from the place, where thou standest, look towards the North, and towards the South, and towards the East, and towards the West: All the land which thou seest I will give unto thee and thy seed for ever. And immediately after, Arise and walk the land in length and breadth, for I will certainly give it thee. We may take these words as spoken unto our selves, since they seem to promise us the Kingdom of Heaven; for no man shall enter into that which he docs not de∣sire: and no man can desire that as he ought to do, which he has not walked over in his consideration; for that which is not known is hardly desired. And therefore we ought often to contemplate the greatness of this Land, the length of its eternity, and the breadth and largeness of its felicity, which is so far extended, that it fills not onely the Soul, but the Body with hap∣piness and glory: that glory of the Soul redounding unto the Body, and perfecting it with those four most excellent gifts, and replenishing it with all felicity which can be imagined or desired. If Moses, seeing an Angel in a corporal figure onely upon the back part, and but in passage, received so great a glory from the light and beauty which he beheld, that his heart not being able to contain it, it struck forth into his face with a divine brightness, what joy shall the blessed Souls receive from the sight of God himself, when they shall behold him as he is face to face, not in pas∣sage or a moment, but for all eternity? This joy by reason of their strict union their Souls shall commu∣nicate unto their happy Bodies,* 1.2 which from thence∣forth shall be filled with glory, and invested with a light seaven times brighter than that of the Sun, as is noted by Albertus Magnus. For although it be said in

the Gospel, that the Just shall shine as the Sun, yet Isaias the Prophet sayes, that the Sun in these dayes shall shine seaven times more than it now doth. This light, being the most beautiful and excellent of cor∣poral qualities, shall cloath the Just as with a garment of most exceeding lustre and glory. What Emperor was ever clad in such a purple? what humane Majesty ever cast forth beams of such splendour?* 1.3 Herod upon the day of his greatest magnificence could only cloath himself in a Robe of silver admirably wrought, which did not shine of it self, but by reflection of the Sun beams, which then in his rising cast his raies upon it: and yet this little glittering was sufficient to make the people salute him as a God. What admiration shall it then cause to behold the glorious Body of a Saint, not cloathed in Gold or Purple, not adorned with Dia∣monds or Rubies, but more resplendent than the Sun it self? Put all the brightest Diamonds together, all the fairest Rubies, all the most beautiful Carbuncles: let an Emperial Robe be embroidered with them all: all this will be no more than as coals in respect of a glorious body, which shall be all transparent, bright, and resplendent far more than if it were set with Dia∣monds. O the basenese of worldly riches! they all put together could not make a Garment so specious and beautiful. If here we account it for a bravery to wear a Diamond Ring upon our fingers, and women glory in some Carbuncle dangling at their breasts, what shall it be to have our hands, feet, arid breasts themselves more glorious and resplendent than all the Jewels of the World? The Garments which we wear here, how rich soever, are rather an affront and dis∣grace unto us than an ornament, since they argue an imperfection and a necessity of our bodies, which we are forced to supply with something of another mature. Besides our cloathes were given as a mark of Adams fall in Paradise, and we wear them as a penance en∣joyned for his Sin. And what fool so impudent and

sottish, as to bestow precious trimming upon a peni∣tential Garment? But such are not the Ornaments of the Saints in Heaven; their lustre is their own, not bor∣rowed from their Garments, not extrinsecal without them, but within their very entrails, each part of them being more transparent than Chrystal, and brighter than the Sun. It is recounted in the Apocalyps as a great wonder, that a Woman was seen cloathed with the Sun, and crowned with twelve Stars. This indeed was far more glorious than any Ornament up∣on Earth, where we hold it for a great bravery to be adorned with twelve rich Diamonds and a Carbuncle; and what are those in comparison of the Sun and so many Stars? Yet this is short of the Ornament of the Saints, whose lustre is proper to themselves, intrinse∣cally their own, not taken and borrowed from some∣thing without them, as was that of the Womans. The State and Majesty, with which this gift of splendor shall adorn the Saints, shall be incomparably greater than that of the mightiest Kings. It were a great Ma∣jesty in a Prince, when he issues forth of his Palace by night, to be attended by a thousand Pages, each ha∣ving a lighted Torch; but were those Torches Stars, it were nothing to the state and glory of a Saint in Heaven, who carries with him a light equal to that of the Sun seaven times doubled; and what greater glory than not to need the Sun, which the whole World needs? Where the Just is, shall be no night; for wheresoever he goes, he carries the day along with him. What greater authority can there be than to shine far brighter than the Sun, carrying with him far greater Majesty than all the men of the Earth could be able to conferre upon him, if they went accompa∣nying him, carrying lighted Torches in their hands? St. Paul beholding the gift of Clarity in the humani∣ty of Christ remained for some dayes without sense or motion. And St. John onely beholding it in the face of our Saviour fell down as if dead, his mortal eyes not

being able to endure the lustre of so great a Majesty. St. Peter, because he saw something of it in the trans∣figuration of Christ, was so transported with the glo∣ry of the place, that he had a desire to have continued there for ever. Neither was this much in Christ, since the people of Israel were not able to suffer the beams which issued from the face of Moses, though then in a frail and mortal body.* 1.4 Caesarius writes of a great Doctor of the University of Paris, who being ready to give up his ghost, wondered how it could be pos∣sible that Almighty God could make his body compo∣sed of dust to shine like the Sun. But our Lord being pleased to comfort and strengthen him in the belief of the Article of the Resurrection, caused so great a splen∣dor to issue forth of the feet of the sick person, that his eyes not being able to suffer so great a splendor, he was forced to hide them under his Bed-cloathes. But much more is it, that in bodies already dead this glory should appear. The body of St. Margaret, Daugh∣ter to the King of Hungary, sent forth such beams of light, that they seemed to be like those of Heaven. The splendor also of other dead bodies of the Saints hath been such, that mortal eyes were not able to behold them. If then this Garment of light do beautifie those dead bodies without souls, how shall it illustrate those beautiful and perfect bodies in Heaven, who are alive, and animated with their glorious spirits for all eter∣nity? St. John Damascen said, that the light of this inferiour World was the honour and ornament of all things. How shall then the immortal light of that e∣ternal glory deck and adorn the Saints? for it shall not onely make them shine with that bright candor, we have already spoken of, but with diversity of co∣lours shall imbellish some particular parts more than others. In the Crowns of Virgins it shall be most white, in that of Martyrs red, in that of Doctors of some particular brightness. Neither shall those marks of glory be only in their heads or faces, but in the

rest of their members. And therefore Cardinal Bel∣larmine sayes,* 1.5 that the bodies of St. John Baptist, and St. Paul shall shine with a most incredible beauty, ha∣ving their necks as it were adorned with collars of gold. What sight more glorious than to behold so ma∣ny Saints like so many Suns to shine with so incom∣parable lustre and beauty? What light then will that of Heaven be, proceeding from so many lights, or, to speak more properly, from so many Suns? By how much the number of Torches is greater, by so much is also greater the light they produce altogether. How great then shall the clarity or that holy City be, where many Suns do inhabit? And if by the sight of every one in particular their joy shall be more augmented, by the sight of a number without number what mea∣sure can that joy have, which results from so beauti∣ful a spectacle?

§ 2.

As all the bodies of Saints are to be wholly filled with light, so they are to enjoy the priviledges of light: which amongst all material qualities is enobled with this prerogative, that it hath no contrary, and is therefore impassible. And so the glorious bodies of the Saints, having nothing that may oppose them, are also freed from sufferance. Besides, nothing is more swift than light; and therefore those bodies, who have the greatest share of light, are also the most swift in motion; whereupon there is no Element so nimble and active as fire: no nature so swift as that of the Sun and Stars; and light it self is so quick, that in an in∣stant it illuminates the whole Sphere of its activity. In like manner the glorious bodies of the Saints, as they are to enjoy more light, so they are to move with more speed and agility than the very Stars them∣selves. The light is also so subtle and pure, that it stops not in its passage, although it meets with some

bodies solid and massie. The whole Sphere and body of the Air hinders not the. Sun from enlightning us be∣low; and Chrystal, Diamonds, Glass, and other heavy bodies are penetrated by light. But far greater shall be the subtility and purity of the blessed bodies, unto whose passage nothing how gross or opake soever shall be an obstacle. For this reason the Saints in holy Scripture are often called by the name of Light: and particularly it is said, that the wayes of the Just are like a shining light at midday. For as the light, because impassible, makes his way through dirty and unclean places without defiling its purity, passes with speed and penetrates other bodies, that stand in its way: So the Saints endowed with the light, which they re∣ceive from this gift of Clarity, cannot suffer from any thing, having an agility to move with speed from place to place, and a subtlety to penetrate wheresoever they please.

The goods resulting from these privileges and en∣dowments of the glorious bodies are more in num∣ber than all the evills of this mortal life. The onely gift of impassibility frees us from all those miseries, which our bodies now suffer: the cold of Winter, the heat of Summer, infirmities, griefs, tears, and the necessity of eating, which one necessity includes infi∣nite others. Let us but consider what cares and trou∣bles men undergoe onely to sustain their lives. The Labourer spends his dayes in plowing, sowing, and reaping: The Shepheard suffers cold and heat in watching of his flock: The Servant in obeying ano∣thers will and command: The Rich man in cares and fears in preserving what he possesses. What dangers are past in all estates onely to be sure to eat? from all which the gift of impassibility exempts the Just. The care of cloathing troubles us also little less than that of feeding: and that of preserving our health much more. For as our necessities are doubly encreased by sickness, so are our cares; from all which he, who is

impassible, is free: and not onely from the griefs and pains of this life, but if he should enter into hell, it would not burn one hair of him.

The Prerogative also of the gift of agility is most great; which easily appears by the troubles and in∣conveniences of a long journey, which (howsoever we are accommodated) is not performed without much weariness, and oftentimes with danger both of health and life. A King though he pass in a Coach or Litter after the most easie and commodious way of travelling, must pass over rocks, hills, and rivers, and spend much time; but with the gift of agility a Saint in the twinkling of an eye will place himself where he pleases, and pass millions of leagues with as much ease and in as short a time, as a furlong. We admire the Story of St. Anthony of Padua, who in one day passed from Italy into Portugal to free his Father con∣demned wrongfully to death; and at that of St. Igna∣tius Patriarch of the Society of Jesus, who in a short time transported himself from Rome to Colen, and from thence to Rome without being missed, less than in two hours space. If to the mortal bodies of his Ser∣vants God communicates such gifts, what shall he do to the glorified bodies of his Saints? What an excel∣lency of nature were it to be able in one day to visit all the great Kingdoms of the Earth, and see what passed amongst them, in an hour to goe to Rome the chief City of the World: from thence to pass to Con∣stantinople the head of the Eastern Empire: In ano∣ther hour to the Great Cair, and consider there the immense multitude of the Inhabitants: In another hour goe to Goa the Court of the East-Indies, and be∣hold the Riches thereof: in another to Pequin, the Seat of the Kings of China, and contemplate the vast ex∣tent of that prodigious City: in another to Meaco the Court of Japonia: in another to Manila the head Ci∣ty of the Philippin Islands: in another to Ternate in the Maluca's: in another to Lima in Peru: in another

to Mexico in New Spain: in another to Lisboa and Madrid, in another to London and Paris, the principal Seats of Christendom, marking at ease what passed in the Courts of those great Monarchs? If this were a great priviledge, what shall that be of those glorious bodies, who in a short space can traverse all the Hea∣vens, visit the Earth, return unto the Sun, and Firma∣ment, and there observe what is above the Starrs in the Empyrial Heaven?* 1.6 St. Gregory writes in his Dia∣logues, that a Souldier assaulting a holy personage, and having his naked sword lifted up and ready to give the blow, the man cried out to his Patron St. John for help, who instantly withheld the Souldiers hand, that he could not move it. How soon did St. John hear him in Heaven, who invoked him upon Earth? with what speed did he descend to assist him, with-holding and drying up the arm of the wicked Souldier? the bodies of the Saints are to move here∣after with no less speed, than their spirits do now; the weight of their bodies shall no wayes hinder them; they shall therefore in the same manner walk or stay upon Water, Air, Heavens, as upon Earth. It was miraculous in St. Quirinus Martyr, St. Maurus, and St. Francis of Paula, that they walked upon waters, passed rapid rivers and seas without Vessels; but the glorious bodies shall not onely be able to traverse the seas, mount into the air, but enter into flames secure and without hurt. It is said of S. Francis of Assisium, that in the fervour of his prayers and contemplations he was seen lifted up into the air; and the great Servant of God Father Diego Martines, of the Society of Jesus, was lifted up in prayer above the highest trees and Towers, and hanging in the air persisted in his devo∣tion. If God vouchsafe so great favours to his servants in this valley of tears, what priviledges will he deny to the Citizens of Heaven?

To this so notable gift of Agility shall be annexed that of Penetration: by which their glorious bodies shall

have their way free and pervious through all places; no impediment shall stop their motion, and for them shall be no prison or enclosure. They shall with grea∣ter ease pass through the middle of a rock, than an arrow through the air. It shall be the same thing for them to mount unto the Moon, where they shall meet no solid body to oppose them, as to pierce unto the center through rocks, mettals, and the gross body of the earth. We wonder to hear that the Zahories see those things, which are hid under the earth. Let us admire that which is certain, that the Saints cannot onely see, but enter into the profundity of the earth, and tell what minerals and other secrets are contain∣ed in its entrails. Metaphrastes writes, that a certain Goth, a Souldier of the Garrison of Edessa, fell passio∣nately in love with a Maid of the same City, and sind∣ing no other way to enjoy her, demanded her in mar∣riage; but the Mother and Kindred gave no ear to the treaty, trusting little to a Barbarian and a Stranger, who carrying her into a Country far distant (as his was) might there use her at his pleasure. The Soul∣dier notwithstanding persisting still in his suit with many promises of good entertainment, gained at last the consent of the Maid and her Friends, onely the Mother would not be satisfied, before they had entred all together into the Temple of the holy Martyrs St. Samona, Curia, and Abiba, and that there the Souldier had renewed his promises by solemn oath, and called the holy Martyrs as witnesses; which done, the Maid was delivered unto him; whom he not much after carried into his own Country, where he was former∣ly married, and had his Wife yet living. There bet∣ter to conceal his wickedness he fell into a greater, and like a wild beast without pity enclosed the poor woman alive in a Sepulcher, and there left her. She thus betrayed, had recourse unto the Saints, whom she with tears invoked as witnesses of the Souldiers treachery and breach of faith. At the instant the holy

Martyrs appeared in a glorious equipage, and casting her into a gentle sleep, conveyed her (the Sepulcher still remaining lockt) without hurt into her own Country, where they left her. The Barbarian igno∣rant of what had happened, and perswading himself she was long fince dead, returned a second time to Edessa, where convinced of the crime he satisfied it with his life. If the Saints then have power to make the persons of others pass through distinct bodies, much more are they able to make their own to pene∣trate them without impediment.

Finally the Servants of Christ shall be there so re∣plenished with all goods both of soul and body, that there shall be nothing more for them to desire. And every one, even during this life, hoping for those eter∣nal goods, may say with St. Austin,

What wouldest thou my Body? what is't thou defirest my Soul? There ye shall find all which you desire. If you are pleased with beauty: there the Just shine as the Sun; and if with any pure delight: there not one, but a whole sea of pleasure, which God keeps in store for the Blessed, shall quench your thirst.

Let men then raise their desires unto that place, where on∣ly they can be accomplished. Let them not gape af∣ter things of the earth, which cannot satisfie them, but let them look after those in Heaven, which are onely great, onely eternal, and can onely fill the capa∣city of mans heart.

Notes

• * 1.1

  Gen. 13.
• * 1.2

  Albert. Mag. in Comp. Theol. l. 7. c. 38.
• * 1.3

  Joseph. l. 19. c. 〈◊〉〈◊〉;
• * 1.4

  Caesar. lib. 12. mir. cap. 54.
• * 1.5

  Bellar. conc. de Beat. p. 2.
• * 1.6

  Greg. li. 3. Dial. 36.