Question Two. Concerning the Empyrean Heaven, the receptacle of angels and blessed human beings

Question Two

Concerning the Empyrean Heaven, the receptacle of angels and blessed human beings

The second question under this third chapter concerns the Empyrean Heaven, the receptacle of angels and blessed human beings. Under it nine little questions are resolved, each of which will be examined below in its own order.

Subquestion One

Whether the Empyrean Heaven is found in truth

The first little question is whether the Empyrean Heaven, the receptacle of angels and blessed human beings, is found in truth.

To this it is answered that the existence of the Empyrean Heaven cannot be investigated by human reason. The reason for this is that whatever is investigated by human reason must be subject to motion and sight. The Empyrean Heaven, however, is immovable and is not subject to sight, on account of which the natural philosophers deny the immovable Empyrean Heaven. Therefore, and so forth.

Again, a reward and the place of the reward ought to be made alike. But the blessedness and glory of the saints exceed human investigation, because “eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have the things that God has prepared for those who love him ascended into the heart of man,” as Paul says in 1 Corinthians. Therefore, neither will the place fitting for blessedness be capable of being investigated naturally.

For this reason it is said in Proverbs 25: “The heaven above and the earth below, and the heart of kings is inscrutable.” And it is said in Wisdom 9: “We assess with difficulty the things that are on earth, and we discover with labor the things that are before our eyes; but who will investigate the things that are in the heavens?”

And therefore the doctors say that the Empyrean Heaven is not found to have been established except through the authorities of Strabo, Bede, and Basil. For Strabo and Bede say that the Empyrean Heaven, as soon as it was made, was filled with angels. And Basil says in Homily 2 of the Hexaemeron: “Just as the damned are driven into the outermost darkness, so recompense for worthy works is restored in that light which is outside the world, in which angels and the blessed obtain a dwelling of rest.” Thomas, Part I, question 71, article 3; Book II of the Sentences, distinction 2; and Quodlibet 6.

Subquestion Two

What the Empyrean Heaven is

The second little question is: what is the Empyrean Heaven?

To this it is answered that the Empyrean Heaven is an intellectual and spiritual body, immovable, at rest, and most luminous; the noblest among all simple bodies; most apt for the contemplation of glory; made at once and filled with angels; immediately surrounding all the movable heavens; adorned with varieties of rewards and with all delights; of inconceivable beauty and of an ineffable disposition in glory, as befits the court of the supreme king.

First, it is said that the Empyrean Heaven is a body, which can be argued as follows. The hope and intention of each person are aroused and strengthened by the inspection of some exemplar. In the future reward, however, we hope for spiritual and bodily glory. Therefore, just as we are aroused and strengthened in the hope of the soul’s spiritual glory by the exemplar of the blessedness and glory of the blessed angels - begun from the beginning of the world - equality with whom is promised to us according to Matthew 22, “You will be like the angels of God in heaven,” so in like manner we are aroused and strengthened in the hope of the glory of the body’s incorruption and immutability by the inspection of the incorruption and immutability of the body of the Empyrean Heaven created at the beginning of the world.

Second, it is called intellectual, not because it does not have natural matter, but because it is not subjected to our sight. It is also called a spiritual body because it is the place of blessed spirits and glorified human beings. It is also called heaven from hiding invisible things, and is called empyrean as though fiery within, from pyr, which is fire, because it agrees with fire in splendor, not in heat.

Third, it is called immovable, at rest, and most luminous. For since a thing is wholly determined from its end, and the end of this body is the habitation of the saints, its conditions must be understood according as befits the state of the blessed saints for whom it was created. And because they are in full participation of rest, eternity, and eternal light, such a body must therefore be immovable, at rest, incorruptible, and most luminous.

The Empyrean Heaven does not determine this light for itself by nature as a flame or fire does, but determines for itself a most limpid transparency, which it has from the splendor of the glorified body of Christ, just as the air here is illuminated by the sun. Hence it is also said in Revelation 21: “The city of God will not need the sun or the moon to shine in it, for the brightness of God will illuminate it, and its lamp is the Lamb.”

Fourth, it is called the noblest among all simple bodies, because it is the highest of all bodily places.

Fifth, it is called most apt for the contemplation of glory. For just as the contemplation of God, in which consists the felicity of angels and of blessed human beings, elevates the intellect above all bodily things, so the Empyrean Heaven is more elevated among all bodily things and consequently is more apt for contemplation.

Sixth, it is called made at once and filled with angels, not because there are not many empty places there in which the blessed are and will be, but it is called filled according to our manner of speaking, according to which we call a city full of people when the dwellings of all the people in it are full.

Seventh, it is called that which surrounds immediately all the movable heavens: that is, the crystalline heaven, which is also called watery because of the likeness that it has to frozen water in transparency and solidity, which heaven the astrologers call the ninth sphere. It also surrounds the sidereal heaven, that is, the firmament in which the stars are, and the aerial heaven in which the birds are, divided into seven heavens of the seven planets: namely, Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, the Sun, Mercury, Venus, and the Moon. In this Empyrean Heaven Paul, having been caught up, saw the secrets of God, that is, the divine essence, 2 Corinthians 12.

Eighth, it is called adorned with a variety of rewards. For there are the nine circular choirs of angels and many mansions of souls distinguished in merits and rewards.

Ninth, it is called full of all delights. For it is called paradise, as though a garden of delights; the rest is evident. Of this place it is said in Baruch 3: “O Israel, how great is the house of God, and immense is the place of his possession, great and having no end.” Of this Moses says: “In the beginning God created heaven.” And Paul says in Galatians 4: “But that Jerusalem which is above is free, which is our mother.” And the Church sings: “Blessed city Jerusalem.” And the Psalm says: “One thing have I asked of the Lord, and this I will seek,” and so forth.

But for greater evidence concerning the things that were set down in the foregoing description of the Empyrean Heaven, it is argued first that the Empyrean Heaven is not a material and natural body, because a material and natural body is movable. Since nature is a principle of motion, matter and motion follow upon one another. But the aforesaid Empyrean body is immovable. Therefore, and so forth.

To this it is answered that not every natural thing is movable, but only that which is generable and corruptible, of which the Philosopher treats in Book II of the Physics. Nor is every material thing movable. For the mathematician does not abstract from all matter, but only from sensible matter.

It is argued second against what was said, that the Empyrean Heaven is most luminous; because, if it were so, since the other heavens are transparent and diaphanous, such a heaven would appear to us on every side.

To this it is answered that, just as the brightness of Christ’s body is suspended beneath the host so that it does not radiate, so God has decreed that the radiations of the Empyrean Heaven into the lower heavens should be suspended. This is so that the whole circumference of heaven might not appear to us as one continuous light, because in that way we would not have the distinction of the stars of heaven or the distinction of day and night upon the earth, which is not expedient for the state of this life. But perhaps in the time of the age to come it will radiate on every side through the whole lower world, so that then no shadow or darkness will remain in the elements.

And even if it be granted that the light of the Empyrean Heaven is propagated through the lower heavens - whose entire power perhaps depends upon it - nevertheless it can be the case that, on account of the length of the distance, the rays of its brightness fail before they reach us, and therefore nothing of it appears to us.

Third, it is argued against what was said, that the Empyrean Heaven, having been created at once, was filled with angels; because if this were so, no space would have been unoccupied by an angel for the blessed.

Albert answers this in On the Four Coeval Things: the angels do not fill the Empyrean Heaven as a located thing fills a place, but they fill it according to the distinction of hierarchies, choirs, and mansions, of which there are many in the Father’s house. These things are from Henry of Hesse and Thomas, Book II of the Sentences, distinction 12.

Subquestion Three

What the spiritual dowry of the soul and of the blessed body in the Empyrean Heaven is

The third little question is: what is the spiritual dowry of the souls and bodies of the blessed in the Empyrean Heaven?

To this it is answered that the spiritual dowries of the souls and bodies of the blessed are named after the likeness of the bodily dowries of marriageable daughters. According to the civil laws, a dowry of bodily marriage is defined thus: a dowry is that which is given by the parents of the bride, by the parents of the man, to the daughter, so that she may marry more readily; when the bride is brought into the bridegroom’s house, so that the bride may be adorned from it, so that each may be delightfully united to the other, and so that provision may be made for the man from which he can sufficiently nourish the bride and the children; it is reserved inalienably for the bride when the marriage has been dissolved.

When it is said that the dowry is given by nature by the bride’s parents, understand this generally. For it happens for two reasons that the bridegroom or the bridegroom’s father assigns the dowry in place of the girl’s father.

The first is on account of an excess of affection. For the bridegroom or the bridegroom’s father, on account of the excessive love that he has for the bride, endows her. This happened in the case of Hamor, who wished to assign and increase the dowry that he ought to have received, on account of the vehement love of his son Shechem for Dinah, Jacob’s daughter. Hence Hamor’s representative said to Jacob and his sons: “My son Shechem has cleaved to your daughter; give her to him as a wife.” And he adds: “Increase the dowry and ask for gifts; I will freely give what you ask,” Genesis 34.

The second cause is on account of a crime committed: namely, as a punishment of the bridegroom who has corrupted and violated a virgin, so that he may assign from his own property to the virgin corrupted by him the dowry that the girl’s father ought to have assigned. Thus it is said in Exodus 22: “If anyone seduces a virgin and sleeps with her, he shall endow her and take her as his wife.”

It is said second that the dowry is given to the parents of the bridegroom or to the bridegroom, for the dowry ought to be in the possession of him who supports the burdens of marriage, as Bartolus says in the law Si is qui, and Stichus, section 1, Digest, On the Law of Dowries. Understand that the dowry is assigned to the bridegroom with respect to use or administration, but to the bride with respect to dominion and ownership.

It is said third, “to the daughter, so that she may marry more readily.” For a daughter of anyone is not readily taken without a dowry, Digest, Marriage Dissolved, law 1.

It is said fourth, “when the bride is brought into the house,” for in an inchoative marriage - namely, when the bride is betrothed - the dowries are promised to the bridegroom. But when the bride is introduced into the bridegroom’s house, then the dowries are assigned to the bridegroom. Understand, however, that if a husband to whom a dowry has been promised does not receive the dowry, he can expel the wife from the house, as the gloss says in the Authentics, concerning those not choosing persons entering second marriages, final section, collation 2. The contrary, however, is found in the chapter Per vestras, On Donations between Husband and Wife.

It is said fifth, “so that the bride may be adorned and decorated from it.” Understand this according to her state and the custom of the country.

It is said sixth, “so that each may be delightfully united to the other.” For a dowry is that through which the bride is delightfully joined to the man, and conversely.

It is said seventh, “and so that provision may be made for the man from which he can sufficiently,” and so forth, as is evident in the law Pro oneribus, Code, On the Law of Dowries.

It is said eighth, “inalienably,” and so forth. For a dowry is held to be the patrimony of women, as John Andrew says in On the Competent Forum, from Ex tenore; Digest, On Minors under Twenty-five Years, law Denique, section Patrimonium.

After the likeness, therefore, of bodily dowries of this kind, when the blessed are transferred into glory, certain gifts are divinely given to them for their adornment. These gifts and adornments are called spiritual dowries.

A spiritual dowry is defined thus: a dowry is a perpetual adornment of the soul and body, sufficient for life, unceasingly enduring in eternal blessedness.

For, first, just as a bodily dowry is given by the carnal father to the bride in dominion and to the bridegroom for use, so in the spiritual marriage of Christ and the soul, gifts and adornments that are spiritual beauties are given by the whole Trinity, which is the father of the bride - namely, of the soul, the Church. For a father is bound to endow a daughter contracting not only a carnal marriage but also a spiritual one, as Baldus says in the final law, Code, On the Promise of Dowries. They are given to Christ the bridegroom in the betrothal, and to the Church or its members - that is, to souls - in dominion and ownership.

And just as in carnal marriage dowries are given for the solace of the spouses and so that the burden of marriage may be lightened, so in the spiritual marriage between Christ and the soul, through spiritual dowries - that is, through the adornment and beauty of the soul - a certain spiritual joy is produced in the soul, principally from grace and glory, than which nothing is more delightful, and through which the soul is delightfully united to Christ the bridegroom. In this spiritual marriage there are no burdens, as there are in bodily marriage, but the highest joy from consummated grace, or glory in heaven.

And just as in carnal marriage dowries are given to the bride in dominion and to the bridegroom for use, so in spiritual marriage adornments are given to the bridegroom for use - that is, insofar as they tend to the honor and glory of Christ - but to the bride, that is, to the soul or the Church, in dominion, insofar as they are adorned through them.

And just as in bodily marriage dowries are not given when the woman is betrothed, but when she is introduced into the house, so spiritual dowries are not given to souls so long as they are pilgrims away from the Lord, as the Apostle says in 2 Corinthians 5. But they are given when souls are transferred into glory, in which glory the souls are brought into the presence of the bridegroom.

These spiritual dowries are as much more worthy than bodily dowries as the soul is greater than the body. They consist in the interior goods of glory: “All the glory of the king’s daughter is from within, clothed round with variety in golden fringes,” the Psalm says. Bodily dowries, however, consist outwardly in the exterior goods of fortune.

Of this spiritual marriage, its dowries, and its spouses, it is said in Revelation 19: “Let us rejoice and exult, and let us give glory to him, because the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his wife has prepared herself; and it has been given to her that she should clothe herself in shining and white fine linen; for the fine linen is the justifications of the saints.” These things are elicited from Thomas, Book IV of the Sentences, distinction 49.

But here there is one doubt. For it was said above in the first section of the definition of temporal dowry that, if the bridegroom’s father or the bridegroom should endow a marriageable girl, or the bridegroom, the bridegroom will in one manner be called the girl’s abductor and violator. But since Christ the bridegroom bestows a dowry upon the bride, that is, the soul, according to Isaiah 41 - “He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, and like an adorned bride he has adorned me with his necklaces” - Christ will therefore, according to this, be the bridegroom who is the soul’s abductor or violator.

To this a twofold answer is given. First, according to the canons, the bridegroom is then called an abductor of the girl when the girl does not consent to the shameful act. But if the girl consents, the bridegroom will not be called an abductor or violator. In the Decretals, On Abductors and Incendiaries, chapter 1, with the gloss, the gloss there sets down a case in the terms, saying as follows:

“A certain knight, wishing to contract marriage with a certain girl, whose parents were unwilling to give her to him, finally, with the girl’s consent, abducted her, contracted marriage with her, and knew her carnally. She afterward entered a monastery. The knight claimed her as his wife, because after carnal intercourse she could not enter a monastery without his permission. She said that she was not bound to adhere to him as to her husband, because he had abducted her, and an abductor cannot contract marriage with the abducted woman.

“To this the Pope answers that there was no abduction, since she herself consented; and after the marriage was contracted and consummated, she could not enter religious life against her husband’s will, even though she had been abducted. Therefore, if this is established, she ought to be restored to him.”

These are the literal words of the gloss there. Therefore, to the point at issue: since Christ receives as his bride the consenting soul, not in a most shameful act of the flesh but in faith and mercy, according to Hosea 1, “I have betrothed you to myself in faith, and in mercy and acts of compassion,” and 2 Corinthians 10, “For I have betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ,” Christ the bridegroom is therefore not to be regarded as the soul’s abductor.

Second, it is also said in answer to this that, although by the common law a dowry is given to the bridegroom by the bride or by someone in her name, nevertheless sometimes the reverse happens. This happens especially when the love of the bridegroom’s father or of the bridegroom for the bride, who is poor, is great. Hence the bridegroom or his father endows her with a dowry which he declares that he has received from the bride, and he is content concerning the dowry.

And so in the present case, from the great love of God the Father and of his Son Jesus Christ for the faithful soul who is the bride, a dowry is given by the Father and by Christ the Son, and they are content, since it redounds to their honor and glory. These things are from the theologians and canonists.

Subquestion Four

How many dowries souls have in the Empyrean Heaven

The fourth little question is: how many dowries do souls existing in the Empyrean Heaven have?

To this it is answered that three dowries are assigned to blessed souls in heaven: namely, vision, comprehension, and delight. The reason for this is that a dowry is a certain adornment or disposition inhering in the soul, through which the soul is adorned for the operation in which perfect blessedness consists. Three things, however, are required for blessedness: namely, intuitive knowledge, intimate presence, and supreme complacency.

First, for the operation in which perfect blessedness consists, intuitive or clear knowledge is required; and this is vision, the soul’s first dowry. Here note that the vision of God can be understood in two ways.

In one way, it can be understood as the very act of vision; and in this sense vision is not a dowry, but is blessedness itself. Of this vision it is said in John 13: “This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” And in Luke 10 it is said: “Blessed are the eyes that see the things that you see.” This is not understood of the exterior eyes; otherwise the eyes of the scribes and Pharisees, who saw Christ bodily, would have been blessed. It is understood instead of the interior eyes of the mind, beholding the intelligible deity, of which the Apostle spoke in Ephesians 1: “May he give you the spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, the eyes of your heart enlightened.” And Augustine says that vision is the whole substance of blessedness.

In another way, the vision of God can be understood as the very habit by which such an operation - namely, the vision of God - is elicited: that is, as the very brightness by which the soul is divinely illuminated for seeing God. In this sense vision is a dowry and the principle of blessedness, as Thomas says in Book IV of the Sentences, distinction 49, article 2. Hence Richard says in Book IV that the dowry of vision is a certain luminous habit in the intellect by which it is elevated to seeing God clearly. This dowry is in the intellective power of the soul and succeeds the theological virtue of faith, which will be emptied away when that which is perfect has come, 1 Corinthians 13.

Second, for blessedness, or for the operation in which perfect blessedness consists, intimate presence or apprehension is required. This is the soul’s second dowry, comprehension, which is nothing other than having God in one’s presence and holding him in himself. This comprehension follows from vision, for in the fatherland the God who is seen is not seen through a likeness but through his essence, and is made present within the one seeing. Thus the one seeing knows as much as he can know, and comprehends God according to the measure of the one seeing.

This comprehension succeeds and corresponds to hope, which will be emptied away there. For just as motion ceases when the form has been acquired, so hope ceases when that which was hoped for has been obtained. Since, therefore, in the fatherland there will be comprehension, possession, and secure possession of God - not indeed through grace as here, but through glory, which can no longer be lost through sin - then all hope will cease there.

In this manner this comprehension pertains, as some say, to memory. Richard defines it as the dowry of possession thus: “The dowry of comprehension is a perfect habit by which the will is perfectly secure concerning the perpetuation of the possession of God.”

Third, for blessedness, or for the operation in which perfect blessedness consists, supreme complacency or delight is required. Fruition names it on the part of its completion, and it is the third dowry. For after a thing is comprehended and possessed, a certain love and delight concerning it follows. For upon union with, or vision of, that which is most fitting, there follows supreme delight concerning the thing seen and possessed. Since, therefore, in the fatherland we see and comprehend God, who is most fitting to our intellect, it follows that there will consequently be supreme delight there, in which our felicity is perfected. And Richard defines this dowry thus in Book IV: “The dowry of fruition or delight is a perfect habit of charity by which the soul enjoys God completively and delights in him.” This dowry succeeds charity and is in the will completively.

Of these three dowries Augustine said in the Enchiridion, and it is set down in Book II of the Sentences, distinction 1: “God made the rational creature so that it might understand the supreme good, in understanding might love it, in loving might possess it, and in possessing might enjoy it.” And these things are elicited from Thomas in Books I and IV of the Sentences at the places cited above.

But perhaps you will argue that there are five dowries, because Boethius in Book III of The Consolation sets down five things pertaining to blessedness. These are sufficiency, which riches promise; joy, which pleasure promises; celebrity, which fame promises; security, which power promises; and reverence, which dignity promises.

It is answered and said that those five ought not to be called dowries, but certain conditions of blessedness. This is evident because in true blessedness there are all the things that are sought by human beings in temporal felicity. They pertain either to removal from evil, as security does; or to the attainment of a good that is fitting, as joy does, and of a good that is perfect, as sufficiency does; or to the manifestation of good, as celebrity does, insofar as the good of one person is within the knowledge of many, and as reverence does, insofar as some sign of that knowledge or good is exhibited. For reverence consists in the exhibition of honor, which is a testimony of virtue.

And so it is evident that there are only three dowries: namely, vision, comprehension, and delight or fruition. They correspond, as some say, to the three theological virtues: faith, hope, and charity. For vision corresponds to faith; comprehension or possession to hope; and love or fruition, such as the blessed have in the fatherland, to charity. These things are from Thomas, writing on Book IV of the Sentences, distinction 49, article 5.

Subquestion Five

Concerning the four dowries of glorified bodies

It is asked how many dowries there are of bodies glorified in the Empyrean Heaven.

To this it is answered that, beyond the three aforesaid dowries of the soul, four dowries are also posited in the glorious body: namely, impassibility, subtlety, agility, and brightness.

The reason for this is that, just as the dowries of the soul are certain adornments and dispositions of the soul by which it is adorned and disposed so that it may be perfectly joined to God, so bodily dowries are certain adornments and dispositions by which the glorious body is perfectly subjected to the soul.

These four dowries are adapted to the four cardinal virtues, because bodily goods are the matter of the cardinal virtues: so that brightness, on account of cognition, corresponds to prudence; impassibility corresponds to justice, which is perpetual and immortal; agility corresponds to fortitude, from which it happens that nothing can resist the body; and subtlety corresponds to temperance, by which the body is attenuated. Thomas, Book IV, distinction 49.

The doctors derive the number of these four dowries of bodies from different things. For Saint Thomas derives their number from those things that the rational soul commonly confers upon the corruptible body in the present state. He says, on 1 Corinthians 15, that four things proceed from the incorruptible soul, and in a manner as much more perfect as the soul is more virtuous.

First, it gives bodily being to the body, for it is the act of the body, Book II of On the Soul. But then, when it is more virtuous - indeed, at the summit of the perfection of virtue - it will give being that is not bodily but spiritual; and this is the dowry called subtlety.

Second, this soul gives incorruption to the body, whence we see that the stronger in nature human beings are, the less they suffer from heat and cold. When, therefore, the soul will then be most perfect, it will preserve the body wholly impassible; and this dowry is impassibility.

Third, this soul gives beauty and brightness to the body. For the sick and the dead, on account of the weakness of the soul’s operation upon the body, become discolored; but when it will be at the summit of perfection, it will make the body most bright and most resplendent. This dowry is brightness.

Fourth, this soul gives motion to the body, and does so with as much greater ease as the soul’s power over the body is stronger. Therefore, when it will be in its final perfection, it will give agility to the body; and this dowry is agility. These things are from Thomas at the place cited above.

Master Bonaventure, however, in Book IV, distinction 49, derives the reasons for the four dowries of the body from elsewhere: namely, from the four elements of which our body is composed. For because the elements are imperfect, our body has from them a fourfold defectibility.

First, our body has corruption and passibility from water, which is a humid and passible element; and to this corresponds the dowry that is impassibility.

Second, our body has obscurity from earth, because earth is an opaque element; and to this brightness corresponds.

Third, our body has activity from fire. For heat continually consumes, and therefore the human being continually needs the nourishment of foods, by which the body is made thick and gross. Against these will be the dowry of penetrability or subtlety.

Fourth, our body has weakness from air. For air is changed most easily and yields to anything that impels it, but then the body will be moved more easily through the dowry of agility.

The first dowry of the glorious body, therefore, is immortality or vigorous impassibility, through which the body, by the soul’s power, will be preserved immune from every injury. The reason for this dowry is this: just as the soul will be perfectly subjected to God, so the human body and whatever is in it will be perfectly subjected to the rational soul, and therefore in the glorious body there will not be able to be any change contrary to that disposition by which it will be perfected by the soul. Hence in the bodies of the saints after the resurrection, no action or passion will be able to proceed from the elemental qualities that would be contrary to the disposition of the soul, which intends to preserve the body perpetually.

For our bodies now, on account of the inequality, contrariety, strife, and conflict of the four elements of which they are composed, are finally corrupted and reduced to ashes. But on the day of judgment, in the blessed, every contrariety, strife, conflict, and inequality will be reduced to complete peace, concord, and equality.

Hence it is said in Revelation 7 and 22: “On that day there will no longer be death, nor mourning, nor crying, nor any pain, because the former things have passed away.” And Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15: “For this corruptible thing must put on incorruption, and this mortal thing must put on immortality. But when this mortal thing has put on immortality, then the saying that is written will come to pass: Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

And Augustine says to Dioscorus: “God made the soul with so powerful a virtue that its blessedness would overflow into the body, as fullness of health and the vigor of incorruption.”

The second dowry of the glorious body is posited to be vigorous subtlety. For the nobler bodies are, the subtler they are; but glorious bodies are the noblest among all bodies; therefore they are the subtlest.

A thing is called subtle from the power of penetrating, Book II of On Generation. Hence an intellect is called subtle because it reaches by penetrating as far as the intrinsic principles and natural properties of a hidden thing. A person is said to have subtle sight because he can reach by sight to something exceedingly distant. And a body or sword is called subtle because it can penetrate and reach as far as the innermost parts of a thing.

On the day of judgment, however, glorious bodies, by the power of the soul’s blessedness overflowing into the bodies, will be of such great active power that they will be able to penetrate whatever higher and lower bodies there are, much more efficaciously than water, wine, fire, air, or wind. For water is penetrative because it is simple, but wine is much more so. For this reason water drunk with a little wine cools a healthy person more than if it were drunk alone, because wine makes it penetrate more efficaciously to places in the body to which water could not penetrate by itself, as Richard says in Book IV, distinction 49.

The bodies of the saints after the judgment, therefore, through the dowry of subtlety will penetrate the heavens without injuring or breaking them, just as light now penetrates glass. Lower bodies will yield to them, and they will almost pass through mountains and rocks without resistance or injury. Hence doors, walls, enclosures, and even iron chests will yield to them. The Psalm says: “In your name I will pass over a wall.” And Gregory says in Book IV of the Moralia: “On the day of resurrection our body will be subtle through glory, perfect in spiritual power, but palpable through the power of nature.”

The third dowry of the glorious body will be vigorous agility. For glorious bodies will not be heavy, because in the motion of glorious bodies there will not be any labor, but they will be agile, because the soul will then perfectly dominate the body. Therefore, through the dowry of agility, the body will be subjected to the soul with respect to its command concerning motion, so that without any labor it may suddenly be moved wherever it wills. Thus the human being with the body will be moved from place to place; indeed, as though in a moment, he will run wherever he wishes.

Great is the agility of running waters. Greater is that of flying birds. Greater is that of arrows. Greater is that of the sun. Greater is that of imagination, which goes suddenly where it wills. But above all these, greater will be the agility of glorious bodies.

Hence it is said in Isaiah 4: “They will run and will not labor; they will fly and will not fail.” And in Wisdom 3 and Matthew 13: “The just will shine and will run about like sparks among the reeds.”

But if it is argued, because it is written in 1 Thessalonians 4 that glorious bodies are said to be borne by angels and clouds, that therefore they will not be agile but heavy, it is answered that glorious bodies are not said to be borne by angels because they are heavy and on account of a defect of agility, as though their motion would then occur with labor and punishment and their bodies would thus not be subject to their perfect and blessed souls, as was said. Rather, glorious bodies are said to be borne by the aforesaid things to signify the reverence that will be rendered to glorious bodies both by angels and by all creatures.

The fourth dowry of the glorified body will be glorious brightness, of which it is said in Matthew 13: “The just will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father.” According to the opinion of the doctors, this is to be understood not of the brightness of the sun according as it shines now, but according as it will be luminous after the day of judgment.

But according to the testimony of Isaiah 30: “On that day the light of the moon will be like the light of the sun, and the light of the sun will be sevenfold, like the light of seven days.” It follows that the least among the saints will shine at least seven times more brightly than the sun now shines. And if this is true, one who will be twice as blessed will be fourteen times as luminous; and so by multiplying according to the degrees of the blessedness of the blessed up to the Virgin and Christ, how luminous, therefore, will his most holy body be?

On account, therefore, of the brightness both of the planets and of glorified bodies - one of which God could place in the position of the sun to illuminate the world at present - Thomas says in Book IV at the place cited above that on the day of judgment there will be night nowhere except at the center of the earth.

Of this brightness Job 23 says: “Gold or glass will not be equaled to it.” And Paul says in Ephesians 3: “He will reform the body of our humility, configured to the body of his brightness.”

Here, however, it must be noted that Christ did not have the dowry of brightness, just as he also did not have the other dowries. For neither the angels nor Christ had dowries. The angels did not, since they do not possess the character of the bride, who ought to have conformity of nature with the bridegroom. Nor did Christ have dowries, because a dowry is assigned to the bride and not to the bridegroom. Christ, however, is the bridegroom and not the bride, John 3. Therefore, and so forth.

Hence it ought not to be said as Hugh of Saint Victor says, that Christ assumed four dowries: that of brightness in the Transfiguration; that of agility by walking upon the sea; that of subtlety by coming forth from the closed womb of the Virgin; and that of impassibility at the supper, when he gave his body to be eaten without its being divided. For the things that are named dowries are certain natural qualities. But Christ’s brightness in the Transfiguration was miraculous, just as were his walking upon the waves of the sea, his being conceived without a man, his coming forth from the closed womb of the Virgin, and other things of this kind, as Thomas says in Book IV of the Sentences, distinction 59, article 3.

But perhaps you will ask whether the brightness of a glorious body will be able to be seen naturally by a non-glorious eye. It is answered that it will, for the brightness of Christ’s body, to which it will be assimilated, was seen by the non-glorious eyes of the disciples. And the impious will see the brightness of the just, from which they will be tormented. Therefore the brightness of the bodies of the blessed will be able to be seen by non-glorious eyes.

Consequently the glory of the souls placed within glorified bodies will be seen, just as in glass the color of a body contained in a glass vessel is discerned. Hence Gregory says: “There the corpulence of the members will not hide each person’s mind from the eyes of another, but the mind itself and even the harmony of the body will be manifest to bodily eyes. And thus the mind of each will then be visible to another, as it cannot now be visible to itself,” and so forth.

But if it is asked whether that brightness will necessarily be seen, it is said that it will not. For in the glorious body there is the highest obedience to the soul; therefore it will be within the will and power of the soul whether the body is seen in its own brightness or not. It is like a little crow, which displays its brightness when it wishes, or not, as it pleases; and Christ disappeared from the eyes of the disciples at Emmaus when he wished, and when he wished they saw him and knew him. For this reason Augustine says in Book XIX of The City of God, chapter 27: “God will command the human being; the soul will command the body,” and so forth.

These four dowries Paul sets down in 1 Corinthians 15, saying: “Star differs from star in brightness, and so also the resurrection of the dead.”

“It is sown” - namely, the corruptible body is buried - “in corruption” in the earth; “it will rise in incorruption,” namely, immortal. Behold immortality or impassibility. It is called “sown,” namely, while the dead person is buried. For the Apostle calls burying sowing. Just as grain is sown so that it may make fruit, so the body is sown and buried so that it may rise glorious with fruits.

The text continues: “An animal and gross material body is sown; a spiritual body will rise,” namely, with respect to every command of the soul concerning motion, or because it will have the conditions of a spirit for penetrating everywhere without fracture. Behold the dowry of subtlety.

“It is sown in infirmity,” that is, the body, weak and moved by the soul with difficulty, is buried, because “the corruptible body weighs down the soul,” Wisdom 9. “It will rise in power,” that is, in mobility according to the will of the soul and through the dowry of agility.

“It is sown” - that is, the body is buried, according to Ambrose - “in the ignobility of obscurity and deformity; it will rise in glory,” that is, with brightness and beauty through the dowry of brightness.

Of these four dowries Augustine said in Book XXII of The City of God, chapter 20: “From our bodies will be absent all slowness, all deformity, all infirmity, and all corruption.”

Then the saying in the final chapter of Proverbs will be verified: “All her household are clothed with double garments,” namely, with the dowries of the soul and of the body. Then the saying in Revelation 6 will be verified: “White stoles were given to each of them, and they were told to rest yet a little time, until the number of their fellow servants should be fulfilled.” And then the soul will say that saying of Isaiah 61: “The Lord has clothed me with garments of salvation, and like an adorned bride he has adorned me with his necklaces.”

Subquestion Six

Whether the dowries of souls and bodies in heaven are identical with their blessedness

It is asked whether the dowries of souls and bodies in the Empyrean Heaven are identical with their blessedness.

To this it is answered negatively, by saying that a dowry differs from blessedness in five things: namely, in subject, in number, in the mode of possessing, in signification, and in term.

First, it differs in subject, because blessedness inheres in a human being according to that which is most excellent in him - namely, according to the intellect, as the Philosopher says in Book II of the Ethics. But a dowry also exists in the body.

Second, a dowry differs from blessedness in number, because blessedness is only one, but the dowries are several, as was evident above.

Third, it differs in the mode of possessing, because a dowry is given without merits, but blessedness is not given; it is rendered.

Fourth, it differs in signification, because a dowry is a certain adornment of the body and soul, that is, a certain beauty of the blessed person unceasingly enduring in eternal blessedness, as was said. But blessedness, properly speaking, is not an adornment of the soul, but something that proceeds from an adornment.

Fifth, it differs in term, that is, in the final end, because a dowry is ordered to delightful union. This is evident because a dowry is that through which the bride is delightfully joined to the bridegroom. But blessedness is not ordered to conjunction; rather, it is the very conjunction of the soul with Christ, which occurs through operation, that is, through the clear vision of God itself.

Hence the dowries are not blessedness itself, but are certain dispositions, qualities, or adornments from which the blessed are ordered to blessedness, so that the dowries are goods disposing them to conjunction with Christ through operation, that is, through immediate vision. These things are elicited from Thomas, Book IV of the Sentences, distinction 49, article 2.

Subquestion Seven

Whether anything else is necessarily required for true and perfect blessedness beyond the four aforesaid dowries

It is asked whether, beyond the aforesaid dowries, anything else is necessarily required for true and perfect blessedness in the Empyrean Heaven.

To this it is answered affirmatively, as follows. Beyond the dowries, three things are required: namely, an influx of divine grace, the radiance of the light of glory, and the clear evidence of the divine essence.

First, an influx of divine grace is required. This is proved by reason, authority, and likeness. For no created intellect, angelic or human, can by its natural power attain to that in which perfect blessedness consists. For God inhabits inaccessible light; and since we are created, we do not naturally attain to the uncreated and divine, but to the created and finite. Therefore we need divine grace.

For this reason Paul says in Romans 6: “The grace of God is eternal life”; that is, the life which is the vision of God and of Jesus Christ, whom the Father sent into the world, is from the grace of God. And in 1 Timothy 6: “God inhabits inaccessible light, whom no human being has seen.” There the gloss says: “No human being approaches it from himself, but he to whom it is given by the gift of God; and the gift of God is his grace.”

And Ambrose, on Luke, together with Augustine in the book On Seeing God, says: “It is not in our power to see God, but in his power to appear.” And he adds: “Although seeing God is not in our power, nevertheless meriting grace, so that we may be able to see, is in our power.”

It is also proved by likeness. For just as water, which is lower than fire, cannot be hot except through the higher fire, so a created intellect, naturally below God, cannot be borne upward to the divine essence except through the power of his grace. And just as heavy iron cannot be drawn upward except by the power of a higher magnet, so the human intellect, heavy with respect to the essence of God, cannot be elevated except through his grace.

Second, the radiance of the light of glory is required, not indeed on the part of the divine essence, which of itself and without a medium is supremely intelligible, but on the part of our intellect, so that it may be habilitated, strengthened, and elevated.

First, so that it may be habilitated: for just as light is not received in a body unless the body is disposed through the diaphanous - that is, through transparency disposing the body for the reception of light - so our intellect does not receive this act, namely, seeing the divine essence, unless it is disposed through the light of glory.

Again, so that it may be strengthened: for our created and natural intellect is as weak in relation to the divine essence as the eye of a bat is in relation to the light of the sun, Book II of the Metaphysics. Therefore the Psalm says: “Clothed with light as with a garment.”

Again, so that it may be elevated: for since the divine essence is infinitely distant from every created intellect, a created intellect would not be joined to it unless it were elevated to the vision of it through the light of glory. The light of glory does not have this power of elevating from its own power, since it also is a created thing, but from the power that it obtains from God for this purpose. Of this light it is said in the Psalm: “In your light we will see light.”

Third, the clear evidence of the divine essence is required for perfect blessedness. For now God is known by us through creatures and through their image and traces. Hence Damascene says: “God did not leave us in complete ignorance of himself, but knowledge that God exists has been implanted by him in all.”

But in the fatherland he must be known in a higher manner, namely, through glory; and in this manner the essence of God will be seen clearly, nor could it be otherwise.

First, because otherwise the desire of the saints would be frustrated, which cannot be. Their desire is that of Moses in Exodus 33: “Show me your glory,” and that of Philip in John 33: “Show us the Father, and it is enough for us.”

Again, the reward consists in this: that God should be seen and known perfectly. But this cannot be unless he is seen through his essence. Therefore, and so forth. These things are from Thomas, Book III of the Summa contra Gentiles, and Alexander of Hales, Part III of the Summa.

Subquestion Eight

Whether the five senses of the glorified body will be made blessed

It is asked whether the five exterior senses in glorified bodies will be made blessed in the Empyrean Heaven.

To some it appears that a negative answer should be given, and first as follows. For if the five senses ought to be made blessed, this would occur through the actuation of each in relation to its own most fitting object, just as the intellective power is made blessed in the clear vision of its noblest object, which is the divine essence, and as the will is made blessed in love of the highest good.

If, therefore, the sensitive powers will finally be blessed, each of them will be perfectly actuated in relation to the noblest and most fitting object of which it is capable. But it does not appear what those objects will be, or could be, in which especially the three lower senses - namely, smell, taste, and touch - may be made blessed. For the sensible things in which those senses delight will not be in the heavenly kingdom, because there will not be a tempering between cold and heat there; there will be no thirst or hunger, no fragrances of spices, and no application of savory things. Rather, all will be like the angels of God, not eating, not drinking, and not occupied in generation, according to the Savior’s words in Matthew 22 to the Sadducees, who held a carnal opinion concerning the state of future blessedness: “You err, knowing neither the Scriptures nor the power of God. For in the resurrection they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but will be like the angels of God in heaven.” Therefore the five senses of glorified human beings will not be able to be made blessed.

But to the contrary is Augustine in the book On the Perfection of Human Righteousness, where he says that in the fullness of the charity of the fatherland that commandment will be fulfilled: “You shall love the Lord your God with your whole heart, your whole soul, and all your powers.” This could not be unless the operation and use of all human powers and faculties were brought to rest in their objects in the fatherland, as Thomas explains in Book IV, distinction 44, article 6.

In answer to this doubt, it must be said that we can speak in two ways about the beatification of the exterior senses of a glorified human being: either with respect to their objects or with respect to their acts.

If we speak with respect to the objects, it is said that each power will have its own object. Sight will have as its object the body of Christ, which will be the most beautiful among all bodies and the most pleasing to see. Hence John 29: “I know that my Redeemer,” and so forth, as far as “in my bosom.”

Hearing will have as its object Christ forming a voice with natural organs. The Psalm says: “To my hearing you will give joy and gladness.” This will occur in two ways: namely, by singing and by speaking.

Of speaking it is said in Canticles 5: “My soul melted when my beloved spoke,” says the bride praising Christ the bridegroom.

Of singing it is found in the office of blessed Agnes, who says: “I love Christ, into whose bridal chamber I have entered, whose mother is a virgin, whose Father knows not a woman, whose instruments sing to me with melodious voices.”

There will also be the song of the other saints. Of this it is said by the Church: “In the city of the Lord the instruments of the saints sound clearly without ceasing.” And in the hymn for a dedication it is said: “That whole city, sacred and beloved by God, filled with melodies in praise and tuneful jubilation, with favor proclaims the triune and one God.”

There will be the song of the angels there, but not bodily. Rather, as Chrysostom says, their song is the discourse of one thing after another concerning the attributes and other perfections of God. When they understand these things discursively, they rejoice and exult in know ing, and, affirming, repeat concerning each one: “Holy, holy, holy.”

Smell will have its own object, namely, the body of Christ, of which it is said in Canticles 1: “In the fragrance of your ointments” - that is, not of one simple spice, but as though in a mixture of all fragrances. “Therefore the maidens,” that is, all elect creatures, and so forth.

Touch will have its own object, namely, the body of Christ and the flesh of the other saints.

Taste will have its own object: the sweetness of glorified bodies. The Psalm says: “Taste and see,” and so forth.

But if we speak about the actuation of the senses - namely, whether they will truly smell, truly eat, truly touch, and so forth - it is said that concerning this there is a fivefold manner of speaking.

The first is that in glorified bodies the senses will be suspended from all actuation on account of the most vehement conversion of the intellect toward the beatific object. This occurs in vehement and profound contemplations, in which it happens that a human being is so caught up that every sense is so deprived of its powers that, even when objects are applied, they are not perceived. If, therefore, the passible contemplation of the way can do this, it appears a fortiori that the beatific contemplation that will be in the fatherland can produce a similar suspension of the senses. Nor does it appear why the senses ought there to be actuated by sensibles, where the intellect clearly beholds in the Word the species and differences of all sensibles.

The second manner of speaking is that the senses of the glorified body will not be deprived of their powers in the manner said above; indeed, there will be in them acts much more perfect than here. Nevertheless, some senses whose objects do not befit the heavenly region - such as smell, taste, and touch - will be there without actuation by their own proper objects. The other senses, whose objects befit the state of human beings so disposed or adorn that region, will there be actuated by their most fitting objects, as sight will be in the brightness of light, and perhaps hearing also.

The third manner of speaking is that in that heavenly region, however it may be by divine disposition, just as there will really be the most fitting objects of all the senses, as was said, so there will also be actuations of all the senses with respect to their most fitting object. For it does not appear what would prevent glorified bodies from being of diverse colors, emitting fragrances, and sounding with the sweetest voices. The glorious body of Christ can also supply the objective influx of the objects of the five senses. There it supplies the object of sight, according to Revelation 21: “And that city needs neither sun nor moon to shine in it, for the brightness of God will illuminate it, and its lamp is the Lamb.”

The fourth manner of speaking is that each of the senses will be most fittingly actuated, not indeed by the objective influxes of its proper objects, but the divine essence will supply such influxes, as can be done, since influencing objectively belongs to active power. Through this it appears that finally, for glorified human beings, God will be all in all.

Hence blessed Augustine says in the final chapter of Book XXII of The City of God: “What else is that which is said through the prophet, ‘I will be their God,’ except, ‘I will be that from which they will be satisfied’? I will be whatever is honorably desired: life, health, power, abundance, glory, honor, peace, and every good.” Thus he also understands what the Apostle says: “That he may be all in all,” for he will be the end of all desires.

The fifth manner of speaking is commendable: namely, that the visual power will see not through the intellect, as the saints now do, but through the act of seeing, by admitting and receiving from the object, as the Philosopher says in On Sense and the Sensible. Then that saying of Luke 3 will be fulfilled: “All flesh will see the salvation of God,” that is, Christ. And Isaiah 33: “They will see the king in his beauty, and their eyes will behold the land from afar.” Hence neither difference of positions nor the height of bodies or mountains will be able to impede the vision of the eyes of the saints.

And Augustine says in Book XXII of The City of God: “It is harsh to say that the saints will then have such bodies that they cannot close and open their eyes when they wish. Rather, those bodily eyes will have their office, and the spirit will use them through the spiritual body.”

But it appears that, since glorious eyes will be most luminous in act, they will not be able to receive visible species from objects, and consequently there will not be an act of seeing there. An example is evident in a mirror that is placed directly beneath a ray of the sun. For the mirror then does not receive the species of a body set opposite it.

To this Saint Thomas answers in Book IV, distinction 44, that the intensity of light does not impede the reception of a species in the pupil, provided that the nature of the diaphanous remains. This is evident in the air, for the more it is illuminated, the more it is seen, unless there is a defect on the part of the one seeing. That a species is not produced in a mirror under a ray of the sun does not occur from the light, but from this: that the species in the mirror is produced through reflection, which does not happen in the pupil. Reflection, however, occurs only in an opaque medium; but the strength of the ray removes opacity from the mirror, and therefore the species does not result.

Second, the proper act of the ears will be there sensibly. For the ears of the bodies of the blessed will not be like those of idols, but will hear the real voices and praises of the Lord. Isaiah 51: “Gladness and joy will be found in it, thanksgiving and the voice of praise.” And the Psalm says: “The exaltations of God are in their throats.” There Augustine says that hearts and tongues will not suffice to praise God.

And Thomas says in Book IV, distinction 44 that there will be vocal praise in the fatherland. There will also be species of song there, not only those severed from an object, but also those of other animals through species infused by God. For there will not be nightingales and eternal animals singing so that voices and songs may flow presently from their mouths. Rather, songs of this kind will be infused from above.

Nor will there be a false judgment among the saints hearing them, as there is among the frenzied; instead, they will know from above that it is truly so. Canticles 2 speaks in this manner: “Flowers have appeared in our land; the voice of the turtledove,” and so forth.

Laughter will also be heard there, as Thomas says in Quodlibet 19, according to Job 8: “Until your mouth is filled with laughter.”

Third, there will be the proper sensible use and act of the smell of the nostrils, as Thomas says in Book IV, distinction 44, since the Church sings that the bodies of the saints will be of the sweetest fragrance; otherwise they would be like idols. And otherwise the bones of the saints would emit more fragrance here than their bodies there.

This is also proved by reason. For if stench will ascend from the corpses of the bodies of the damned, as is said in Isaiah 24 and Revelation 14, so that the damned may be punished in stench according to the Psalm, “Fire, sulfur, and the spirit of storms are the portion of their cup,” then fragrance will ascend from the bodies of the saints so that the saints also may be rewarded in fragrance.

But if it is argued that fragrance requires a mixture of hot, cold, humid, and dry things, which are contraries, and that where these exist it is necessary that there be corruption, but the bodies of the saints will be incorruptible, and therefore, and so forth, it is said in reply that the dowry of impassibility given to the saints makes them incorruptible, although they have true flesh compacted from the humid, dry, hot, and cold reduced to the best proportion. Hence their bodies are fit to be fragrant and most sweet.

Fourth, the taste of the saints will be actuated, not in nourishment, but, as Thomas says in Book IV, distinction 44, with respect to the judgment of flavors. Hence it is said in Job 6: “Who will be able to taste that which, when tasted, brings death?” This judgment of flavors will be, as Thomas says at the place cited above, through an alteration of the tongue by some conjoined moisture.

But if it is argued to the contrary that, if this is so, it would follow that saliva would be the essential reward of taste, a twofold answer is given.

In one way, taste will be brought into act through a spiritual or intentional alteration, without the taking of food and without mastication being performed upon the body of Christ and the bodies of the saints, by means of their flavor formally inhering in them. If these bodies had been chewed before glorification, they would have been naturally able by their flavor to alter taste itself.

Second, it is said that Thomas does not assert that saliva will alter the taste of the saints, but left it in doubt. Of the actuation of taste the Psalm says: “Taste and see that the Lord is sweet,” and so forth.

Fifth, the sense of touch will be actuated. Hence in Thomas it is said: “Put in your finger,” and so forth. Hence the Lord Jesus said to Mary Magdalene, who wished to touch him: “Do not touch me, for I have not yet ascended to my Father,” as though he were saying: “When I am there, you will touch me.”

This is proved by reasons. First, because there the sense of touch will not be like that of idols. Second, because this sense will not be inferior to the other actuated senses. Third, because the whole human being must be made blessed and felicitous in Christ, which would not be the case if touch were to fail in its action. Therefore all five senses will be made blessed.

Sight says: “I see the good things of the Lord in the land of the living.” Hearing says: “I will hear what the Lord God speaks in me.” Smell says: “We run in the fragrance of your ointments,” and so forth. Taste says: “Taste and see that the Lord is sweet.” Touch says: “His left hand is beneath my head, and his right hand will embrace me.”

Which of these five manners will be that by which the lower powers and faculties will be made blessed more truly is not established for mortals. For this reason Augustine says in the final chapter of Book XXII of The City of God: “I do not dare rashly to define what I am unable to think.”

Nevertheless, it ought to suffice mortals to know and believe this: “The things that eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have ascended into the heart of man, God has prepared for those who love him.”

But perhaps someone will wisely continue to doubt concerning the acts of smell and hearing.

First, the sense of smell cannot be in its act unless some corruption has occurred, because an odor is not perceived without some smoky evaporation, which consists in a certain dissolution and corruption. After the resurrection, however, nothing will be corrupted, because the whole creation will be clothed with a certain power of incorruption. Therefore the sense of smell will not be in act there.

To this Thomas answers in Book IV, distinction 44, saying: some have posited that odor is nothing other than a certain smoky evaporation. But this position cannot be true. This is evident from the fact that vultures run to a corpse from the most remote places from the odor perceived; and it would not be possible for any evaporation to reach from a corpse to places so remote, even if the whole thing were dissolved into vapor, especially since sensibles affect every part at an equal distance.

Hence odor sometimes alters the medium, and sometimes also the instrument, by a spiritual alteration, without any material alteration reaching the organ. But that some evaporation is required occurs because odor in bodies is dispersed in humidity. Hence dissolution must occur so that it may be perceived.

But in glorious bodies odor will be in its final perfection, suppressed in no way by humidity. Hence it will alter by a spiritual alteration, as the odor of a smoky evaporation does. And the sense of smell in the saints, because it will be impeded by no humidity, will recognize not only the excellences of odors - as does not now occur in us on account of the excessive humidity of the brain - but also the excessive differences of odors.

Second, there is doubt concerning the act of the sense of hearing: namely, whether there will be vocal praise in the Empyrean Heaven and whether voices will be formed there. It appears that there will not.

For every body in which a voice is formed, and through which motion occurs in a medium, must touch air, must be divisible, and must operate through density and rarity. But if there will be vocal praise in the Empyrean Heaven, as some say, and the saints will walk about through it, as is said in Wisdom 3, “The just will shine and will run about like sparks among the reeds,” then there will be air there, and condensation and rarefaction of air.

But wherever there are density and rarity, there are generation and corruption, since they are certain principles of corruption and generation. Therefore it is necessary to say either that there is no voice of praise there and no motion through a medium, or, if it is said that there is a voice of praise there, it will be necessary to say that air, condensation, and rarefaction are there, and consequently generation and corruption, and that two bodies can exist together. All these things are repugnant to the excellence of the Empyrean body.

To this Thomas answers in Book II of the Sentences, distinction 2, question 2, in reply to the fifth argument of the second little question, saying that the Empyrean Heaven is the place of angels, souls, and human beings. It is agreed, however, that there will not be vocal praise in the Empyrean Heaven from angels and disembodied souls. But as to whether there will be vocal praise from human beings after the judgment, some say there will not, but only mental praise, which is more worthy, because there will not be respiration there, which voice requires, Book II of On the Soul.

Others say that there will be vocal praise there, so that nothing in the saints may be idle from divine praise, neither mind nor tongue.

As to how this can be, they say as follows. In the lung and vocal instruments there is naturally implanted air, just as animals also have implanted breath; and through that air the saints will be able to form voices. This appears fitting in one respect, because the expulsion or attraction of air is not necessary for the formation of a voice. Hence by breathing in or breathing out an animal cannot form a voice, Book II of On the Soul.

But in another respect it appears insufficient, because not only interior but also exterior air is required for a voice, by whose percussion and motion sound is carried.

For this reason it must be added and said that certain sensible things are conveyed to a sense only according to spiritual being, as the species of colors are. Others touch the organ according to their material being, as in taste and touch. Still others are conveyed in both ways, as the species of odors together with an admixture of smoky evaporation; nevertheless, sometimes the species extend beyond the smoky evaporation. It is similar with sound and motion. There, however, the species of sound is conveyed only according to spiritual being; hence there will not have to be motion in the medium, or percussion, or condensation.

Or it can be said that there will also be percussion of the Empyrean Heaven there. Nor does this redound to its ignobility, because it will be an instrument moved by a glorified tongue and the matter of a voice uttered in divine praise. Nor does it follow on this account that it is generable and corruptible, because rarity and density are said equivocally of that body and of those bodies. In this way the astrologers also posit that between two spheres which cannot be split there is some space filled with a divisible body, since in that space there is motion of the planets according to the motion of the epicycle.

Again, by a miracle it can occur that two bodies are in the same place. This must occur at least while a glorious body is transferred up to the Empyrean Heaven through the intervening celestial body, which is not split.

What among these things is true is uncertain, because it is neither determined by faith nor proved by reason. These things are elicited from Thomas and Henry of Hesse.

Subquestion Nine

What and how many are the aureoles that are given to some of the blessed

It is asked what and how many are the aureoles - as it were, the paraphernal goods - of martyrs, confessors, and virgins in the Empyrean Heaven.

To this it is answered that an aureole is a certain accidental joy by which the blessed rejoice in the good works done by themselves, which they acquired through victory. For a crown is given to victors.

Concerning this aureole four things will be explained: namely, its essence, sufficiency, eminence, and correspondence.

The first is its essence, for it has been said that an aureole is a certain accidental joy. In explanation of this, it must be known that in the blessed there is a twofold joy: namely, essential and accidental.

The first reward or joy of the blessed is essential. It consists in the perfect conjunction of the soul with God through the vision and fruition of God, insofar as the soul is perfectly joined to God by seeing him, loving him, and enjoying him. This reward is called, by way of similitude, a golden crown for three reasons.

First, by reason of a sign, because a crown is the proper sign of royal dignity. But that essential reward which consists in the vision of God in some manner makes a human being a participant in divinity and, consequently, in royal dignity, as the Apostle says in Revelation 5: “You have made us a kingdom and priests for our God.”

Second, this essential reward is called a crown by reason of the circle. For a circular figure is the most perfect, because nothing can be added to it without being less than it. It signifies the essential reward and joy of the blessed, since no reward can be added without being less than it. This is evident because nothing is greater than the vision of God.

Third, the essential reward is called an aureole by reason of its material, or number, because, just as no metal is more precious than gold, so no other reward is greater and nobler than the vision of God, which is the essential reward of the saints.

That gold is more precious among metals is evident from its value and from reason. It is also evident because no defect appears in it, for neither of its parts is ill-tempered or imperfect, as Hermes the Egyptian says.

For all metals are made from sulfur, as though from the part and substance of paternal seed, and from quicksilver, as though from a mother and menstrual fluid. That menstrual fluid is coagulated into the substance of an embryo by the power of sulfur vigorously acting upon and burning it. These two - namely, sulfur and quicksilver - are brighter in gold and purified by the strongest washings, so that nothing of combustible oiliness, nor of aqueous moisture or phlegm, can evaporate any further. This is evident in a ring that encircles a finger without staining it, but not so in a silver ring or one made from other metals, which stain contiguous bodies to a greater or lesser extent, as Albert says in Book IV of On Minerals, chapter 7.

The second reward, or the second joy of the blessed in the fatherland, added to their essential reward - that is, to the divine vision - is accidental. It is called an aureole diminutively because this accidental reward is, as it were, very small in relation to the essential reward of the divine vision.

Concerning these golden crowns and aureoles, as concerning the first, essential reward and the accidental reward, it is said in Exodus 25: “Construct the ark from shittim wood” - which is incorruptible, as Josephus says - “and overlay it inside and outside with the purest gold,” which signifies the essential reward. “And you shall make another little golden crown around it,” which signifies the accidental reward.

Of the first crown it is said in Ecclesiasticus 45: “A golden crown was upon his head, engraved with the sign of holiness.” Of the second, the Church sings: “Daughters of Jerusalem, come and see the martyr with the crown,” namely, of victory, which is given to him on the day of solemnity and gladness.

Second, concerning the aureole, its numerical sufficiency must be considered. For three aureoles are posited: namely, those of virgins, martyrs, and doctors or preachers.

This is proved as follows. A crown is given for a victory that is won with a certain struggle: “No one will be crowned unless he has competed lawfully,” 2 Timothy 2. But there is a threefold kind of saints who fought manfully in the world and conquered: namely, virgins, martyrs, and preachers. Therefore there will be a threefold aureole, which will be given to the saints for victories and triumphs over the enemy.

The first aureole is owed to virgins for the good works done by them by reason of virginity. The reason for this is that a crown is given to victors, as is evident above; therefore, where there is a special character of victory, a special aureole is owed. But through virginity a man or woman obtains a singular and special victory over the flesh, against which the spirit wages war, as is evident from Galatians 5: “The spirit desires against the flesh, and conversely.” Therefore a special accidental joy is owed and given to virginity, and this is called an aureole.

For evidence of this, it must be known that the aureole is owed only to those virgins who had the intention of preserving virginity perpetually, whether or not this intention was confirmed by a vow. Although that intention may at some time have been interrupted, nevertheless, if the integrity of the flesh remains and that intention is found at the end of life, the aureole is owed.

The reason for this is that, although virginity of the flesh cannot be repaired, virginity or corruption of the mind is repaired through penance and restored to the full. Therefore, if she finally remains wholly uncorrupted, she will have an aureole. For there is no doubt that such women will rejoice in the incorruption of the body.

But if corruption of the mind is followed by corruption of the flesh procured by some instrument or in some other manner, such a woman loses the aureole and ought humbly and modestly to abstain from consecration. Nevertheless, she is not rejected from consecration, because the Church judges only according to those things that appear in the external forum.

If, however, she lost the integrity of the flesh through violence, she does not lose the aureole. For the body is not corrupted unless the mind has been corrupted. Hence blessed Lucy said: “If you cause me to be violated against my will, my chastity will be doubled for my crown” - not because she would have two aureoles, but because she would carry away a twofold reward: one for the virginity she preserved and the other for the injury she suffered. Indeed, if any woman, violently overpowered, should conceive, she nevertheless does not thereby lose the merit of virginity or the aureole.

But someone will say: if an aureole is owed to victory in a struggle, then where there is no struggle or victory, there is no aureole. But the Virgin Mary did not have a struggle of the flesh; therefore she did not have an aureole, which is false.

It is answered that the Virgin Mary has the aureole as the reward of virginity. Although she did not have an interior struggle of the flesh, she nevertheless had temptation from the enemy, who did not refrain even from tempting Christ.

The second aureole is owed to martyrs. The reason for this is that a special aureole is owed to a special victory, as is evident above; but the martyr has a special victory over the tyrant. Therefore, and so forth.

For evidence of this, it must be known that a victory is called great for a twofold reason. First, by reason of the penalty of death, which is the last of terrible things, Book III of the Ethics. Second, by reason of the most honorable cause, which cause is Christ. These two are considered in martyrdom, and principally the cause, because it is not the punishment but the cause that makes a martyr.

For this reason, one who dies for the confession of the faith, whether or not he is questioned about the faith by a persecutor, will obtain the aureole. Likewise, if someone defends the commonwealth from an attack by enemies who endeavor to corrupt the faith of Christ, and dies in such a defense, he will have the aureole. Likewise, if anyone receives a mortal wound for Christ and survives for some time, he is a martyr and does not lose the aureole, as is evident concerning blessed Cecilia.

But if he does not receive a mortal wound and nevertheless afterward dies from it, though not through his own negligence in treating it, he has the aureole. If he has received wounds that were not mortal, and after this dies while enduring imprisonment, he is a martyr and merits the aureole, as did blessed Marcellus.

If, however, affliction for Christ was not continued all the way to death, he will not be a martyr. This is evident concerning blessed Sylvester, who suffered many penalties for Christ; nevertheless, because he ended his life in peace, he was neither a martyr nor did he merit the aureole.

The third aureole is owed to doctors or preachers: namely, to those who preach and teach only those things which pertain to the salvation of souls.

The reason for this is that a special aureole is owed to a special victory. Therefore, just as through virginity and martyrdom someone has a special victory over the flesh and the world, and consequently a special aureole, so also, when someone repels the devil attacking through error not only from his own heart but also from the hearts of others, he merits an aureole.

The reason for this is that by such salutary teachings he conquers the devil as though by certain spiritual arms, concerning which it is said in 2 Corinthians 10: “The arms of our warfare are not carnal, but spiritual.”

The aureole is not owed to prelates whose office it is to teach or preach unless they actually preach. The reason is that a crown is not owed to habitual struggle and victory, but to actual struggle and victory, according to that saying of 2 Timothy 2: “No one will be crowned unless he has competed lawfully.” Therefore the aureole is owed to anyone who lawfully exercises this act, namely, the act of teaching or preaching.

Third, concerning the aureole, the preeminence of dignity must be considered. This can be considered from three aspects: namely, from the aspect of the struggle, its permanence, and its subject matter.

In the first way, that aureole is more excellent which is owed to the stronger struggle. In this manner the aureole of the martyrs excels the other aureoles, because there is a more difficult struggle there.

In the second way, the aureole can be considered from the aspect of permanence, and thus the aureole of virgins excels the other aureoles, because the struggle of the flesh is more dangerous insofar as it is more lasting and presses upon us more nearly.

Third, the aureole can be considered from the aspect of the subject matter about which the struggle occurs, and thus the aureole of doctors and preachers is the most excellent among all. The reason for this is that the struggle of doctors or preachers concerns intelligible goods, whereas the other struggles - namely, those of virgins and martyrs - concern passions.

Although one aureole is greater than another in a certain respect, nevertheless, speaking simply, the aureole of the martyrs is the more excellent among them all. This is proved by reason, authority, and observance.

By reason, as follows. Where the struggle is more difficult and the victory greater, there the aureole is more excellent. But the struggle and victory of the martyrs is of this kind, as is evident above. Therefore, and so forth.

Second, it is proved by authority. Matthew 5: “Blessed are those who suffer persecution for justice,” and so forth. The gloss says that all the other beatitudes are perfected in this one.

Third, it is proved by the observance of the Church. For in the commemoration of the saints, the Church places the martyrs before the doctors and virgins, in order to show the preeminence of the martyrs with respect to the doctors and virgins. All these things are from Thomas, Book IV of the Sentences, distinction 49, article 5.

Fourth, concerning the aureole, its correspondence must be considered: that is, to what part of the dowry the aureoles correspond.

It is answered that they correspond to paraphernal goods. Paraphernal goods are those things that a woman has outside or beyond the dowry from her parents and friends: Code, On Agreements Concerning Dowry, law By This Law; Digest, On the Law of Dowry, law If I, § Of Dowry; and the gloss on chapter From the Letters, On Pledges.

In these paraphernal goods the husband has no right of administration if the woman objects, unless she has handed those goods over to her husband, as in the final law of the Code, De promi. In that case the husband has their administration and can live with his wife from their fruits, as the text and Bartolus there say.

These things suffice concerning the first receptacle of separated souls: namely, the Empyrean Heaven.

Addition

Note from this that the crown of the aureole is not owed to angels, because there is no struggle in them, since they are immortal and incorruptible. Therefore they cannot suffer martyrdom; and since virginity is connatural to them, they cannot have the character of an excellent victory.

Indeed, it does not belong even to Christ, as Peter of Palude says in Book IV, distinction 41, because nothing is that to which it is similar.

Nevertheless, the distinction of Richard in Book IV, distinction 49, article 5, question 5, must be observed. For an aureole can be considered in two ways: either according to that which it is, or under the aspect by which it is given by a prince to a soldier.

In the first way, the threefold aureole exists most perfectly in Christ, because he was the most perfect virgin, the most perfect doctor, and because he endured death for the truth and glory of God.

In the second way, however, it is not owed to him, because Christ is the prince of the soldiers.

If you desire more concerning this subject, see Bonaventure on Book IV, distinction 33, article 2, question 3, and Robert Holcot on the Book of Wisdom.