As for the Sense of Touching there is no difference amongst Divines nor indeed can be any doubt but that it hath its Operations in this blissful state since the gloried bodies may be felt and touched as all other true and lively bodies may and as our blessed Saviours was after his Resurrection as well Palpable as Visible not miraculously but according to its own Nature handle me saith he and see for a Spirit hath no flesh and blood as you see me have Thus much of the Senses Corporeal External and those parts of the body which are Instrumental and serviceable in the state of glory to the Humane Nature as they were to her in her Natural condition onely with these exceptions and limitations 1. From hence is banisht all sensual lusts and carnal Concupisence the Eye hath no lascivious looks the Ear 's infected with no blasphemous breath or impious sound nor this Sense deflowred with any adulterous touch here is no lust or desire of generation no respect of blood they neither marry nor are given in marriage this grosser acquaintance and pleasure is for the Paradise of Turks not the Heaven of Christians here is as no mariage save betwixt the Lamb and his Spouse the Church so no Matrimonial affections 2. Banish we likewise from hence all Impatibility of Sense sensus non fallitur nec laeditur circa proprium objectum no vehemencie of Object can destroy the Sense in their Natural estate their objects many times confound and wound them too great a light may make a man blind too great a sound may make him deaf we may not long gaze upon the Sun without blemish to our eyes otherwaies here for the Senses are blessed and glorious and so made Impassible and Immortal he who strengthens the Eyes of the Soul with such a measure of light and glory that they may see God face to face and yet not be dasled and confounded with his glory doth also so confirm and strengthen the Eyes of the body that without any hurt or damage to themselves they may behold not one but infinite Suns and Illuminated bodies though in themselves never so glorious 3. All Acts of Necessity are hence excluded the Soul doth not exercise her Sensitive Faculties Necessarily but freely and rules with the body and bodily Organs when she pleaseth and when she pleaseth the Soul rules alone For she hath other waies of Operation out of the body more Excellent and Noble the Senses are Secundary means for acquiring Knowledge not the Primary only subservient and at command of the Soul In the Natural estate the Sensitive Knowledge precedes the Intellectual nihil est in intellectu quod non prius fuit in sense and without Sense there is no intelligence Not so in the Resurrection the Soul knoweth all things as fully and infallibly by Intuitive Vision and Inate Forms at once unico intuitu by one single aspect as by those various multiplyed Forms imprinted from sensible Objects under so many several notions and conceptions the Understanding stands not need of an Eye or an Ear or other bodily Organ to evidence the truth of what it apprehendeth it is not subject to Sense but Sense to it not the Soul to the Body but the Body to the Soul for the Nature of a glorified body is to be Spiritual that is subject to the Spirit not that it hath no flesh and bones but that it is so subject to the Spirit that at the beck and command thereof without any pains and difficultie it moves most swiftly Ascending Descending Coming Going and through every place penetrating as if it were not a body but a Spirit Ad hoc autem quod sit omnino corpus subjectum spiritui requiritur quod omnis actio corporis subdatur spiritus volunâ—ati saith Aquinas and therefore it is in the Power of the Soul to see or hear or the like to use or not to use these bodily Organs when and as often as she pleaseth without which in her Natural condition she could not Operate or reduce all her Faculties into Act. This is the state of that Church that part of Christs Body triumphant whose Organs and Senses are Spiritualiz'd to whom that part of Christs Church militant here doth hold resemblance the like Analogy and proportion bearing every Member one to another they on Earth to those in Heaven as every one beareth to Christ the H ad as the Spiritual Body in Heaven is Organiz'd so is the Organical Body on Earth Spiritualiz'd and hath five Spiritual Senses Senses refreshed with Spiritual Objects This I can assure thee O my Soul being a Member of that Mystical Body whereof Christ is the Head thou art entitled to yea and refreshed with such Sensitive Objects as the Saints in Heaven are refreshed and delighted with Objects for thy Eye thy Ear thy Nose thy Palat thy Hand as Form Sound Odor Sapor Spissitude but these made Spiritual and are so to be received I speak of Christ in the Eucharist who is made the Object of every Sense that the excellencie of the Knowledge of Christ may more fully be evidenced to us from him of whose fulness we all receive Christ is Visible to the Eye Audible to the Ear Sweet and fragrant to the Smel Savory to the Tast to the Nose Palat Hand sensible he is meat to the hungry and drink to the thirstie Angels food and mans repast Christ in the Sacrament is the Object of our Eyes and as real y present here as in Heaven and is as really exhibited to us who spiritually discern him though under other Forms hic ibi veritas sed hic palliata ibi manifesta he is palliated here but unveiled in Heaven here we see him darkly through the instrument of Faith for we walk by Faith and not by sight his real presence is believed our Corporal Eyes do not behold him otherwaies than veiled under those outward signes of bread and wine the eys of our Body seeth the signes the Eye of our Faith the thing signified aliud latet aliud patet what we see is Bread and Wine what we believe is the Body and Blood of Christ what our Souls cannot reach with Corporal Eyes it may discern by an Eye of Faith Faith is a director of the Soul or prospective to the Eyes to bring to their sight such things as are not discernable without in this Vale of tears through the prospect of Faith is Christ Visible to us though the Saints in Heaven have a cleaâ—er Viâ—ion of him seeing him face to face 〈◊〉 as they are seen This is but a glimpse of that beatifical Vision the glorified bodies have of Christ here per aenigma there facie revelata here veiled there revealed unde preciosior dicitur faciei visio quam speculi frequens imaginatio non enim pari omnino jucunditate sumitur cortex sacramenti medulla frumenti fides species memoria praesentia aeternitas tempus speculum vultus
from his voice from Heaven to St. Paul and his reply to the Quaere of St. Paul Such bodies and bodily Organs for Vocal musick have all the Saints to sing hear Halellujahs sung a great voice was heard of much People in Heaven saying and singing Hallelujah in a most Melodious tune the ditty or ballad whereof was Salvation and Glory and Honor and Power unto the Lord our God There is a ful Quire of Saints thousands of thousands harmoniously canting the praises of the Lord and as full a Chorus with the like affectionate melody again and again ecchoing and resounding the like praises and loving kindness of the Lord. And as the company of singers is great so are the songs and Canticles various though all of them Eucharistical some in Memory of our Creation others in Memory of our Redemption some in triumph of the Holy Martyrs some in joy of Converts and Penitents others in Honor of Chastity and Virginity and those who were not defiled with Women the redeemed from amongst men being the first Fruits unto God and to the Lamb others for the Victory of all Saints over the World the Flesh and the Devil over the Beast and over his Image and over his Mark and over the number of his Name others for the judgements of God inflicted upon the ungodly ones There is sung the song of Moyses and there is sung the song of the Lamb yea there is sung the Psalm of David misericordias domini in aeternum as St. Augustine affirmeth fortasse non solius dei laudes in civitate illa canentur sed etiam tâ—iumphi sanctorum martyrum confessorum praeconia virginum gloria sanctorum omnium contra diabolum victoriae cantibus extollentur haec enim omnia in dei laudes gloriam redundabunt And all these songs and cantons cannot but be wonderous pleasant and delightsom to the ears of all the blessed and glorified Saints of God for which Cause the Ear is Organical and serviceable to the Soul and Body in their state of glory In the next place consider we the Sense of Olfaction and those sweet smeling savours and Odors in the Nostrils of all the Saints to shew that the body is not destitute of an Organ for the exercise of this Sensitive faculty of the Soul no more than of the rest which are so useful to her in this state For though the Scriptures afford not so pregnant proofs for the two Senses of Smelling and Tasting as for the other three yet may we not in reason conceive a total Deprivation or Annihilation of them more than of the rest nor without injury to the Humane Nature to which we attribute so great perfection and integrity of parts in that condition debar her the freedom of exercising any of her faculties other than what argue and favour Corruption which so much tends to the perfection of a Humane body ther 's no Privation of Sight of Hearing or of Touching why then of the other are the Saints Hosmei and are not Goglites if the want of an eye or an ear be such a blemish and imperfection as may not befall a glorified body is not the want of a nose as great a deformity but Odors and Olfaction there is in this state and this Sense hath its Objects of delight as well as the rest Glorified bodieâ— are Odoriferous bodies sending forth most fragrant sents as they are glorious to the eye so are they Aromatical to the smell St. Hierom of the body of St. Hilarion affirmeth after its ten months burial it was found lively fresh and whole tantis fragrans odoribus ut delibutum unguentis putaretur the like doth St. Gregory witness of St. Servulus saying anima exeunte tanta fragrantia odoris aspersa est ut omnes qui illuc aderant inaestimabili suavi ate replerentur and a little after quousque corpus ejus sepulturae traderent ab eorum naribus odoris itlius fragrantia non recessi and Bellarmine hence inferreth the alive bodies of the Saints in Heaven must needs send forth most sweet perfumes when their dead bodies are so Fragrant But above all is the glorious body of our blessed Saviour being perfumed with Mirrh and Frankincense with all powders of the Merchant and whose Garments smell of Mirrh Alloes and Cassia whereupon the Church that Spiritual Spouse cries unto Christ her Head and her Husband melioria sunt ubera tua vino fragrantia unguentis optimis oleum effusum nomen tuum Ideo Adolescentulaedi lexeruntte trahe me post te curremus in odorem unguentorum tuorum thus saith St. Bernard Now if the body of Christ be so Odoriferous it is most propable the Saints are likewise so the Members in a due proportion to their head as in brightness so in sweetness The like probability is of the Sense of Tasting that it should remain in the glorified estate For if the Power of eating then the Sense of tasting but the first is granted then why not the latter adest vescendi potestas abest esuriendi necessitas and so resolves St. Augustine non potestas sed egestas edendi corporibus refurgentium aufertur Lib 13. de civit dei and this puts the difference twixt the Humane Nature Spiritual and Caelestial and the Natural and Terrestrial the one eates necessitatis the other potestatis gratiâ Christ after the Resurrection did eat and drink with his Disciples yet not as his Disciples for refreshment and nourishment non alimentorum indigentiâ sed ea qua hoc poterat popotestate and therefore the Paraphrase of venerable Beda upon those words of our Saviour have you here any thing to eat is worthy our observation Luk. 24 41. Aliter obsorbet aquam terra sitiens aliter solis radius calens illa indigentiâ iste potentiâ manducavit ergo post resurrectionem non quasi cibo indigens sed ut eo modo naturam corporis resurgentis astrueret so glorified bodies may sometimes eat to shew their Power and Freedom but never for hunger or satisfaction of a Natural Appetite or an empty Panch And this Comestion is real and true not a Fictitious and feigned eating of the Angels as that of Raphaels for the bodies which Angels sometimes assume being no Humane lively bodies have not the true and Real faculty of eating though happily of chewing or grinding and swallowing down into the interior parts of the body for a true Comestion is accompanied with a gust or tast which Sense continues to the glorified bodies and hath its recreation and delight as well as the other faculties though not in the Act of eating which they seldom use de sensu gustandi scribunt Theologi non usuros beatos cibis mortalibus sed habituros tamen oblectationem aliquam in eo sensu ne supervac aneus esse videatur futuram tamen oblectationem illam loco statui beaterum immortalium congruentem Bellarmine de aeterna felicitate lib. 4. cap. 8.
left hand Semblable to which is the rule and Dominion which Impetuous and Implacable flesh usurpeth and excerciseth over the Souls of Mortal men in their Pilgrimage here below leading them Captive to the Law of sin and death This is that miserable Bondage under which the Sons of men in this Vale of â—ars do groan from which Bondage of Corruption and body of sin they wait with earnest expectation to be delivered into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God And not onely they but our selves also which have the first fruits of the Spirit even we our selves groan within our selves waiting for the Adoption to wit the redemption of our bodies not that we should be found naked and our bobodies unclothed but clothed upon that Mortality might be swallowed up of life It is not a change of our bodies but of our Raiment and Vestments which we do look for a Crown of glory for a Crown of thornes the Robes of Righteousness for the Raggs of Sin This change must be inâ—hoate here though compleated hereafter the Foundation must be layed on Earth in Grace but finished in Heaven in Glory the Garments of the Old man laid aside and the Garments of the New man put on the lusts of the flesh mortified the fruits of the Spirit quickned Ephe. 4.22 23 24. We must put off concerning the former conversation the old man which is corrupt according to the deceiptful lusts and be renewed in the Spirit of our mind and we must put on that new man which after God is created in righteousness and true holiness that we may henceforth serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter For if we live after the flesh wee shall die but if we through the Spirit do mortifie the deeds of the body we shall live Woe is me that I am constrained to live in Mesech to have my habitation in the tents of Kedar my Soul hath long dwelt with them that are Enemies to peace they are daily fighting and troubling it the Body with all its sinful lusts rebel against my Soul and when I labour for Peace they make them ready for Battel they will not have her rule over them whom thou O Lord hast made the Monarch and sole Empress of this little World but attempt by continual Insurrections and Intestine Wars to introduce an Arbitrary Power over an Athenian and Popular Government For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ that he would grant me according to the riches of his glory to be strengthned in the inward Man in the spirit of my mind by the might and Power of his Spirit who raised up Jesus from the dead that as he died for my sin and rose again for my justification so I may die to sin and live unto righteousness and being buried with Christ into death by Baptism may walk in newness of life that being planted together in the likeness of his death I may be also in the likness of his Resurrection kowing this that my old man is Crucified with him that the body of sin might be destroyed that henceforth I should not sin And though I live and walk in the flesh yet that I may not war after but against the flesh the weapons of my warfare being Spiritual and mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds to the casting down of Imaginations and every high thing that exalts it self against the Knowledge of God and bringing into Captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ and having in a readiness to revenge all disobedience of the flesh against the Law of my mind which is onely subject to the Law of God Help me O God so to keep under my body and bring it into subjection that I my self be no a castaway Thy will O Heavenly Father be done on Earth as it is in Heaven and as thou hast praepared an Heaven and fitted the body with all Obsequiousness to serve and the Soul to rule and command with all just Authority and moderation all this in the Resurrection of the body at the last day when Soul and Body meet again in a glorified estate to Possess the Heavenly Mansions so fit and and prepare them here that whilst they are in this Earthly Tabernacle all Schism being abandoned all Rebellion Anathemaâ—ized the heel may not kick against the body or the foot tread upon the head but however it fareth in the body Politick there may be such an orderly subjection in the body Natural that my flesh may be subject not Predominant to my Spirit my Body unto my Soul and both Soul and Body subject unto thee O my God do thou thus set my foot over the threshold of thy Heaven Chap. 2. Book 3. put thou my Soul into this happy condition of an inchoate blessedness so shall I cheerfully spend the remaindâ—r of my daies in a joyful expectation of the full Consummation of my glory Amen Bish Hall his Susurium cum Deo CHAP. II. Of the Organs of the body and the Exercise of the Sensitive faculties of the Soul by them in the state of glory AS the appearance of the Bride newly come from her Chamber in the daies of her Espousals on the Solemnity of her brideale and other Nuptial Rites bedecked and adorned with all the Ornaments both of body and mind that may render her gratious and Amiable in the eyes of her Betrothed or like the Kings Daughter all glorious within and without in clothing of wrought Gold brought into the Kings Palace attended on among the Honorable VVomen by a Train of Virgins that be her fellows Even such is the inward grace and outward Magnificence Pomp and State of the body in the morning of her Resurrection and Ascension from the Chamber of death to be Espoused again to the Soul in an everlast-VVedlock the Bill of Divorcement being cancelled and Nullified by an Act of perpetual Oblivion Her Soporiferous bed of rottenness she thenceforth lotheth and outrunneth leaving behind her load of inward Corruption all waywardness of mind and frowardness of disposition and her Troops of Natural Imperfection Deafness Dumbness Blindless Lameness c. such Sons of sorrow and servants of sin and perdition presume not to approach the marriage Chamber all other her Companions in the flesh that were faithful and serviceable to her and instrumental to the Soul in the Acts of grace are still her attendants and are admitted into the Royal Palace and invested with the Robes of Glory and Immortality as a badge and livery of the glorified Soul whose Servants and Ministers they are Those Organical parts of the body in which the Soul was exercised and without which it could not Operate in which respect the Soul as to such faculties and Operations might be termed Mortal are revived with the body and useful to the Soul in their several Stations I do not I dare not here affirm that all the parts of
the body do still remain Organicall after this life so as the Soul may exercise all the Powers of her triple life Vegetative Sensitive and Intellectual as she did in her Natural and Physical state according to those several Organs in which the Faculties were resient and peculiarly seated Nourishment Growth and Generation the proper Effects of the Vegetative life accomplish their ends in this life whereunto when they have obtained those Operations cease and the Organs rest from that labour and imployment but since the Senses are Operative in a glorified body for it 's not deprived of Sense I have no reason to think the Soul hath utterly rejected her manner of Operation by bodily Organs declining those old Servants as useless and inconsistent to such a glorified state Eyes Eares Nose Mouth Palat Hands Feet and all to be quite emancipated freed from the service of the glorified body and Soul in their works of that kind but to believe the Senses External and Senses Internal are Organical in Heaven as they were on Earth and subservient to the Soul in their several stations places of residence as Eye Ear Nose Palate Nerves Brain by which the Soul doth exercise its several faculties of Seeing Hearing Smelling Tasting Touching and the rest The eye the Noblest of the External Corporeal Organs offers it self first to our consideration which is not obscurely proved by holy Writ to be usefull and serviceable to those in the state of glory for this the damned in Hell do so far enjoy though to their torment and woe to see Abraham Isaac and Jacob in the Kingdom of Heaven and they themselves thrust out But the Saints to their endless joy and comfort have the use of their eyes and sight to see and behold the Splendor and Beauty of their own bodies being changed from vile to glorious after the fashion of Christs most glorious body which exceedeth the brightness of the Sun as the Apostle witnesseth Acts 26.13 What delight and pleasure must it needs be unto the Saints in Heaven to see every part of their body Hands Feet and all issuing forth such raies and beams of light sufficient to dispel all mists and darkness from them without further assistance of Sun Moon Stars or other Luminaries Nor is this Optick faculty of the Eye limited to it own body so as not to be of use to discern other Objects for all the Saints and Servants of God whose bodies are likewise glorified yea and the glorious body of Christ himself Christ the head with all his members are all of them Visible Objects of this Sense I know saith holy Job That my Redeemer lyveth and that he shall stand at the latter day vpon the Earth whom I shall see for my self and my eyes shall behold and not another It is not enough for the eye to behold its own glorifi'd Body shining as the Sun but it beholdeth an infinite number of Suns together no Parelia nor yet in their Eclipss but the glorious company of the Apostles the goodly fellowship of the Prophets the noble Army of Martyrs and the holy Church throughout all the World whose bodies do not onely send forth a glorious shine but every member part and Organ of those bodies are bespangled with the like raies of glory and splendor to the admiration of the beholder Who doubts saith Bishop Hall that these eyes shall see the glorious manhood of our blessed Saviour advanced above all the Powers of Heaven and if one body why not more if our elder brother why no more of our Spiritual Fraternity Certum est Bellar. in praefatione ad librum de aeterna felicitate beatos homines omnes ab omnibus videri sciri inter se familiariter versari ut amicos proximos saith another Doctor so then there is a Communion of Saints in Heaven as well as on Earth a society of bodies Visible one to another Besides the Vision of new Jerusalem apperteins to the glorious Saints to them it is given to see Jerusalem built up with Saphires and Emeruads and pretious Stones the Walls Towers and Battlements with pure Gold the Streets thereof paved with Beril Carbuncle and stones of Ophir and the Citizens thereof singing Hallelujah and saying Praised be God who hath exalted it for ever which was the Prophecie of Tobias and of Isaaih which also Saint John in his Revelation saw together with a new Heaven and a new Earth to wit the Holy City the new Jerusalem descending from God out of Heaven having the glory of God and her light was like unto a stone most pretious even like a Jasper stone clear as Christal it had no need of the of Sun nor the Moon to shine in it for the glory of God did lighten it and the Lamb is the light thereof and the Nations of them that are saved do walk in the light of it Yea we our selves together with the whole Creation do with earnest expectation wait for a Renovation and Melioration of the state of all things at the coming of the day of God wherein the Heavens that now are being on fire shall be dissolved and the Elements shall melt with fervent heat and wee shall as it is promised see new Heavens and new Earth wherein dwelleth Righteousness as the Apostle Peter hath it 2 Peter 3. Chapter and verse 10. What neither the eye here can see nor the ear can hear nor the heart of Man conceive in their Natural state shall all be Object and Visible to the eye in the state of glory so saith St. Bernard Erit quando iam non dicetur Audi filia vide inclina aurem tuam sed leva potius oculos tuos contemplare quid plane ea modo quae interim quidem etsi non videre adhuc audire tamen credere potes verum etiam quod sicut non videt oculus sic nec auris aâ—divit nec in cor hominis ascendit quod praeparavit deus diligentibus se nimirum tant a capiet oculus resurrectionis quanta nec auaitus nec animus nunc captat these eyes shall behold them and not anothers therefore in another place he addeth nec novos tibi instaurandos pates sed tuos utique restaurandos not that they shall be of another Nature but of another glorie The Ear also is exercised with Variety of sounds and voices both Articulate and Inarticulate the Organs of speech are as intire and perfect yea more in Heaven than on Earth we may not conceive a deficiency in any part there are Guttur Lingua Palatum Quatuor dentes duo labra simul For the bodies of the glorified Saints are true real and lively bodies and perfect in every member even as our blessed Saviour after his Resurrection was manifested to be both by his Conversation and Confabulation with his Apostles and Disciples speaking of many things perteining to the Kingdom of God and by his hearing and answering of questions and further
imago Dei forma servi My Soul is athirst after Christ my Saviour O when shall I come and appear before him Grant holy Jesu I may so behold thee though veiled here that when this earthly tabernacle shall be dissolved when it shall turn to the Lord and be clothed upon with our horse of immortality and glory which is from heaven the veil which to this day is upon my heart may be taken away and I may with open face behold the glory of my Lord being changed into the same image from glory to glory even as by the Spirit of the Lord. Amen Christ in the blessed Eucharist is the object of our Ears speaking unto our hearts both in secret whisperings and in shriller notes and holds a familiar conference with us he is an audible Voice and a speaking Word the sound whereof is gone to the ends of the world that Word which in the beginning was with God and was God but was made Flesh and dwelt among us God made Man the Son of God the Son of Man unicus patris filius hominis verbum quippe caro factum this Word incarnate is that Bread of God which cometh down from Heaven and giveth life unto the World This Word is not onely audible to the Ear but penetrable to the Heart piercing like a two-edged sword to the dividing asunder of Soul and Spirit and of the marrow and the joynts Those reverend thoughts and meditations we have of Christ especially in this Sacrament are nothing else but so many words of his spoken to our Soules though all our cogitations are not Christs locutions nor all his communications our meditations cum enim mala in corde versamus nostra cogitatio est si bona Dei sermo est illa cor nostrum dicit haec audit our good thoughts are Christs words our evill thoughts are our own words The fool hath sayd in his heart there is no God there 's our own words The Lord speaketh peace unto his people those are Christ's one is spoke from the heart the other is to the heart Our own words again are twofold or have two wayes of proceeding one from Natures corruption another from Satans suggestion but of all these bitter fruits and sinfull effects proceeding from within us it is a hard matter to assign a proper cause and author to demonstrate which are the works of the Devill and which be the fruites of the Flesh we are not able so exactly to distinguish inter morbum mentis morsum serpentis inter malum innatum malum seminatum inter partum cordis seminarium hostis only we may know they both are evill and proceed from evill both in the heart though not both from the heart this I know most assuredly though which to ascribe to my heart which to Satan I know not But for my good thoughts since all our sufficiency is from God I doe undoubtedly believe they are the very words of that very Word verba verbi Dei written in my heart by the finger of his blessed Spirit This is that Word which is not sonans onely but penetrans non loquax sed efficax non obstrepens auribus sed blandiens affectibus Happy art thou O my Soul if when thy God calleth thou answerest with Samuel Speak Lord for thy servant heareth or with holy David repliest I will hear what the Lord my God will say unto me Christ is the object of our Sense of Olfaction sâ—nding forth most sweet perfumes he is sweet in his Name Christ Jesus Christ i. e. Annâ—inted so much the name imports Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth he is sweet in his name Iesus a Saviour there is no other name given under heaven whereby we shall be saved neither is there any malady of Mind any disease of the Soul which this precious balm and ointment cannot cure Erit tibi sapor odor in medicinam salubrem morbos si qui fuerint repellentem venturosque caventem He is sweet and pleasant to God the Fath r he is his beloved Son in whom he is well pleased and the smell of his Son is like the smell of a field whom the Lord hath blessed he is that Lamb slain from the foundaâ—ions of the world whose bâ—dy and blood being offered as an Holocaust unto God the Father smelleth a sweet smelling sacrifise unto him and from whom issueth unto his Spouse the Church to every particular Member and to every worthy Communicant partaking of his Body and Blood such streams of precious ointment and oyl of the Holy Ghost runing down not onely to the beard of Aaron that is as St Bernard expounds it to the Apostles and Ministers of Christ but unto the very skirts of his clothing that is to the meanest of his Members in infima membra Ecclesiae quae est tanquam Christi vestimentum that even these vile bodies and soules being offered an oblation smell also a sweet-smelling sacrifise to God through Christ holy and acceptable we are anointed with oyl of gladness but Christ with holy oyl and oyl of gladness above all his fellows It falls first upon Christ the Head so runs down to his beard so descends to the skirts of his garments the meanest member in hi Church the smell of Christs garment is like the smel of Lebanon but the smel of his ointments super omnia aromata is better than all spices Christ is the object of our Spiritual Tast and that food of Saints and Angels in Heaven of which it hath pleased God to give a tast to his Saints on earth feeding them with the bread of Heaven the food of life which comes from Heaven that Heavenly Manna and food of Angels the Prophet speaks of more pleasant and sweet to the tast than honney or the honney-comb But that we might eat Angels food Christ was Incarnate the Word was made Flesh so all are partakers of Christ the Saints on Earth as well as Saints and Angels in Heaven onely with this difference Comedunt Angeli verbum de Deo natum comedunt homines verbum faenum factum pane suo vivunt Angeli in caelis beati sunt faeno suo vivunt homines in terris sancti sunt Yet doth not every man tast of the food that partakes of the outward Elements the Natural man hath no sense or tast no fruit and benefit of this Sacrament because it is spiritually discerned it is food eternal not temporal spiritual not corporal for supernatural nourishment unto Eternal life not for physical and natural which accomplisheth its ends in this life pereat hic physicale nutrimentum cibis iste non ventris sed mentis we feed on him in our heart by Faith and Thanksgiving My Body is nourished with the outward Elements of Bread and Wine my Soul is 2nourished with the inward Graces the Body and Blood of Christ not with the Bread of Affliction the corn arising from the earth but
with Consolatory bread and Angels food that true Bread descending from Heaven nor with the Wine of the Grapes of Gomorrha but of the true Vine Christ Iesus the Lamb the Head and Husband of the Church which at the heavenly Mariage shall be drunk new in the kingdome of Heaven There we drink not of this Wine made of water as at the Mariage in Cana but ex botro illo magno terrae promissionis qui interim in vecte portatur dum secundùm carnem novimus ChristuÌ„ hunc crucifixum which we drink at the Lords table in types signs here which are mortal and perishing but in Heaven at that great Supper of the Lord really and truly immortal and incorruptible enduring to eternal life For in Heaven is no labouring for the meat which perisheth the Saints glorified use not corruptible food their food is spiritual and immortal fitting and suitable to that state of glory and their tast is accordingly no carnal rellish no earthly savour nil quippe in his carnale sapit nil seculare nil vanum sed spiritus veritatis caelestis sapientia est cujus in utraque suavitas praelibatur He that cometh to the Lords Supper in his old garments hath not this spiritual relish nor shall he be thought worthy to be partaker of that great Banquet the Supper of the Lamb in Heaven or tast of that food as wel those that come here unworthily as those that refuse to come though invited shall all be excluded hereafter so saith the Lord of the Feast I say unto you none of those men who were called shall tast of my supper And to the unworthy person it is sayd also Friend how camest thou hither not having thy Wedding-garment take him c. And lastly Christ is the object of our sense of Touching we receive him into our hands we take him into our mouthes we feed on him in our hearts we dwell in him and he in us so to every sense is Christ spiritually sensible tangible by the hand as visible to the eye prae manibus as he is prae oculis CHAP. III. Of the Knowledge of the Soul by Intuitive Intellection or Beatifical Vision Chap. 3. Book 3. HItherto of the knowledge fetcht from External objects by the means of outward senses the Internall are not without their use viz. Phantasie and Memory but of these sufficient hath been said already Nor yet shall we further treat of that Internall intellectuall knowledge which the humane soul in its Glorified estate hath of all Material Immaterial created substances viz. of Angels and abstracted Forms other inferior creatures which are represented to its knowledge per speciem by an innate form and similitude chiefly and primarily in their universal natures secundarily in their individuals in one single aspect and intuition which manner of knowledge is natural and essential to Spirits and Essences intellectual for this hath also been elswhere handled But here we shall principally insist upon that Science of the Soul or rather Sapience which consists in the sole intuitive Intellection or Beatifical Vision of the divine Essence and Nature of God himself which is not per aenigma as in this life but facie revelata not in his back parts onely but the infinite Essence and Majesty the very quiddity and being of the great Iehovah as he is in himself so St. Iohn expresseth it fully and clearly manifested And the divine Sapience which comes by this Intuition or Intuitive Intellection surpasseth all other manner of knowledge whatsoever this is not natural to any created Angelical Intellect comes not by any strength of nature created by God into any finite being nor can it stand with natural reason how a finite capacity for so are all created intelligences should perfectly and distinctly clarè perspicuè cognitione perfecta non confusa apprehend see and know an infinite Essence as intensively Infinite this is supra captum humanum and exceeds all natural power Yet above reason is beleeved for so is the Faith of holy Church that the blessed Saints and Angels in Heaven do clearly and fully see and know God do behold him as he is in himself The Mind and Intellect glorified sees the Will enjoyes God its chiefest and most desirable good more fully and more certainly than any man here enjoyes any temporal estate In this Intuitive Vision and Fruition of God is Mans eternal felicity his beatitude his summum bonum seated here comes in the fulness of the Promises here 's the consummation of our Hopes this is the final intrinsical end of Mans Creation to see God clearly and to enjoy him fully our Beatitude consists in this and is the same beatitude wherewith God himself is blessed God is most blessed and therefore most blessed because he alwayes beholds himself as he is and eternally enjoys himself he hath made us partakers in hope of the same chiefest good to be like him in the same felicity together with all the glorious Saints and Angels so saith the Apostle We shall be like him for we shall see him as he is There were certain Hereticks Armenians and others but condemned of old by several Decrees and Councils who held it imposible for any created Intellect by any power whatsoever clearly to see God and therefore they held further the Beatitude which is promised by God and waited for by us to consist non in familiari illo quem speramus divine naturae intuitu sed cujusdam creati fulgoris ab ea manantis And indeed in the eye of Reason it is impossible unto Nature altogether repugnant that any created Intellect by any strength of it own should perfectly know the infinite Godhead but what is impossible with men is notwithstanding possible with God Multa fieâ—i possunt virtute divina quae naturae creatae viribus fieri non possunt saith Suarez nam etsi Deus à nullo intellectu creato clarè cognosci potest viribus naturae videri tamen clarè perspicuè poâ—est ab iis quorum mentes divina bonitas supra naturae modum illustraverit ad quandam divinae naturâ—e participationem evexerit saith Fonseca This is done by a supernatural power fide tenemus quod ratione improbamus Though all power is not excluded from the nature of created Intellection for an Obediential power is founded in the nature of the Reasonable Soul even unto acts of divine and supernatural quality to those supernatural habits of Faith Hope Charity c. not Acquisite by any intrinsical power of it own but infused by God drawn out of the power of the Soul eductione supernaturali ad quam non requiritur ex parte subjecti potentia naturalis receptiva sed obedientialis sufficit which obediential power is founded in the nature of the Soul Suarez tom 1 disp 15. sect 2.9 and in that respect is natural and essential to it In which sense Aquinas is to be understood saying * 1.2 q. 113.