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| (Dante and Beatrice gaze upon the highest heavens; from Gustave Doré's illustrations to the Divine Comedy - found here) |
“…how great the blessedness of seeing God, what mind can conceive, what tongue declare? And yet this shall ensue when man’s nature is transformed, so that no longer ‘in a mirror,’ nor ‘in a riddle,’ but ‘face to face’ (I Cor. 13:12) it sees God ‘as He is’ (I Jn. 3:2), which no man could see; and through unspeakable joy of eternal contemplation obtains that ‘which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither has entered into the heart of man’ (I Cor. 2:9). Rightly is this blessedness promised to purity of heart (cf. Mt. 5:8). For the brightness of the true light will not be able to be seen by the unclean sight: and that which will be happiness to minds that are bright and clean, will be a punishment to those that are stained. Therefore, let the mists of earth’s vanities be shunned and your inward eyes purged from all the filth of wickedness, that the sight may be free to feed on this great manifestation of God.”
~St. Leo the Great
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