The musings and meandering thoughts of a crotchety old man as he observes life in the world and in a small, rural town in South East Nebraska. My Pledge-Nulla dies sine linea-Not a day with out a line.
Stand Alone Pages on 'Musings of an Old Curmudgeon'
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30 October 2019
Word of the Day: Beatific Vision
BEATIFIC VISION. The intuitive knowledge of God which produces heavenly
beatitude. As defined by the Church, the souls of the just "see the divine
essence by an intuitive vision and face to face, so that the divine essence
is known immediately, showing itself plainly, clearly and openly, and not mediately
through any creature" (Denzinger 1000-2). Moreover, the souls of the saints
"clearly behold God, one and triune, as He is" (Denzinger 1304-6).
It is called vision in the mind by analogy with bodily sight, which is the most
comprehensive of human sense faculties; it is called beatific because it produces
happiness in the will and the whole being. As a result of this immediate vision
of God, the blessed share in the divine happiness, where the beatitude of the
Trinity is (humanly speaking) the consequence of God's perfect knowledge of
his infinite goodness. The beatific vision is also enjoyed by the angels, and
was possessed by Christ in his human nature even while he was in his mortal
life on earth. (Etym. Latin beatificus, beatific, blissful, imparting
great happiness or blessedness; from beatus, happy.)
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