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Roman Catechism
Accessory Happiness
To this happiness, however, are added certain gifts which are common to all the blessed, and which, because more within the reach of human comprehension, are generally found more effectual in moving and inflaming the heart. These the Apostle seems to have in view when, in his Epistle to the Romans, he says: Glory and honour, and peace to every one that worketh good.20
GLORY
For the blessed shall enjoy glory; not only that glory which we have already shown to constitute essential happiness, or to be its inseparable accompaniment, but also that glory which consists in the clear and distinct knowledge which each (of the blessed) shall have of the singular and exalted dignity of his companions (in glory).
HONOUR
And how distinguished must not that honour be which is conferred by God Himself, who no longer calls them servants, but friends, brethren and sons of God! Hence the Redeemer will address His elect in these most loving and honourable words: Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you.21 Justly, then, may we exclaim: Thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable.22 They shall also receive the highest praise from Christ the Lord, in presence of His heavenly Father and His Angels.
And if nature has implanted in the heart of every man the common desire of securing the esteem of men eminent for wisdom, because they are deemed the most reliable judges of merit, what an accession of glory to the blessed, to show towards each other the highest veneration!
PEACE
To enumerate all the delights with which the souls of the blessed shall be filled would be an endless task. We cannot even conceive them in thought. With this truth, however, the minds of the faithful should be deeply impressed—that the happiness of the Saints is full to overflowing of all those pleasures which can be enjoyed or even desired in this life, whether they regard the powers of the mind or of the perfection of the body; albeit this must be in a manner more exalted than, to use the Apostle’s words, eye hath seen, ear heard, or the heart of man conceived.23
Thus the body, which was before gross and material, shall put off in heaven its mortality, and having become refined and spiritualised, will no longer require corporal food; while the soul shall be satiated to its supreme delight with that eternal food of glory which the Master of that great feast passing will minister to all.24
Who will desire rich apparel or royal robes, where there shall be no further use for such things, and where all shall be clothed with immortality and splendour, and adorned with a crown of imperishable glory?
And if the possession of a spacious and magnificent mansion contributes to human happiness, what more spacious, what more magnificent, can be conceived than heaven itself, which is illumined throughout with the brightness of God? Hence the Prophet, contemplating the beauty of this dwelling-place, and burning with the desire of reaching those mansions of bliss, exclaims: How lovely are thy tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! my soul longeth and fainteth for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh have rejoiced in the living God.25 That the faithful may be all filled with the same sentiments and utter the same language should be the object of the pastor’s most earnest desires, as it should also be of his zealous labours. For in my Father’s house, says our Lord, there are many mansions,26 in which shall be distributed rewards of greater and of less value according to each one’s deserts. He who soweth sparingly, shall also reap sparingly: and he who soweth in blessings, shall also reap blessings.27
20. Rom 2:10
21. Matt 25:34
22. Ps 138:17
23. 1 Cor 2:9
24. Luke 12:37
25. Ps 83:1-2
26. John 14:2
27. 2 Cor 9:6