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Chapter 36PsAugSoliloquia.1.36

Caput 36. De gloriae lumine. Deum videre facie ad faciem quid. Visio haec tota beatitudo. Interim Deum unum intendere.

The Vision of God Face to Face

The soul longs for the beatific vision, where God will be seen not in a mirror but face to face, in His uncreated and inaccessible light.

So when we come to you, the fountain of wisdom, to you the unfailing light, to you the inextinguishable light, so that we may see you no longer through a mirror in a riddle, but face to face (1 Cor. 13:12); then our longing will be satisfied with good things, because there will be nothing left outside to desire.✦ You, Lord, the highest good, will be the reward of the blessed, and their crown of beauty, and everlasting joy upon their heads, giving them peace within and without in your peace, which surpasses all understanding (Phil. 4:7). 4:7). There we will see, love, and praise. In your light we will see your light. For with you is the fountain of life, and in your light we will see light (Ps. 35:10). 35:10). But what kind of light? An immense light, an incorporeal light, incomprehensible; an unfailing light, inextinguishable and inaccessible; an uncreated light, a true light that illuminates the eyes of the angels, that gladdens the youth of the saints, that is the light of lights and the fountain of life—which you are, Lord, my God.1 For you are the light in whose light we will see light: namely, you in yourself, in the splendor of your face, since we will see you face to face.

The Fullness of Beatitude in the Trinity

To see God face to face is to know the Trinity and to possess the highest good, which is the joy and reward of all the saints.

What does it mean to see face to face, if not what the Apostle says: to know even as I am known (1 Cor.✦✦ 13:12)? To know your Trinity: this is to see face to face.✦ To know the Father's power, the Son's wisdom, the Holy Spirit's clemency, and the one undivided essence of the most high Trinity itself is to see the face of the living God.2 This is the highest good, the joy of the angels and of all the saints, the reward of eternal life, the glory of spirits, everlasting gladness, the crown of beauty, the prize of happiness, rich rest, the beauty of peace, inward and eternal joy, the paradise of God, the heavenly Jerusalem, the blessed life, the fullness of beatitude, the joy of eternity, the peace of God that surpasses all understanding (Phil.3 4:7). This is the full beatitude and the whole glorification of a human being: to see the face of his God, to see the One who made him, who saved him, who glorified him. He will see him by knowing him, love him by cherishing him, and praise him by possessing him.4

God Himself Is Our Exceeding Great Reward

God is not only the giver of reward but the reward itself, the inheritance and crown of His people, who is both the crowner and the crown.

For he himself will be the inheritance of his people—the people of the saints, the people he redeemed. He himself is the possession of their happiness; he himself is the prize and the reward of their hope. "I will be," he says, "your exceedingly great reward" (Gen. 15:1). Truly, Lord my God, you are exceedingly great above all gods, and your reward is exceedingly great. For great things befit the Great One.5 For you are not great while your reward is small; but as you are great, so your reward is great—because you are not one thing and your reward another. No: you yourself are exceedingly great; you yourself are the reward, exceedingly great; you yourself are both the one who crowns and the crown; you yourself are both the one who promises and the promise; you are both the rewarder and the gift; you are both the prize-giver and the prize of eternal happiness. So you are the one who crowns and the crown, my God—the diadem of my hope, adorned with glory; the light that gladdens; the light that renews; the beauty that adorns; my great hope; the longing of the saints' hearts, and the One they desire.

Eternal Life Is to Know the Only True God

The whole reward and eternal life consist in knowing the one true God and Jesus Christ, the consubstantial Son, in the unity of the Holy Spirit.

Seeing you is our entire reward, our whole prize, and the complete joy we await. This is eternal life. Your Wisdom says: This is eternal life, that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.✦ 17:3).✦ So when we see you—the only God, the true God, the living God, almighty, invisible, boundless, and incomprehensible—along with your only-begotten Son, God consubstantial and coeternal with you, our Lord Jesus Christ, whom you sent into the world for our salvation, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, three in persons and one in essence, the one holy God apart from whom there is no other—then we will have what we seek: eternal life and everlasting glory, which you have prepared for those who love you, which you have hidden for those who fear you, and which you will give to those who seek you, who seek your face always.✦6

A Prayer for Unceasing Seeking of God's Face

The soul prays to be gathered from outward distractions into God, to seek His face without ceasing, and to enter through the gate of righteousness into the joy of the Lord.

And you, Lord my God, my Maker from my mother's womb — she who entrusted me to your hand — don't let me be pulled any longer from the One into many things; instead, gather me from outward things into myself, and from myself to you, so that my heart may always say to you: My face has sought you; your face, Lord, I will seek (Ps. 26:8) — the face of the Lord of hosts, in which alone the whole glory of the blessed consists; to see it is eternal life, and the everlasting joy of the saints.✦ So let my heart rejoice that it may fear your name; let the heart of those who seek the Lord rejoice — but much more the heart of those who find him. For if there is joy in seeking, what joy will there be in finding? So I will always seek your face fervently and without ceasing, if somehow at last the door and the gate of righteousness may be opened to me, that I may enter into the joy of my Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous will enter through it (Ps. 117:20).

Read the original Latin

Cum ergo pervenerimus ad te sapientiae fontem, ad te lumen indeficiens, ad te lucem inexstinguibilem, ut te non jam per speculum in aenigmate, sed facie ad faciem videamus (I Cor. XIII, 12); tunc satiabitur in bonis desiderium nostrum, quia nihil erit exterius quod desideretur. Tu, Domine summum bonum, eris praemium beatorum, et diadema decoris eorum, et laetitia sempiterna super capita eorum, pacificans eos intus et extra in pace tua quae exsuperat omnem sensum (Philipp. IV, 7). Ibi videbimus, amabimus et laudabimus. Videbimus in lumine tuo lumen tuum. Quoniam apud te est fons vitae, et in lumine tuo videbimus lumen (Psal. XXXV, 10).

Quale autem lumen? Lumen immensum, lumen incorporeum, incomprehensibile, lumen indeficiens, inexstinguibile et inaccessibile, lumen increatum, lumen veridicum, quod illuminat oculos Angelorum, quod laetificat juventutem sanctorum, quod est lumen luminum et fons vitae, quod tu es, Domine, Deus meus. Tu es quippe lumen, in cujus lumine videbimus lumen: te scilicet in te, in splendore vultus tui, quoniam te videbimus facie ad faciem.

Quid est videre facie ad faciem, nisi quod ait Apostolus, cognoscere sicut et cognitus sum (I Cor. XIII, 12)? Cognoscere Trinitatem tuam, hoc est videre facie ad faciem. Cognoscere Patris potentiam, Filii sapientiam, Spiritus sancti clementiam, ipsius summae Trinitatis unam et indivisam essentiam, est videre faciem Dei vivi. Hoc est summum bonum, gaudium Angelorum atque omnium sanctorum, praemium vitae aeternae, gloria spirituum, laetitia sempiterna, corona decoris, bravium felicitatis, requies opulenta, pulchritudo pacis, intimum et aeternum gaudium, paradisus Dei, Jerusalem coelestis, vita beata, plenitudo beatitudinis, gaudium aeternitatis, pax Dei quae exsuperat omnem sensum (Philipp. IV, 7). Haec est plena beatitudo et tota glorificatio hominis, videre faciem Dei sui, videre eum qui fecit eum, qui salvavit eum, qui glorificavit eum. Videbit eum cognoscendo, amabit diligendo, laudabit possidendo.

Ipse enim erit haereditas populi sui, populi sanctorum, populi quem redemit. Ipse possessio felicitatis eorum, ipse praemium et merces exspectationis. Ero, inquit, merces tua magna nimis (Gen. XV, 1). Vere, Dominus Deus meus, magnus es tu nimis super omnes deos, et merces tua magna nimis. Magnum enim magna decent. Neque enim magnus es tu, et parva merces tua: sed ut magnus es tu, magna est merces tua; quoniam non aliud tu, et aliud merces tua: sed tu ipse magnus nimis, tu ipse merces magna nimis, tu ipse coronator es et corona, tu ipse promissor es et promissio, tu remunerator es et munus, tu praemiator et praemium felicitatis aeternae. Tu ergo coronator es et corona, Deus meus, diadema spei meae quae ornata est gloria, lumen laetificans, lux renovans, decor adornans, spes mea magna, desiderium cordis sanctorum, et desideratus eorum.

Visio ergo tua tota merces est, totum praemium, totum gaudium quod exspectamus. Haec est vita aeterna. Haec est, inquit Sapientia tua, Haec est vita aeterna, ut cognoscant te solum verum Deum, et quem misisti Jesum Christum (Joan. XVII, 3). Cum igitur videbimus te solum Deum, Deum verum, Deum vivum, omnipotentem, invisibilem, incircumscriptibilem, incomprehensibilem, et Filium tuum unigenitum, consubstantialem et coaeternum tibi Deum, Dominum nostrum Jesum Christum, quem pro salute nostra misisti in mundum, in unitate Spiritus sancti trinum in personis, et unum in essentia, Deum sanctum solum, extra quem non est Deus; tunc habebimus quod quaerimus, vitam aeternam, gloriam sempiternam, quam praeparasti diligentibus te, quam abscondisti timentibus te, quam daturus es quaerentibus te, quaerentibus faciem tuam semper.

Et tu, Domine Deus meus, formator meus ex utero matris meae, quae me recommendavit manui tuae, non me permittas amplius ex uno distrahi in multa: sed collige me de exterioribus ad me, de me ad te, ut dicat tibi semper cor meum, Exquisivit te facies mea; faciem tuam, Domine, requiram (Psal. XXVI, 8), faciem Domini virtutum, in qua sola consistit tota gloria beatorum, quam videre vita aeterna est, et laetitia sempiterna sanctorum. Laetetur ergo cor meum ut timeat nomen tuum, laetetur cor quaerentium Dominum, sed multo magis cor invenientium. Si enim laetitia est in quaerendo, qualis laetitia erit in inveniendo? Quaeram ergo semper ardenter et indesinenter faciem tuam, si quomodo tandem aperiatur mihi ostium et porta justitiae, ut intrem in gaudium Domini mei. Haec porta Domini, justi intrabunt in eam (Psal. CXVII, 20).

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩1Cor.13.12 — For now we see in a mirror, dimly; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
  2. ↩1Cor.13.12 — For now we see in a mirror, dimly; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
  3. ↩1Cor.13.12 — For now we see in a mirror, dimly; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
  4. ↩1Cor.13.12 — For now we see in a mirror, dimly; but then face to face. Now I know in part; but then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.
  5. ↩John.17.3 — And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and the one you sent, Jesus Christ.
  6. ↩John.17.3 — And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and the one you sent, Jesus Christ.
  7. ↩Ps.31.20 — How abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you, which you have worked for those who take refuge in you, before the children of man.
  8. ↩John.17.3 — And this is eternal life, that they know you, the only true God, and the one you sent, Jesus Christ.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩juventutem sanctorum rendered literally as "the youth of the saints"; may also mean their youthful vigor or freshness made glad by the light.
  2. 2 ↩clementiam rendered as clemency for the Spirit's attributed kindness/mercy; not misericordia, but close in pastoral force.
  3. 3 ↩bravium (brabeum) rendered as prize, the victor's award; corona decoris as crown of beauty.
  4. 4 ↩amabit diligendo pairs amor with dilectio; cherishing keeps the second verb from collapsing into a flat synonym of love.
  5. 5 ↩Latin Magnum... magna decent is proverbial: 'great things suit what is great.' In context Magnum is taken as God, the Great One.
  6. 6 ↩Rendered as 'boundless' for the classical sense of God as unconfined by place or limit (not circumscribed).

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