the foul prisons in which they had been confined, filled the air with such an agreeable aroma that the heathens, astonished at the sweetness thereof, imagined them to have been anointed with some precious balsam. How will it then be in the land of the living, in the land of glory, when in this sojourn of death bodies destined to corruption can emit such sweet odors?
Of the taste. And, O King of glory, Jesus Christ! how Thou wilt delight our sense of taste and satiate it in that marriage-feast, in that great supper, to which Thou hast so often invited us in the Gospel, and by the promise of which Thou didst console Thy sorrowing disciples before Thy departure from this world! “I dispose to you, as My Father hath disposed to Me, a kingdom, that yon may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom.”[1] How well that new wine shall taste, of which Thou saidst to Thy disciples at the Last Supper: “I will not drink from henceforth of this fruit of the vine, until that day when I shall drink it with you new in the kingdom of My Father.”[2] Then shall we rejoice with Thee, not merely for a hundred and eighty days as in the festival of King Assuerus, but that heavenly supper shall last for all eternity. Then no princes of this world, but Thou Thyself, O Lord! in Thy infinite glory and magnificence, shalt be our attendant, according to Thy own promise: “Blessed are those servants whom the Lord, when He cometh, shall find watching: Amen I say to you, that He will gird Himself, and make thein sit down to meat, and passing will minister unto them.”[3] Not otherwise than a loving grandfather who assembles all his children and children’s children at his table, and serves each one himself, rejoicing exceedingly to see his dear ones making merry with each other. Then shall the prophecy of David be fulfilled: “They shall be inebriated with the plenty of Thy house: and Thou shalt make them drink of the torrent of Thy pleasure.”[4]
Of the touch. Finally, as in hell the bodies of the damned shall be tormented excessively by fire in the sense of touch, so this sense shall experience the greatest pleasure in heaven. Sometimes if you
- ↑ Dispono vobis, sicut disposuit mihi Pater meus, regnum, ut edatis et bibatis super mensam meam in regno meo.—Luke xxii. 29, 30.
- ↑ Non bibam amodo de hoc genimine vitis, usque in diem illum, cum illud bibam vobiscum novum in regno Patris mei.—Matt. xxvi. 29.
- ↑ Beati servi illi quos cum venerit Dominus, invenerit vigilantes: amen dico vobis, quod præcinget se, et faciet illos discumbere, et transiens ministrabit illis.—Luke xii. 37.
- ↑ Inebriabuntur ab ubertate domus tuæ: et torrente voluptatis tuæ potabis eos.—Ps. xxxv. 9.
