669 chapter 24: the glory of the mystical temple “He will change our lowly body to conform with His glorified body” (Phil 3:21). O glory, to be sought after even by infinite labors! O glory, to be desired not without the heaviest weariness! Ah! When shall I come and appear before the face of the Lord?229 Who would dare to speak of the bodily senses to be ineffably beatified? By what fragrance will the sense of smell be refreshed there, by how great a delight the sense of sight will be filled with the most noble, most beautiful and the most perfect objects of God and all creatures! By how great a pleasure of all savors will the sense of taste be pampered! By what concert of the most exquisite musical ensembles (so to speak) will the sense of hearing be pleased! And finally by how great a pleasure will the sense of touch be filled from its own continually flowing glorification! To this sense relates what we mentioned above as said by the Apostle: “it is raised [an] incorruptible, glorious, powerful, [and] spiritual [body]” (cf. 1 Cor 15:42-44). What David sang applies to hearing: “Let the faithful exult in glory [...]; let the high praise of God be in their throats” (Ps 149:5-6). What the same harpist-king proposed elsewhere refers to the sense of taste: “They have their fill of the prime gifts of your house; from your delightful stream you give them to drink. For with you is the fountain of life” (Ps 36:9-10) [LV]. What Isaiah promised refers to the sense of sight: “Then you shall be radiant at what you see, your heart shall throb and overflow” (Is 60:5). Explaining the gift of the sense of smell, he says: “The wilderness shall rejoice and shall flourish like the lily” (Is 35:1) [LV]. And the Church is not discordant, when she sings thus: “Your Saints, Lord, will flourish like the lily; and they will be before you like the fragrance of balsam, Alleluia.” Who could recount the other things in words? Because I do not even want to touch the happiness of the soul. Let us be silent, let us be silent about matters which we cannot explain in fitting words. For who can penetrate the vision of God, and in Him of all things, His knowledge, love, and the very glory of His intellect, memory, and will? May God make us understand these things 229 Cf. Ps 41:3.
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