THE SAINTS ON HEAVEN | KAIROS GLOBAL | JANUARY 2023

Author: Dr Nycil Romis Thomas

Intro: Dr Nycil Romis Thomas compiles the wisdom of saints on ‘heaven’. 

St Augustine of Hippo said: ‘We are Easter people and Alleluia is our song. Let us sing here and now in this life, even though we are oppressed by various worries, so that we may sing it one day in the world to come, when we are set free from all anxiety.’

Heaven described by the saints

The thought of heaven lifts our gaze up, from all earthly attachments or miseries. What is there in store for us? St Elizabeth Ann Seton expresses her firm faith in the mystery of heaven. Even though we do not see it, we are moving towards it, with this faith.Can you expect to go to heaven for nothing? Did not our dear Saviour track the whole way to it with his Blood and tears? 

St Faustina describes witnessing heaven in spirit.

Today I was in heaven, in spirit, and I saw its inconceivable beauties and the happiness that awaits us after death. I saw how all creatures give ceaseless praise and glory to God. I saw how great is happiness in God, which spreads to all creatures, making them happy; and then all the glory and praise which springs from this happiness returns to its source; and they enter into the depths of God, contemplating the inner life of God, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, whom they will never comprehend or fathom. This source of happiness is unchanging in its essence, but it is always new, gushing forth happiness for all creatures. 

It's simply not like earth, says St Anselm of Canterbury:

 No one will have any other desire in heaven than what God wills; and the desire of one will be the desire of all; and the desire of all and of each one will also be the desire of God.

This does not mean that heaven is a boring place…assures St Francis de Sales.

Do not imagine then, my dear souls, that our spirit will be dulled or drowsy by the abundance and joys of eternal happiness. Quite the contrary! It will be very alert and agile in its various activities. 

It doesn’t stop there. Listen to St Alphonsus Liguori, St Peter of Alcantara and St Augustine.

In heaven, the soul is certain that she loves God, and that he loves her. She sees that the Lord embraces her with infinite love and that this love will not be dissolved for all eternity.

And what can one say of the other blessings of heaven [besides living with God]? There will be health, and no sickness; liberty, and no servitude; beauty, and no ugliness; immortality, and no decay; abundance, and no want; repose, and no cares; security, and no dread; knowledge, and no error; satiety, and no feelings of revulsion; joy, and no sorrow; honour, and no contention. 

 [In heaven] it belongs to the intellect to know all at once, not in part, not in a dark manner, not through a glass, but as a whole, in plain sight, face to face, not this thing now and that thing then, but, as has been said, it knows all at once, without any passage of time. 

Living on earth to be in heaven eternally

We can also see that saints lived their lives looking forward to, and steadily fixing their gazes upon heaven.

Life is passing. Eternity draws closer; soon we will live the very life of God. After having drunk deep at the fountain of bitterness, our thirst will be quenched at the very source of all sweetness. St Therese of LisieuxThe souls of the elect are daily and constantly transferred by the hands of the holy angels from places of learning to a place of rest, where they are fitted into the supernal city. Each is assigned its place there according to the order of the blessed spirits that has been appointed by God, and each soul has a brightness according to the quality of its merits. This is that structure, and the master of this whole operation is the Archangel Michael. St Elisabeth of Schonau

Enter eagerly into the treasure house that lies within you, and so you will see the treasure house of heaven – for the two are one and the same, and there is but one single entry into them both. The ladder that leads to the kingdom is hidden within you, and is found in your own soul. Dive into yourself and in your soul you will discover the rungs by which to ascend. St Isaac of Nineveh

But, my soul, if your faith is strong and vigilant, you cannot deny that after this life, which flits away like a shadow, if you remain firm in faith, hope, and love, you will see God clearly and truly as he is in himself and you will possess him and enjoy him far better and more intimately than you now enjoy created things. St Robert Bellarmine

O my dear parishioners, let us endeavour to get to heaven! There we shall see God. How happy we shall feel! If the parish is converted, we shall go there in procession with the parish priest at the head. . . We must get to heaven! What a pity it would be if some of you were to find yourselves on the other side!

 St Jean Marie Vianney, the Cure of Ars

The saints were willing to sacrifice anything for heaven.

I would willingly endure alone all the sufferings of this world to be raised a degree higher in heaven and to possess the smallest increase of the knowledge of God's greatness. St Therese of Lisieux

My crown in heaven should shine with innocence and its flowers should be radiant as the sun. Sacrifices are the flowers Jesus and Mary choose. St Bernadette Soubirous

I understand that, each time we contemplate with desire and devotion the host in which is hidden Christ's Eucharistic Body, we increase our merits in heaven and secure special joys to be ours later in the beatific vision of God. St Gertrude the Great

A precious crown is reserved in heaven for those who perform all their actions with all the diligence of which they are capable; for it is not sufficient to do our part well, it must be done more than well. St Ignatius of Loyola

Toil and sorrows are precious tools to reach heaven. Listen to these saints.

In this world we are all in a valley of tears. Our consolation is not here; we shall have it eternally in Paradise, if we suffer tribulations on earth. St Benedict Joseph Labre

Earth hath no sorrow that heaven cannot heal. St Thomas More

Heaven is the possession of God. In heaven God is contemplated, adored, loved. But to attain heaven it's necessary to be detached from what is earthly. What is the life of a Carmelite if not one of contemplating, adoring and loving God incessantly? And she, by being desirous for that heaven, distances herself from the world and tries to detach herself as much as possible from everything earthly. St Teresa of the Andes

Eternity always at hand! I look to the far, so far distant shore, the heaven of heavens – a few days more and Eternity – now, then, all resignation … rest in him – the heart in sweet bitterness. Abandon. St Elizabeth Ann Seton

Let us remember that every act of mortification is a work for heaven. This thought will make all suffering and weariness sweet. St Alphonsus Maria de Liguori

Earthly life with no thought of heaven – listen to these saints

What does it profit a man to gain the universe if he loses his soul? A terrible thought, but profoundly true! As Saint Ignatius said: How insignificant earth seems to me when I consider heaven. St Bernadette Soubirous

He who beholds heaven with a pure eye, sees better the darkness of earth; for, although the latter seems to have some brilliancy, it disappears before the splendour of the heavens. St Ignatius of Loyola

The path to heaven is narrow, rough and full of wearisome and trying ascents, nor can it be trodden without great toil; and therefore wrong is their way, gross their error, and assured their ruin who, after the testimony of so many thousands of saints, will not learn where to settle their footing. St Robert Southwell