And he says also: "To the soul that sees its Creator all created things
are but trifling; for, however little of the Creator's light he sees,
all that is created becomes of small import to him."[269] Yet the
greatest difficulty in saying that the souls of the Saints know our
prayers and other things which concern us, is their distance from us.
But since, according to the authority just quoted, this distance does
not preclude such knowledge, it appears that the souls of the Saints do
know our prayers and other things which concern us.
Further, if they did not know what concerned us, neither would they pray
for us, since they would not know our deficiencies. But this was the
error of Vigilantius, as S. Jerome says in his Epistle against him.[270]
The Saints, then, know what concerns us.
* * * * *
The Divine Essence, then, is a sufficient medium for knowing all things,
as, indeed, is evident from the fact that God in seeing His own essence
sees all things. Yet it does not follow that whoever sees the Essence of
God therefore sees all things, but those only who _comprehend_ the
Essence of God; just in the same way as it does not follow that because
we know a principle we therefore know all that that principle contains,
for that would only be the case if we _comprehended_ the whole power of
the principle. Since, then, the souls of the Saints do not comprehend
the Divine Essence, it does not follow that they know everything which
could be known through the medium of that Divine Essence. Hence the
inferior Angels are taught certain things by the higher Angels, though
all see the Divine Essence. But each person in possession of the
Beatific Vision only sees in the Divine Essence as much of other things
as is necessitated by the degree of perfection of his beatitude; and for
the perfection of beatitude it is required that a man "should have
whatever he wants, and should desire nothing in an inordinate
fashion."[271] Each one, however, rightly desires to know those things
which concern himself. Hence, since no rectitude is lacking to the
Saints, they wish to know those things which concern themselves, and
consequently they must know them in the Word. But it belongs to their
glory that they should be able to help on the salvation of those who
need it, for it is thus that they are made co-workers with God--"than
which there is nought more Divine," as Denis says.[272] It is clear,
then, that the Saints have a knowledge of those things which are
requisite for this end. And so, too, it is manifest that they know in
the Word the desires, the devout acts and the prayers, of men who fly to
them for help.
Some, however, maintain that the Saints do not know our prayers, thus:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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