This happiness--which is now so incomprehensible to us--is none other than the possession and enjoyment of God himself in the Beatific Vision, as well as the perfect satisfaction of every rational craving of our nature in the glorious resurrection of the body. It is on this glorious happiness we are going to meditate; and first, we shall endeavor to obtain a definite idea of the Beatific Vision, which is the essential constituent of heavenly bliss. In meditating upon the happiness in store for the children of God, we are very apt to build up a heaven of our own, which naturally takes the shape and color which our sorrows, needs, and sufferings lend thereto. The poor man, for instance, who has suffered mutely from toil and want, looks upon heaven as a place of rest, abounding with all that can satisfy the cravings of nature. Another, who has often endured the pangs of disease, looks upon it as a place where he shall enjoy perpetual health of body and mind. Another again, who, in the practice of virtue, has had all manner of temptations from the devil, the world, and his own flesh, delights in viewing heaven as a place totally free from temptation, where the danger, or even the possibility of sin, shall be no more. All these, and other similar views of heaven, are true, inasmuch as they represent it as a place entirely free from evil and suffering, and, at the same time, as an abode of positive happiness. Nevertheless, they are all imperfect views, because not one of them takes in the whole of heavenly bliss, such as God has revealed it to us. They all ignore the Beatific Vision, which is the essential happiness of heaven. But even among those who look upon heaven as a place where we shall see God, very few indeed understand what is implied in the vision of God. They imagine that we shall simply gaze upon an object whose surpassing perfection will make us happy in a way which they do not understand. These last do not fully comprehend what is meant by the Beatific Vision, though they view heaven as a place where we shall see God. Let us, therefore, endeavor to understand what faith and theology teach us concerning the Beatific Vision. We shall see that it is the essential happiness of the blessed which not only fills them with the purest and completest satisfaction, but that it is, moreover, in virtue of this Beatific Vision that they are enabled to enjoy the additional or secondary pleasures which cluster around the throne of God.