The Endowments of the Blessed

When the blessed, or the saints-for the names mean thesame here-are brought to the glory of heaven, they are dowered with suitable gifts.

These endowments do not constitute beatitude. Beatitudeis perfect happiness in the beatific vision; this happiness orbeatitude is what the soul has merited through Christ and by his grace. But endowments are gifts that are not merited in any sense.

Christ our Lord as man has all possible perfections and every gift and endowment, for his humanity is united to Godhead. Still, strictly speaking, it is not proper to say that Christ asman is adorned with gifts and endowments. For Christ is God as wellas man; endowments are his to give, not to receive.

Now, an endowment is a dowry, and a dowry suggests a wedding and a bride. Human nature is wedded to the divine nature in Christ; Christ himself is wedded to the Church. Hence, when speaking of human beings, we may use the term dowry or endowment with propriety to indicate the perfections of the blessed. But thisis not the case when we speak of angels, for the metaphor of marriage and bride does not apply in their case. Of course, angels have all the perfections that can adorn a rational being in heaven. The point we make here is merely that the term dowry or the termendowment is not suitably employed to express angelicperfection.

The dowries or endowments of the blessed are: vision,love, and fruition. These gifts may be said to correspond,respectively, to the theological virtues of faith, hope, and charity. Faith is fulfilled in vision; hope, in loving possession;charity, in the fruition or full enjoyment of what is loved.