beatitude,
where
nothing
can
cross
its
perfect
hap-piness,
which
is
rendered
its
permanent
condition;
for
many
possess
it
temporarily,
or
know
it
tempo-rarily,
before
it
becomes
their
permanent
condition.
God
gives
first
the
knowledge
of
the
condition,
then
a
desire
for
it
;
then
He
gives
it
confusedly
and
indistinctly;
and
lastly.
He
makes
it
a
normal
condition,
and
establishes
the
soul
in
it
for
ever.
It
will
be
said
that
when
once
the
soul
is
estab-lished
in
this
condition,
nothing
more
can
be
done
for
it.
It
is
just
the
reverse
:
there
is
always
an
infinitude
to
be
done
on
the
part
of
God,
not
on
that
of
the
creature.
God
does
not
make
the
life
divine
all
at
once,
but
by
degrees.
Then,
as
I
have
said,
He
enlarges
the
capacity
of
the
soul,
and
can
continually
deify
it
more
and
more,
God
being
an
unfathomable
depth.
O
Lord
!
"
how
great
is
Thy
goodness,
which
Thou
hast
laid
up
for
them
that
fear
Thee!"
(Ps.
xxxi.
19).
It
was
the
sight
of
this
state
of
blessedness
which
elicited
such
frequent
exclamations
from
David
after
he
had
been
purified
from
sin.
