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Those men called to the Priesthood who surrender family life with reluctance, as a sacrifice wrung from them by circumstance, are never as happy as those who are overwhelmed by the knowledge of God's love for them and see beauty and freedom in this total self-giving to God and His Will in imitation of Christ.

Those men called to the Priesthood who surrender family life with reluctance, as a sacrifice wrung from them by circumstance, are never as happy as those who are overwhelmed by the knowledge of God's love for them and see beauty and freedom in this total self-giving to God and His Will in imitation of Christ.

Heaven was represented as a huge flower, at the heart of which was a beautiful, perfumed, dazzling sanctuary. Hell is the opposite: like a collection of dead flowers close by the earth, all damp and decaying, all colour and beauty gone, replaced by a repulsive sight.

Those who enter Heaven find, as if in a foreign country, beauty excitement and novelty. A contemplative who has seen Heaven in prayer, and returns to speak of it, is like someone who sends picture postcards to her friends, from a foreign city.

It is a long way we must 'travel', if we are to persevere on our journey from sinful earthly life to the holiness and beauty of Heaven. Only by God's power, poured out in the sacraments, can we 'ascend' on high.

Near the end of our earthly journey, we come to an intersection. If we follow the wrong road we will find ourselves lost on a bypass, or in industrial wastelands. But if we do what Our Lady says, and follow the map - which is Christ's instructions - we shall follow the road to the great Cathedral of Heaven, at the city centre, and hear beautiful music, in glorious surroundings.

As well as ensuring reverent, beautiful worship of God, Christianity, properly practiced, makes society flower, with mutual help, care for the needy, beauty, joy, human advancement and freedom.

Like Elijah we are called to seek the presence of God, and be awestruck before His power and majesty and beauty

It is good that we delight in beautiful things and thank God for them.

The Lord gave me a glimpse of our beautiful village, which He has allowed me to enjoy amidst many years of pain. Then He showed me an even greater beauty on high, 'above' the village. I saw Heaven's glory, and all the Saints who live in God, in joy.

I saw a soul rising up from Purgatory like a man waking from a bad dream, who then gazed around him in wonder. On seeing Heaven's glory, he was amazed at its beauty, and full of joy that, in his purified state, he was about to enter.

The Lord showed me that thousands of Saints in Heaven live in perfect peace, in blissful enjoyment of the beauty of God, united in praise of the Father and in love for one another.

Far 'below' Heaven and earth is a state of near-darkness where rebellious and unrepentant souls find themselves - through their own choices - quite without joy, hope or beauty.

We need not live in dull austerity. Just as Christ changed water into 'the best wine', not the most ordinary, so I have done right to ensure 'the best' for our home; this means not extravagance, but whatever is pleasant, helpful, beautiful, and comfortable, for visitors and family.

God created all that lives and breathes - even sharks and tarantulas, and other creatures that kill. Yet everything shows out some facet of His nature - such as the beauty and single-mindedness of a shark - or the extent of His creative power, in the amazing creatures, colours and varieties of means of motion.

Whoever praises God for the grass and the sunlight, the raindrops and the dew, should know that all the beauty of nature has been prepared by God for our delight, and our use. By His deliberate plan, He made a world for us, where we can find life sustained, and our hearts touched by so much loveliness.

The Lord spoke to me about a wedding, saying: "Spend whatever you like. It is a celebration!" He said that the Church endorses the good human instinct to have special clothing, and beautiful surroundings, for special occasions, for anniversaries too, and feast days. The Lord Himself asked for beauty to surround the Ark in the Tabernacle, in the ddesert, and in the Temple.

Two people can look at the same scene, and one feels horror - knowing a murderer is prowling around, while the other sees only the breeze blowing in the curtains - as the sun shines down. So it was, on earth, for Christ in His life-time here. There was much beauty in the world, but He came across many damaged souls, and knew that Satan was always prowling around, doing evil.

The glory of Heaven, which seems to be like a glorious sun, seen from earthly life, stretches upwards into infinite heights, coiled upon itself; and the happy Saints within those vast interiors are astonished by the vistas spread out before them in eternal newness and beauty, with nothing tedious or stale.

All the souls in Purgatory join in our prayers, as we praise the Father, through Christ, in the Spirit, at Mass. Yet each one longs for the day when he will not only praise God but will also see Him, from amongst the Saints, who also pray with us and who enjoy the glory of God, and His beauty.