but
that light is still from the sun, because the moon has no light of
her own. She is a mere reflector, or instrument by which, during the
night, the sun conveys to us a portion of his light. So in heaven.
God is the only source of happiness and joy; and no creature is or
can be a source of happiness independently of Him. But He can and
does make use of creatures to adorn, perfect, and complete the
happiness of the whole man.

* Beatitudo accidentalis, proprie et generatim loquendo, est quaelibet
beati perfectio supernaturalis quae versatur circa aliquid quod est
extra objectum beatificum, prout beatificum est.... Quia nulla est
essentia creata quae non egeat aliquo accidente ad consummationem suae
perfectionis. Essentialis autem beatitudo est quid creatum; ergo
ornatur accidentibus. Et sicut essentialis beatitudo consistit in
operatione, ita et haec accidentalis. Jam vero, istius accidentalis
beatitudinis causa, seu praemii accidentalis meritum provenit ex bonis
operibus, quae dum merentur praemium seu beatitudinem essentialem,
etiam simul merentur accidentalem tamquam proprietatem in essentiali
radicaliter contentam.... Ita qui meretur beatitudinem essentialem,
simul meretur accidentalem, et utramque per modem unius
praemii.--Suarez. de Beat. disput. 11.

Nevertheless, though this accidental glory comes to the blessed from
creatures, it is radically contained in the essential, and is given
with the essential as one reward, and not as two. For there are not
two beatitudes in heaven. There is only one, which comprises both the
essential and the accidental. It is true, we make a distinction
between them, because the one comes immediately from God, while the
other comes from creatures. But it does not, in the hast, follow that
this last is of little use or to be despised. Considering the needs
of our nature, which is not destroyed, but perfected in heaven,
accidental glory is necessary to perfect and complete the blessedness
of God's children, and to gratify every rational craving of human
nature.

Thus the crown of the virgins--who sing a canticle that no one else
can sing, and who follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth--is a mere
accidental glory; and yet it is one so much prized that many have
given life itself, amidst the most cruel torments, in order to enjoy
it. Thus again, our social intercourse with the saints, and the pure
joys resulting therefrom, the meeting of our kindred and friends in
heaven, the ravi