What are some of folks favorite quotes from the saints about Heaven?

Hoping to find some rare treasure...

What a wonderful thread, Shin! May God bless you.

I found these little gifts from St. Thérèse in the book Her Last Conversations



"I am very happy to go to heaven very soon, but when I think of these words of 
God: 'My reward is with me, to render to each one according to his works,'  I tell myself that He will be very much embarrassed in my case. I haven't any works! He will not be able to reward me 'according to my works.' well, then. He will reward me 'according to His own works."

"Ma Joie." ( little hymn )

"For long on earth would I remain
If Thou, O Lord, didst will,
Or join at once Thy heavenly train
Thy pleasure to fulfill;
Jesu, thy love, that heavenly fire,
Consuming joyfully,
Joins life and death as if the same--
Thy love is all I see.".

- St. Thérèse of Lisieux

"Where are we going?  On high, to the peace of the heavenly Jerusalem, as it is written: 'I rejoiced at the things that were said to me: we shall go into the house of the Lord.' There, good will shall be so ordered in us that we shall have no other desire than to remain there eternally.  So long as we live in this mortal body we are journeying toward You, O Lord; here below we have no lasting dwelling place, but seek one which is to come, since our home is in heaven.  Therefore, with the help of Your grace, I enter into the secrecy of my heart, and lift up songs of love to You, to You, my King and my God!"

St. Augustine 

'He who beholds Heaven with a pure eye, sees better the darkness of earth; for, although the latter seems to have some brilliancy, it disappears before the splendor of the heavens.'

St. Ignatius of Loyola

A Vision of Saint John Bosco

Saint John Bosco had a vision of Heaven in the form of a dream, which he related to his boys during one of his famous “bedtime talks.”


In 1876, his recently-deceased disciple Saint Dominic Savio appeared to him in a dream. Saint John Bosco told his pupils:

As you know, dreams come in one’s sleep. So during the night hours of December 6, while I was in my room – whether reading or pacing back and forth or resting in my bed, I am not sure – I began dreaming.

Marvelous Garden
It suddenly seemed to me that I was standing on a small mound or hillock, on the rim of a broad plain so far-reaching that the eye could not compass its boundaries lost in vastness. All was blue, blue as the calmest sea, though what I saw was not water. It resembled a highly polished, sparkling sea of glass. Stretching out beneath, behind and on either side of me was an expanse of what looked like seashore.

Broad, imposing avenues divided the plain into grand gardens of indescribable beauty, each broken up by thickets, lawns, and flower beds of varied shapes and colors.
"Each species and each single plant sparkled with a brilliance of its own."


None of the plants we know could ever give you an idea of those flowers, although there was a resemblance of sorts. The very grass, the flowers, the trees, and the fruit – all were of singular and magnificent beauty. Leaves were of gold, trunks and boughs were of diamonds, and every tiny detail was in keeping with this wealth. The various kinds of plants were beyond counting.

Each species and each single plant sparkled with a brilliance of its own. Scattered throughout those gardens and spread over the entire plain I could see countless buildings whose architecture, magnificence, harmony, grandeur and size were so unique that one could say all the treasures of earth could not suffice to build a single one. If only my boys had one such house, I said to myself, how they would love it, how happy they would be, and how much they would enjoy being there! Thus ran my thoughts as I gazed upon the exterior of those buildings, but how much greater must their inner splendor have been!

An Enchanting Melody
As I stood there basking in the splendor of those gardens, I suddenly heard music most sweet – so delightful and enchanting a melody that I could never adequately describe it. … A hundred thousand instruments played, each with its own sound, uniquely different from all others, and every possible sound set the air alive with its resonant waves.
"I suddenly heard music most sweet."


Blended with them were the songs of choristers.

In those gardens I looked upon a multitude of people enjoying themselves happily, some singing, others playing, but every note, had the effect of a thousand different instruments playing together. At one and the same time, if you can imagine such a thing, one could hear all the notes of the chromatic scale, from the deepest to the highest, yet all in perfect harmony. Ah yes, we have nothing on earth to compare with that symphony.

Deepest Pleasure
One could tell from the expression of those happy faces that the singers not only took the deepest pleasure in singing, but also received vast joy in listening to the others. The more they sang, the more pressing became their desire to sing. The more they listened the more vibrant became their yearning to hear more…

As I listened enthralled to that heavenly choir I saw an endless multitude of boys approaching me. Many I recognized as having been at the Oratory and in our other schools, but by far the majority of them were total strangers to me. Their endless ranks drew closer, headed by Dominic Savio, who was followed immediately by Father Alasonatti, Father Chiali, Father Guilitto and many other clerics and priests, each leading a squad of boys…

A Most Radiant Joy
Once that host of boys got some eight or ten paces from me, they halted. There was a flash of light far brighter than before, the music stopped, and a hushed silence fell over all. A most radiant joy encompassed all the boys and sparkled in their eyes, their countenances aglow with happiness. They looked and smiled at me very pleasantly, as though to speak, but no one said a word.

Dominic Savio stepped forward a pace or two, standing so close to me that, had I stretched out my hand, I would surely have touched him. He too was silent and gazed upon me with a smile…

At last Dominic Savio spoke. “Why do you stand there silent, as though you were almost devitalized?” he asked. “Aren’t you the one who once feared nothing, holding your ground against slander, persecution, hostility, hardships and dangers of all sorts? Where is courage? Say something!”

Loving Warmth
I forced myself to reply in a stammer, “I do not know what to say. Are you Dominic Savio?”

“Yes I am. Don’t you know me anymore?”

“How come you are here?” I asked still bewildered.

Dominic spoke affectionately. “I came to talk with you. We spoke together so often on earth! Do you not recall how much you loved me, or how many tokens of friendship you gave me and how kind you were to me? And did I not return the warmth of your love? How much trust I placed in you! So why are you tongue-tied? Why are you shaking? Come ask me a question or two!”

Abode of Happiness
Summoning my courage, I replied, “I am shaking because I don’t know where I am.”

“You are in the abode of happiness,” Dominic answered, “where one experiences every joy, every delight.”

“Is this the reward of the just?”

“Not at all! Here we do not enjoy supernatural happiness but only a natural one, though greatly magnified.”

“Might I be allowed to see a little supernatural light?”

“No one can see it until he has come to see God as He is. The faintest ray of that light would instantly strike one dead, because the human senses are not sturdy enough to endure it.”

Ah, I did not think I would find it, since there are thousands of pages. Well, let us thank God, Deo Gratias et Mariae semper Virgin, and to the angels and archangels and saints.

Now let me see.. how shall I type this..

Here from the writings of the desert fathers..

'In a certain monastery there lived a young monk by the name of Evphrosynos. He served the brotherhood as a cook in the kitchen. Since he was kept continually unkempt by ashes and smoke, most everyone paid him no heed at all; i8n this way, he was successful in concealing his bright virtue. For since he was constantly covered by ashes and blackened by smoke, the more indolent brothers ridiculed and made fun of him and heaped insults, injury and mockery on him. His abject clothing, his quiet countenance, his silence, and his tolerant attitude they took as an excuse for this, and thus, without fear, they made fun of him, humiliated him, and even struck him.

Now, the Abbot of this monastery, who conducted all things in a God-pleasing way and had, int his manner, achieved great boldness before God, was once beset by the following thought: namely, he desired to know precisely who, from his monastery or from among his spiritual flock, was greater in virtue than the other brothers and who was unlike unto all the others in the fulfillment of the commandments of God.

And since he was continually beset by this thought, he besought God persistently to bring his desire to fruition and to reveal to him the one who was first in virtue among the brothers.
So, as he was praying alone one night, he fell into ecstacy and was carried off to a place of indescribable charm and which evoked great delight; that is, it was filled with a wonderous fragrance and was adorned with every kind of tree. The fruit of these trees was dissimilar to the fruit of any known tree and was completely different both in its beauty and size, being superior beyond description. Below these trees there ran pure water, and the sight and beauty of the place were truly splendid.

The Abbot, gazing on all of this, thanked God, the Cause of all good things, and considered himself blessed to have been made worthy of such a great honour. Then, wanting these wondrous fruits, he ran to pick some of them; however, he could not, since the fruit, along with the branches were too far up. Having tried several times to fulfill his wish, eh saw the young brother who bore the name of joy, "Evphrosynos" ["joyous" in Greek], walking before him in the midst of this most gracious Paradise, enjoying bountifully all that was to be found there, the tree branches leaning down to him and offering up their fruit, so that he could cut if off and eat whatever he wished.

Surprised by this strange sight, he said: "My child, Evphrosynos, who brought you to this place and gave you permission to stay here?"

And he, with a smiling face, replied, "Father, the only lover of man, God, entrusted to me these good things that you see, to enjoy them and have them under my authority."
Again the Abbot said: "And can you now give me some of that fruit?"

"You can take as much as you like, Father." Evphrosynos answered.

"No, I cannot my child," the Abbot said, "for as many times as I tried, I could not."

Then Evphrosynos, boldly approaching a tree, took with his hand fruit therefrom -- they were apples and were truly splendid to behold and to smell -- and gave three of them to the Elder.
The Elder, receiving them with great joy, immediately awoke from his vision, and, indeed, found these three apples in his hand. Wholly filled with fear and trembling, he ordered immediately that the talanton be sounded; but he did not at that time, while saying the morning service with the brothers, make any comment about all that he had seen. However, as soon as the appointed hour for the Divine Liturgy came, all of the brothers having been gathered in the Church, he liturgized himself, celebrating before the Holy Table, he once more took up his Priestly vestments, ordering that the brother Evphrosynos be summoned.

Several of the brothers, therefore, ran to the kitchen and quickly got him, leading him to the Abbot just as they had found him -- his face and clothes all soiled with ashes and smoke from the kitchen.

The Abbot then asked him: "My child, where were you last night?"

The brother lowered his head towards the ground and gave no answer at all.
But since the Abbot insistently repeated his question and pressured him to answer, the young man, his eyes filled with tears, answered him in a serene and humble voice: "Do you not know, Father, where both of us were?"

Then the Abbot, overcome with awe, forthwith produced the three apples and asked the brother: "Perhaps you recognize these?"

"Yes, Father," Evphrosynos replied. "As you know, I gave them to you, as you directed."

"Evphrosynos, my child, you are blessed, for you have been made worthy to enjoy such spiritual riches; thus, I ask that you become the protector of my own wretched soul." Continuing, he related to the brothers those things which he had seen in his vision.

The Abbot then fell at Evphrosynos' feet, while the latter became very upset with this, feeling ill at ease, crying with sighs at this extreme show of homage and completely undone by lamentation and tears.

Afterwards, the Abbot took him by the hand and let him into the Altar. There, having cut up these three apples into small portions into a sacred vessel he gave to each of the brothers from these portions.

The young man, in that he was unable to accept the honors and laudations shown him by everyone, secretly fled from the monastery and disappeared; for he considered the praises of men as assaults and greatly destructive to his soul. Thus, he most prudently preferred to remove himself far from these honours, so as to succeed in saving his soul.'