DEDICATION

...if he should feel himself burning with love for the highest good: by this very fire, as it were, of a living faith—which believes in God and the truth because of His grace and mercy so wonderfully revealed in His Son—he, having been purified and cleansed of all his unworthiness, now dares to come into the presence of the living and true God, to enjoy Him eternally. There, he contemplates with everlasting and unspeakable sweetness those super-celestial gems, which far surpass in purity, light, and beauty not only our earthly stones, but even the stars of the sky and the radiance of the Sun and Moon. For the gates, walls, foundations, and the whole structure of that eternal, spiritual, and heavenly Jerusalem original: "Hierusalem." Gesner refers to the "New Jerusalem" from the biblical Book of Revelation, which describes a city built of precious stones, symbolizing divine perfection. are made of such emeralds, chrysolites, beryls, hyacinths original: "hyacinthis." In the 16th century, "hyacinth" (or jacinth) usually referred to a yellow, orange, or red zircon, rather than the flower., and others of this kind. In the meditation and hope of this city, all our happiness begins here, just as it will soon be perfected by that best, greatest, and inexpressible Craftsman original: "opificem." This term presents God as the "Divine Architect" or "Artisan" of the universe, a common theme in Renaissance science., Mover, and Parent of all things. He has implanted this most burning desire for Himself in our souls for this very reason: so that by never ceasing to love Him, we might one day gather the immortal fruit of this love and desire. But I am being carried away too far; and by an excess of heavenly...