For the corruptible body is a load upon the soul, and the earthly habitation presseth down the mind that museth upon many things.

“No knowledge can occur if there are not already objects to be known, and these objects exist in the Word, through whom all things were created, prior to their existing in all the beings that have been made. Human intelligence thus first perceives creatures with the senses of the body, forming a concept of them according to the capacity of human weakness. It then looks for causes, through which it can arrive at what resides originally and immutably in the Word of God, in this way coming to see with the intellect the invisible perfections of God in the works he has made. With what slowness and difficulty this happens, and how long it takes, on account of the corruptible body that weighs down the soul—even when the one who is ignorant is captivated by a most fervent desire to pursue it with insistence and perseverance! Angelic intelligence, by contrast, is united to the Word of God through pure charity. After being created according to the hierarchy from which all other creatures would proceed, it saw in the Word of God the things that would be created, before they were created. Thus things were originally made in angelic knowledge when God ordained that they exist, before they were constituted in their own nature.”

“Then the Lord says, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth." The earth has been promised to the gentle and the meek, the humble and the modest, those willing to put up with every kind of injury. And one should not think that this inheritance is small or to be disdained, as if it were something distinct from our heavenly dwelling, given that it is not said that anyone else will enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, the earth promised to the meek, and as a possession to the gentle, is the flesh of the saints, which will be transformed by a joyous resurrection on account of their humility and clothed with the glory of immortality. And it will no longer be opposed to the spirit in anything, finding the harmony of a perfect unity with the will of the soul. Then the exterior person will be the tranquil and uncontested possession of the interior. Then the mind that seeks to see God will no longer be impeded by human weakness. And it will no longer be necessary to say, "A corruptible body weighs down the soul, and the earthy tent burdens the mind with many thoughts," since the earth will no longer oppose itself to its inhabitant, nor will it try to do anything not under the control of the one who governs it. "The meek will inherit it" with an endless peace, and their title will never in any way fail, since "this corruptible body will be clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body will be clothed with immortality." What was a danger will be changed into a reward, and what was a burden will become an honor.”