Seeing Colors for the First Time
- All were stunned.
- Most cried tears of joy.
- Seeing new colors brought them deep joy and profound gratitude.
- Beauty moves our souls and is a “touch of God.”
- In both cases, vision is impaired.
- Through sin, we miss seeing the true and deeper beauty in God, others and ourselves.
St. Catherine of Siena
St. Catherine of Siena was permitted by God to see the beauty of a soul in the state of grace. It was so beautiful that she could not look on it; the brightness of that soul dazzled her.
Blessed Raymond, her confessor, asked her to describe to him (as far as she was able) the beauty of the soul she had seen.
St. Catherine thought of the sweet light of that morning, and of the beautiful colors of the rainbow, but that soul was far more beautiful. She remembered the dazzling beams of the noonday sun, but the light which beamed from that soul was far brighter. She thought of the pure whiteness of the lily and of the fresh snow, but that is only an earthly whiteness. The soul she had seen was bright with the whiteness of Heaven, such as there is not to be found on earth.
“My father,” she answered. “I cannot find anything in this world that can give you the smallest idea of what I have seen. Oh, if you could but see the beauty of a soul in the state of grace, you would sacrifice your life a thousand times for its salvation. I asked the angel who was with me what had made that soul so beautiful, and he answered me, ‘It is the image and likeness of God in that soul, and the Divine Grace which made it so beautiful.'”