The Apostles Behold God in the Seventh Heaven
132) And then we apostles arrived in
Paradise, with our companions the apostles, and we greeted them, telling them
everything that happened to us. And then our Lord brought us to a white river
and he washed us together with Mary. And he led us up to the seventh heaven,
where God sits. And we wanted to enter into him, so that we could embrace him,
and we were afraid, because [God was] entirely fire. But we saw two seraphim
standing, each one having six wings: with two they covered their feet, and with
two they flew. And they did not touch the face of God, because [God is] completely
perfect: for they could not see the face of God, because [God was] entirely
fire. And the other two wings of the seraphim covered their faces, both of them
covering. And with two they were suspending the feet of God, lest they make an
impression on the eights and on the earth; for at that moment, when his feet
touch the earth, [that will be] the time of the world’s consummation. † For
[there is] still a little [time?], and they will touch the earth, because from
twelve days he comes in twelve except for a little. (“The Book of Mary’s Repose,”
in The Dormition and Assumption of the Virgin Mary [trans. Stephen J.
Shoemaker; Apocryphes: Collection De Poche De L’Aelac 17; Turnhout, Belgium:
Brepols, 2023], 172)
