The church is pretty clear that at no time prior to Christ opening the door to the Beatific Vision did anyone possess it. In fact, even the blessed Virgin Mary, though she had no original sin nor actual, didn’t experience the beatific vision until after her Son opened the door to it. So the limbus of the fathers, or the bosom of Abraham, waited for the light of Glory to come upon them which was promised in the Messiah. Without the light of glory nobody can “see God.” So Christ merited for us to ascend to where man never was. Hence why He didn’t just rise from the dead and return us back to the pre-fall state, but also ascended man where he was not before: namely, the very sight of God Himself and the inner Trinitarian Relations. Good question!
Do you believe that Abraham and others experienced the Beatific vision in the bosom of Abraham, or only after heaven was opened?
The church is pretty clear that at no time prior to Christ opening the door to the Beatific Vision did anyone possess it. In fact, even the blessed Virgin Mary, though she had no original sin nor actual, didn’t experience the beatific vision until after her Son opened the door to it. So the limbus of the fathers, or the bosom of Abraham, waited for the light of Glory to come upon them which was promised in the Messiah. Without the light of glory nobody can “see God.” So Christ merited for us to ascend to where man never was. Hence why He didn’t just rise from the dead and return us back to the pre-fall state, but also ascended man where he was not before: namely, the very sight of God Himself and the inner Trinitarian Relations.
Good question!