There remain in a house the rooms set apart for various occupations; but in that blessed house there will be but one occupation: praise. For here some busy themselves to gain money; others to acquire dignities; others devote themselves to the study of doctrine, that they may learn and teach; others to the mechanical arts, to procure the things necessary for life. But in that region of the living and immortal there will be no want, no ignorance, no necessity, no ambition; all will be content with their present state, nor will they desire or seek anything more; and so all will be wholly intent on enjoying, loving, and praising the supreme Good.
But I seem to hear those who say that the office of praising God in psalms and hymns, and especially in the recitation of the canonical hours, is not without labor and weariness; nor are there lacking those who complain that a heavy burden is laid upon them, in that they are bidden to spend so many hours singing in the churches and praising God. To these we answer: the praise of God in this life is the merit, in eternal life the reward; and hence it comes about that what here is for many a laborious and burdensome praise will there be for all a joyful and comely praise. Now we read or sing many things which we do not understand; moreover, in driving away vain thoughts, like so many troublesome flies, we labor not a little; and finally, the body, which is subject to corruption, cannot long serve the functions of the mind without fatigue. But in that blessed fatherland the body will be immortal and impassible; the flies of empty thoughts will be gone; we shall understand most perfectly all that we sing; and — what is of the greatest moment — the divine praise will be nothing else than the exercise of happiness. Therefore, if eternal happiness will not be wearisome, neither can eternal praise be wearisome. That there is in heaven a praise of God which is the exercise of beatitude, the Prophet teaches when he says: Blessed are they that dwell in Thy house, O Lord: they shall praise Thee for ever and ever (Ps. 83). For just as it belongs to beatitude ever to see and love the supreme Good, so it belongs to the exercise of beatitude ever to admire and praise the beauty of the supreme Good. And just as no one will be wearied in loving God, so too no one will be wearied in praising Him. Add to this that we shall not only not grow weary in seeing and praising the works of God — all of which will ever be before our eyes and will ever display their surpassing beauty — but we shall not even be able to praise the exceedingly beautiful works of God without praising at the same time the Author of those works, which will ever cry out: He made us, and not we ourselves. Finally, just as we shall never be able to forget the benefits wherewith God has overwhelmed us and bound us fast, as it were, with indissoluble bonds of love, so too we shall not be able to do otherwise than ever exult with most grateful hearts in the praises of the best of Benefactors. Let us therefore conclude with St. Augustine, and say: "What else will be done there, where there will be neither the idleness of sloth nor the labor of want? God Himself will be the end of our desires: He will be seen without end, loved without satiety, praised without weariness. This office, this affection, this activity will surely belong to all, even as eternal life itself is common to all. There, then, we shall rest and see, see and love, love and praise. Behold what shall be in the end without end. For what other end is ours than to come to the kingdom of which there is no end?" (City of God, bk. XXII, ch. 30.)