2738. Mutual love such as is present in heaven is not the same as conjugial love. Conjugial love there consists in the desire to be one in the life of the other, but mutual love consists in desiring what is good to another rather than to oneself, as with the love of parents towards children, and as with the love of those who are moved to do good not for their own benefit but because they find joy in doing it. Such angelic love is derived from conjugial love, and is born from it like a child from its parent. For this reason that love exists in parents towards their children. This love is preserved by the Lord in parents even when conjugial love is not present in them, to prevent the human race from perishing.
