We have made it to the last few cantos in Dante’s epic work, The Divine Comedy. This coming Monday (April 3rd) will be our last session for this series. We will complete The Paradiso, and then have time for a bit of a debrief and discussion about our individual take-aways from the whole journey through hell, purgatory, and heaven. Please read as much of cantos XX-XXXIII as you can for our discussion.
Series III – The Divine Comedy: Sin, Suffering, Virtue and Holiness
Paradiso II: The Heaven of the Warriors of God
In this session on March 27th, we accompany Dante the Pilgrim as he traverses the middle levels of the Heavenly Kingdom. In this session and the final one next week, we will encounter many of the greatest heroes of the first thousand years of Christendom, including St. Benedict, St. Francis of Assisi, St. Thomas Aquinas,…
Dante’s Paradiso: Beyond Time and Space
Mystagogy finally makes it to heaven! And it’s literally out of this world. Our consideration of the last of the three parts of Dante’s epic poem covers Cantos I-VIII. You might find this short video which summarizes The Paradiso helpful.
Purgatorio: Healing Carnality and Reclaiming the Earthly Paradise
Our consideration of Dante’s Purgatorio concludes with his remedies for the sins of the flesh, and then moves onto the ascent into the earthly paradise which kicks off the greatest parade in the history of, well, history. The cantos covered are Cantos XXV-XXX, and XXXIII.
The Sin of Pride and Remedies
This session covered Dante’s Purgatorio, Cantos X-XII, examining the sin of pride and proposing remedies to do battle with this devastating sin
Healing Envy, Anger, Sloth and Greed
In this session, we cover cantos of The Purgatorio which touch upon healing remedies for the sins of envy, anger, sloth, and greed.
Beginning the Climb up Purgatory Mountain: Souls Who Just Made It
We enter the second phase of our journey through the afterlife as we begin Dante’s Purgatorio. We will be considering Cantos I-VII, much of which is dedicated to considering those souls who just make it to salvation, whom Dante calls “the Late-Repentant.”
Rejecting God’s Sovereignty: Sins Against Truth in Dante’s Inferno
In this session, we complete our journey through Dante’s Inferno, looking specifically at Cantos XVIII, XX, and XXIII-XXVIII. Imagining the darkest paces in hell, Dante will compel us to consider sins of deceit, disloyalty, betrayal, deceit, and treachery. Our journey concludes with the encounter with Lucifer himself in the deepest circle of hell.
Raging at Reality: The Sins of Violence in Dante’s Inferno
We continue our tour through Dante’s Inferno by examining the levels of hell reserved to sins of violence. Specifically, we discuss Cantos IX-XV.
Caught in the Whirlwind: The Sins of Incontinence in Dante’s Inferno
This session is a whirlwind tour through Dante’s whirlwind of the sins of the flesh. We’ll meet the Hoarders and the Wasters, the Gluttons, the Wrathful and the Sullen, and, of course, poor, pathetic, lustful Francesca and Paolo.
The Dark Woods, The Three Beasts: Starting the Descent into Dante’s Inferno
The St. Stephen’s Mystagogy Program begins the third part in our five part series, a ten-week tour through Dante’s epic spiritual poem, The Divine Comedy. An imaginative vision of hell, purgatory, and heaven, this ranks with the greatest narrative works ever written.