You’re yet nearing the extremity of the Holy Highway that leads to gladness and joy. This aft truthful galore beginnings. It was six days agone that you recovered yourself successful a acheronian forest, mislaid and acceptable to springiness up. The Roman writer Virgil arrived, and the 2 of you traveled done Hell’s 9 circles and up Mount Purgatory’s 7 terraces to get here, wherever you are now, lasting adjacent to Beatrice, Bice, your puerility love.
Having died erstwhile she was twenty-four, she present resides successful Heaven. Her precise beingness adjacent to you makes you deliberation thing is possible—after all, you’re staring astatine the prima for acold longer than you could connected earth. Then conscionable similar that, without adjacent thinking, you’re connected your mode back, similar a bolt from the blue, to wherever you archetypal began arsenic a specified thought successful the caput of God. Do you inactive person a body? Or are you thing but soul?
She explains that the orderly beingness is simply a reflector of God’s well-ordered mind. You’re headed, she says, for the Empyrean—the caput of God and location to 9 orders of angels—that joyful people each arrow seeks to reach.
It’s lone erstwhile Beatrice tells you to convey God for merging you with the satellite that you recognize precisely wherever you are. The satellite has taken you successful the mode airy becomes 1 with water. You inquire astir the information that connected world immoderate accidental the moon’s acheronian spots are Cain, near determination to rotation forever.
When she asks you what you think, you accidental the spots are disposable due to the fact that the worldly that makes up the satellite is thinner successful immoderate places and thicker successful others. She says she’s going to beryllium you wrong. And she does. If determination were holes successful the moon, she explains, airy would radiance done successful an eclipse; conversely, if determination were varying impediments, it wouldn’t substance due to the fact that rays bespeak the aforesaid wherever they travel from.
You’re headed, she says, for the Empyrean—the caput of God and location to 9 orders of angels—that joyful people each arrow seeks to reach.Instead, she says, the quality is owed to the angelic movers who bespeak God’s light. They allot that airy otherwise depending connected what immoderate peculiar substance deserves. That, she says, is the ceremonial rule connected which the full beingness is built. The eden of the moon, since it’s farthest from God, deserves little light—and immoderate areas successful it, adjacent little than others—and that accounts for its unevenness.
You deliberation to convey her for her explanation, but you’re abruptly captivated by a radical of faces. The archetypal you speech to turns retired to beryllium a nun named Piccarda whom you knew backmost successful the day. Wouldn’t she similar to beryllium person to God, you wonder, alternatively of present successful the eden farthest from Him?
She smiles astatine your naivete and tells you she and everyone successful Heaven find everything to beryllium conscionable arsenic it should be. To beryllium unhappy, she says, would beryllium astatine likelihood with the Love that laid retired the plan. What God wants, everyone wants. No privation tin clash with His will. This is simply a revelation: successful Heaven, 1 tin emotion what is, adjacent if what is isn’t the aforesaid for 1 and all.
You privation to cognize however she came to beryllium here. She was taken from the convent, she says, by men much evil than bully and forced into a marriage. The same, she says, is existent for the pistillate adjacent to her, Constance, who, though besides kidnapped from the convent, kept her vows successful her heart. And with that, Piccarda vanishes.
Looking present astatine Beatrice, it’s arsenic if you’re looking astatine lightning—that’s however agleam she’s become. She sees wrong your caput the tug-of-war your thoughts are having. Can the actions of others lessen the rewards the women deserve? Is this fair, if their hearts remained pure? You’re besides wondering astir what Plato wrote successful Timaeus—that a psyche returns to the prima that birthed it.
Beatrice tells you that nary one, not Mary oregon Moses oregon a azygous angel, resides anyplace but successful the Empyrean. The women you met connected the satellite were lone greeting you determination to amusement you their lesser standing. It’s a indispensable illusion that they unrecorded connected the moon, she says, similar giving biblical bodies to archangels. It’s the lone mode a mortal tin conceive of the divine. She says Plato was incorrect astir stars, unless helium lone meant that the stars exert immoderate power connected what 1 becomes.
In effect to the different question, she says the women could good person gone backmost to the convent if their wills had been beardown enough. Constance did support her vows, but fearfulness kept her from exerting her will. There’s 1 past happening you privation to know: tin a idiosyncratic ever marque up for their lapses and erase the minus motion beside their name? The question causes Beatrice to look astatine you with truthful overmuch emotion that you astir travel undone.
She says it depends connected what you did with God’s acquisition of escaped will. If you squandered it by utilizing it for thing that isn’t good, you volition person failed to support an statement with God; that benignant of lapse tin ne'er beryllium canceled. In definite different cases, you whitethorn beryllium capable to person the substance of what you promised and past failed to deliver—but if so, you person to springiness backmost much than you received. That said, determination are things of specified weight, the nonaccomplishment tin ne'er beryllium made up. Therefore, she says, beryllium cautious with your promises: your salvation is astatine stake.
With that, you’re transported to the adjacent level, the sphere of Mercury, which represents those who were overambitious and allowed the tendency for fame to compromise the bully they mightiness person done. Of the thousand-plus radiances that travel guardant to conscionable you, the archetypal to talk is Justinian I, emperor from 527 to 565.
He recounts the past of the Roman Empire, including the reign of Tiberius Caesar Augustus, who was emperor erstwhile God’s divine program was realized: that is, erstwhile Adam and Eve’s misdeed was avenged by Christ’s crucifixion. Forty-two years aft that, Titus captured and destroyed the metropolis of Jerusalem; that enactment avenged the execution of Christ.
At the extremity of his past lesson, Justinian touches connected the occupation you cognize each excessively well: the pro-empire Ghibellines are corrupting the imperial modular by utilizing it for their ain purposes, and the pro-papacy Guelphs—led by Charles I, his French banner covered with fleurs-de-lis—are doing the aforesaid by opposing it. And some groups had amended ticker out, helium says.
The Roman eagle should lone basal for conscionable causes. He says his goodness, on with that of each the others associated with this sphere, was diluted by the continual reaching for earthly glory and fame. They are perfectly blessed now, however, since their lesser heavenly presumption is simply a reflection of divine justice. He says that connected earth, those who enactment against others who are bully lone extremity up being damaged by their ain shameful deeds. That’s the mode divine justness works.
Justinian goes disconnected singing, and you’re near to mull implicit thing helium said. Beatrice knows you’re trying to fathom however a conscionable vengeance tin beryllium justly avenged. She explains however Adam, successful damning himself, damned each who came after. All humans remained sick and suffering until God, retired of love, decided to nonstop down the Word successful the signifier of His Son, thereby uniting His divinity with Nature.
God, she points out, had already created Nature, which was axenic and bully until it took a incorrect crook successful Eden, resulting successful the banishment of Adam and Eve. Their guilt near a spread that could lone beryllium filled by suffering. The question God was faced with, she says, was, How could disobedient humans retrieve from that archetypal sin? They weren’t humble capable to wage backmost the indebtedness for their waywardness connected their own, and axenic pardon would person overlooked the gravity of the error.
The lone genuinely just mode for God to reconstruct humans to their imaginable was for Him to find a means of pardoning that besides progressive punishment. To that end, helium created a flesh-and-blood Son whom helium allowed to beryllium sacrificed. The suffering caused by that sacrifice was redemptive.
Beatrice is abruptly adjacent much beautiful, and from that, you presume you’ve seamlessly moved connected and are present successful the eden of Venus, the satellite paired with the goddess of Love. Those associated with this level were overinvested successful loving—people, oregon objects, oregon money. Bright lights, each singing Hosanna, travel guardant and 1 appears to cognize you.
He says helium was lone connected world briefly, but, had helium been capable to enactment longer, helium would person loved you adjacent more. It’s Charles Martel of Anjou, king of Hungary. Set to inherit the throne of the kingdom of Naples, helium alternatively died conscionable weeks shy of his twenty-fifth birthday. Now, his member is ruling, and badly, helium says.
At this moment, different splendor comes forward: Cunizza. She’s here, she says, due to the fact that she was besides excessively escaped with her love. There’s nary request to repent of it now, since successful Heaven, each is arsenic it should be. There is thing to bash but beryllium blessed and convey the One that made it so. This is the quality of heavenly bliss: to beryllium blessed with one’s batch and ne'er look back.
And present you’re connected your mode to the eden of the Sun, Nature’s “premier minister,” which imprints the satellite with Heaven’s worthy and measures clip with its light. Here, Beatrice is wholly eclipsed by the brightness of being wrong the sun, and the souls, who connected world were wise, prudent, temperate, and just, each blaze similar the prima itself. Singing, they ellipse you and Beatrice.
One is Saint Thomas Aquinas. He gives you a Cook’s circuit of the souls surrounding you. He says God ordained 2 princes to service the Church and enactment arsenic guides: Saint Francis of Assisi and Saint Dominic. Francis joined poverty, and his followers did the same. They founded the Franciscan order, and aft their person died, “his worthy colleague,” Dominic, founded the Dominican bid and tried to proceed the enactment Francis began.
Except Thomas, a Dominican himself, says that Dominic’s flock has strayed from the way “where they fatten up, if they don’t suffer their way”—meaning, they nary longer nourish themselves connected spiritual milk.
A 2nd ringing of lights present surrounds the first, matching it successful question and successful opus until it abruptly stops, and from the halfway comes the dependable of the mystical theologian Saint Bonaventure, saying that conscionable arsenic Thomas, a Dominican, praised Francis, he, a Franciscan, volition praise Dominic.
As Francis joined poverty, Dominic joined faith. He became a teacher and traveled passim the kingdom, preaching and converting and fervently trying to stamp retired heresy. Bonaventure says the Franciscans, too, person strayed from the way laid down by their laminitis and present can’t find their mode back.
He past introduces the distinguished souls successful his circle, and erstwhile helium comes to King Solomon, helium says, “No 2nd was ever born.” Once the introductions conclude, and the juncture is marked by much ineffable singing and ellipse dancing, Thomas sheds airy connected his confusing assertion that Solomon reigned supra each others. He knows you’re wondering, Wasn’t Christ the lone 1 astir whom specified a happening could beryllium said?
He says he’d lone been speaking of kings, and this one, Solomon, asked for contented truthful he’d beryllium up to the task of ruling. Let this beryllium a lesson, helium says, to instrumentality your clip to signifier an sentiment and beryllium consenting to alteration your caput erstwhile caller grounds is presented. Don’t beryllium a fool and leap to conclusions, particularly astir people, since radical alteration and you whitethorn beryllium amazed to find successful Heaven immoderate of those you assumed would spell consecutive to Hell (and vice versa).
Beatrice asks the flames to explicate whether they’ll person the aforesaid luminosity erstwhile the Day of Judgment comes, and if so, however the souls volition negociate to not beryllium overwhelmed by the light. That’s easy, they say: everything volition summation connected that last day, and determination volition beryllium nary limitations, sensory oregon other, lone continual bliss.
Now a 3rd circle, excessively beauteous to beryllium described, manifests itself. Overwhelmed by the brightness, you look away. When you look backmost again, you find you’ve arrived astatine the reddish eden of Mars, wherever you volition soon brushwood those who gave their lives warring for the faith. Here, the flames look to signifier a transverse connected which the representation of Christ flashes. The sights and sounds are specified that you’re definite you’ve ne'er been truthful enraptured.
Of course, you haven’t looked into Beatrice’s eyes since leaving the eden of the Sun. That pleasance increases the higher you emergence and volition aboriginal transcend what you conscionable saw. A occurrence darts on the limb of the cross, past settles itself astatine the ft and speaks.
It’s Cacciaguida, the basal of your household tree, your great-great-grandfather, the antheral from whom your household got its name. He tells you however idyllic Florentine beingness was successful the distant past. Everyone was moderate, honorable, and happy. He followed Emperor Conrad, became a knight, and died successful the Second Crusade, his martyrdom earning him his spot successful Heaven.
You archer him you’ve heard ominous things astir your aboriginal and privation to beryllium amended prepared. He says you’ll beryllium forced to permission Florence, aft which your compatriots volition crook against you. Make yourself a enactment of one, helium says, and talk the truth—that’s wherefore you’ve been shown these lives. And beryllium specific; lone past volition readers person religion successful what you write.
You look astatine Beatrice and she’s adjacent much beautiful. From this, you cognize you’ve risen again and person been taken into the achromatic radiance of the eden of Jupiter, the sphere aligned with conscionable rulers. The lights determination sing and signifier the letters and words of the archetypal condemnation of the Book of Wisdom: DILIGITE JUSTITIAM, QUI JUDICATIS TERRAM, Latin for “Love justice, you who justice the earth.”
The lights intermission connected the crest of the last M, wherever they signifier the caput and cervix of the Imperial Eagle. The eagle speaks and tells you that immoderate is accordant with God’s justness volition be, though humans can’t comprehend that, immoderate much than they tin spot everything successful the sea. It circles and sings of each the failed monarchies crossed Europe.
The eagle past goes soundless and allows the lights to sing with 1 voice, aft which it names the six bully kings whose flames marque up his eyebrow, 2 of whom are pagans. You’re amazed that pagans tin spell to Heaven, but the vertebrate says don’t justice God’s goodness since it’s beyond comprehension.
When you crook to Beatrice, she’s not smiling. She says if she were, you’d beryllium destroyed since you are present successful the seventh heaven, that of Saturn, which is associated with those who practiced temperance; present her airy is truthful agleam you wouldn’t beryllium capable to carnivore it. She tells you to look distant and you, of course, obey. You spot lights going up and down the ladder of contemplation.
Saint Benedict comes down from the others and tells you however his followers, too, person gone astray. He and the others past emergence similar a whirlwind. Beatrice tells you to look down to spot however acold you’ve traveled. You spot each 7 of the planetary spheres and marvel astatine however similar a small thing the large bluish marble looks.
When you look backmost to Beatrice’s beauteous eyes, you recognize you’ve entered the eden of the Fixed Stars. Beatrice appears to beryllium waiting for thing wonderful. When it arrives, you spot it’s Christ and the hosts of His triumph: Mary—the Mystic Rose, brightest of all—and the Apostles.
Beatrice tells you that the things you’ve seen person made you beardown capable to withstand the airy of her smile. You cognize you volition ne'er hide this infinitesimal and the immense gratitude you feel. Mary rises, astatine which constituent each the others sing “Queen of Heaven” and agelong their flames toward her. That’s erstwhile you spot Saint Peter, holder of the keys.
Beatrice asks Peter to trial you connected the substance of faith. You archer him that religion is the substance of things hoped for and impervious of what you can’t see, which is the aforesaid arsenic what Saint Paul said erstwhile helium was present connected earth. You reply the remainder of the questions and walk the test. Peter is truthful pleased helium circles you 3 times, the numerical equivalent of a hug.
You, Beatrice, and Peter are past joined by Saint James, who has travel to trial you connected hope. What is hope? How does it flourish successful you? From wherever does it travel to you?
Beatrice jumps successful to accidental that nary 1 has much anticipation than you, which is wherefore you’ve been allowed to travel present earlier your work connected world is over. This is an enactment of kindness to support you from having to brag. You spell connected to accidental that anticipation is being definite of the glory of Heaven, which is fixed done God’s grace. He asks what anticipation promises you, and you constituent to the anticipation of resurrection recovered successful the Scriptures.
At this, the trial is implicit and different airy comes to articulation your group. This is the Apostle John, and due to the fact that you had ever heard helium brought his mortal assemblage with him to Heaven, you effort to spot it done the flame. He sets you straight: his body, helium says—like that of everyone but Christ and Mary—is inactive connected earth. Looking into the light, however, has exhausted your seeing and erstwhile you look backmost astatine Beatrice, you cognize she’s determination but you nary longer spot her.
John examines you connected the taxable of love: what bash you emotion and why? You accidental the scriptural grounds of God’s emotion has taught you everything you request to instrumentality God’s love.
Fine, helium says, but let’s person immoderate clarification. You archer him you besides learned from Aristotle and the aboriginal Christian theologians that each who recognize God’s large emotion volition emotion Him successful return. John says you’re right, and you’ve utilized some crushed and religion to grasp that determination is nary purer emotion than God’s. At this, everyone, including Beatrice, sings “Holy, Holy, Holy!”
Suddenly, you spot the publication of triune love. Its pages—which incorporate each substance and each action—are scattered done the universe.
As your show returns, you announcement that different airy has joined the group. Beatrice tells you it’s Adam. You inquire him his age, however agelong helium was successful Eden, the origin of the Fall, and what connection helium spoke. Adam says the occupation wasn’t the pome per se but that they didn’t obey God’s 1 prohibition.
In presumption of his age, and however agelong helium was successful Eden, helium explains that helium is fundamentally 6,498 years old. He says his connection became extinct earlier Nimrod attempted to physique the Tower of Babel and that helium lived successful the plot for conscionable 7 heavenly hours. You perceive “Gloria Patria” being sung supra you, and close successful beforehand of you, Adam blazes adjacent brighter.
Peter past turns reddish with indignation. He says his papal spot is arsenic bully arsenic vacant fixed the existent pope’s wickedness. At that, they each emergence similar snowflakes that autumn up alternatively of down. Beatrice tells you to look beneath and spot however acold you’ve come. You bash arsenic she says and erstwhile you look backmost astatine her smiling eyes, that powerfulness propels you into the ninth sphere, the Primum Mobile.
Now you don’t cognize wherever you are, since determination is nary determination there; there’s nary matter—so, nary landmarks—only a crystalline transparency. The lone wherever present is God’s divine mind. The question of the different spheres is determined by the Primum Mobile.
After gazing into Beatrice’s eyes, you crook and spot a constituent of airy truthful agleam it can’t beryllium endured. The constituent is surrounded by 9 circles of fire: the 1 closest to the constituent moves the fastest, and each consequent ellipse moves much slowly, depending connected their emotion for God. These are the angelic intelligences; each radical influences a antithetic heavenly sphere, and each is defined by the grade to which their show penetrates the Truth.
So, it’s vision, Beatrice points out, that is the defining factor; emotion follows after. All the angels are drawn toward God, and arsenic they regard upward, they gully up those beneath them. Beatrice says God created the beingness complete, not retired of request but retired of love. There was nary earlier and nary after, but everything blazed into being astatine once.
An bid was created and the angelic beings were arranged. Impatient, Satan refused to hold to person God’s light, truthful helium fell and is present buried nether the value of the world. The angels who remained received God’s illuminating grace and, arsenic a result, their volition and His are one. They ne'er look distant from Him, truthful stay ever-present with nary request for memory.
Then the angels, which look to enclose that which encloses them, slice from view, and erstwhile they do, you crook your eyes backmost to Beatrice. Her quality is beyond what mortals tin know. She says you are present successful the eden of axenic light, which is filled with love. Here you’ll spot the 2 militias: 1 made up of saved souls, the different composed of angels. At that, you’re wrapped successful airy and transformed: determination is nary airy excessively agleam for you to see.
Sparks look from a red-gold stream and settee themselves successful flowers that enactment some banks. Even so, Beatrice says, they are lone a preface of their existent natures, which you volition beryllium capable to spot erstwhile you visually “drink” the h2o of the river. As you do, the stream becomes a circular disc, and earlier your eyes, the sparks and flowers go the 2 courts of Heaven.
You instrumentality successful the endless tiers of an amphitheater lined with thrones, connected which figures successful achromatic clerical stoles are seated. Only a fewer are inactive empty. A crown sits supra 1 bare throne. Beatrice says that it’s waiting for Henry VII, who volition try, but fail, to hole Italy. She says the pope who volition garbage to assistance him won’t past for agelong earlier being sent consecutive to Hell, wherever he’ll onshore connected apical of the erstwhile pope.
The amphitheater holding Christ’s beatified militia looks similar a gigantic rose. The different militia, the angels, looks similar a swarm of bees that alert up to God with aureate wings and instrumentality with the bid and emotion they summation connected the way; they past descend into the roseate and connection their gifts.
You crook to inquire Beatrice thing and, successful her place, there’s an avuncular elder. It’s Saint Bernard. Where’s Beatrice? you ask, and helium says she’s returned to her assigned seat, 3rd enactment down, conscionable beneath Eve. She asked him to assistance you decorativeness the course. To hole your eyes to travel the divine ray of airy that volition pb you to God, look each the mode up, helium says, until you spot Mary.
Bernard begins to sanction the women connected 1 side: Mary astatine the top; beneath her, Eve; connected the 3rd level, Rachel sitting beside Beatrice; beneath those two, Sarah, past Rebecca, past Judith, past Ruth. The adjacent 7 levels, similar the 7 above, are occupied by different Hebrew women of the Old Testament, each defining the lateral layers of the rose.
On 1 broadside of the roseate are lone those who anticipated the coming of Christ, and connected the different side, wherever determination are inactive immoderate vacancies, those for whom Christ has already come. Mary and those beneath her signifier a lengthwise dividing line. Opposite Mary is John the Baptist, and those beneath him signifier the different longitudinal dividing line.
From the midpoint down, betwixt those 2 lines, are those who were absolved earlier they could inquire for absolution, successful different words, small children; they are arranged successful the bid of excellence bestowed by God erstwhile He created their souls. To the near of Bernard are Hebrew children; to the close are the Christian children who were baptized (the unbaptized being successful Limbo).
When Bernard asks Mary to springiness you the requisite grace, she turns her loving eyes to God. You look up arsenic good and your show enters into the brightest imaginable beam. Suddenly, you spot the publication of triune love. Its pages—which incorporate each substance and each action—are scattered done the universe.
The airy acts connected you and arsenic it does, it becomes 3 circles of 3 colors; the 3rd ellipse is made of occurrence breathed retired by the different two; wrong it, of the aforesaid color, is simply a quality figure. You truthful privation to cognize however the representation and the ellipse acceptable wrong each different and go one, and then, similar lightning, you bash know, and conscionable arsenic quickly, it’s over, the communicative you’ve been telling yourself.
But nary of that matters due to the fact that what you want, and your will, are present turned arsenic 1 toward God—”the emotion that moves the prima and the different stars.”
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Introduction to Dante’s Paradiso copyright © 2025 by Mary Jo Bang. Reprinted from Paradiso, translated by Mary Jo Bang, with the support of the writer and Graywolf Press. All rights reserved.
