Is the supernatural unnatural or is it merely an extension of the natural?
These are the noises that doth haunt the easy ears
And from the builders come the foul smell of brewing elixirs.
The sons and daughters of darkness speak not of this world.
I am but a fool, but know this in me:
The strange minds behind the stories told
Screech raven calls to flighty foe.
Tidings tell in prophesy the things a man should never know.
And thus deceive the foppish ear till
Like the wicked truth sometimes is not known
Until a good man is dead.
What say you gods who prey on flesh?
Are we to believe foul is fair?
The bearded witches of lust and greed
Chant the dissonant tune of hate,
That sneaky sound is thus bewitched so
As to trick the curious cat of black beside.
Alas the end will not be seen, of shadow in the thickest day,
The spells are cast the time moves on.
Wake, you sleeper, lest you forget
The unseemly magic.
Torrey Paper Sophomore Fall '09
A Sinners Strides:
Grace grows the weary soul who is wholly surrendered as seen in characters of Beatrice and Dante in Dante’s Divine Comedy.
I
I who once danced in the song of sweet peace
Have been caught in the thorns far astray.
Hunched down on four legs when once did I stand
Erect as a man who knew many things.
I, once sought for my platitudes plenty
Hate those numb words of which I sung praises.
What is this confusion haunting my sight?
The storm billows through the lonely byway,
Clothing the desolate ignorant road
With a dark, unfamiliar old tune.
Dare I long to hunger if just to watch
True love spill as sand through my fingers.
To unreachable ends stumbled and stopped,
“For falling shows a man stood insecure”[1]
While I moaned of my state, dizzy with confusion, I became aware of a noise, a light in the distance. I closed my eyes; I did not want to see it so I shut it out. I tried to stop my ears but it was too loud, the noise came from inside my head yet it was strangely distant. At first, the sound was just a noise but then it, or she, or he commanded, ‘Open your eyes’. Through the crack in my eyelids the light blinded me, so I turned my head away and grunted, ‘I can’t.’ The voice murmured, ‘My name is Grace. Listen.’ I was afraid of what the voice might say, so, trying hard to ignore it, I changed my thoughts to reminisce about the warm accolades from times past. The noise stopped and I turned my head to face forward again, but the light still penetrated my closed eyelids. I opened my ears and she, for this time, the voice had a feminine trill to her words, whispered, ‘Are you listening now?’ She had my attention, never more a sweet melody of words had I ever heard. She heard my thoughts and knew them even better than I, she answered my silent question, ‘I am here because I have been sent by the love of God to lead you and show you the way to the true light. Let go, first, of your bemoaning and pay attention. Listen to the story of Dante and the beloved Beatrice.
‘Oh the beauty of that lady
Whose love pours forth with joyful song,
The universe keeping the rhythm
And creation joining in the
Joyous celestial melody
All for the one she dearly loves.
Sent by love and by love she guides
Beckoning, rebuking, shining,
Of everlasting light and glory.
‘As I will show you,’ she continued, ‘Beatrice manifests grace upon Dante. We can see this display when Dante thanks Beatrice for the purpose she serves,
“My Lady, as devoutly as I can
I thank the One whose grace has raised me far
out of the world of dying,” I began.[2]
Obviously Beatrice brings Dante grace. She is called “the true praise of God”[3] and surely, one of his terrific manifestations of love, is grace itself. Dante shows that grace comes from love when ascending through paradise:
“The ocean of my love is not so deep
as to suffice to give grace for grace”[4].
Dante shows that it is love that makes Beatrice speak.[5] Cooperatively, the angels in paradise sing to Beatrice in request to bestow her grace upon Dante,
‘Turn, Beatrice, turn your holy eyes,’
so did they sing, ‘unto your faithful one,
he who has come so far to look at you!
Do us the grace for grace’s sake, unveil
Your lips to him, that he may finally
behold the second beauty you conceal!’[6]
St. Peter even christens her “Lady Grace”[7] when speaking of her divine authority and influence over Dante.
‘Dante uses Beatrice, dear one, to show that without Beatrice, Dante-protagonist, could not ascend from the depths to the heights; only grace can lead Dante to right reason and right virtue, and only then can he truly grow. From the beginning of his journey, where
[He] found [himself] in a dark wilderness,
for [he] had wandered from the straight and true,[8]
to his state of eternal blessedness in the end where,
... all [his] will and [his] desires
turned – as a wheel in equal balance – by
The Love that moves the sun and the other stars.[9]
This is place of glory that Dante finds himself in upon the unavoidable intervention of grace.’
II
‘But my lady,’ I responded bitter of the Dante’s wonderful experience, ‘you speak of right reason, but there cannot be wrong reason. How, if only right reason does exist, can you say that only Beatrice can lead us to right reason? Can’t human reason alone move one past one’s stagnant ways to see God?’
She smiled a maternal smile as if looking upon a child who thinks well of himself for drawing a tree using circles and lines. ‘Oh foolish one,’ she began, ‘It is true that God is a God of reason but you are mistaken to think you can know everything about the Inscrutable One. As Dante has shown, reason, on the whole, plays an important role in ascending, but there comes a point where reason ends, for it is not enough to spur us to experience God. I will show you this. Grace-inspired right reason does, however, point to that which is beyond reason and hopes in the glory greater than reason and does so because of the divine direction and calling that grace has on reason. Without this extension of grace there is a second kind of reason: pagan reason, which cannot point to that which is beyond reason nor hope in the glory greater than reason.
‘As I said, reason plays an important role in ascending, the character of Virgil, the poet, in the Divine Comedy represents human reason. Reason guides Dante from “when [he] first left the way of truth behind,”[10] down through the nine levels of hell. Virgil goads Dante on through his fear[11] and faithfully answers Dante’s questions. Dante is shown countless times pleading for protection from Virgil,
‘Beloved guide, you who have given me
assurance seven times and more and saved
me from the greatest dangers in my way,’
Said, I, ‘Don’t leave me so undone and lost!
If we are not permitted to go on,
let’s trace our footsteps back again at once!’
And that lord who guided me so far
said, ‘Have no fear. No one can take from us
our passage on granted by One so great.’[12]
Dante calls him “teacher” and “father” and hides behind him in fear till Virgil, by example, teaches him how to face the consequences of the depravity of man and realize that hell has no power over them. Virgil is able to know that Dante’s journey to eternal blessedness goes beyond reason. He tells Dante at the end of their journey together that he has led Dante with reason but now what is to come is beyond what he has the capacity to lead Dante through:
‘The temporal and eternal fires, my son,
you have now seen, and you have reached a part
where I discern no further on my own.
I’ve led you here by the strength of mind, and art;
take your own pleasure for your leader now...
While we await the glad and lovely eyes
whose weeping made me come to you, you may
sit here or walk among them, as you please.
No longer wait for what I do or say.
Your judgment now is free and whole and true;
to fail to follow its will would be to stray.
Lord of yourself I crown and miter you’.[13]
Reason is necessary and beneficial in that Virgil has led Dante to the end of human reason, and now Dante is equipped to be able to “take pleasure for [his] leader”[14], for Dante is crowned the king of his will and mitered the bishop over his soul that is to say that his love is directed rightly to God and Dante no longer seeks his own selfish pleasure’.[15]
‘You, dear Lady,’ I responded, ‘have shown me that reason is not enough to guide one to complete maturity, only to direct one’s vision to God and to see beyond one’s own desire.’ I started, ‘You have shown me that Virgil has led Dante down through hell where he realizes his sin and up through purgatory where he repents and purges his sin. So why then do you say that grace has lead the reason and not that reason in itself has led him, as far as reason can, as it seems that reason has?’
She answered, ‘I will explain these things to you. The Reason that Dante and Virgil experience on this journey is different from the Reason that Virgil alone experienced in his life. This is the second kind of reason, the pagan reason of which I spoke earlier. The pagan reason of Virgil did not lead him to salvation in Christ; he could potentially recognize his shortcomings, if he had had grave shortcomings, but he could not repent of them and be purged of them because grace was absent from him. But, according to Dante-poet, because Virgil was virtuous yet un-baptized, his place is in Limbo, neither alive nor dead, a state of non-feeling. Virgil could potentially roam hell but could never move past hell because, during his life on earth, pagan reason never led him to see beyond reason. So, though Virgil is physically and mentally leading, guiding, prodding, and encouraging, he is first called by grace who has the power to raise him up and by grace they trod the journey.’
Intrigued by the things Lady Grace said, I listened, intently curious of how grace affected Dante’s ascent.
‘Remember, dear one,’ continued she, ‘Virgil has never left the dark confines of hell, nor has he ascended through purgatory, neither physically or metaphorically. It is by grace that they made their exit from hell and climbed the purifying mountain. My child, Beatrice, the gracious one, calls Virgil to guide, or is invoked by Virgil as his shield, and is used as inspiration throughout the journey. As the story in the Inferno unfolds, it is Beatrice who descends into Limbo to fetch Virgil and assign to him his mission that is guiding Dante back on the path of truth from which he strayed.
“... I am
The Blessed Beatrice who bid you go;
love makes me speak, and bade me hasten from
that place that stirs my longing to return.”[16]
Virgil doesn’t enter the mountain of purgatory by his own name, he hides behind the grace of Beatrice by saying
“I’ve not come on my own...
A Lady came from Heaven, and by her prayers
I went to help him by my company”.[17]
Further on, Virgil claims that, “from on high comes the power that is my help”.[18]
‘So you see, reason is necessary, but reason must point to that which is beyond itself! Not a pagan reason, void of grace, that sees itself as the end of all things. I have called you, too, to true reason, everlasting reason that will point you to God and free you from your love of yourself.’
Human thinker, slow down your pace.
Rest in the folds of serene grace.
Know that you know little of God
With each step on the path you trod.
As captive yet bound to freedom,
You must grow also in wisdom.
Look to the light and find the peace.
From there, love is never to cease.
Oh Sun, Oh stars your glow to see
Eternal bless’ed jubilee.
Mercy shines forth guiding, pure light
To draw the sinner through their plight
To lead them far from wicked hearts
That tell them they are where love starts
She points up to heavenly sky
For to their passion they must die.
‘I see, dear lady, I was dependent on what I knew in myself to lead me to God, I see now that reason can only see beyond itself if it is inspired by you!’ said I to the lady. She crooned an encouraging word and all my attention was placed on the light. I turned my head and slowly opened my eyes. The light still blinded me but my eyes quavered not. I wanted to see her now; with all of my heart I wanted to see her. Looking upon her was overwhelming and the light of love clothed her body so that I could not see her figure.
‘I have told you well enough of how reason is insufficient in and of itself, and how, through the example of Beatrice, grace is necessary to grow reason, but, as we have seen in Purgatory, even reason inspired by grace comes to an end and Virgil vanishes.’
III
The Lady, my teacher, continued in her speech saying, ‘Now equipped with reason over his will, Dante has recognized his sin, repented of it, and been purged of it. He has started the process of growth but he still needs a guide to grow to completion. Dante’s growth must include the obtaining of the three theological virtues. Dante does obtain the virtues, but it is only because Beatrice guides him through the experience of them. From the beginning of the heavenly poem, we see Beatrice slowly guiding and correcting Dante and teaching him the experiences of faith, hope, and love, the necessary virtues that grow you to the goal of Christ and eternal blessedness. She helps him first by pointing out his elementary ways to him.’
... So I turned again, to gaze
upon the soft light of my guide, who smiled,
and in her holy eyes the glowing rays
Shone like a fire. “You’re thinking like a child,”
said she. “No need to wonder why I smile
For you don’t dare to trust your steps to truth,
But still go toddling back to empty thought.
These are true substances you now perceive,
bound here for failing to fulfill their vows.
So speak with them and hear them and believe:
for the true Luminary, their delight,
will never let their footsteps go astray.”[19]
By this you can see that understanding is no longer enough, the experience of the truth is what lies beyond reason. This is the journey of faith: to speak, hear, and believe.
... “The profundities
of Heaven I have been generously shown
are so deeply concealed from human eyes,
Their essence is a matter of faith alone,
whereon our high hope builds its testament...”[20]
It is the experience of these profundities, that, led by grace, Dante grows to maturity. When Dante, in his limited perspective, is confused about the depth of the structure of heaven, Beatrice speaks these words,
“Experience, if you let it be your guide,
the fount for every stream of human art,
can set you free from this objection too.”[21]
This can be explained as such that, though his capacity at first is small, when following the guide of experience it will grow to maturity. This can be applied to the theological virtues in that he has little capacity for them in the beginning of the heavenly ascent, but as he goes higher and higher he experiences faith hope, and love and his capacity for them grows to maturity.
The three theological virtues are extravagantly woven together in a divine dance of glory. Faith is based on the truth that one believes and is essentially, “The substance of things hoped for and the argument of things not come to light.”[22] Love is the instrument that causes Dante and Beatrice to rise from level to level[23] and hope for the glory to come is what keeps pushing them onward. Dante keeps gazing into the eyes of Beatrice rather than staring at what Beatrice is pointing him too at first. When he has reached maturity, however, Dante is questioned by Peter, James, and John about Faith, Hope, and Love. Each time he answers them correctly. In the following responses, however, it is by grace that Dante speaks. It is by the “grace given me to declare what I believe unto the high centurion.”[24] Upon answering the question of faith rightly,
The Baron who had tested my belief...
Resumed, “The Lady Grace that whispers love
into your mind has opened your lips till
now to speak what you should speak- so I approve
What you’ve brought forth...”[25]
The answers that he gives are the ones that Beatrice has been guiding him through by experience for this whole journey, and in this instance, not only has she been the cause for guiding him to faith, she is directly named that divine grace and cause for his knowing. This makes absolutely certain that divine Grace has lead Dante to experience faith and own its meaning personally. Dante furthermore gives glory to divine grace for conceiving the Hope in the hearts of man.[26] Finally, love is the language of heaven, the melody of its praise, the gift of the Father.
So you see, child, do not become distracted by what you think is faith by staring at the reflections and shadows rather than the thing itself. Do not become distracted by the beauty of what you think you love and forget to see the truth. For it is grace that moves, inspires, teaches, and causes one to experience faith, hope, and love. You cannot do it on your own and if you try, you will end up like Dante as he was before his celestial journey, lost and strayed from the path of truth.
Faith, hope, love; such easy words to say,
And yet what man can tell their whole meaning?
Even the Sainted Paul could only write
What, without real occurrence, means nothing.
He spoke of the gift: the map for the trove.
Find her. Follow in divine adventure,
The one that when finished, has just begun.’
I stood speechless, in awe of the beauty of what she had said. My soul longed for the destination of Dante which was the beginning of life eternal in glorious blessedness. I had yet one more question to ask of the beautiful Lady.
IV
I started, ‘You have taught me and I have learned but tell me dear lady, you who have lauded this Beatrice, the lady of grace so adamantly, I now have noticed what happens at the end of Dante’s quest. How is it that she, like Virgil in Purgatory, retires from the journey and does not lead Dante to the beatific vision of the glory of God, and the mystic Bernard becomes his new companion?’
‘Ah, I am thankful for your question,’ responded she, radiant in the beauty of her resplendence, ‘the answer is tricky, so pay close attention. When Beatrice vanishes Dante has learned, without being dependent on the light of Beatrice’s eyes and beauty, to look at the light of truth on his own. But just because Dante is trained to see the love by himself[27], does not mean that grace is no longer his. Bernard is the extension of the divine grace. The first lines that Bernard speak to Dante upon being seemingly abandoned of his love, Beatrice, are,
“Beatrice stirred me from my place to bring
your hungering to its end.”[28]
In an act of grace, Beatrice chose a companion fit to intercede for Dante that he might see the highest Good. St. Bernard was more fit to guide Dante to the beatific vision than Beatrice because St. Bernard dedicated his life on earth to showing many people the vision of God.[29] Beatrice fittingly represents the manifestation of God’s love, by calling, showing, guiding, and bestowing love and mercy, but she is not a Saint as St. Bernard of Clairvaux is.
‘So you see,’ she continued, ‘Dante, because of grace, saw his sin, was cleansed from it, was motivated by love to seek the kingdom, journeyed upwards and inwards to that eternal blessedness that comes from God’s love. He experienced the blinding joy and peace of the perfection of faith, hope, and love because of the act of grace from Beatrice who pushed Dante to see the glory of God himself by calling the guides of Virgil, experience, and finally Bernard himself to lead him to the Beatific Vision. There, cleansed, purged, made innocent and pure, Dante beheld the glory of our great God.’
Overwhelmed with this story of beauty and love, love I didn’t deserve, I reached for the light and stumbled to the ground before her, quaking with passionate devotion. There, thoughts of all else disappeared and I clung to the hope that I too could press on with the guidance and love of Grace. “I love you! I love you!” I repeated in a breath. In an instant the incandescent light from God before me vanished. There stood I silent.... abandoned. Anguish filled my soul and I wailed out, “Why have you forsaken me, Blessed Grace?’ The doubt filled my soul like a plague of death and my hope to share in the experience of Dante was dying in this dark moment for Lady Grace had disappeared. Then the calmest, coolest, whisper tickled my ears, ‘Are you so quick to forget, child? I have been sent by the love of God, which cannot be hindered, and I am now in you, to lead you to perfection. No longer will you wander in anguish, for I will show you how to know God, to love Him, to behold Him.’
[1] Boethius, Anicius. The Consolation of Philosophy. Translated by Victor Watts. London: Penguin Books Ltd, 1999. 3
[2] Dante, Paradise, canto 2, lines 46-48
[3] Dante, Inferno, canto 2, lines 103
[4] Paradise, 4.121-123
[5] Inferno, 2.71
[6] Paradise, 31.133-138
[7] Ibid., 24.118
[8] Inferno, 1.2-3
[9] Paradise, 33.143-145
[10] Inferno, 1.12
[11] Purgatory, 20.135
[12] Inferno, 8.97-105
[13] Purgatory, 27.127-132; 135-142 (emphasis added)
[14] Ibid. 27.131
[15] Purgatory, 3. 34 -45
[16] Inferno, 2. 69-72
[17] Purgatory, 1.52-54
[18] Ibid., 1.68
[19] Paradise, 3.22-33
[20] Ibid., 24.70-74
[21] Paradise, 2.94-96
[22] Ibid., 24.64-66
[23] Ibid. 1.75-76
[24] Ibid., 24.58-59
[25] Ibid., 24.115 and 118 -121
[26] Paradise, 25.67-69
[27] Paradise, 33.49-51
[28] Ibid. 31.65-66
[29] http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/62413/Saint-Bernard-de-Clairvaux
