Slide 1

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
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One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
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Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
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The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
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The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
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Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
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The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

click this icon to hear music

At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 2

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
click this icon to hear music

Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
click this icon to hear music

The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
click this icon to hear music

The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
click this icon to hear music

Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

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Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
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Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

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When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
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Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
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The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

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At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 3

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
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One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
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The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
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Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
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Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
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The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
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The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
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Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
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The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
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The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

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Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

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When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

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At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 4

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
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One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
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Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
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The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
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The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
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Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

click this icon to hear music

At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 5

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
click this icon to hear music

Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
click this icon to hear music

The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
click this icon to hear music

The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
click this icon to hear music

Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

click this icon to hear music

At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 6

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
click this icon to hear music

Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
click this icon to hear music

The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
click this icon to hear music

The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
click this icon to hear music

Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

click this icon to hear music

At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 7

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
click this icon to hear music

Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
click this icon to hear music

The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
click this icon to hear music

The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
click this icon to hear music

Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

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When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
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Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

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At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 8

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
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One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
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Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
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The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
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The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
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Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
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The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
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Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

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Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
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Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

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When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
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Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
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The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

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At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 9

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
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One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
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The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
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Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
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Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
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The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
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The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
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Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
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The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
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The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

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At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 10

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
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Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
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The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
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The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
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Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

click this icon to hear music

At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 11

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
click this icon to hear music

Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
click this icon to hear music

The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
click this icon to hear music

The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
click this icon to hear music

Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

click this icon to hear music

At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 12

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
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Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
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The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
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The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
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Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
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The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

click this icon to hear music

At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 13

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
click this icon to hear music

Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
click this icon to hear music

The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
click this icon to hear music

The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
click this icon to hear music

Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
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Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

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When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
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Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
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The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

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At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 14

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
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One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
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Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
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The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
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The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
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Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
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The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
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Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

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Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
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Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

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When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
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Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
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The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

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At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 15

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
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One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
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The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
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Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
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Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
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The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
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The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
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Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

click this icon to hear music

At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 16

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
click this icon to hear music

Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
click this icon to hear music

The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
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The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
click this icon to hear music

Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

click this icon to hear music

At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 17

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
click this icon to hear music

Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
click this icon to hear music

The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
click this icon to hear music

The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
click this icon to hear music

Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

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At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 18

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
click this icon to hear music

Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
click this icon to hear music

The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
click this icon to hear music

The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
click this icon to hear music

Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

click this icon to hear music

At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 19

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
click this icon to hear music

Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
click this icon to hear music

The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
click this icon to hear music

The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
click this icon to hear music

Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

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Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
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Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

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When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
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Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
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The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

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At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 20

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
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One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
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The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
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Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
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Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
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The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
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The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
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Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
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The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

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At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 21

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
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Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
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The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
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The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
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Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

click this icon to hear music

At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 22

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
click this icon to hear music

Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
click this icon to hear music

The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
click this icon to hear music

The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
click this icon to hear music

Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

click this icon to hear music

At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 23

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
click this icon to hear music

Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
click this icon to hear music

The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
click this icon to hear music

The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
click this icon to hear music

Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
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The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

click this icon to hear music

At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 24

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
click this icon to hear music

Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
click this icon to hear music

The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
click this icon to hear music

The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
click this icon to hear music

Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

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When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
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Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

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At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 25

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
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One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
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Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
click this icon to hear music

The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
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The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
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Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
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The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
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Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

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Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
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Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

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When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
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Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
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The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

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At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 26

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
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One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
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The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
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Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
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Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
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The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
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The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
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Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
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The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
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The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
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Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

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Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
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Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

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When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
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Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
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The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

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At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 27

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
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One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
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The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
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Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
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Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
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The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
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The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
click this icon to hear music

Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

click this icon to hear music

At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 28

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
click this icon to hear music

Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
click this icon to hear music

The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
click this icon to hear music

The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
click this icon to hear music

Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

click this icon to hear music

At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 29

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
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One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
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Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
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The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
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The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
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Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
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The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

click this icon to hear music

At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 30

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
click this icon to hear music

Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
click this icon to hear music

The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
click this icon to hear music

The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
click this icon to hear music

Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

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Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
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Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

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When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
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Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
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The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

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At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 31

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
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One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
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The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
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Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
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Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
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The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
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The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
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Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
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The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
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The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
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Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

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Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
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Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

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When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
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Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

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At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 32

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
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One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
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The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
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Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
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Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
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The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
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The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
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Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

click this icon to hear music

At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 33

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
click this icon to hear music

Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
click this icon to hear music

The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
click this icon to hear music

The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
click this icon to hear music

Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
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The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

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When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

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At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org


Slide 34

Hymns and Prayers in Dante’s Divine Comedy

A Journey through the Purgatorio

Arrival on the Island
of Mount Purgatory
Souls being ferried from the mouth of the Tiber
by the Angel Boatman arrive on the shores of the
island of Mount Purgatory singing Psalm 114 (113
A in Vulgata) which begins with the words In
exitu Isreael de Agypto . In Dante’s story, the
Tiber is the waiting place for those who, although
they die in the grace and friendship of God, are
still in need of purification. Not every soul is
immediately taken to the shores of the holy
Mount, some souls have to expiate by a delay for
a time determined by the “Just Will”.
Psalm 114 (113) is a “hymn to the glory and
power of God as manifested in the Exodus”
(Callan 530). The psalm is of special significance
in the Easter Liturgy, in which we commemorate
the mystery of our redemption, our exit from
Egypt. In the Office, it is placed in the four week
cycle on the Sunday of the first week, Sunday
being our weekly Easter.

Dante kneeling before the Angel Boatman
click this icon to hear music

One can imagine the sweet joy that fills the souls
of the elect because of their deliverance from the
second death, and because of their eagerness for
the expiation that will prepare them for
communion with God in paradise. They
spontaneously burst into this hymn of gratitude
and thanksgiving as they see come into view the
place of their expiation. Their being ferried across
the waters to the island of Mount Purgatory is
reminiscent of the Israelites’ being brought
through the Red Sea to salvation –“Mare vidit et
fugit” (Ver. 3).
Traditionally, Gregorian Chant has eight tones,
plus one special tone called the Tonus Peregrinus.
In the Norbertine Liturgy at least, this tone is used
only for Psalm 114 (113) and no other. Psalm 114
(113) is a central psalm in the Norbertine Paschal
Vespers, an ancient Liturgy celebrated only during
the Easter Octave and the Sundays of the Easter
Season. (Among the Latin rites, only the
Ambrosian rite has a similar custom). The psalm
is chanted during the procession to the baptismal
fount.
click this icon to hear music

The souls of the elect arrive on the shores of
Mount Purgatory singing psalm 114

Ante Purgatory
Before beginning their expiation on
Mount Purgatory, some souls are
delayed in Ante-Purgatory, because
they made God wait during their
lives, repenting only at the end.
Ante-Purgatory has four classes of
sinners on varying levels at the base
of the cliff. The first two classes of
souls are those of the
excommunicated, and then of the
indolent. Dante does not have these
souls say a particular prayer, but they
all petition urgently that he obtain
from those still living on earth,
prayers that will hasten them to their
ascent. Indeed, this is the request of
all the souls on the Holy Mountain,
but those at the base of the cliff
petition for these prayers even more
urgently.
The souls of the late repentant coming
to speak with Dante

“‘Therefore Judas Maccabeus
made atonement for the dead, that
they might be delivered from their
sin’. From the beginning the
Church has honored the memory
of the dead and offered prayers in
suffrage for them, above all in the
Eucharistic sacrifice, so that, thus
purified, they may attain the
beatific vision of God. The
Church also commends
almsgiving, indulgences, and
works of penance undertaken on
behalf of the dead. (CCC 1032)
In the Missa pro Defunctis the
Agnus Dei (Lamb of God) does
not end with the usual miserere
nobis and dona nobis pacem, but
in petitions for the dead: dona eis
requiem, and dona eis requiem
sempiternam
click this icon to hear music

Those who died by violence
without the last rites
The third class of sinners at the base of the
Mountain are those who died by violence
without the last rites, but repented in their last
hour. They sing the Miserere (Ps. 51 (50))
verse by verse in alternating chorus as they go
about the Mountain base.
The Miserere is a prayer of penitence and
humble supplication. It is the fourth of the
seven psalms known from ancient times as the
penitential psalms. “It is presented anew to us
on the Friday of every week, so that it may
become an oasis of meditation in which we
can discover the evil that lurks in the
conscience and beg the Lord for purification
and forgiveness” (Bl. John Paul II, General
Audience, 7/30/03). Here at the convent, in
addition to the times of its cycle in the
breviary, we chant the Miserere daily, (except
for the Easter Octave when psalm. 118 (117)
is sung), after the midday meal, as we enter in
the choir in procession for the Hour of None.
click this icon to hear music

Bonconte died without the last rites

The souls who died by violence,
repenting in their last moments are the
first souls that we encounter on the
Island of Mount Purgatory who offer
prayers to God. Reciting the Miserere
they offer prayers of repentance –
“sacrificium Deo spiritus
contribulatus” (ver. 19), and petition
for aid – “a peccato meo munda me”
(ver. 4). While these sentiments are
characteristic of all the souls expiating
on the Holy Mountain, they are
particularly appropriate for this class
of souls who still need to have these
sentiments take deep root, because
their late repentance did not give them
sufficient time to imbibe them. This
prayer, as with every prayer offered by
the penitents on the Holy Mountain,
serves not only for expiation of sin,
but also to form in the souls of the
prayers the sentiments that they
express.
La Pia asking Dante to obtain prayers from those still living
for her speedy ascent up the Holy Mountain

The Flowering Valley of
Negligent Rulers
The Salve Regina is the prayer of the souls in
the Flowering Valley of Rulers. They are the
final class of late repentant souls waiting in
Ante-Purgatory. The souls here are shown
more indulgence than the other late
repentants, because, their divinely bestowed
responsibility to administer temporal affairs
absorbed all their time, so that they only
repented at the end of their life.

The appropriateness of this hymn as the
prayer of the inhabitants of the valley is found
within its verses: “ad te suspiramus gementes
et flentes in hac lacrymarum valle”. Theirs is
literally a valley of tears and sighs, and they
turn to the Blessed Virgin for pity. As with
most of the prayers in the commedia, the
Salve Regina expresses in some way the
physical condition of the singing souls, and
the physical condition of the penitents is in
turn an expression of their state of soul.
click this icon to hear music

The Valley of Negligent Rulers

From about the 13th century, the Salve
Regina began to make its way into the
Church’s Liturgy as a concluding
anthem of Compline. Today, in the
Roman Breviary it retains this early
tradition although it has been, and
continues to be, used in other liturgical
and paraliturgical settings. Blessed John
Paul II, by way of commentary on this
hymn asked: “How many times have I
seen that the Mother of the Son of God
turns her eyes of mercy upon the
concerns of the afflicted, that she
obtains for them the grace to resolve
difficult problems, and that they, in their
powerlessness, come to a fuller
realization of the amazing power and
wisdom of Divine Providence?”
(Homily, August 19 2002).

Madonna della Misericordia

The Serpent
In the Valley of Kings, the holy souls
undergo a nightly ritual in which they call
to our Lady for protection from the
Serpent, the ancient enemy, with the hymn
Te Lucis Ante Terminum. In response, the
queen of heaven sends two green Angels
from her bosom. The serpent soon appears
and is put to flight by the Angels.
Te lucis Ante Terminum is the Compline
hymn in the Roman Breviary. In some
places, it is used all year round. Many
monasteries replace the Te Lucis with the
Christe qui splendor et dies at various
seasons of the Liturgical year. “The term
Compline is derived from the Latin
completorium, complement, and has been
given to this particular Hour because
Compline is, as it were, the completion of
all the Hours of the day: the close of the
day” (New Advent).

The Angels drive away the Serpent
click this icon to hear music

The first two verse of this hymn,
(according to the version in the preVatican II breviary) read as follows: Te
lucis ante términum,/Rerum Creátor,
póscimus,/Ut pro tua cleméntia/Sis præsul
et custódia. (Before the ending of the day,
we beseech Thee, Creator of all that is, that
according to your mercy, You may be our
patron and protector). Procul recédant
sómnia,/et nóctium phantásmata;
/hostémque nostrum cómprime,/Ne
polluántur córpora.(May dreams and the
phantoms of night be cast far off; And
subdue our enemy, least these pollute our
bodies). These lines are particularly
appropriate in the Valley of Kings both in
regards the setting – the approaching of
night (see verse one) and the intention of
the prayers – protection from the ancient
enemy, the serpent (see verse two). By
their nightly ritual the inhabitants of the
valley, learn to strengthen their faith, hope
and love. On the Island of Mount
Purgatory souls learn not only to reject
vice, but also to become filled with virtue.

Our Lady crushes the head of the Serpent

The Gates of Purgatory
Finally, Dante and Virgil reach, by Divine
aid, the gates of the Holy Mountain through
which they enter into Purgatory proper. As
they pass through the gates, the souls within
burst into a Te Deum, the Church’s hymn of
praise and thanksgiving.
“There are no other gates higher than this
one, and when one reaches Purgatory, one
has entered heaven” (Class Video Canto IX).
Entrance into purgatory is not a source of
sadness for souls, because “the soul is aware
of the immense love and perfect justice of
God and consequently suffers for having
failed to respond in a correct and perfect way
to this love; and love for God itself becomes
a flame, love itself cleanses it from the
residue of sin” (Benedict XVI General
Audience 1/12/11). Passing through these
gates, souls are aware that the beatific vision
of God is assured. United by Love to those
already within the gates, a great cry of
rejoicing resounds within the celestial realms
at the arrival of another child of God, and the
crowd of the elect sing with one voice
praising God: “Te Deum laudamus te
Dominum confitemur…”.
click this icon to hear music

Dante’s Miraculous Transport to
the gates of Purgatory

The Te Deum is used in the
Liturgy of hours at the end of
Matins (Office of Reading) on
those days when the Gloria is said
at Mass: all Sundays outside
Advent, Lent, and Passiontide; on
all feasts (except the Triduum)
and on all ferias during Eastertide.
“In addition to its use in the
Divine Office, the Te Deum is
occasionally sung in thanksgiving
to God for some special blessing
(e.g. the election of a pope, the
consecration of a bishop, the
canonization of a saint, the
profession of a religious, the
publication of a treaty of peace, a
royal coronation, etc.)” (New
Advent).

The Angel Guardian of the Gates of Purgatory

The Proud
Those expiating the sin of pride on the first
Conice of Mount Purgatory pray an extended
form of the Pater Noster as they walk around
pressed to the ground under the weight of
heavy boulders. Pride is “essentially an act or
disposition of the will desiring to be
considered better than a person really
is…[pride] strives for perverse excellence”
(Hardon)

The Penance of the Proud

“The Lord's Prayer is the quintessential
prayer of the Church. It is an integral part of
the major hours of the Divine Office [Lauds
and Vespers], and of the sacraments of
Christian initiation: Baptism, Confirmation,
and Eucharist. Integrated into the Eucharist it
reveals the eschatological character of its
petitions, hoping for the Lord, "until he
comes" CCC 2776.

The opposite of pride is the humble
acceptance of the truth about ourselves,
namely that we are poor creatures
dependent on God for all things. Thus, it
is fitting that the Pater Noster, which is a
humble acknowledgement of our
dependence on God our Father, and at the
same time a petition for his providence, be
the basis of the prayer of the proud.
“Every petition of the prayer is for the
grace of humility and subservience to
God’s will, and the last petition is for the
good of others” (Ciardi 125). In order to
attain to the vision of God, the proud must
abandon the vice of seeking to be like
God but, without, God, and contrary to
God. They must learn the virtue of which
our Lord spoke of when he said: ‘Unless
you become as little children you shall not
enter the Kingdom of God’ (cf. Mt. 18:3).

The envious
The souls who through envy failed in Love of
neighbor during their earthly life pray the Litany of
the saints as they expiate their sin on the second
cornice of the Mountain. Envy is “sadness and
discontent at the excellence, good fortune, or
success of another person. It implies that one
considers oneself somehow deprived by what one
envies in another or even that an injustice has been
done” (Hardon).
At the heart of envy is a failure in love, and this is
the breakdown of community. The envious have
their eyes sewn shut, for it was through the eyes
that envy of neighbor entered their hearts. In
addition, the support that they must give one
another as a result of their blindness teaches them
to rely on one another, forging the bonds of
community love. Ciardi notes that in praying the
litany of the saints, the envious spirits are
“invoking those who are most free of envy”. The
significance of the communion of saints is
precisely that it is a communion, bound together by
the bonds of Love. They pray to the saints that they
may be like the saints, full of love for God and
neighbor. Ciardi also notes that “they are chanting
‘pray for us’ rather than ‘pray for me’ as they might
have prayed on Earth in their envy (146).

Among the Souls of the Envious

“Through the litany, the Church invokes the Saints
on certain great sacramental occasions and on other
occasions when her imploration is intensified: at the
Easter vigil, before blessing the Baptismal fount; in
the celebration of the Sacrament of Baptism; in
conferring Sacred Orders of the episcopate,
priesthood and deaconate; in the rite for the
consecration of virgins and of religious profession;
in the rite of dedication of a church and consecration
of an altar; at rogation; at the station Masses and
penitential processions; when casting out the Devil
during the rite of exorcism; and in entrusting the
dying to the mercy of God. The Litanies of the
Saints are expressions of the Church's confidence in
the intercession of the Saints and an experience of
the communion between the Church of the heavenly
Jerusalem and the Church on her earthly pilgrim
journey” (Directory 235). The clip below was
recorded at St. John’s Cathedral in Fresno during
the Solemn Professions and the Solemn Erection of
our community as an independent priory of the
Praemonstratensian Order, on January 29th of this
year.
click this icon to hear music

The Communion of Saints

The Wrathful
The souls of the wrathful, situated on the third
ledge of Mount Purgatory expiate their sins in a
dark and stinging fog and they offer up ‘three
prayers every one beginning with Agnus Dei’.
“The Agnus Dei, the litany which accompanies
the breaking of the bread, “asks for mercy and
addresses Jesus as the Passover Lamb whose
sacrificed body has poured out his blood for the
forgiveness of sins. The Agnus Dei is the same
as that cited in the Book of the Apocalypse,
which proclaims the worthiness of the Lamb
that was slain and the blessedness of those
invited to the wedding feast of the Lamb. The
antiquity of the Agnus Dei in the Roman rite is
such that many scholars accept that it was Pope
Sergius I, 687-701, who introduced it in the
Mass. The third invocation, Agnus Dei, asks for
peace because the Blessed Eucharist is a
Sacrament of Peace because it is the means
whereby all who receive it are bound together in
unity and peace” (priest in communion rites).

The souls of the Wrathful

The lamb is the symbol of meekness.
Meekness is “the virtue that moderates
anger and its disorderly effects. It is a
form of temperance that controls every
inordinate movement of resentment at
another person’s character or behavior”
(Hardon). While the stinging fog serves
to heal the wrathful of their corrosive
state of spirit, and of that blindness
inculcated in the soul by unreasonable
rage, the suppliant cry of the penitents to
the Lamb of God, sung in “perfect
unison” serves to inculcate the virtue of
Meekness and the virtue of brotherly
love. It is because of our Lord’s
meekness that He could accept all the
insults of humanity, He accepted it even
unto the shedding of His blood, and by
His wounds, He makes into one all
whom sin has driven apart, bringing
peace between those who were divided.
The Agnus Dei is a fitting prayer for the
wrathful.

The Slothful

Souls of the Slothful

Dante does not assign a prayer to the souls of the
slothful. The run around the fourth cornice
shouting out the whip and the rein of Sloth. Sloth
is too little love for the good resulting in a
sluggishness of soul in seeking after the good.
Later in the Purgatrio, Dante will be severely
reprimanded by Beatrice precisely for not
pressing further towards "the Good beyond which
nothing exists on earth to which man may aspire"
(33:22). Beatrice judges, and Virgil will come to
acknowledge, that this sloth was his chief sin. It
was the reason why he was lead astray so that in
the middle of his pilgrimage he found himself in
a dark wood.
All the Souls in Purgatory are there for a failure
in Love. Those on the lower slopes of the
Mountain - the proud, envious and wrathful - are
there because of bad Love. The slothful have too
little love. Those souls on the higher reaches of
the Holy Mountain - the avaricious, the gluttons
and the lustful - have an immoderate love. The
purpose of purgatory is to bring souls to a right
love.

click this icon to hear music. This piece is part of the Gradual from the Missa pro Defunctis

The Avaricious
The 25th verse of the 119th Psalm (118) - My
soul clings to the dust – is the prayer of the
avaricious expiating their sin on the fifth cornice
of Mount Purgatory. “The sinfulness of Avarice
is the fact that it turns the soul away from God to
an inordinate concern for material things. Since
such immoderation can express itself either in
getting or spending, the Hoarders and the
Wasters are here punished together in the same
way for two extremes of the same excess
(Ciardi).
“The purpose of psalm 119 (118) is to inculcate
and express loyalty and devotion to God’s law, so
that whole hearted obedience to the Divine Will,
as opposed to self will and service of the world
will become the guiding principle of life (Callan
550). In the Roman Breviary Psalm 119, the
longest psalm of the Psalter, is divided into
twenty two parts for daily recitation during the
little hours of the Office.

Allegorical Image of the Human Heart with
the seven deadly sins. The Toad represents Avarice

The Avaricious do penance for their sin by lying
outspreaded face down on the ground as they
weep. In the Purgatorio, as with the other two
Cantica of the Comedy, Dante’s idea of
Contrapasso is always at work. Contrapasso “is
a perfect system of divine justice for human
ontology – that is, our state of being defines our
place in the cosmos” (Mahfood, The Four Levels
of Allegory). The exterior posture of the
penitents is an expression of the interior reality
of their souls, expressed by the verse – my soul
clings to the dust. Just as in life, they clung to
material wealth, which is passing and dust. So
now, they cling to the dust in expiation.
Commenting on this verse, St. Robert Bellarmine
says: “’My soul hath cleaved to the pavement’ to
the groveling things of this world; ‘quicken me
according to thy word;’ grant that I may lead a
life agreeable to your law; for by my love of the
things of this world I am become a carnal man;
but if I should live according to your law, which
is a spiritual one, I shall adhere to God and
become one spirit with Him”.
click this icon to hear music

The Avaricious

Statius
Whenever a soul feels so healed and purified
that he is ready to ascend to Paradise, there is
an earthquake on the Mountain as the soul
rises, and there is such a loud peal as all cry:
Gloria in excelsis Deo. In Canto 20 of the
Pugatorio, such a cry is raised up for Statius,
an ancient poet, who in the comedy
represents the triumph of the purified soul.
He had been expiating the sin of prodigality
on the fifth Cornice for over five hundred
years, and prior to that had spent over four
hundred years in Ante Purgatory for hiding
his Christian faith and so making God wait.
“The Gloria is a very ancient hymn of Greek
Origin…It is a beautiful Trinitarian doxology
which begins with the hymn of the Angel at
Bethlehem. It is a joyful answer to the Kyrie
and is the song of the redeemed who
proclaim the greatness of God and Christ,
and with an eager confidence implore a share
in the graces of redemption ( Amiot 38). The
Gloria is sung at Mass on Sundays outside of
Lent and Advent, and on feast days,
solemnities and special solemn occasions.
click this icon to hear music

Dante with Statius and Matilda

Like the souls in Ante Purgatory,
who cannot pass into Purgatory
proper until they have served their
allotted time, or obtained aid by the
prayers of the faithful to shorten
their time, the souls on the Mountain
cannot ascend to their celestial bliss
until they are wholly healed and
purified. “Before Purgation [the
soul] does not wish to climb, but the
will High Justice sets against that
wish moves it to will pain as it once
willed crime”(Canto XXI :64).
When a soul is finally done with its
purgation, so that it is pure and holy,
it is free to ascend to enjoy the
vision of God, and all of heaven
rejoices, giving glory to God for his
marvelous achievement.

The Gluttons

The souls of the gluttons expiate their sin on the sixth
cornice by their deep hunger pangs as they pray these
words from Ps. 51 – O Lord, my lips. Gluttony is “an
inordinate desire for the pleasure connected with food or
drink.
The Domine labia mea opens the Office of Matins Office
(Ofiice of Readings). The Verse and response taken from
Psalm 51:17are V. Domine labia mea aperies, R. Et os
meum annutiabit laudem tuam.
Our mouths are given us to praise the Lord, regardless of
the activity that we are engaging them in at any given time
(e.g. eating or speaking). St. Paul tells us: “Therefore,
whether you eat or drink, or whatsoever else you do, do all
to the glory of God” 1 Cor. 10:31. Thus, it is fitting that it is
by this prayer of praise that the gluttons “loosen the knot of
debt that they owe eternity” for in using their mouths to
seek their own pleasure they did not praise God.

click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Gluttons

The Lustful
This Hymn, traditionally sung at the office of
Matins on Saturday, is the prayer of the Lustful
who are being purified by fire.
“The Hymn is a prayer for chastity begging
God, of His supreme clemency, to burn lust
from the soul and to leave the suppliant chaste”
(Ciardi). These lines from the hymn are
particularly appropriate both for the setting – the
penitents are burning in a flame – and for the
penance – since they burned with the unholy
fire of lust in their earthly lives, on the Mount
they burn with the fire of Charity: Lumbos
adure congruis/tu caritatis ignibus/accincti ut
adsint perpetim/tuisque prompti adventibus.
(Burn our lions/with fitting fires of Charity/that
girded, they may be present continually/and be
ready at your coming). Catherine of Genoa
described purgatory not so much as a physical
location but an inner fire. “The term purgatory
does not indicate a place, but a condition of
existence …in which every trace of attachment
to evil must be eliminated, every imperfection
of the soul corrected.” (Bl. John Paul II General
Audience 8/4/99).
click this icon to hear music

Souls of the Lustful

Before the pilgrims can enter into the
earthly paradise, they must all pass
through the wall of fire, which Ciardi
notes is the same fire, that burns the
souls of the lustful. All souls, even if
they do not have any purgation on the
Holy Mountain must walk through this
fire. Man, due to Original Sin, is born
with the three-fold lusts described by
St. John as the concupiscence of the
eyes, the concupiscence of the flesh
and the pride of life. He must be
purified of these lusts before he can see
the vision of God. In the comedy,
entrance into the earthly paradise
symbolizes the attainment of Original
Justice which is a state in which one is
purified of all lusts and so is truly
Master of himself. But, to attain the
vision of God original justice is not
enough, faith, hope and charity are
necessary.

The Earthly Paradise

The sight of Matilda, radiant with joy in the Earthly
paradise, confuses Dante the pilgrim. He does not expect
that such joy to be taken in the things of the earth, beautiful
as they are. Matilda tells him that he would find the answer
to his puzzle over her joy in these words: “quia delectasti
me, Domine, in facture tua: et in operibus manuun tuarum
exsultabo ” Ps 92:4 (91).
St Robert Bellamine commenting on this verse said: in
studying the works of your hands “I have been delighted
beyond measure with them, but it was not your works that
delighted me, for I did not dwell upon them, but it was in
yourself I delighted”. Psalm 92 it is set for recitation on
Saturdays at the hour of Lauds for the cycle of the second
and fourth weeks.
“All things are pure to those who are pure”. Hence,
Matilda, symbol of the active life of the soul, and Dante’s
guide to Beatrice in the earthly paradise, can take delight in
the works of God. At this level of the ascent, after the
purification of earthly lusts through fire, man, the pilgrim,
may take delight in the things of the world with no fear of
becoming attached to them. Restored to the state of original
justice, there is no more danger, through created things he
may ascend to the most High.

Paradise

click this icon to hear music

When Dante first sees Matilda by Lethe, she is walking in
the woods of the earthly paradise, singing. Her song is
“Beati quorum tecta sunt pecata” an elision of Psalm 32
(31).
This psalm which we pray on Thursday of the first of the
four week cycle, is the second of the seven psalms that have
traditionally been called the penitential psalms. “St Cyril of
Jerusalem (fourth century) uses Psalm 32[31] to teach
catechumens of the profound renewal of Baptism, a radical
purification from all sin (cf. Procatechesi, n. 15). Using the
words of the Psalmist, he too exalts divine mercy” (John
Paul II General Audience 5/19/04).

Matilda gathering Flowers by
the Waters of Lethe

Matilda song is about the waters of Lethe. In them, the
words of this psalm are fulfilled: Beatus cui remissa est
iniquitas et obtectum est peccatum. St. Robert Bellarmine,
commenting on its first verses says: “No one can fully
appreciate the value of health until they have had to deplore
the loss of it”. Dante will have to deplore his sins before he
can drink of Lethe whose waters wash “from the souls who
drink from it , every last memory of sin” (Ciardi 291).
Dante is about to undergo a baptismal ritual in which he
will drink from and be washed in the waters of Lethe. It is
Beatrice must prepare him to drink these waters. She arrives
in the procession of the heavenly pageant
click this icon to hear music

Beatrice
The elders call forth Beatrice, from the heavenly
pageant with the words” Veni Sponsa de Libano
taken from the song of songs 4:8. The heavenly
pageant is an allegory of the Church Triumphant.
At her appearance, the angel chorus cries
“benedictus qui venis” Blessed are you who come,
a slight change from the verse in Matt. 21: 9, which
says Blessed is he who comes.
The appearance of Beatrice marks a new beginning
in the soul life of Dante the Pilgrim. Up till now he
has, by the aid of Virgil (human reason), journeyed
to the heights of virtue, and attained to the state of
original justice. Now, he must begin a new life of
Faith, Hope and Love so as to attain to the vision
of God. It is Beatrice, the symbol of Holy Mother
Church, dressed in the colors of the theological
virtues, who will be his guide. She is called forth
from the Heavenly Pageant as “Sponsa”, bride
because the Church is the bride of Christ. At her
appearance the angels cry “benedictus qui venis”
(cf. Mt. 21:8) for she brings, tidings of great joy,
namely Revelation, by which man attains to God.
click this icon to hear music

The Arrival of Beatrice

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

As Matilda immerses Dante in Lethe, after his
confession and deep repentance, she sings these
words of psalm 51: Asperges me hyssop, et
mundabor, (sprinkle me with hyssop and I shall be
cleansed) then, she made him drink of the sweet
waters of forgetfulness of sin.
Beatrice’s sharp reprimand brings Dante to a teary
confession and to such repentance that ‘all the use
and substance of the world which he most loved
appeared his foe’. The Baptismal ritual begun with
the calling of Dante’s name, is nearing its
completion. He has renounced sin and all its works,
and been immersed in waters that wipe away sin.
Having drank from the river Lethe, he will soon
enter into the new life of his soul, in faith, hope and
charity. St. Robert Bellamine, in his commentary on
this verse of the psalm notes that David is “alluding
to the ceremony described in numbers 15, where
three things are said to be necessary to expiate
uncleanness: the ashes of a red heifer, burnt as a
holocaust; water mixed with the ashes; and hyssop
to sprinkle it. The ashes signify the death of Christ;
the water, baptism; and hyssop, faith”.

Cleansed in
the Waters of Lethe

The Corruption
of The Church
Dante witnesses, the heavenly chariot (a symbol of Holy Mother
Church) from the heavenly pageant transformed into a seven
headed monster being driven by a giant. On the monster is riding
an ungirt harlot. This vision is an allegory of the corruption of the
Church. The seven holy nymphs (who represent the theological
and cardinal virtues) raise a lament with the words of psalm 79
(78) “Deus Venerunt Gentes…”
Psalm 79 appears in the Liturgy of Hours on Thursday of week three
as the little hour of the day. The Liturgy of the Hours is meant to
sanctify the temporal order. It extends, the mystery of Christ celebrated
in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, all through the day. As we chant the
psalms of the Office, the realities that these words signify are made
present, and efficacious, and the mystery extends to the limits of the
earth for the praise of God and the sanctification of souls .

Psalm 79 laments the destruction that enters God’s Holy church at
the advent of the nations, i.e. those powers opposed to the reign of
God: “Deus venerunt gentes in hereditatem tuam polluerunt
templum sanctum tuum, posuerunt Ierusalem in ruinas” (79:1) –
O God, the nations have come into your inheritance, they have
defiled your holy temple, they have placed Jerusalem in ruins.
Dante laments the state of the church of his time, but in the words
of Beatrice, who, as a symbol of the Church speaks the word of
Christ, we see that in the end the Church will triumph: “modicum
et non videbitis me; et iterum, modicum, et vos videbitis me” (Jn.
14:16).

The whore of Babylon

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At Beatice’s command, the seven holy nymphs lead Dante, the pilgrim to the second
spring in the earthly paradise, Eunoe. The waters of this spring strengthen every good.
Having drunk form Lethe, and received a final healing reprimand for Beatrice, he
drinks from these waters. Dante’s purification is complete. He has been “baptized” into
the new life of the Blessed in heaven.

I came back from those holiest waters new,
Remade, reborn, like a sun-wakened tree
That spreads new foliage to the Spring dew
In sweetest freshness, healed of Winter’s scars;
Perfect, pure and ready for the stars
(Last lines of the Canto XXXIII of Dante’s Purgatorio)

This presentation is dedicated to our most Holy and Loving Mother, the
Queen of Heaven, under the title Flos Carmeli. May she find many persons
in the Pilgrim Church who will assist her in bringing relief and aid to her
beloved children, the holy souls in Purgatory.
Languentibus in Purgatorio
Qui purgantur adore nimio,
Et torquentur gravi supplicio,
Subveniat tua compassio
O Maria

This presentation is © Norbertine Canonesses of the Bethlehem Priory of St. Joseph. www.norbertinesisters.org