With all that is going on, I struggled to get through this week. In my book, nine Cantos was something like 160 pages, including the introduction to Purgatory as well. With all the notes and heavy language and combined with the distractions just made it difficult. I will put all of that aside because here we are.

As I have stated earlier in this review, I am not a believer in Purgatory. I have never really studied it and so I really don’t know much about it. After reading this week, I can kind of, sort of get a sense of it’s purpose in the role of heaven. At least I understand how the religion effects the after world.

Again, I imagine that I will get a real education throughout the series. But, for instance at the different levels are those that sought repentance from God at their last moments. Above them are people that died without last rites, like being killed in battle or murdered. Presumably they were mostly good or faithful but didn’t get a final blessing before death.

I don’t fully understand third shelf. It was political leaders who led their states into conflict, I think. Things do get mixed up between figures here versus other leaders in the Inferno. Like I stated there, I think this is as much as what side they were on in Dante’s perspective rather then their actual deeds.

Just as in hell, the symbology runs deep in Purgatory. Hell was all dark all the time. Purgatory has days and nights. Purgatory is described as a mountain. It is steepest at the start and gets easier as you go. The idea is that eventually, if souls stay on the right path or wait long enough and are earnest in their repentance that they will eventually advance. Just as the mountain is steep, they could just as easily not advance or give up. Makes sense to me.

Canto nine ends at the gates of Purgatory. There are moral challenges and judgement to entering. Also, the sentry warns them not to look back on entry or they will be kicked out. This is a serious stage gate in the afterlife.

Part and parcel with my beliefs, I don’t take the Catholic view of baptism to heart. Reading along here it was indicated people that died before receiving the initial baptism go not to purgatory but to hell. Presumably to the very first level that Virgil is in which is the level for souls before Christ. My belief in the new covenant and a benevolent God finds this belief almost counter-intuitive.

End Your Programming Routine: I am not anti-Catholic. I respect most faiths that generally fall into order with my line of beliefs. There is a lot of good that they do throughout the world and I have a lot of interaction with that faith because my wife’s family is largely Catholic. Heck, I’ve gone to baptism class twice even to be god-parents. There is just some doctrine I cannot get behind. Babies dying condemned to hell, while politicians waiting to get into heaven, no.