Canto
XXVII
Still
in the Starry Sphere and Adam having completed his explanation of his
transgression, all the souls in Paradise sing the Glory Be. The beauty of the song fills Date (the
character) with immense joy and peace.
The four souls in front of him (Peter, James, John, and Adam) are now
aflame like four torches, and Peter stepping forward turns red. He angrily goes into an invective on the
corruption of the current holder of the See of Rome, Dante’s arch enemy Pope
Boniface VIII. St. Peter is so angry
that even the heavens turn red, and Beatrice too turns color. Peter goes on to further deplore Boniface,
calling him a ravenous wolf and prophesies that Providence will soon punish
him. He tells Dante directly that Dante
has a burden to tell the world the truth about Boniface. Once Peter is finished, Dante and Beatrice
start rising to the next sphere—the Crystalline Sphere—and half way there
Beatrice has Dante once again look back to see the smallness of the earth and
remnants of past sins. When they finally reach the Crystalline
Sphere, Beatrice reading Dante’s mind, answers his questions on the nature of
the universe. She explains that the
Crystalline Sphere does not have a physical existence but resides as part of
the mind of God. It is this light and
love that wraps around the physical universe like a “flowerpot.” Beatrice goes on to decry the sinful state of
man that fails to realize the love of God, mostly because of failed human
leadership.
Canto
XXVIII
Now
in the Crystalline Sphere, Dante looks into Beatrice’s eyes and sees reflected
the center point of the revolving universe.
When he turns to look at the point directly, the beam of light is so
sharp, bright, and piercing that he momentarily goes blind again. The point of light, so incredibly small but
so intensely bright, is God. Around the
pinpoint which is God are nine circles, and each circle is comprised of a queue
of angels burning bright and rotating around the center point. Each circle is made up of a particular type
of angel. The innermost is made up of
Seraphim; the next Cheraphim followed by Thrones, then Dominions, Virtues,
Powers, Principalities, Archangels, and Angels.
Beatrice divines Dante’s befuddlement and explains. The innermost circle spins the fastest
because it is powered by flaming love.
Each subsequent circle spins slower than the previous, the outermost the
slowest. Dante (the character) responds
that this runs counter to earthbound spinning wheels where the farthest from
the center, the faster the velocity.
Finally Dante understands that the speed is relational to love. At this the circles sparkle with flame. All these angels look upward toward God,
though their actions effect those below.
Canto
XXIX
Still
in the Crystalline Sphere, Beatrice perceives that Dante wonders how many
angels there are, why did God feel the need to create angels, and why so
many? Beatrice explains the number of
angels is finite, answering a long debated question, but of an astronomical
number (two the 64th power) and that God didn't need to make angels but made
them to express and expand love. The
more one creates with abundant love, the more abundant is love, and so God
shows his creative generosity in the large number. She goes on to explain the nature of
angels. She says that St. Jerome was
wrong about angels being created before the universe. All creation happened in a flash of light at
the same time. At that time things of
only form, things of only matter, and things of mixed form and matter were all
created. Angels are of form only. She explains that the bad angels fell almost
immediately through their pride. Good
angels are humble. Similar to the fallen
angels, Beatrice explains that bad preachers on earth concoct some new, trendy
theology to impress people and attract followers. She says that this is a violation of Christ's
mandate to humbly preach the Gospel, not idle nonsense. It's precisely because of this foolishness
that people on earth have lost their way.
She redirects his attention back to the angels. She points out how God's love is what causes
them to glow.
Canto
XXX
Still
at the Crystalline Sphere and at mid-day, the pilgrims begin rising upward
toward the Empyrean. Dante (the
character) unable to look at the center light, turns his eyes toward Beatrice. Her beauty has once again increased and now
transcends to a level that only God could fully appreciate it. Dante as a poet cannot capture it in
words. He realizes that he has been
trying to capture her beauty since he first saw her at nine years old, but now,
defeated as a writer, he has to quit.
She explains that the Empyrean is a place of pure light, of love, of
joy, and of sweetness. As Dante enters,
he is once again blinded. In his
blindness he sees a flowing river of light with sparks flying off onto the
flowers on the banks. He is told his
eyes must drink of this light, and he places his face into it so that his eye
lashes are washed. When he lifts his
head, he can now see and sharper than ever.
He can now see that the river runs in a circle and all those sparks
flying off are angels and all those flowers on the banks are human souls. He can now see all. He can see the creator's light, reflected
across the heavens from which moves all motion.
He sees across the Empyrean a structure that is in the form of a rose,
with the point of light that is God at the center. With her last words, Beatrice invites him to
see the City of God with all its heavenly goodness, which, she says, contrasts
with Florence, that city of greed and strife.
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