Mark Vernon's video: Paradiso 19

This year, 2021, marks the 700th anniversary of the death of Dante, author of the great Divine Comedy. I invite you to experience the odyssey, by accompanying me as I discuss each canto. (My book, Dante’s Divine Comedy: A Guide For The Spiritual Journey, is published by Angelico Press for the 700th anniversary of Dante’s death on 13th September 2021.) Dante begins his journey by waking up in a dark wood. The air tastes bitter. He becomes fearful. Truth is out of reach. But his crisis is a turning point. Many today, too, are waking up to something that's gone wrong. The air tastes bitter, people are fearful, truth is out of reach. We’re in a spiritual crisis. We must see the world afresh and understand. I believe Dante can help us discover how. Canto 19 addresses the question of how finite creature can resonate with the infinite. He speaks with the eagle and also asks how those who did not hear about Christianity in life can be condemned. It seems so unjust, so it is a good question for the sphere of Jupiter. It turns out that acknowledging ones finitude is the prerequisite for knowing more of God's infinitude. It is this that Lucifer failed to do. This leads to the question of what it means to know Christ, and so be a Christian. It is entirely possible that the person who speaks as a Christian reflects little or nothing of God, and vice versa. There is an MP3 version of the talk, a sign up to the podcast version and receive notifications, and more at www.markvernon.com/dantes-divine-comedy. If you wanted to discuss the Comedy with others, a Discord-based gathering is currently running here - https://discord.gg/nuzPzn5. I recommend the translation by Mark Musa in the Penguin Classics edition, both for its accessibility and notes. The images that accompany my discussion are by Gustav Doré (in black and white), William Blake (in colour), Sandro Botticelli (the drawings), Giovanni de Paolo (illustrations) and assorted manuscripts.