Canto I

When I was in highschool I was in a bookstore for some reason with my dad. I’d seen a copy of The Divine Comedy and I mentioned an interest in it. My dad, God bless him, said something to the effect of, “if my boy wants to read The Divine Comedy I will get him The Divine Comedy!” and he bought the book.

It was a rare enough experience for me to have impressed my dad that the memory of it stuck with me. I attempted to read it, and got so far as Canto XI before giving up, judging by the bookmark I found in the book.

The “promise” to my dad echoed in my ears through the years and I kept the book. I graduated highschool in 2009, and became Catholic in 2018, and here I am sitting down, at last, to read it properly in 2026. Armed with the Catholic Faith, and some tantalizing “exegesis” from friends of the blog, I am now, 17 years later, ready for this book.

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It begins with a note from the translator or publisher, “How to read” this book. I probably skipped this in highschool, and even if I didnt I had no framework on which to hang my early reading. It goes into some low hanging symbols, and emphasizes that later details cast earlier details in a different light. “No man can finish reading The Divine Comedy”.

As I read this note, I realize that this is probably the perfect time for me to take this journey. I dont know the extent to which I suffer from the sin of Acedia—I wouldnt diagnose myself with it but I would say it is a danger to all souls. I do have this sense of having stalled out, I mentioned previously a spiritual aridity. So undertaking the Divine Comedy seems fitting—to help me surrender and learn to Love with divine love I ought to follow Dante on his pilgrimage across the topography of Divine Love.

The three beasts that block Dante’s way and which invite Virgil’s guidance are the Leopard (fraud), the Lion (violence and ambition), and the She Wolf (incontinence). Dante has awoken to sin, seem the joyful hill of Gods love, but found his way blocked by these beasts which appeal to mans fallen human nature. In a way, Dante has realized he is his own obstacle, and must have a guide to get out of his own way and learn to love with a divine love and stop thinking as a human thinks.

I dont think Machiavelli was a contemporary of Dante but I dont think they are far removed from each other. The Prince is an instruction manual for how to be a good Lion, rather than find the way to God he doubles down on his kinship with the beasts. He was, perhaps, “raised by wolves”.

For my own reflection, I think the leopard is how I get in my own way these days. Not that I am deceitfully fraudulent, but if Christ demands hearts I can SAY my heart is His but do i mean it? I believe, help my unbelief. I need to root out the parts of me that are attached to my own comfort, my own reputation, my own desire for worldly satisfaction, and let myself be restless until I rest in Thee.

Anyway—merely the first canto in. Expect more as I go. I wont update after every Canto, but I will update as often as I have something to say.

This will be a good journey for lent.

AMDG