DAN-06Literary work (not testimony)Account·Dante·Literary work (not testimony) — poetry, read as a window on its age, not as a report
Virgil on whether prayer bends heaven's decree; pagan prayer "had none access to God"; he defers to Beatrice
How it happened
- Visions of Purgatory itselfThe witness is shown the place, or a release
What the soul wanted
- Teaches about the afterlifeJudgement, levels, durations, pains, helps
Evidence
- None stated in the source
Further reading
Read it in the books
| Book | Pages |
|---|---|
| Dante, PurgatorioPurgatorio — Dante Alighieri, c. 1308–1320 | Purg. VI 28–48 |
Page numbers refer to the edition named in the source list.
The Church’s teaching on this
- Chapter: The Three States of the Church and the Communion of Saints
- Question: Do the souls in Purgatory know we pray for them?
- Question: Can the souls in Purgatory pray for us?
- Question: Can my refusal to forgive keep a soul in Purgatory?
- Chapter: The Saints and Mystics
- Chapter: The Church’s Definitions
- Question: How should I weigh private revelations about Purgatory?
What the witnesses report on this
- Theme E: What the souls know, and do, for the livingWho prays for them, whether they pray for us, warnings, help and gratitude.
- Theme J: Discernment — soul, demon, or imaginationHow witnesses and clergy tested apparitions, and what the Church leaves free.
About the witness
Dante, Purgatorioc. 1308–1320 · Literary work (not testimony) — poetry, read as a window on its age, not as a report
More from Dante
- DAN-01Dante: Manfred, excommunicated but repentant: a wait thirty times his contumacy unless good men's prayers shorten it; "tell …
- DAN-02Dante: Belacqua waits outside the gate as long as he delayed repentance, unless prayer "from heart which lives in grace" helps
- DAN-03Dante: Jacopo del Cassero asks the prayers of the people of Fano
- DAN-04Dante: Buonconte: "Giovanna nor none else have care for me"
- DAN-05Dante: Pia: "remember me"
- DAN-07Dante: Provenzan's early ascent despite late repentance, won by his voluntary humiliation
- DAN-08Dante: Sapia helped by the hermit Piero's prayers
- DAN-09Dante: Marco Lombardo: "pray for me, when thou shalt come aloft"
- DAN-10Dante: Statius, prostrate "so many an age"
- DAN-11Dante: Forese drawn early from the ante-purgatory by his widow Nella's tears and prayers