He holds by that Church. He begs
Christians not to be moved feather-like by every wind of doctrine. 'You
have' he tells them 'the Old Testament and the New. The Pastor of the
Church guides you, let this suffice for your salvation'" (Brother
Azarias). In his devotional life Dante is just as ardent as he is firm
in his adherence to dogma. While all Catholics are held to profess a
common creed, each may follow the bent of his disposition and sympathy
in pious practices, theologically called devotions. It seems to me that
Dante had three such devotions which he practised intensely in his inner
life.
First, devotion to the sacred Humanity of Christ. In eleven places does
he speak at length of Christ's two-fold nature as God and Man; in ten
places does he refer to Christ as the Second Person of the Blessed
Trinity, and wherever Cristo occurs at the end of a line, Dante out of
reverence for the Sacred Person does not rime with it, but repeats the
name itself. The climax of the Purgatorio is the apparition of the
Griffin, the symbol of Christ. Further, on the stellar white cross of
red-glowing Mars the poet shows the figure of the Redeemer. In the
Empyrean Christ is represented in the unveiled glory of His human and
divine natures.
Pages:
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70