He makes it, indeed, a realm whose very
atmosphere is one of peace, because the will of God is done there even
in the midst of suffering. The greeting there is "My brothers, may God
give us peace" (XXI, 13). The penitents pray for a far greater measure
of peace: "Voices I heard and every one appeared to supplicate for peace
and misericord the Lamb of God who takes away our sins" (XVI, 15). When
the wrathful finish their penance an angel says to them, "Blessed are
the peacemakers who are without ill anger" (XVII, 68).
The waters of Purgatory are called "the waters of peace which are the
souls diffused from the eternal fountain" (XVI, 133). Dante addresses
the souls as certain of gaining the unending peace of Paradise. "O
Souls, sure in the possession whenever it may be of a state of peace"
(XXVI, 54). And when the day of release comes on which a soul attains
perfect peace, the whole mountain of Purgatory literally thrills with
joy and every voice is raised to join the harmonious concert of the
angelic hymn first sung at Bethlehem, _Gloria in Excelsis Deo_. In this
way does the poet teach us the lesson that both Purgatory proper and the
penitential discipline of life give us a peace wholly in contrast with
the uproar of sin whether heard in the halls of conscience or in the
eternal Hereafter.
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