IWKnights Corner For September 19, 2021
– 25th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Did you know this about the IW Knights of Columbus?

Below is a follow-up piece relating to the Divine Comedy article which appears in the Columbia online magazine this month and was published in this column last week-end.  It is entitled “A Guide for Our Journey”. If you are interested in reading the entire article follow our link in the final paragraph.

“THE VATICAN does not typically make poetry recommendations, but Dante is not a typical poet. A century after Pope Benedict XV’s encyclical about the author of the Divine Comedy, Pope Francis again urged Catholics to read, study and teach Dante’s work in a recent apostolic letter.

In Candor Lucis Aeternae (Splendor of Light Eternal), issued to commemorate the 700th anniversary of the poet’s death, Pope Francis describes Dante as “a prophet of hope and a witness to the innate yearning for the infinite present in the human heart.”

Significantly, the letter is dated March 25 — the feast of the Annunciation and the day the pilgrim-narrator of the Divine Comedy begins his journey. Pope Francis notes, “The mystery of the Incarnation, which we celebrate today, is the true heart and inspiration of the entire poem.”

The Holy Father then goes on to observe how Dante remains an extraordinary guide for the modern pilgrim:

‘Dante today — if we can presume to speak for him — does not wish merely to be read, commented on, studied and analyzed. Rather, he asks to be heard and even imitated; he invites us to become his companions on the journey. Today, too, he wants to show us the route to happiness, the right path to live a fully human life, emerging from the dark forest in which we lose our bearings and the sense of our true worth. Dante’s journey and his vision of life beyond death are not just a story to be told; they are more than the account of a personal experience, however exceptional.’

‘If Dante tells his tale admirably, using the language of the people yet elevating it to a universal language, it is because he has an important message to convey, one meant to touch our hearts and minds, to transform and change us even now, in this present life.’

Columbia marked the 600th anniversary of Dante’s death with the cover story of its second issue, in September 1921. The following is excerpted from ‘Dante’s Message to Our Time,’ an essay published that month by the noted Catholic author and editor Condé B. Pallen.

‘Dante limns the medieval world with a breadth and depth, splendor and intensity unequaled in literature, with a sureness of touch and a vividness of delineation that make his world of six hundred years ago as alive to us as our own. The modern world turns to Dante and his age because it is in quest of reality; it is tired of mere phenomena, of which it has had its fill, and now finds that it has been feeding upon husks. It craves the substance of life and not its shadow.’

‘In the second place, the modern world turns to Dante because it finds him exceedingly human. Though depicting the other world, he never loses sight of this. Indeed, his other world is only the consummation of this. So closely is the natural interwoven with the supernatural that, whether in Hell, Purgatory, or Heaven, we always feel the pulse of the human heart and the throb of human passion. The literal is never lost in the abstract and reality never evaporates in the symbol. Virgil may be the symbol of Human Reason, but he is always the poet of flesh and blood, Dante’s beloved teacher and guide. Beatrice may be the symbol of Divine Wisdom, but she is always the adored and blessed lady of his affections. … Notwithstanding the exaltation and sublimity of his theme, Dante is as human as Shakespeare and as profound in his humanity.’”

To find the link to our feature story - and other information about the Knights of Columbus -  can be found at IWKnights9981.com/bulletin or on facebook.com/IWknights9981 and NOW on Twitter at twitter.com/IwKnights.

Links Related to this week’s column: