Purgatorio Faith Quotes Page 1

Dante thinks Virgil contradicts himself by claiming that prayer can benefit living souls, but saying the opposite in his Aeneid. However, Virgil defends the truth of his statements by qualifying his Aeneid statement with the fact that those who pray in the Aeneid are pagan and thus their prayers are “without a passageway to God.” This all-important “passageway” is faith. Those with faith, it is implied, can use “prayers” to “mend their fault.”

Virgil’s only real sin, the only reason he is in Hell, is his lack of faith. This hardly seems fair, since Virgil was born before the time of Jesus, and thus could never have heard of Christianity. Nevertheless, faith in Jesus is a prerequisite for Dante’s Heaven, so Virgil’s lack of faith keeps him forever from the ultimate paradise.

Each of the seven P’s represents “peccatum,” the Italian word for “sin” but which can also mean “wound.” The number seven signifies that Dante will have to pass through all seven terraces of Purgatory, to battle each of the seven capital vices, to reach Heaven. In order to “wash away these wounds,” Dante must have faith in God that He will provide Dante with the willpower to work through the pain of penance, no matter how agonizing it becomes.