User:InkInAJar/Purgatorio

Before the pilgrim begins his journey ascending Mount Purgatory starting on Canto X of Purgatorio, the space that contains the excommunicated and those who repented late spanning Cantos 1-9 is defined as Ante-purgatory. The poet has never explicitly named this section as “Ante-Purgatory”, but his pilgrimage through Purgatory proper is initiated by the angel guarding the gate of Purgatory in Canto IX: With the point of his sword he traced seven P’s

upon my forehead, then said: ‘Once you are inside,

see that you wash away these wounds.’ Statius also establishes "the mountains’ holy law" in response to the pilgrim's inquiry. ‘Here nothing ever changes.

Only by that which Heaven gathers from Itself,

and from nothing else, can any change be wrought, ‘so that not rain nor hail nor snow

‘so that not rain nor hail nor snow

nor dew nor hoarfrost falls above

the gentle rise of those three steps below. ‘Clouds, dense or broken, do not appear,

‘Clouds, dense or broken, do not appear,

nor lightning-flash, nor Thaumus’ daughter,

who appears in many places in the sky down there, ‘nor does dry vapor rise above the highest

‘nor does dry vapor rise above the highest

of those three steps of which I spoke,

where Peter’s vicar sets his feet. In addition to natural phenomena only occurring in “those three steps below”, meaning Ante-purgatory, the crowds of souls whom Dante and Virgil first meet when they arrive at this realm marvel at Dante’s body in the flesh as well (Canto II-III). Ante-purgatory is therefore characterized by the lingering attachment to earthly life and affairs.

Overview of Purgatory
In the poem, Purgatory is depicted as an island-mountain in the Southern Hemisphere. This realm is divided into three parts. The bottom slopes of Mount Purgatory (Purgatorio I–IX) have been designated as "Ante-Purgatory" by commentators. Purgatory proper consists of seven levels or terraces (Purgatorio X–XXVII) of suffering and spiritual growth, associated with the seven deadly sins. Finally, the Earthly Paradise is located at the top of the mountain (Purgatorio XXVIII–XXXIII).

Passage of time
As described in the Inferno, the first twenty-four hours of Dante's journey took place on earth and started on the evening of Maundy Thursday, 24 March (or 7 April) 1300 (Inf. I and II), and the next full day (Good Friday) was spent exploring the depths of Hell with Virgil as a guide (Inf. III–XXXIV.69). Dante and Virgil spent the next day ascending from Hell to see the stars (Inf. XXXIV.70–139). They arrive at the shore of the Mountain of Purgatory – the only land in the Southern Hemisphere – at 6 am on Easter Sunday, which is 6 pm on Sunday in Jerusalem, since the two points are antipodal. Dante describes Hell as existing underneath Jerusalem, having been created by the impact of Lucifer's fall; the Mountain of Purgatory was created by a displacement of rock caused by the same event. The Purgatorio picks up where the Inferno left off, describing Dante's three-and-one-quarter-day trip up the mountain that ends with Dante in the Earthly Paradise at the time of noon on Wednesday, March 30 (or April 13).

Prayer in Purgatory
Prayer is a dominant theme throughout Purgatory. Many of the souls the pilgrim meets are depicted in prayer, with multiple liturgical references to psalms and hymns throughout the terraces. Prayers on behalf of the souls from the living back on Earth are also a big part of the cantica, with some souls the pilgrim meets along the way requesting prayes from living relatives and even from the pilgrim himself. Dante learns from Manfred of Sicily in Ante-Purgatory that, in Purgatory, prayers from othes work by shortening the wait that souls have to endure before entering Purgatory proper and accelerating the rate at which souls ascend Mount Purgatory. One soul, Forese Donati, has gotten through Ante-Purgatory and the majority of the terraces only five years after his death thanks in large part to the prayers of his wife on Earth, Nella. The pilgrim receives eleven distinct requests for prayer from individual souls in Purgatory; with most of the requests coming from souls in Ante-Purgatory and decreasing in frequency as the pilgrim progresses through Purgatory.

Article body
Before the pilgrim begins his journey ascending Mount Purgatory starting on Canto X of Purgatorio, the space that contains the excommunicated and those who repented late spanning Cantos 1-9 is defined as Ante-purgatory. The poet has never explicitly named this section as “Ante-Purgatory”, but his pilgrimage through Purgatory proper is initiated by the angel guarding the gate of Purgatory in Canto IX: With the point of his sword he traced seven P’s

upon my forehead, then said: ‘Once you are inside,

see that you wash away these wounds.’ Statius also establishes "the mountains’ holy law" in response to the pilgrim's inquiry. ‘Here nothing ever changes.

Only by that which Heaven gathers from Itself,

and from nothing else, can any change be wrought,

‘so that not rain nor hail nor snow

nor dew nor hoarfrost falls above

the gentle rise of those three steps below.

‘Clouds, dense or broken, do not appear,

nor lightning-flash, nor Thaumus’ daughter,

who appears in many places in the sky down there,

‘nor does dry vapor rise above the highest

of those three steps of which I spoke,

where Peter’s vicar sets his feet. In addition to natural phenomena only occurring in “those three steps below”, meaning Ante-purgatory, the crowds of souls whom Dante and Virgil first meet when they arrive at this realm marvel at Dante’s body in the flesh as well (Canto II-III). Ante-purgatory is therefore characterized by the lingering attachment to earthly life and affairs