the lenten blogging series: Dante's Divine Comedy

With Lent just around the corner, it is almost time to start planning the annual lenten blogging series.  Last year I blogged through Augustine's Confessions as a bit of online lenten discipline.  My intention is to pick a "Christian Classic" and try to get through it during lent.  This year I'm contemplating Dante's Divine Comedy.  At least it begins with a good down-in-the-mouth lenten theme:  Abandon all hope, you who enter here. (Inferno. 03.009)

The general plan, as it is now being formulated, is to work through the Inferno and Purgatorio up to Easter weekend, and then spend Easter week exploring the joys of the Paradiso.

Comments

[anthony]

if you choose milton, ill read it w. you (ive read dante once, i think thats all i need)

[Leslie]

I hope there will offerings of supplementary Hebrew tattoos.

[joseph]

Leslie: perhaps a featured Hebrew tattoo a day until Easter...

anthony - wasn't Milton the guy who stole all his ideas from that Pullman guy who wrote "The Golden Buspass"?
seriously though, not a bad idea. My other thought was going through Augustine's City of God. But I have another week and a bit to decide.

[Leslie]

This revives my hope that I'll soon get my "abandon all hope" Hebrew tattoo!!!

[joseph]

Perhaps Ms Beckham will get one as well...

[Kate]

You two have me completely and utterly confused....

[joseph]

Kate, it's a long story. You need to read the comments. :^)

In the meantime, we will stick with our original plan. For simplicity of style, I'll use Sayers's translation of the Comedy. The task is rather simple in one regard: allow Dante to be our guide into the nature of sin in general and specific terms, look at the ways in which the soul is reformed through grace, and then (as far as we are able) to contemplate with him the joys of heaven and the vision of God. There will hopefully be at least 2-3 posts per week on the topic, along with the usual felix hominum news and features...