Pope Francis publishes an apostolic letter entitled “Candor lucis aeternae” on the occasion of the 700th anniversary of the death of the great Italian poet, Dante Alighieri, and highlights the relevance, timelessness and depth of faith in Dante’s masterpiece: “The Divine Comedy.”
By Isabella Piro
700 years after his death in 1321, when he went into exile in Ravenna from his beloved Florence, Dante still speaks to us. He speaks to the men and women of today asking him to be read and studied, but also to be listened to and imitated on his path to happiness, that is, the infinite and eternal love of Ten.
This is how Pope Francis writes in his Apostolic Letter “Inaccessible light – Splendor of Light Eternal, “published on March 25, the solemnity of the Annunciation of the Lord. The date is not accidental: the mystery of the Incarnation, derived from Mary’s full and total acceptance of God’s plan, says the Pope, is “the true heart and inspiration of the whole poem” produced the prodigious exchange through which God enters our history becoming flesh and humanity “is welcomed into God, in whom he finds the true happiness “.
The Popes and Dante
Divided into nine paragraphs, the Apostolic Letter begins with a brief excursus into the reflections of various pontiffs on Dante. Pope Francis then draws on Alighieri’s life, calling it a “paradigm of the human condition” and emphasizing the “perennial relevance and importance” of his work. In fact, it is “an integral part of our culture,” writes the Pope, “Returning to the Christian roots of Europe and the West. It incorporates that heritage of ideals and values that the Church and civil society continue to propose. “still today as” the basis of a human social order in which everyone can and must see others as brothers and sisters. ”
Innate desire for happiness
There are two main pillars in the “Divine Comedy” – explains the Pope – namely: “an innate desire in the human heart” and “a fulfillment in the happiness granted by the vision of Love that is God”. That is why Dante is a “prophet of hope”: because with his work he urges humanity to free itself from the “dark forest” of sin in order to find “the right way” and thus achieve “the fullness of life and the time of history “. and “eternal bliss in God.” The path indicated by Dante, a true “pilgrimage” – the Pope points out – is “realistic and accessible” to everyone, because “God’s mercy always offers the possibility of change and conversion.”
Dante’s women
The Apostolic Letter also gives prominence to three female figures in the “Divine Comedy”: Mary, the Virgin Mary, who represents charity; Beatrice, who represents hope; and St. Lucia, who represents faith. These three women, who represent the three theological virtues, accompany Dante in different stages of his pilgrimage, proving that “we are not saved alone,” but that the help of those who “can support and guide us with wisdom and prudence” is needed. What moves Mary, Beatrice, and Lucy, in fact, is always divine love, “the source of salvation and joy,” “to renewed life, and therefore to happiness.”
Dante and St. Francis of Assisi
The Pope then dedicates another paragraph to St. Francis, who in Dante’s work is depicted in the “white rose of the blessed.” He sees “very common” between the saint of Assisi and the supreme poet: both, in fact, addressed the people, the first “went out among the people”, the second chose not to use Latin, but the vernacular language, the language of all. Both, moreover, open themselves to the “beauty and value” of Creation, a mirror of its Creator. A brilliant artist, whose humanism “continues to be timely and relevant”, Alighieri is also – he states – “a forerunner of our multimedia culture, because in his work” word and image, symbol and sound, poetry and dance converge to transmit a single message “.
A message for everyone
The Pope congratulates the teachers who “passionately communicate the message of Dante and introduce others to the cultural, religious and moral riches contained in his works” and calls for this “heritage” not to be closed in classrooms and universities, but that it is known and disseminated through the commitment of Christian communities and cultural associations. He also calls on artists to “give voice, face and heart, form, color and sound to Dante’s poetry following the path of beauty that traveled so masterfully” to spread “a message of peace, freedom and brotherhood.” A task, says the Pope, as relevant as ever in this historic moment, “clouded by situations of deep inhumanity and lack of confidence and prospects for the future.” The supreme poet – concludes the apostolic letter – can, therefore, “help us to advance with serenity and courage in the pilgrimage of life and faith that each of us is called to make, until our heart finds the true peace and true joy, to the ultimate goal of all mankind: The love that moves the sun and the other stars”.