Paradiso (140 page)
Authors: Dante
52–60.
From Peter, Dante wants to know two things: why he seemed, by his proximity, so affectionate toward him and why, for the first time in the heavens, song has yielded to silence.
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58–60.
Saturn is marked by an atmosphere of monastic self-denial. It is the home of the cardinal virtue temperance and of religious meditation. The absence of melody in Saturn is singular thus far in
Paradiso
, for we and the protagonist have become accustomed to hearing sacred songs as we ascend the spheres: “Ave Maria” in the Moon (
Par.
III.121–122); an “Osanna” in both Mercury (VII.1) and Venus (VIII.29); the singing of the souls in the Sun is referred to a good half dozen times, but it is only in XIII.25–27 that we are informed that they sing, not of Bacchus nor of Apollo, but of the Trinity; next we learn that the unidentified song in Mars contains the words
Risurgi
and
Vinci
(XIV.125) and that the souls in Jupiter sing of God (XVIII.99). Underscoring the uniqueness of the silence of this sphere, the final three heavens are also marked by song: the Starry Sphere by Gabriel’s song for Mary (XXIII.103–108) and by the other members of the Church Triumphant crying out, to the ascending mother of God, “Regina celi” (XXIII.128). In the succeeding sphere, various moments in Dante’s progress among his saintly interlocutors are punctuated by voices raised in song: “Dio laudamo” (XXIV.113), “Sperino in te” (XXV.73), “Sperent in te” (XXV.98), “Santo, santo, santo” (XXVI.69), “Al Padre, al Figlio, a lo Spirito Santo,
gloria
” (XXVII.1–2); in the Crystalline Sphere the angelic choirs resonate with “Hosannah” (XXVIII.94); in the Empyrean we hear once more the “Ave Maria” (XXXII.95). See the note to
Paradiso
XXVII.1–3.
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59.
The adjective
dolce
(sweet) occurs with some regularity from one end of the poem (
Inf.
I.43) to the other (
Par.
XXXIII.63), 106 times in all.
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61–63.
Peter Damian gives his answer to the second of Dante’s questions first. It is brutally frank: Dante still thinks as the world thinks and is not yet ready to experience the higher degree of divinity that songs at this level represent. And now we also learn that this was precisely the reason for Beatrice’s withholding of her customary smile as well (see verse 4).
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64–72.
Peter’s answer to Dante’s first question is more circuitous, but reflects the same problem: Dante’s inability to think beyond the limits of a human comprehension of love. Peter’s affection for Dante is not greater than that felt by any others among the saved in Paradise, that is to say, it is not “personal.” We may remember Casella in
Purgatorio
II, whose greeting was very personal indeed, as a kind of control for our measurement of this affection.
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73–78.
Still a slow learner, Dante gets part of the message: In the Court of Heaven, freedom in loving is to follow God’s will, a similar paradox to that developed in Beatrice’s lengthy discussion of free will in
Paradiso
V.19–33. On the other hand, his follow-up question reveals that he is still eager to understand the
reason
for the choice of Peter Damian as the deliverer of heavenly greeting.
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77.
For Aquinas’s distinction (
ST
I, q. 23, a. 1) between providence and predestination, see Torraca (comm. to these verses). Carroll, in another context (comm. to
Par.
XX.130–132), cites this same passage in the
Summa
and paraphrases it as follows: “Hence Predestination is defined as ‘Divine Providence leading rational creatures to their supernatural end, the Beatific Vision,’ the entire process, from beginning to end, having its reason in the Divine will alone. It is not dependent on the foreseen merits of the elect; and the prayers of saints (such as Gregory’s for Trajan) are only part of the second causes by means of which the decree of Predestination is worked out.” Bosco/Reggio (comm. to verse 78) also cite Thomas (
ST
I, q. 22, a. 3): “Two things belong to providence—namely, the type of the order of things foreordained towards an end; and the execution of this order, which is called government.” They go on to suggest that Dante was in accord with this view in
Paradiso
XI.28–30. Their point is that the subject here is not predestination, but divine foreknowledge of the actions of particular individuals.
For more on predestination, see the note to
Paradiso
XX.130–148.
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83–90.
Peter’s preamble tells Dante how he was filled with divine love for his mission, but
not
why, as his final point will insist.
Bosco/Reggio (comm. to these verses) paraphrase the passage as follows: “The light of grace descends on me, penetrating the light that wraps me round, in whose womb I am enclosed, and its power, conjoined with my intellect, lifts me so far above myself that I can see the supreme essence, God, from whom this light bursts forth. From this sight comes the joy with which I shine, since the splendor of my flame is as great as the clarity of my vision of God.”
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84.
Muresu (Mure.1996.2), p. 30, reports discomfort at the Dantean coinage
inventrarsi
on the part of several commentators. Among those he mentions are Tommaseo (comm. to this verse):
“non bello”
(not beautiful) is his laconic reaction. Andreoli (comm. to this verse) has this to say: The term is “unfit to describe a heavenly spirit speaking of his divine light.” But see Mattalia (comm. to this verse) for an understanding of Dante’s sense of the Scriptural relevance of the word, reflecting the Gospels’ references to Mary’s womb (e.g., Luke 11:27, cited by Virgil, as character, at
Inf.
VIII.45). As usual, Scartazzini (comm. to this verse) has a lengthy discussion of the variant readings. See also the two appearances of the noun
ventre
(womb, belly) in this
cantica
(
Par
. XXIII.104 and
Par
. XXXIII.7 and the notes thereto).
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91–102.
Neither the most exalted soul in Heaven, Peter explains, possibly referring to Mary (see
Par.
XXXI.116–117), nor one of the most enlightened of the highest order of angels, a seraph, can ever know the reasons for God’s decisions. This is the only limit, then, on even angelic intelligence. All those in the Empyrean can know, in God, all relations among all things, in heaven and on earth, but not the eventual reasons that might explain their causes. The urgency of Peter’s explanation to Dante is clearly aimed past him, to us on earth, who so enjoy imagining that we understand the root causes of events even though our normal sinful disability should probably deprive us of such baseless optimism in this regard. But we are little more mature than babies, forever asking “Why?” See, on this passage, Hawkins (Hawk.1995.1), p. 313.
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94–95.
The description of providence (God’s foreknowledge, which alone can account for the causes that lie behind the interrelations of
things) as an “abyss” suggests a “plurality of worlds,” this universe (known by the angels and the blessed) and the vast inner mind of God that extends (if it may be said to extend) to regions of which we cannot possess even the slightest knowledge nor indeed verify the existence. At least as early as
Purgatorio
III.37, Dante should have understood that such things were beyond knowing. Virgil then advised him that humans were not behaving rationally when they hoped to know the “why” behind things. Dante is, as we are frequently forced to acknowledge, a slow learner.
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103–105.
Discouraged from pursuing his quest for knowledge beyond both human and, indeed, angelic potential, Dante contents himself with asking Peter, in the form of his third question, to identify himself.
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106–126.
The seven tercets dedicated to the life of Peter Damian (1007–72) are reminiscent of the earlier saints’ lives that we have heard in
Paradiso
. Once again we begin with a geographical indicator (the mountain called Catria, in the Apennines, that rises some five thousand feet above sea level, near the town of Gubbio). Peter’s narrative is brief and self-abnegating (those of Francis [
Par
. XI] and of Dominic [
Par
. XII] are considerably more full, but then they are narrated by praiseful others, not by their abstemious selves). Peter’s is modesty itself, concluding with the ironic and bitter reflection on his having been made to give over the life of prayer that truly pleased him for that of “administration.”
“St. Peter Damian, proclaimed doctor of the Church by Leo XII in 1828; born of an obscure family at Ravenna
c.
1007. In his childhood he was much neglected, and after the death of his parents was set by his eldest brother to tend swine. Later on, another brother, named Damian, who was archdeacon of Ravenna, took compassion on him and had him educated. Peter in gratitude assumed his brother’s name and was thenceforth known as Peter Damian (Petrus Damiani). After studying at Ravenna, Faenza, and Parma, he himself became a teacher, and soon acquired celebrity. At the age of about 28, however, he entered the Benedictine monastery of Fonte Avellana on the slopes of Monte Catria, of which in 1043 he became abbot. In this capacity he rendered important services to Popes Gregory VI, Clement II, Leo IX, Victor II, and Stephen IX, by the last of whom he was in 1057, much against his will, created cardinal bishop of Ostia. He appears to have been a zealous supporter of these popes, and of Hildebrand (afterwards Gregory VII), in their efforts to reform Church discipline, and made journeys into France and Germany with that object. After fulfilling several important missions under Nicholas II and Alexander II, he died at an advanced age at Faenza, Feb. 22, 1072.
“Dante represents Peter Damian as inveighing against the luxury of the prelates in his day; the commentators quote in illustration a passage from a letter of his to his brother cardinals, in which he reminds them that the dignity of a prelate does not consist in wearing rare and costly furs and fine robes, nor in being escorted by troops of armed adherents, nor in riding on neighing and mettlesome steeds, but in the practice of morality and the exercise of the saintly virtues”
(T)
. While he was never formally canonized, he was venerated as a saint from the time following his death in several places in Italy and at Cluny.
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111.
John of Serravalle (comm. to vv. 106–111) distinguishes among
latrìa
(the accent in the poem may be due to the requirements of rhyme or, as Scartazzini suggests [comm. to this verse], to Dante’s small Greek),
dulia
, and
yperdulia
. The first is defined as honoring God alone; the second, those who are virtuous (e.g., the saints); the third, “things excellent” (examples are Mary and the cross). Tommaseo (comm. to vv. 109–111) mentions the appearance of the term in both Augustine (
DcD
X.1) and Aquinas (
ST
II–II, q. 81, a. 1). Pietro di Dante (Pietro1, comm. to vv. 106–111) was the first to cite Isidore of Seville for the term (
Etym
. VIII.xi.11).
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115–117.
This tercet contains one (of two) references to “contemplative” intellectual behavior or to those who perform it (see the reference to
contemplanti
in
Par.
XXII.46) in the heaven of Saturn. In neither case does it seem to refer to
contemplatio Dei
, but would rather seem to indicate monastic rumination, or meditation, thoughts that lead to God, but not a direct vision of Him. In fact, of the seven uses of the words derived from
contemplare
in the poem, beginning in
Purgatorio
XXIV.132, where Virgil, Dante, and Statius meditate upon Gluttony, only one would clearly seem to indicate contemplation of the highest kind, St. Bernard in
Paradiso
XXXI.111; but even that may have been contemplation of the Virgin (as his contemplation referred to in
Par.
XXXII.1 clearly is).
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121–123.
There has been controversy over the reference of the second Peter in this tercet. Petrocchi’s text has “fu’ ” (
fui
[I was]). And the logic of the phrasing also indicates a single reference: In place 1, I was called “x,” in place 2, “y.” Later historical certainty, which would make Dante responsible for knowing that there was another Peter, a monk in the monastery to which he has Pietro allude and who died there in 1119, may not apply. Scholars have pointed out that Dante’s knowledge of Peter Damian was itself suspect; he could easily have conflated these two religious of Ravenna
in this passage written, one assumes, after his settling in Ravenna circa 1317. However, since Peter Damian died in 1072, nearly fifty years before the death of Pietro Peccatore, Dante’s phrasing would seem quite odd: “In that place (his monastery at Fonte Avellana) I was known as Peter Damian, and Peter the Sinner was (
fu
, not
fu’
, abbreviation of
fui
) in the House of Our Lady …” The syntax and logic seem beyond rescue. The first version may be historically inaccurate, but it does make grammatical sense: “In that place I was (
fu’
, not
fu
) known as Peter Damian, and as Peter the Sinner in the House of Our Lady.” This view is in accord with the generally authoritative Michele Barbi (Barb.1941.2), pp. 257–96, and with the later discussion in Chiavacci Leonardi (Chia.1997.1), pp. 596–97 (with updated bibliography).
For a review of the history of the issue (and eventual agreement with Barbi’s analysis), see Pecoraro (Peco.1968.1), pp. 771–77. For strong support of Barbi’s views on the single identity of the two Peters, see Muresu (Mure.1996.2), p. 35n. That Benvenuto da Imola (comm. to vv. 121–123), who knew that part of Italy well, spoke so forcefully about the “deception” of those who believe that Dante is talking about two Peters probably should have concluded the debate long ago.
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