Wednesday, 26 November 2025 2:00 PM –
Friday, 28 November 2025 11:00 AM
Wednesday – afternoon
- Arrived a little past 2pm. I feel surrounded by nice people. The monks remember me. I hope that’s a good thing…. LOL! …. (Oh boy, it’s that pesky Protestant again. Has it been another year already?)
- Cambridge is going well. I’m in my third year and I feel ready to use the tools I gained in the previous two years. This year’s emphasis on the Philosophy of Creativity is a departure from “hardcore” subjects like logic and metaphysics. But, I’m determined to apply as much of what I’ve learned as possible. I am considering finishing my Diploma (Level 5) and proceeding with a Degree (Level 6). If my studies can remain focused on Philosophy, I will be happy. I was able to write about “Divine Creation” and “The Divine Comedy” as topics this term, so I’m pleased.
- Work is fine. I like the paycheck. I actually can’t wait to retire. I just need enough retirement income to be able to camp, ride my bike, go to Cambridge, eat out, drink wine, and enjoy life. Is that too much to ask for?
- I chose the “Thanksgiving at Valyermo” (a self-guided retreat) because I wasn’t interested in the Christmas program this year. I brought all three books in Dante’s “Divine Comedy”. My goal is to read through as much as possible, and keep reading in December until I finish. I haven’t finalized my term paper for Cambridge yet. But, I’m close. I want to take some time to absorb the poem and reflect on it. I reached out to Fr. Luke in order to have a conversation with him about its creative aspects. He taught on it in 2021 during the retreat on NEW LIFE. He agreed to discuss it a little with me.
- When I went to bed, I had a thought: “I should setup my will to leave everything I have to St. Andrew’s Abbey”… It’s a great idea. I have no family of my own. I don’t feel committed to any of the ministries or churches I’ve known. But strangely, I feel a deep connection to St. Andrew’s Abbey. Now I just need to write out the details and find an Executor.
Thursday
- I finished reading Inferno. The poetry is beautiful, but the topic is gruesome. I’m glad to be done with it.
- As a Protestant, Purgatory has no place in our doctrine. However, I am starting to wonder if Dante’s second book provides a picture of an “earthly life well lived”, after we are committed to Christ. I’m listening.
- “where the soul of man is cleansed”. true liberty (freedom from sin) is the goal of the entire purgatorial process.
- Time passes in purgatory, not in hell, or paradise. It’s the mountain where Justice tries our souls. The mountain that unsins us as we climb.
- A change in character, including a shrewd understanding of exactly what I have been within myself, precisely what I sounded like to others.
- Dante, like us, is a soul still rooted in the body. ‘But if love for the highest sphere could turn your longings toward heavenly things, … the more of goodness each one owns.’
- The wounds of sin are to be healed (the 7 P’s erased). First legally, then practically (first slowly and then all at once).
Friday – morning
- I spoke with Fr. Luke about “The Divine Comedy”. It was a very enjoyable conversation. He shared the perspective of the Church at the time of the book’s writing. Modern interpretations are not consistent with the opinions of Dante’s contemporaries. His favorite portion is the crossing over two rivers before entering paradise: Lethe and Eunoe:
- We wade through the river Lethe (Greek for “forgetfulness”) which purges our memory of our sins.
- We drink from the river Eunoe (Greek for “good mind”) which strengthens our memory of those good things we accomplished in life.
- ‘Here it is called Lethe and on the other side Eünoè, but its water has no effect until they both are tasted.
- I kept reading Purgatorio… climbing and circling each terrace of the mountain that straightens those made crooked by the world.
- The order of levels in Inferno reverses in Purgatorio. Those sins that are least in Hell are last purged. The sins that are hardest to purge (because they most distort love toward other people – pride, envy, wrath) come first; the sins that are more about misdirected or excessive love toward things or the self (greed, gluttony, lust) come later and are easier to cleanse as one approaches God.
- ‘The lower faculties now inert, memory, intellect, and the will remain in action, and are far keener than before.’
- There was a temporal fire that was at the end of the mountain climb. Death of the Flesh before Eternal Life, one last barrier.
- ‘Broken would be the high decree of God should Lethe be crossed and its sustenance be tasted without payment of some fee: his penitence that shows itself in tears.’