Dante has journeyed through Heaven, the realm of God’s light, a place impossible for a mortal to fully remember, much less describe. Nevertheless, he calls upon God for help in writing as much as he can.
Dante and his beloved, Beatrice, begin their journey a few days after Easter Sunday. From the Earthly Paradise at Purgatory’s summit, the two are lifted skyward by a kind of heavenly gravity. Dante finds that he can withstand brief glances at the blazing sun (the lights of Heaven representing God), but usually he must resort to gazing at the eyes of Beatrice (who represents indirect revelation of God). However, even that is sometimes too much for his vision to handle.
Beatrice and Dante first visit the heavenly sphere of the Moon, the first of nine spheres. Observing the varied markings on the Moon’s surface, Dante and Beatrice discuss God’s providence—the way his will is expressed in widely varying ways throughout creation. Dante also speaks with souls residing in the Moon’s sphere, including Piccarda, who dwells in this cloudy, variable sphere because of the inconstancy of her will during life. However, Piccarda is perfectly happy with her destiny because her will is completely in harmony with God’s, and she cannot desire anything besides what God gives.
After this encounter, Beatrice resolves one of Dante’s philosophical doubts. She explains that all souls in Heaven actually dwell within the Empyrean (the highest sphere of Heaven where God, angels, and saints reside). In other words, all souls in Heaven are enthroned in God’s presence. But right now, the souls are appearing in lower spheres of Heaven in order to accommodate Dante’s limited understanding.
Next, Dante and Beatrice ascend to the sphere of Mars. Dante meets the soul of the Emperor Justinian, who recounts the Roman Empire’s just and powerful history—a legacy that none of today’s rulers can aspire to match. For Dante, this conversation with Justinian brings to mind a burning question about God’s justice. Dante wonders how it was just for Christ’s Crucifixion to be avenged by the destruction of Jerusalem. Beatrice explains that Christ’s Crucifixion satisfied justice in two respects: earthly (meaning it upheld justice in the eyes of Christ’s persecutors) and heavenly (meaning it upheld justice in God’s eyes). Thus, Christ’s earthly persecutors could be justly avenged for tormenting him, even if the Crucifixion itself was a just act undertaken for humanity’s redemption. Beatrice goes on to explain that God chose the atonement as the means for humanity’s redemption in order to display his generous character.
Beatrice and Dante reach the sphere of Venus next. Here Dante is reunited with the soul of his old friend Charles Martel. Together, they discuss the mystery of God’s providence, which works through indirect means—such as angelic powers, the stars, and the movements of the individual soul—in order to direct people in various ways. Dante also chats with two cheerful souls, Cunizza and Folco, who both succumbed too much to romantic passion in life, yet whose natural inclinations are transformed to holiness by God in Heaven.
The sphere of the Sun is Dante’s and Beatrice’s next stop. There, they meet the soul of the great theologian Thomas Aquinas, who introduces Dante to the souls of some of the Church’s finest intellects. Aquinas was a member of the Dominican order, but he praises Francis of Assisi, founder of the Franciscans, for his adherence to a life of poverty. Afterward, the soul of St. Bonaventure, a Franciscan, praises Dominic, founder of the Dominicans. Both these “princes” of the Church labored to withdraw the Church from errors (attachment to wealth and toleration of heresy), yet their successors fall short of their examples.
As Dante and Beatrice emerge within the sphere of Mars, Dante sees a gleaming cross forming across the sky; a brief, indescribable vision of Christ flashes forth from it. Then an individual soul introduces himself as Cacciaguida, Dante’s great-great-grandfather. Cacciaguida compares the decadence of present-day Florence unfavorably with the modesty, simplicity, and happiness of Florence two centuries earlier. He also predicts Dante’s coming exile for speaking out, through his writings, about Florentine corruption.
When Dante and Beatrice ascend to the sphere of Jupiter, they witness the souls of the forming a giant, glittering Eagle in the sky, which speaks to Dante regarding justice. The Eagle especially considers the matter of non-Christian souls who are condemned to Hell, pointing out that hypocritical Christians suffer a worse fate, and that ultimately, God’s justice remains inscrutable to humans. The eagle harshly condemns the pestilence of injustice among European Christian rulers.
Next is the sphere of Saturn. Here, Beatrice and Dante meet the souls of contemplatives, who ascend and descend a ladder of light. One of these souls, Peter Damian, discourages Dante from inquiring into the profound mystery of predestination. Instead, he and his fellow souls, including St. Benedict, loudly lament the opulence and corruption of monks today. Their vehemence startles Dante.
Ascend to the sphere of the fixed stars, Dante finds he is now able to endure Beatrice’s radiance for a longer stretch of time than before. Beatrice tells St. Peter to examine Dante in his faith, hope, and love. St. Peter asks Dante questions about his belief in God and its basis in the Bible. St. James then asks Dante about the substance and ground of his hope, which Dante identifies as the hope of Heaven and friendship with God, likewise taught throughout the Scriptures. Finally, St. John quizzes Dante about love. Dante names Christ as the summation of love, toward which Scripture, philosophy, and God’s goodness inexorably draw him. Dante then has the chance to meet and question the soul of Adam, the first human being created by God.
After Dante’s successful completion of his examination in faith, hope, and love, all of Heaven sings joyously. Then, St. Peter, glowing fiery red with indignation, condemns the corruption of the papacy and emboldens Dante to write against the evils of his day.
Dante and Beatrice now ascend to the ninth sphere, called the Primum Mobile. This sphere directs the movements of the other spheres in space and time. Beatrice explains the physics of the spheres and the nine hierarchies of angelic powers, each corresponding to one of the heavenly spheres. Beatrice also discourses on the nature of creation and the fall of humanity and denounces useless theological speculation.
Leaving the material spheres behind, Beatrice and Dante enter the Empyrean, where God, the angels, and the saints reside beyond space and time. Beatrice instructs Dante to drink from a river of light so that his intellect will be able to grasp what he sees here. Once he does so, he’s able to see the glorified saints enthroned on many tiers, which form a white rose.
After Dante contemplates the white rose for a while, he turns toward Beatrice and is surprised to discover that she has returned to her throne in the Empyrean, suggesting that he no longer needs her guidance. In her place is St. Bernard of Clairvaux, a contemplative, who points out the Virgin Mary’s surpassing radiance in the distance, as well as the enthroned souls of many biblical and historical figures.
St. Bernard prays to the Virgin Mary to aid Dante and then encourages Dante to look into the light of God. The experience exceeds Dante’s ability to describe it with language or even to really remember it. But he nonetheless attempts to recount it for the reader and describes the vision in two parts. First, he sees creation contained within God, with all of creation’s diversity bound together in God’s unified plan. Second, he gets a fleeting yet soul-satisfying glimpse of the Holy Trinity, including the unity of Christ’s human and divine natures. After this vision, Dante’s will moves in harmony with God’s, and his journey is finally complete.
