Christ's Church is here 'til the End of Time

In Dante's 'Divine Comedy' there is a procession at the top of Mount Purgatory which is the natural Paradise where Man was to live without sin, but with Original Sin it is the Garden from which Man was cast out. In this procession the Chariot, pulled by the Griffin (Christ), represents the Church. The Chariot is surrounded by the Cardinal virtues and the Theological virtues. Dante wrote his masterpiece in Italian, so instead of trusting to a translation I will kneel before a commentary by my friends professors Aldo Bernardo and Anthony Pelligrini from their recently reissued work 'Companion to Dante's DIVINE COMEDY'. These excerpts come from canots 32 and 33 of Purgatory:

Canto XXXII (commentary): By asking Dante not to stare too fixedly at Beatrice, the Virtues remind him that Revelation cannot be grasped directly, but must be seen through its manifestation in the Church. The procession now begins to march back toward the East, from which it had come. Thus would the Church have peacefully returned to its abode, were it not for the drama of the Fall. The several tableaux following the outcry of Adam's name seek to portay the ramifications of man's original sin. The temporal tree of Law (or knowledge of good and evil) provides the focus for all the tableaux. The bare tree does not give signs of life until the chariot is securely fastened to it by the griffin. Only in the alliance of Church and State can the human race enjoy perfect peace, symbolized by Dante's dropping into a tranquil sleep.

When the sleeper awakens, Christ and the Scriptures are no longer on earth, having left behind as official representative the Church, with Revelation as guide accompanied by her handmaidens, the seven Virtues. The tableaux that follow epitomize the vicissitudes of the Church, which Beatrice asks Dante to record for the benefit of mankind. The attack upon the tree and the chariot by the eagle represents the persecution of the Christians by the early Roman emperors. The repulsed attack by the fox symbolized the attempts of heresy to undermine the Church from within and the role of Revelation in warding off such inroads. The eagle's subsequent return and covering of the chariot with its feathers recalls the Emperor Constantine's so-called donation to the Church, which for Dante marked the beginning of the Church's usurping temporal powers. The attack upon the chariot by the dragon stands for Satan's success in producing the great schism which divided the Church, Wast and West. With the assumption of temporal possessions by the Church, corruption followed, as symbolized by the further covering of feathers which finally engulfed the entire chariot. The seven monstrous heads that sprout at key points on the chariot represent the seven captial vices which infected the Church following its assumption of temporal powers. the closing scene of the unbridled harlot and the passionate giant dramatizes the illicit relations, in Dante's own day, between the Papacy and the House of France.

The soul on its way to salvation has thus been shown how seriously mankind has thwarted God's plan. Had man not been so proud, he could have enjoyed full membership in the original procession. Confusing temporal and spiritual values, he perversely chooses rather to test his own powers of self-reliance.

Canto XXXIII (commentary): the symbolic words and actions of Beatrice at the beginning of this canto define even more clearly her role as Revelation. In the hands of sinners and heathens, the Church, like Christ, may seem to depart for short periods of time, but it is destined always to return in ever greater glory. Thus, even while the Church is in the worst possible state, as was portrayed at the end of the previous canto, Revelation attended by the seven Virutes is still capable of escorting a soul on the road to salvation.

If the Mass is the Heart of the Church, which it must be since it is the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Christ as given to His Church by Christ, and if the Tridentine Mass was/is the True Mass in the Latin Rite and was exiled from the Church for about 40 years, still the Church could not be destroyed, for She is here for all time and still 'Revelation attended by the seven Virtues is still capable of escorting a soul on the road to salvation.' Souls have still been put on this road to salvation even during the time of the exile of the True Mass. Now we celebrate the return of the Sacrifice of Christ on the Altar. Christ Rose from the Dead for our salvation. The Sacrifice of the Mass is brought back for our salvation. Deo Gratias. As imperfect as man is God never seems to give up on us. May we continually take advantage of God's Mercy, even to our own salvation and everlasting glory with God in heaven.