Dante Book IV Canto IX Scene III

 Canto IX

Time to step into it

Scene III

“I had spoken. We don’t know. You are the one who will know.” The Angel replied.

“Can I have it please?” Dante asked while handing out his hands.

“Before you receive it, you need to be marked for each stage of your completion.” The Angel raised the sword in his hand. “I need to imprint the signs on your forehead.”

“Branding? Milestones? Is this another mode of your testing parameters?” Dante asked. “Am I another of your program?”

“I do not dictate. I am merely in adherence to the parameters set.” The Angel looked at Dante. “It’s the pre-requisite to move in.”

“Let us find another gate, Poet.” Virgil tapped on Dante’s shoulder. “We can ---”

“No, I ---- I can’t go back. We need to move on.” Dante looked to the Angel. “Do your worst. I am prepared to move on but I need to do a prayer first. He was still on his knees.

“I can assume that I am not capable of cruelty and assume that others are worse than me that I show myself to be the lost lamb in the flock. I need my shepherd.” Dante went down on his knees and asked for assistance. He clasped his hands to his heart and prayed. He recited verse Isaiah 30:21; And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.

Virgil who was standing the poet looked at him while he asked in his prayer not once but thrice. He looked to the Angel who stood there waiting. Dante then stood up and then said.

“I am ready.”

The Angel proceeded to place the tip of the sword on the forehead. The seven deadly sins were carved into Dante’s forehead with the letter ‘P’ for each; there were seven markings there on his forehead.

“The words herewith will be of helping us to see that we all have within us the seeds of sin. It meant forgiveness, growth, and grace for it meant to look in the mirror and knock upon the doors of our hearts.” The Angel voiced towards Dante who sighed then on the significance.

“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.” (Colossians 3:16.) The Angel spoke while he etched the forms on Dante’s forehead.

Upon completion of the branding, Dante heard the new sound, and his thoughts were on the lyrics of 'Te Deum laudamus' e "Te Deum laudamus" mi parea.”

“It’s the hymn ‘Te Deum laudamus’ is Latin for ‘God, We Praise You’ or in the abbreviated form, Te Deum. It’s the Latin hymn to God the Father and Christ the Son, traditionally sung on occasions of public rejoicing. According to legend, it was improvised antiphonally by St. Ambrose and St. Augustine at the latter’s baptism. It has more plausibly been attributed to Nicetas, bishop of Remesiana in the early 5th century, and its present form—equal sections devoted to the Father and Son, a half-clause to the Holy Spirit, followed by a litany—fits in historically with part of the Arian controversy (over the nature of Christ) of the 4th century. Much of the text is composed of traditional statements of belief, and, unlike most hymns, it is prose. The melody derives from various Gregorian and Gregorian melodic styles.”  Dante had then explained the lengthy statement.

You are God: we praise you;

You are the Lord: we acclaim you;

You are the eternal Father:

All creation worships you.

To you all angels, all the powers of heaven,

(https://www.britannica.com/topic/Te-Deum-laudamus).

“I am impressed. You seem to know Latin very well, and to translate that.” Virgil was impressed.

“I thought we had been through Hell would have made you knowledgeable to my linguistic skills.” Dante looked to Virgil. “Or are you trying to be the fool after the other had got the better of your programs?”

Virgil heard Dante and looked to the Angel and then back.

“I am still impressed that you are for Latin is only spoken and read by few, and as my program, I am the few rare entities that were loaded with the ancient databases including COBOL which was used before the Millennium when the system date needed to be converted from 1X to the 2X numeric date.”

“Don’t you find yourself boring at times?” Dante smiled and then turned from Virgil towards the Angel.

“I have got the signs on my forehead and heard the hymns. It’s the sign that God is watching over us.” Dante looked to the Angel. “Can I have the keys?”

The Angel handed the keys over.

“If you open the door, your fate is yours to determine. I cannot --- As mentioned, we won’t be able to assist you from thereon. You are on your ---”

“I accept the risk, So, let me in.” Dante voiced out.

From beneath the robe, the Angel took out two keys: one was gold and one was silver.

The angel inserted both keys and turned them one at a time.

The angel said, “If either of these keys does not turn, the gate will not open. One key is more precious than the other, but both are precious.”

The angel thought, the gold key is the God-given authority to absolve — forgive — a person who has sinned. The silver key is the act of absolution. To be absolved of sin, a person must repent of sin and not be trying to scam God.

The angel said, “Peter gave me these keys and told me to err on the side of mercy, saying, ‘It is better to admit too many than to admit too few. They must ask for mercy.’”

Dante thought, Jesus gave keys to Peter in Matthew 16:18-19: “And I say also to you, That you are Peter, and upon this rock, I will build my Church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it. And I will give to you the keys of the kingdom of Heaven: and whatsoever you shall bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever you shall loose on earth shall be loosed in Heaven.”

The angel pushed against the gate, and it swung open.

The angel said, “Go through the gate, but don’t look back, or you will find yourself in Ante-Purgatory again. “

(https://davidbruceblog.wordpress.com/2017/02/11/dantes-purgatory-canto-9-retelling-prepurgatory-first-prophetic-dream-and-saint-peters-gate/)

“And there is one more condition. Under no circumstances are you to reveal what you know of Purgatory to them. These are living souls and they need not be given doubt or false hope to their journey. If you do succeed in yours and free them from here, that will be your achievement here.” The Angel looked at Dante who nodded to the request.