A Dark Wood, a Mid-Life Crisis, and our Needed Guide: Lenten Dante Series, No. 1 (Ep. 22)

Come join us on a Lenten journey through Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy, one of the most celebrated works in the Catholic imagination, and for all of us, an invitation to spiritual transformation.

This first installment finds us, with Dante, waking in a Dark Wood, midway in our life's journey. Unaware as to how we arrived there, we seek the way forward, fearful, though not without some semblance of hope. Turned back from the path forward by our own sins and failings, with Dante we find ourselves in need of aid and a guide. Enter Virgil, the ancient poet, who will guide Dante and ourselves through the harrowing sights of Hell, and then upward toward the hope and transformation of Purgatory.

In this series, we will read Dante's great work as one of spiritual honesty and transformation, perfect for the season of Lent. Our plan is to release a weekly episode through Lent and on into Easter, journeying with Dante down through Hell, up Mount Purgatory, and then onward to the heights of Paradise.

My companion for this trip is Paul Camacho, who is Associate Director of the Augustinian Institute and Assistant Teaching Professor in the Augustine and Culture Seminar at Villanova University.  He also write a weekly newsletter, "On the Exam," which is well worth the read. 

Join us. 

Links:

1. The Inferno by Dante, a verse translation by Jean Hollander and Robert Hollander
2. The Digital Dante from Columbia University
3. www.paulcamacho.com
4. "On the Exam"
5. St. Augustine on the Big Screen: Terrence Malick's "The Tree of Life" as Augustinian Confession with Paul Camacho, Ph.D. (Ep. 8)

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