Spiritual Direction from Dante: Yearning for Paradise
In Spiritual Direction from Dante: Yearning for Paradise, the Oratorian Father Paul Pearson provides a detailed but accessible spiritual commentary on the last volume of Dante’s masterpiece, Divine Comedy. Fr. Pearson takes readers step-by-step through the text, explaining the spiritual lessons Dante intends his readers to learn. These lessons are particularly important, both in Dante’s day and in our own, due to the watered-down image of heavenly bliss the world offers us. Dante’s Paradiso corrects this misunderstanding, showing the faithful a paradise that is more real and more fulfilling than anything we have experienced here on earth or even dreamt of. 

Father Pearson’s text is an indispensable companion to the poem for both the scholar and the neophyte. It brings Dante’s poem and its lessons into our modern context so that readers will discover:
  • our true individuality is not obliterated in heaven, but is allowed to continue, and is fostered and highlighted. 
  • even as we struggle now, we are never alone – everyone in heaven is interested and involved in our salvation.
  • the human unity we strive for here (often unsuccessfully) is a shining fact there, with each person rejoicing in every other person’s joys and working together for the salvation of those still striving for heaven. There we are finally understood fully and appreciated. 
  • all our human desires are fulfilled in heaven, not abandoned. 
 
Fr. Pearson, having already guided readers through the realms of hell and purgatory in this 3-part series, now brings before our eyes the saints and angels, the Virgin Mary, and the Blessed Trinity! But Spiritual Direction from Dante: Yearning for Heaven is more than a guide to the last book of Dante’s Divine Comedy. It is an introduction and an invitation to eternal happiness, an invitation that is just as compelling as it was 700 years ago when Dante wrote it.
1140880178
Spiritual Direction from Dante: Yearning for Paradise
In Spiritual Direction from Dante: Yearning for Paradise, the Oratorian Father Paul Pearson provides a detailed but accessible spiritual commentary on the last volume of Dante’s masterpiece, Divine Comedy. Fr. Pearson takes readers step-by-step through the text, explaining the spiritual lessons Dante intends his readers to learn. These lessons are particularly important, both in Dante’s day and in our own, due to the watered-down image of heavenly bliss the world offers us. Dante’s Paradiso corrects this misunderstanding, showing the faithful a paradise that is more real and more fulfilling than anything we have experienced here on earth or even dreamt of. 

Father Pearson’s text is an indispensable companion to the poem for both the scholar and the neophyte. It brings Dante’s poem and its lessons into our modern context so that readers will discover:
  • our true individuality is not obliterated in heaven, but is allowed to continue, and is fostered and highlighted. 
  • even as we struggle now, we are never alone – everyone in heaven is interested and involved in our salvation.
  • the human unity we strive for here (often unsuccessfully) is a shining fact there, with each person rejoicing in every other person’s joys and working together for the salvation of those still striving for heaven. There we are finally understood fully and appreciated. 
  • all our human desires are fulfilled in heaven, not abandoned. 
 
Fr. Pearson, having already guided readers through the realms of hell and purgatory in this 3-part series, now brings before our eyes the saints and angels, the Virgin Mary, and the Blessed Trinity! But Spiritual Direction from Dante: Yearning for Heaven is more than a guide to the last book of Dante’s Divine Comedy. It is an introduction and an invitation to eternal happiness, an invitation that is just as compelling as it was 700 years ago when Dante wrote it.
29.95 Out Of Stock
Spiritual Direction from Dante: Yearning for Paradise

Spiritual Direction from Dante: Yearning for Paradise

by Paul Pearson
Spiritual Direction from Dante: Yearning for Paradise

Spiritual Direction from Dante: Yearning for Paradise

by Paul Pearson

Hardcover

$29.95 
  • SHIP THIS ITEM
    Temporarily Out of Stock Online
  • PICK UP IN STORE

    Your local store may have stock of this item.

Related collections and offers


Overview

In Spiritual Direction from Dante: Yearning for Paradise, the Oratorian Father Paul Pearson provides a detailed but accessible spiritual commentary on the last volume of Dante’s masterpiece, Divine Comedy. Fr. Pearson takes readers step-by-step through the text, explaining the spiritual lessons Dante intends his readers to learn. These lessons are particularly important, both in Dante’s day and in our own, due to the watered-down image of heavenly bliss the world offers us. Dante’s Paradiso corrects this misunderstanding, showing the faithful a paradise that is more real and more fulfilling than anything we have experienced here on earth or even dreamt of. 

Father Pearson’s text is an indispensable companion to the poem for both the scholar and the neophyte. It brings Dante’s poem and its lessons into our modern context so that readers will discover:
  • our true individuality is not obliterated in heaven, but is allowed to continue, and is fostered and highlighted. 
  • even as we struggle now, we are never alone – everyone in heaven is interested and involved in our salvation.
  • the human unity we strive for here (often unsuccessfully) is a shining fact there, with each person rejoicing in every other person’s joys and working together for the salvation of those still striving for heaven. There we are finally understood fully and appreciated. 
  • all our human desires are fulfilled in heaven, not abandoned. 
 
Fr. Pearson, having already guided readers through the realms of hell and purgatory in this 3-part series, now brings before our eyes the saints and angels, the Virgin Mary, and the Blessed Trinity! But Spiritual Direction from Dante: Yearning for Heaven is more than a guide to the last book of Dante’s Divine Comedy. It is an introduction and an invitation to eternal happiness, an invitation that is just as compelling as it was 700 years ago when Dante wrote it.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781505123814
Publisher: TAN Books
Publication date: 03/29/2022
Pages: 512
Product dimensions: 8.50(w) x 5.70(h) x 1.40(d)

About the Author

Father Paul Pearson converted to Catholicism during his university days, entered the Toronto Oratory in 1985, was ordained to the priesthood in 1989, and began serving as Dean of Saint Philip’s, the seminary run by the Oratorians in 1990. That same year, in response to requests from seminarians, he began to offer seminars on Dante's Inferno.  This volume on the spiritual aspects  Paradiso has been written so that a wider audience may benefit from “spiritual direction from Dante.”
 

Table of Contents

Foreword xv

Preface xxi

Introduction 1

Paradiso

Canto 1 17

Losing Ourselves in God

The Saints: Real Personalities

Seeking the Things Above

Seeing God in His Saints

Pulling Away from God

Canto 2 35

Craving Certainty

Looking Beyond Our Limited Perspective

Unique Instruments of God

Canto 3 49

Human Love as a Pathway to God

Entering the Cloud of Glory

Heroism

God's Will as a Gift

Canto 4 65

Pulled in Different Directions

What Fear Leaves Undone

For Better or For Worse

Canto 5 77

Free to Give Our Freedom

The Church: Our Partner in Every Vow

Pursuing the Good Instead of the Best

Canto 6 93

Making This World a Better Place

The Church Outlasts Governments

Where Is Our Treasure?

Canto 7 105

The Logic of Love

God Uses Everything Well

My Yoke Is Easy

God Pays the Price

Canto 8 117

Passionate Saints

Blank Slates or Finished Products

Nature or Nurture

Canto 9 131

Passion and Self-Deception

Moving On

The Intimate Bond of Love

Canto 10 143

Being Clear-Sighted

A Lamp on a Lampstand

The Clarity that Comes pom Gratitude

The Convergence of Truth

Canto 11 159

Freedom to Be Wise

Faith Grounded in Love

Giving Witness to the Supernatural

The Self-Discipline of the Great

Canto 12 171

Holy Diversity

The Power of Truth

And Then?

Practice What You Teach

Canto 13 185

Rising Above

Working Through Imperfections

Jumping to Conclusions

The Mysterious Individual

Canto 14 197

Stacking the Deck

Consolation Prize

Fully Human Life

Take Up Your Cross

Canto 15 213

A Safe and Loving Place

Praying to a God Who Already Knows

Ostentatious Insecurity

Canto 16 223

Civilization and Being Civil

Family Trees

A Sense of Belonging

Canto 17 235

Take Up Your Cross

Facing the Future

Forgiveness and Sanity

Canto 18 247

Trusting in the Midst of Pain

The Solid Experience Underlying Hope

Holding on to Consolations

True Leadership

Canto 19 263

All For One and One For All

Being the Boss

Willing the Salvation of All

Canto 20 277

The Splendor of Harmony

Difficulties and Doubts

God's Hidden Action

The Very Personal Mystery of Suffering

Canto 21 291

The Overwhelming Reality of Heaven

Together in Solitude

The Spiritual Power of Obedience

Love to Be Unknown

Canto 22 307

The Dark Night

Forgiveness and Peace

Our Heavenly Homeland

Canto 23 319

Our Spiritual Mothers

An Inexpressible Union

Mary, the Model Christian

Canto 24 333

The Heavenly Banquet

Instruments of Evangelization

Shocking Truths

Miracles and Belief

Canto 25 347

Social Intimacy

Training to Hope

Vocation as a Gift

Canto 26 365

Peaceful in God's Hands

Twisted Love

Doing It My Way

Having Our Say

Canto 27 379

Christian Joy

Scandal and Millstones

Being God-Centered

An Unmarked Road

Canto 28 391

The Challenge of Mirrors

All Things Visible and Invisible

Defend Us in Battle

Canto 29 405

Balancing the Demands of Life

An Ordered Universe

Christ, the Fullness of Truth

Canto 30 421

Saying Goodbye

Blinded by the Light

The Life-Giving Goodness of God

Seeing Face-to-Face

Miracles as a Foretaste of Heaven

Canto 31 435

The Blessed Virgin-Mystical Rose

In the Presence of God

The Joy of Gratitude

Mary-Loving Mother

Canto 32 451

Mary-the New Eve

Do Not Give Us What We Truly Deserve

Canto 33 463

Supported by Prayer

Engraved in Our Hearts

Our Personal Relationship with God

Finding Our True Selves in God

Acknowledgments 479

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews