memorable Dante:"to be here is to exist in love and peace"

There are multiple characters and events which are memorable, including the expansion of the Lord’s prayer (Purgatorio, Canto XI, p252) and Virgil’s discourse on the nature of love while in the Terrace of the Slothful (Purgatorio, Canto XVIII, p290), which is also the geographic center of the Comedy (as Dr. Gage stated).

However, the most memorable speech to me is Piccarda Donati's speech in Paradiso, Canto III, p406:

"Brother, the virtue of our heavenly love,
  tempers our will and makes us want no more
  than what we have - we thirst for this alone.
If we desired to be higher up,
  then our desires would not be in accord
  with His will Who assigns us to this sphere;
think carefully what love is and you'll see
  such discord has no place within these rounds,
  since to be here is to exist in Love.
Indeed, the essence of this blessed state
  is to dwell here within His holy will,
  so that there is no will but one with His;
the order of our rank from height to height
  throughout this realm is pleasing to the realm,
  as to that King Who wills us to His will.
In His will is our peace - it is the sea
  in which all things are drawn that it itself
  creates or which the work of Nature makes."
Then it was clear to me that every where
  of heaven is Paradise, though there the light
  of Grace Supreme does not shine equally.

The beauty of this hope (notably since the passage is in Paradiso) gives peace in the midst of our world, torn as it is by strife, bitterness, decay, evil, and sin.

As we all know, there are many passages which touch on these themes.  A few that came to mind include thinking about God's will for us.  Dante stated "the essence of this blessed state is to dwell in His holy will" and "in His will is our peace."  Paul states more clearly what His will is for us: "For this is the will of God, your sanctification" (2 Thes 4.3).  It is in our sanctification, in holiness, that we find and experience peace; growing in Christ-likeness, being conformed to His image, that when He appears, we shall be like Him. (1 Jn 3.2).  And what is one attribute of God's character?  Love.  God is love (1 Jn 4.8).  So as Dante states, "to be here [i.e. in Paradiso] is to exist in love." 

Even more poignantly, Paul wrote " God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ — by grace you have been saved — and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."  (Eph 2:4–7)  We have the hopeful expectation of being seated with Christ in the heavenly places (i.e. Paradiso).  We will dwell in peace with Him ("In His will is our peace"), and have no fear of rejection.

How appropriate this theme is today: our church has focused on the themes of hope and peace these first two Sundays in advent.  One song we sang today was Chris Tomlin's "I Will Rise" which contains the lyrics:

There's a peace I've come to know 
Though my heart and flesh may fail 
There's an anchor for my soul
I can say "It is well" ...

There's a day that's drawing near 
When this darkness breaks to light 
And the shadows disappear
And my faith shall be my eyes

And I will rise when He calls my name 
No more sorrow, no more pain
I will rise on eagles' wings 
Before my God fall on my knees 
And rise 
I will rise

While not an advent or Christmas song, it does point us toward the hope and peace which Paul, John, and even Dante point toward.  It was this theme in this passage of Dante's work that was most memorable to me.

(written Dec 7 2014)

God's elect (Dante)

You men who live on earth, be slow to judge,
  for even we who see God face to face
  still do not know the list of His elect.

- Dante, The Divine Comendy:  Paradiso.  Canto XX, 133-135

justice in Dante

And so the vision granted to your world
  can no more fathom Justice Everlasting
  than eyes can see down to the ocean floor;

while you can see the bottom near the shore,
  you cannot out at sea; but nonetheless
  it is still there, concealed by depths too deep.
...
for you would say: 'Consider that man born
  along the Indus where you will not find
  a soul who speaks or reads or writes of Christ,

and all of his desires, all his acts
  are good, as far as human reason sees;
  not ever having sinned in deed or word,

he dies unbaptized, dies without the faith.
  What is this justice that condemns the soul?
  What is his guilt if he does not believe?'
...
O earthbound creatures!  O thick-headed men!
  The Primal Will, which of Itself is good,
  never moves from Itself, the Good Supreme.

Only that which accords with it is just.
  It is not drawn to an finite good,
  but sending forth its rays creates that good.
...
Circling, it sang, then spoke: "Even as my notes
  are to high for your mind to comprehend,
  so is Eternal Judgment for mankind.
...
it raised its voice again:  "And to this realm
  none ever rose who had not faith in Christ,
  before or after he was crucified.

- Dante, The Divine Comendy:  Paradiso.  Canto XIX, 58-105