The Gate of Hell

In Canto III, Dante finally arrives at the gate of hell where he essentially begins his journey through the depths of hell. What struck me the most about his arrival at the gate was the inscription that read, "Abandon all hope, you who enter here." This is terrifying, not only for Dante the pilgrim, but even for humanity today. It may or may not say something on those lines down there, but regardless it is reality among humanity. People will die one day and not accept God, and unfortunately may make their way down to the depths of hell. Although Dante has never actually been to hell, his description still serves the point of its evilness, and I'd only assume it is even worse as he explains it. When I read this part of the description with the gate, it immediately reminded me of the Auschwitz gate which reads Arbeit Macht Frei. This translates to work makes your free. Even through these two gates don't have an identical translation, the higher meaning of this concentration camp gate represents a parallel meaning to hell. All those who entered the Auschwitz camp really did have to abandon all hope because their were going to die with exception of the few lucky ones. Some may even make the argument that Auschwitz and the rest of the concentration camps were a present day hell for those who unfortunately had to experience them. It amazes me how you can make so many parallels in literature especially in the Inferno.

Augustine's Beginning Stages

"But where was I when I looked for you? You were there before my eyes, but I had deserted even my own self. I could not find my own self, much less find you." This passage speaks so much to the beginning stages of the conversion for Augustine. The only way for Augustine to understand how to accept his conversion is to first understand how and what he did wrong. Augustine is able to accept his own wrongs. He admits that he wasn't even able to find himself let alone how was he supposed to find God and the truth. Augustine just continues to amaze me how he was able to slowly accomplish and steadily discover the reasoning behind his journey. It has such a parallel to how we are responsible as Catholics to understand our faith. We are responsible to understand when God is calling us on to further our journey to eternal salvation. Instead of looking for God blindly, with faith, we are able to "see God before our eyes" and continue to grow in virtue, faith, and in our relationship with God. Day after day, I will have a constant reminder of Augustine's journey and his ability to power through and seek the truth, for he turned his weaknesses into his strengths. If Augustine was able to do it, than hopefully that can encourage me to do the same.

Augustine's "Love"

Augustine has been able to reach out to his reader and grasp his/her attention due to his personal stories, at least that is the case for me. It's incredible to see his struggles and faults, and not only see them, but his ability to come to a perfection of them and his quest for God (although that is not yet revealed in the book). A quote that really struck out to me was in the beginning of book two when he says, "the single desire that dominated my search for delight was simply to love and be loved." Many may think that because this is coming from St. Augustine, he would be talking about God as his love. Although this is true, Augustine was skewed from that love of God from his love of material and bodily possession. This struck me so hard because it is so obvious to see in today's world and that we are capable of relating Augustine even to people today. People are so caught up in these things that may make them happy instead of looking at what will make one happy. Those who are looking for that delight, may not have that steady happiness, but in no doubt may find it if they turn the right cheek toward the Lord and discover the same journey truth Augustine will find. Augustine shows to be an inspiration for those who struggle with their interior happiness.