On Lent...

“The dawn was overcoming the morning breeze, which had fled before it, so that I descried far off the trembling of the sea. We made our way over the lonely plain, like one who returns to the road he has lost and, till he finds it, seems to himself to go in vain.

“When we were at a part where the dew resists the sun and, being in shade, is little dispersed, my Master gently laid both hands outspread on the grass. I, therefore, aware of his purpose, reached toward him my tear-stained cheeks and on them he wholly restored that colour which Hell had hidden in me.” Purgatorio, Canto I, line 120

This is one of my favorite parts of Dante’s Divine Comedy. It’s the beginning of Purgatory after Dante and Virgil’s ascent from Hell. It is where Virgil washes Dante’s face “of the soot of Hell”.

It is, for me, a fitting image for Lent.

I must admit, I’ve not even begun my Lenten sacrifices this year. Not to mention that I forgot it was Lent this past Friday until it was Saturday and realized that I had meat for lunch – but only beer for dinner (which I had every intention of giving up).

I will say, though, that I am going through a certain purgation which reaches far beyond the physical (which I suppose is most important). I know what I must give up… what I must let loose (and it has nothing to do with beer). It is time that I cease wandering (without direction) in vain... it is time my tear-stained cheeks be cleansed and my focus be set on goodness and on a future of hope. Thank you to the “Virgils” in my life who have helped wipe the tears from my face, and most importantly, have pointed me in the proper direction.