Last night I finished my semester long class on Virgil/Dante and the Divine Comedy. At the end of it I felt compelled once more to abandon all vain pursuits for my proper end: to see the face of God and exist in communion with Him forever.

What more is there to life than this simple goal? What felicity is there on earth that compare to the felicity of divine love?

And yet, I am continually reminded of my weakness, my unworthiness to complete the cause I was created to complete. Certainly unable to climb the steps on my own, God will provide the light that shows the way to the Empyrium, and the point about which the entire cosmos revolves. He has provided the wings, and gives the breath that fills them. Only by recognizing our complete dependence on Him, assured by His own desire for us to see Him, and succored by the blood of our Lord on the cross, may we come to eternity prepared.

Lord Jesus Christ, son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner.