Purgatory is a Pilgrim Church

A pilgrim church has an ambulatory allowing visitors to walk around the church on the inside, often behind the alter. The church is meant to be experienced, to be lived in and invites you to explore all parts. In the picture above, you can see the open aisles on the outside of the church where, if you have visited churches in Europe, one might imagine the faithful praying while tourists are walking around snapping pictures. 

There are many things in Purgatory that cause the reader to think about a church. In particular in Canto 10 the moving statues that describe Mary, David, and Trajan seem like either side chapels or pieces of art that are venerated in a great Cathedral. The constant hymns that are being sung around Dante complete this effect. 

The ante-Purgatory of Cantos 1-9 make me think of the parking lot of a church. There is something different about this space. Outside the church the sinners are doing what they can to be there. Maybe you have had this experience. You walk by a church and look at its architecture from the outside. You might have even been in the building before, but you don't go in today. You think about the altar, kneel, and make a sign of the cross before continuing on your walk past the church. In this way a church can have profound effect on us even from a distance. 

The other sinners in Purgatory are all saved. They are not yet subordinated. That also reminds me of the church parking lot. It might be hard to switch off the aggressive and self-centered behavior when you turn into the church parking lot to find a place to leave your car. Getting frustrated at others, maybe they are idly walking in the way of your progress and you become impatient. All of these impulses are the remnant of our selfishness that we bring into the parking lot with us and what we hope to leave behind as we enter the church. 

It is the sin of others that we are confronted with, but our empathy with others and our recognition that we are all going to pray can help us understand the burden of our own sin. We can't enter the church in a judgemental way thinking that others are the sinners. We wouldn't even be there if we didn't understand that we were here for the same reasons as the others, to acknowledge our sin and grow in spirituality. Dante's Purgatory, unlike Inferno is populated by people who are making progress.  Progress in the church is subordination. Our first step on this path of subordination is to enter the doors of the church. 

As we enter the church we are confronted with our sin. The door of the church reminds us that we are walking into a new place. In Dante, the angel guarding the door carves 7 P(s) on Dante's forehead. These symbolize the sin that needs to be purged on the inside. Purgatory works like this. A sinner must confront their sin until it has no more control over them. 

The world outside of the church property can be a place where people are trapped into positions, like in inferno, where they have rationalized their own will and their own selfish desires. There cannot be progress without hope. Dum spiro spero. As long as I breathe, I hope. The church is a place of hope. It isn't a place without sin. We bring our sins here to be purged and to not only be forgiven, but to get to a point where through forgetting them we are free of their burden and control over us. 

It can be shocking to us that the church is not a perfect place. It has beauty, but it is a hospital for sinners. What we find inside is an alter, one that points us to the saving grace of Jesus, but the place is full of sinners. Unlike Inferno, these sinners have hope, which means this is where we belong. The story of Purgatory reminds me of being in a church because I am more aware of my own sin when I am around other sinners. We are in this together in a way, praying for one another. 

The maturation of Dante's soul in Purgatory is similar to our earthly life blessed by the sacraments. We enter the church and are given aid in our journey. We have hope. We see the life we live from different points along the way, baptism, first reconciliation, communion, confirmation, marriage, and death. The church is here for us both as a physical place and as a collection of other sinners who share in our journey. We hope to be purged by the experience. The church should feel like Purgatory if we are moving toward Paradise.