In today’s reading, having gotten Saint Peter’s dance of approval, Dante ascends to the next examination. Hope, in which he is lectured by Saint James, is not mere optimism, but a powerful force that enables us to overcome darkness, despair, and depression: everything Dante faced when exiled. As in his last exam, Dante passes with flying colors, although the sudden appearance of a ray of light leaves him stricken with blindness.

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