After the discernment and reflection on Purgatory X, one might wonder: what comes naturally next after this? After the full outline of the spiritual life and removal of Superbia?
And the first tercet of Purgatory XI shows us.
«O Padre nostro, che ne’ cieli stai,
non circunscritto, ma per più amore
ch’ai primi effetti di là sù tu hai,
Meaning: “Oh Our Father, who dwells in the Heavens, not circumscribed by it, but because of more love that you have for the first effects up there.”
And what else could come after the monumental Purgatory X, than lifting the sights to the biggest picture, to the Being and to the Divine. We have just been through a deep dive into the nature and beginning of the spiritual path, and inner purgation, and then – it zooms out into the overall picture, the Heavens, and a Divinity that dwells there from an overflowing and abundant love for the souls and the angels (first effects), and beyond any boundaries or circumscriptions. The wording here is another seed for the whole of Paradiso, and what will eventually become the unfolding image of Reality itself in its Divine nature.
But as a first journey and pilgrimage, this meaning is largely or fully hidden. For now, it is a reminder and a redirection of focus to something higher and bigger. Out of the self-focus of purgation and repair, and up towards the widest sense of Being there is, and to the Love from Being towards the Souls. An overflowing Love from the Heavens, for the living spirits, and from that from which we once originated.