From the Primum Mobile, Dante ascends to a region beyond physical existence, the Empyrean, which is the abode of God. Beatrice, representing theology,[49] is here transformed to be more beautiful than ever before. Her beauty echoes the tradition of courtly lyric, which also pertains to her courtly role in the narrative that revolves around helping Dante and purifying him so he can ascend.[50] Dante becomes enveloped in light, first blinding him and then rendering him fit to see God[49] (Canto XXX).
Dante sees an enormous rose, symbolising divine love,[49] the petals of which are the enthroned souls of the faithful (both those of the Old Testament and those of the New). All the souls he has met in Heaven, including Beatrice, have their home in this rose,[49] and angels fly around the rose like bees, distributing peace and love. Beatrice now returns to her place in the rose, signifying that Dante has passed beyond theology in direct contemplation of God;[51] St. Bernard, as a mystical contemplative, now guides Dante further (Canto XXXI), describing the heavenly rose and its occupants.[52] (St. Bernard may represent God, since he welcomes the pilgrim to the Empyrean, after which Dante is able to see God; in this reading, Beatrice would represent the Holy Spirit because she purifies Dante and brings him to St. Bernard and the Empyrean.[53]) Ten women and eight men are pointed out to Dante in the Empyrean; the ladies appear in a hierarchy where Mary is the head and Eve is directly beneath her, followed by seven other Biblical women and Beatrice.[54] The outnumbering of men by women recalls the beginning of the Inferno, in which many women appear in Limbo.[55]
The three circles of the Trinity (illustration by John Flaxman), Canto 33.St. Bernard further explains predestination and prays to the Virgin Mary on Dante's behalf. (The Empyrean as a whole abounds in Marian elements, such as the canto number 32's digits' adding up to five, which may represent Mary because of her five-letter name—Maria—and her experiences' having notably come in sets of five.[54]) St. Bernard's prayer, which includes an anaphora using the informal second-person pronoun, draws from a history of similar prayers beginning as early as Greek eulogies. In late medieval Italy, poets such as Jacopone da Todi wrote praises of Mary called laude, and Dante's prayer to the Virgin takes inspiration from this tradition and condenses its form, focusing first on Mary's role on Earth and then her role in Heaven and her motherly qualities.[56]
Finally, Dante comes face to face with God (Cantos XXXII and XXXIII). God appears as three equally large circles occupying the same space, representing the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.[57] Within these circles Dante can discern the human form of Christ. The Divine Comedy ends with Dante trying to understand how the circles fit together, and how the humanity of Christ relates to the divinity of the Son but, as Dante puts it, "that was not a flight for my wings".[58] In a flash of understanding, which he cannot express, Dante does finally see this, and his soul becomes aligned with God's love.[57]
But already my desire and my will were being turned like a wheel, all at one speed, by the Love which moves the sun and the other stars.[59]
