Dante's version of Purgatory is extraordinarily detailed and, in some key respects, strikingly original. First, he imagines Purgatory as being divided up into seven terraces, each one corresponding to a vice (in the order that Dante sees them: Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth, Avarice and Prodigality, Gluttony and Lust).
Lust. The final terrace of Purgatory is that of Lust.
Dante's Purgatorio - Terrace 5: Avarice And Prodigality. The souls on the fifth terrace purify themselves of their vice (avarice or its sinful opposite, prodigality) by lying face-down on the hard rock floor. Weeping and praying, they themselves call out the examples of greed and its opposing virtue (generosity).
Dante's nine spheres of Heaven are the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, the Fixed Stars, and the Primum Mobile. These are associated by Dante with the nine levels of the angelic hierarchy. Dante also relies on traditional associations, such as the one between Venus and romantic love.
The highest level is known as firdaws (sometimes called Eden) or Illiyin.
In religious or mythological cosmology, the seven heavens refer to seven levels or divisions of the Heavens. The concept, also found in the ancient Mesopotamian religions, can be found in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam; a similar concept is also found in some other religions such as Hinduism.
Seventh terrace (Lust)
The terrace of lust, the final terrace of Purgatory and the final vice of excessive love, has an immense wall of flame through which every soul must pass (Canto XXV). As a prayer, they sing the hymn Summae Deus clementiae ("God of Supreme Clemency") from the Liturgy of the Hours.
The gatekeeper who meets Dante and Virgil upon arrival in Purgatorio turns out to be Julius Caesar's archnemesis, staunch defender of the Roman Republic, and universal symbol against tyranny, Cato the Younger.
A Spanish theologian from the late Middle Ages once argued that the average Christian spends 1000 to 2000 years in purgatory (according to Stephen Greenblatt's Hamlet in Purgatory). But there's no official take on the average sentence.
Time is warped in Purgatory; a minute in the real world corresponds to a year in Purgatory. It is basically a universe separated from the mortal plane.
The souls in purgatory are called “holy” because they can sin no more and are guaranteed to enter heaven eventually; they are called “poor” because they cannot help themselves in their current state and can do nothing to lessen its pain or duration.
Purgatory is the state of those who die in God's friendship, assured of their eternal salvation, but who still have need of purification to enter into the happiness of heaven.
One of the chief sources of the pain is the fact that salvation has been obtained, and yet one cannot immediately enjoy its consolations. This delay of the enjoyment of heaven leads to a spiritual agony of sorts.
Among Christians, the biblical warrant for purgatory is contested. Supporters of the Roman Catholic belief cite biblical passages in which there are intimations of the three major components of purgatory: prayer for the dead, an active interim state between death and resurrection, and a purifying fire after death.
We can avoid Purgatory living a holy life, staying away from sin, confessing our sins regularly, having the Holy Eucharist in a state of grace and practicing works of Mercy, especially having a devotion to the Holy Souls in Purgatory.
What happens in Purgatory? The Holy Souls in Purgatory undergo purification suffering of love. The purifying suffering of love is called “satispassion.” Since the Holy Souls can't be purified by their own efforts, they atone for their sins by undergoing purifying suffering which re-establishes holiness and justice.
Only the leviathans, some vampires, and seemingly the gorilla-wolves, were seen to behave with a group mentality so far. Prior to her death on Earth, Eve claimed dominion over all souls in Purgatory, so she is most likely the ruler of Purgatory. Leviathans are the apex monsters in Purgatory.
As the first vice punished in Purgatory, pride is the most serious of the forgivable sins. As punishment for pride, penitents have to carry such heavy weights that their heads are bent down, rendering them unable to challenge anyone with their defiant eyes.
Those who were in purgatory will have already been purged, meaning they would have already been released into heaven, and so like those in heaven and hell will resurrect with their bodies, followed by the Last Judgment.
Divided into three sections, Antepurgatory, Purgatory proper, and the Earthly Paradise, the lower slopes are reserved for souls whose penance was delayed. The upper part of the mountain consists of seven terraces, each of which corresponds to one of the seven capital sins.
The torment inflicted on the envious is particularly gruesome, and is borrowed from the practice of falconry: their eyes are sewn shut with wire, to prevent them from seeing and envying the good fortune of others.
THE FIRST HEAVEN—We learn about this in Isaiah 55:10, which says, “For as the rain and the snow come down from Heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater…” This is talking about the atmosphere surrounding our planet.
Seven Heavens is a part of religious cosmology found in many major religions such as Islam and Hinduism and in some minor religions such as Hermeticism and Gnosticism. The Throne of God is said to be above the seventh heaven in Abrahamic religions.
The celestial kingdom is the highest level, with its power and glory comparable to the sun.