The Thomistic Institute Thomistic Wisdom for the Pilgrimage to God – Prof. Paige Hochschild
Oct 9, 2025
Prof. Paige Hochschild, a theology expert from Mount St. Mary's University, delves into Thomistic wisdom and the spiritual journey to God. She discusses the key virtues of patience, hope, and memory required for this pilgrimage. Hochschild highlights how Dante's 'Divine Comedy' illuminates the challenges faced on this path, including the need for purgation and the significance of memory in spiritual fulfillment. She redefines patience as an active, hopeful trust and explores its role in combating fear and guiding desire toward the divine.
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Human Life As Pilgrimage
- Being a pilgrim describes our existential condition: we are creatures 'on the way' returning to God.
- Creation moves from God and groans awaiting final adoption into divine life.
Desire Drives The Pilgrim
- Dante portrays the soul's supreme desire as a return to its first cause, God, likening life to a pilgrim searching for an inn.
- Some paths lead most directly to fulfillment while others mislead; wisdom chooses the true road.
Dante Lost In The Dark Wood
- Dante wakes in a dark wood at midlife, terrified and blocked by beasts representing sins he ignores.
- His fear recurs as he approaches hell, which opens with the famous command to abandon all hope.
