“And in her gesture were these words she said, ‘Ecce ancilla Dei’, as clearly impressed as is in wax the shape a seal hath made”
. . . .
Behold the handmaid of God Dante and Virgil notice humanlike forms moving toward them, but their appearance is strange, as they are bent almost to the ground. Dante realizes that these are souls doing penance for the sin of pride. Each soul is bearing a stone, its heaviness matching the weight of his or her sin. In this canto, Dante and Virgil reach the lower level of Purgatory—the first of three levels where they will witness souls being purged of the sin of love perverted. On each level, there will be examples of the positive virtue corresponding to the specific sin that’s being purged—in this case, humility in place of pride.