The final Sunday of the Liturgical Year, we consider the end of time and the day of judgment. In addition to the particular judgment that we each will face at the moment of death, there is will be a general judgment at the end of time in which all will be revealed. This general judgment is the manifestation of each one's particular judgment and also the final triumph of divine providence over all history.
We consider also the great hymn/sequence, Dies Irae.
Listen online [here]!
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Dies irae, dies illa solvet saeclum in
favilla: teste David cum Sibylla.
Quantus tremor est
futurus, quando judex est
venturus, cuncta stricte
discussurus!
Tuba mirum spargens
sonum per sepulcra regionum, coget omnes ante
thronum.
Mors stupebit et natura, cum resurget creatura, judicanti responsura.
Liber scriptus
proferetur, in quo totum continetur, unde mundus judicetur.
Judex ergo cum sedebit, quidquid latet
apparebit: nil inultum remanebit.
Quid sum miser tunc
dicturus? Quem patronum rogaturus, cum vix justus sit
securus?
Rex tremendae
majestatis, qui salvandos salvas
gratis, salva me fons pietatis.
Recordare, Jesu pie, quod sum causa tuae
viae: ne me perdas illa die.
Quaerens me, sedisti
lassus: redemisti Crucem passus: tantus labor non sit
cassus.
Juste judex ultionis, donum fac remissionis ante diem rationis.
Ingemisco, tamquam reus: culpa rubet vultus meus: supplicanti parce, Deus.
Qui Mariam absolvisti, et latronem exaudisti, mihi quoque spem
dedisti.
Preces meae non sunt
dignae: sed tu bonus fac
benigne, ne perenni cremer igne.
Inter oves locum
praesta, et ab haedis me
sequestra, statuens in parte
dextra.
Confutatis maledictis, flammis acribus
addictis: voca me cum benedictis.
Oro supplex et acclinis, cor contritum quasi cinis: gere curam mei finis.
Lacrimosa dies illa, qua resurget ex favilla Judicandus homo reus. Huic ergo parce, Deus:
Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem. Amen. |
Day of wrath and doom
impending, David’s word with
Sibyl’s blending, Heaven and earth in
ashes ending.
O what fear man’s bosom
rendeth, When from heaven the
Judge descendeth, On whose sentence all
dependeth.
Wondrous sound the
trumpet flingeth, Through earth’s
sepulchers it ringeth, All before the throne it
bringeth.
Death is struck, and nature
quaking, All creation is awaking, To its Judge an answer
making.
Lo, the book exactly
worded, Wherein all hath been
recorded, Thence shall judgment be
awarded.
When the Judge His seat
attaineth, And each hidden deed
arraigneth, Nothing unavenged remaineth.
What shall I, frail man,
be pleading? Who for me be
interceding When the just are mercy
needing?
King of majesty
tremendous, Who dost free salvation
send us, Fount of pity, then
befriend us.
Think, kind Jesus, my
salvation Caused Thy wondrous Incarnation, Leave me not to
reprobation.
Faint and weary Thou
hast sought me, On the Cross of
suffering bought me, Shall such grace be
vainly brought me?
Righteous Judge, for
sin’s pollution Grant Thy gift of
absolution, Ere that day of retribution.
Guilty now I pour my
moaning, All my shame with
anguish owning, Spare, O God, Thy
suppliant groaning.
Through the sinful woman
shriven, Through the dying thief
forgiven, Thou to me a hope hast
given.
Worthless are my prayers
and sighing, Yet, good Lord, in grace
complying, Rescue me from fires
undying.
With Thy sheep a place
provide me, From the goats afar
divide me, To Thy right hand do
Thou guide me.
When the wicked are
confounded, Doomed to flames of woe
unbounded, Call me with Thy Saints
surrounded.
Low I kneel with heart’s
submission, See, like ashes, my
contrition, Help me in my last
condition.
Ah! That day of tears
and mourning, From the dust of earth
returning, Man for judgment must
prepare him, Spare, O God, in mercy
spare him.
Lord, all-pitying, Jesus
blest, Grant them Thine eternal
rest. Amen. |
A day of wrath that day
will be. It will dissolve the world into glowing ashes, as David and the
Sibyl have testified.
How great a dread there will
be when the Judge comes to examine all things in strict justice.
The trumpet's wondrous
call will sound in tombs the world over and urge everybody forward to the throne.
Death and nature will
stand amazed when creation rises again to give answer to its Judge.
Then will be brought out
the book in which is written the complete record that will decide each man's
fate.
And when the Judge is
seated, all secret sin will be made known, and no sin will go without its due
punishment.
In such a plight what
can I then plead? Or whom can I ask to plead
for me, when the just man will be saved only with difficulty?
King of dread majesty,
You give salvation's grace to all that will be saved. Save me, fount of pity.
In Your pity, Jesus,
call to mind that I am the reason why You became man. Do not cast me from You
on that day.
It was me You were seeking
out when, exhausted, You sat by the well; me that You redeemed when You suffered
on the cross. Do not allow such toil to have been in vain.
Just and avenging Judge,
grant me the grace of pardon before that day of reckoning comes.
I groan like one
condemned and am red with shame for my sins; spare Your suppliant servant.
You forgave Mary and
granted the robber's prayer, and thus gave me hope as well.
Though my prayers do not
deserve to be heard, yet in Your goodness graciously bring it about that I do
not burn in the unquenchable fire.
Give me a place among
Your sheep, separate me from the goats and set me on Your right hand.
When the accursed have
been silenced and sentenced to the acrid flames, call me along with the
blessed.
In humility and
abasement I make this prayer. My heart is burnt to ashes in the fire of my
sorrow. Take care of me when my end is come.
That day when guilty man
rises out of the ruins of the world for judgement, will be a day of tears and
mourning. Spare him on that day, Lord God.
Jesus, Lord, of Your
mercy grant them rest. Amen. |
Dies Irae
Sequence
of the Requiem Mass by Thomas of Celano
Composed
about 1250, though early versions may date back to the year 600
Versions for listening:
Most important is to appreciate
the Gregorian Chant version of the Dies Irae. (about 6 minutes)
Mozart: Requiem Sequence, Dies
Irae (about 2 minutes for the opening, or 20 minutes for the whole)
Verdi: Requiem Sequence, Dies
Irae (about 4 ½ minutes for the opening, or 35 minutes for the whole)
[Most often, the online
recordings of these versions by Mozart and Verdi only include the opening two
stanza from Dies irae to cuncta stricte discussurus, but have extensive
repetition of these six lines. If you search a bit, you can find the complete
versions which are quite long, and again with much repetition of lines. Verdi’s
composition is closer to an opera and is not considered appropriate for use in
the Mass, but Mozart’s has often been sung for Catholic funerals and All Souls’
Day Masses.]
Faure: Pie Jesu (about 3 ½
minutes)
Lloyd-Weber: Pie Jesu (about 3 ½ minutes)
[By contrast, these two versions
only include the last stanza Pie Jesu Domine / Dona eis requiem, also
with much repetition of these two lines. In these two versions, the Pie Jesu
is part of the larger Requiem Mass but removed from the usual place in the Dies
Irae Sequence.]
Brief Information
Although there are some
traditions which claim an early version of the Dies Irae was given in a
revelation to Pope St Gregory the Great around the year 600, it was mostly
likely written in about 1250 by Thomas of Celano, who was the friend of St
Francis of Assisi and wrote the first biography of the Saint. The Dies Irae is
the Sequence fromm the Requiem Mass. The Requiem Mass is the Mass for funerals,
for All Souls’ Day and for other Masses for the Dead (especially in the month
of November). As the Sequence, the Dies Irae is sung just before the
Gospel. After Vatican II, the Dies Irae was mostly removed from the Mass
and is used only for the All Souls’ Day Mass and in the Liturgy of the Hours
when praying the Office for the Dead. Happily, since Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI
restored the public and common use of the Traditional Latin Mass, the Dies
Irae is heard much more often again!
Though traditionally sung at the
funeral Mass and on All Souls’ Day, the Dies Irae is somewhat ironically
not really about death, but rather is a meditation on the Day of Judgement and
the Second Coming of Christ. The funeral
Mass points to the resurrection of the body, and in this way the Dies Irae
is suited to the Christian Funeral Rites as reflecting upon the day of the
Final Resurrection of all.
The Dies Irae is comprised
of fifty-seven lines in nineteen stanza, with what is called “double rhyme” or
“feminine rhyme” in which the final two syllables of each of the three lines in
the stanza rhyme (excepting the final six lines which follow a different
scheme, and were likely added by a later author).
Excerpts of praise for the Dies
Irae: “It is the chief glory of sacred
poetry and the most precious treasure of the Latin Church.” In comparison with
every other hymn outside of those contained in the Bible, “beyond them all, and
before them all, and above them all may, perhaps be placed Dies irae, by
Thomas of Celano.” “Among gems it is the diamond. It is solitary in its
excellence.” “This marvelous hymn is the acknowledged masterpiece of Latin
poetry and the most sublime of all uninspired hymns.” Others speak of “the Dies
iræ in its unapproached glory.”
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For examples online, see YouTube:
Gregorian chant: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dlr90NLDp-0
Mozart, opening lines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKJur8wpfYM
Mozart, complete Requiem: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gd6u6-ZYYzs
Verdi, opening lines: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cHw4GER-MiE
Verdi, full Dies Irae: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5_H01AqF-o
Llyod-Webber, Pie Jesu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31oAcmBz044
Faure, Pie Jesu: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9al6HNOgSo
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