Post-Reformation (and Protestant) use of the Dies Irae

[Pergamum]

Dies Irae

I am looking into the history and the post-Reformation church use of the hymn Dies Irae (words linked). It was written by a Franciscan and became part of the requiem Mass.

I find it quite moving and I am wondering how the Reformation impacted its liturgical use. It is not tainted by the Mariology of the Medieval period (which ruins so much of the good Medieval music I like to listen to). Many later classical composers incorporated its words/tune (to include Mozart and Verdi).

I also read that it was based on the prophecy of Sophonias (Zephaniah in the Vulgate) 1:14-16, a reflection upon the final judgment, "15 That day is a day of wrath, a day of trouble and distress, a day of wasteness and desolation, a day of darkness and gloominess, a day of clouds and thick darkness..."

I also read that it was removed in 1972 from the Catholic Mass for the dead for being to negative and "hell-firey" perhaps? I would like to investigate this more. This hymn seems an integral part of the history of Western Christianity for hundreds of years. What was the history of its use among the Eastern Orthodox?

Dies Irae/Day of Wrath

DIES irae, dies illa,
solvet saeculum in favilla,
teste David cum Sibylla.

Day of wrath and doom impending,
David’s word with Sibyl’s blending,
Heaven and earth in ashes ending.

Quantus tremor est futurus,
quando iudex est venturus,
cuncta stricte discussurus!

O what fear man’s bosom rendeth,
When from heaven the Judge descendeth,
On whose sentence all dependeth.

Tuba mirum spargens sonum
per sepulcra regionum,
coget omnes ante thronum.

Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth,
Through earth’s sepulchers it ringeth,
All before the throne it bringeth.

Mors stupebit et natura,
cum resurget creatura,
iudicanti responsura.

Death is struck, and nature quaking,
All creation is awaking,
To its Judge an answer making.

Liber scriptus proferetur,
in quo totum continetur,
unde mundus iudicetur.

Lo, the book exactly worded,
Wherein all hath been recorded,
Thence shall judgment be awarded.

Iudex ergo cum sedebit,
quidquid latet apparebit:
nil inultum remanebit.

When the Judge His seat attaineth,
And each hidden deed arraigneth,
Nothing unavenged remaineth.

Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
quem patronum rogaturus?
cum vix iustus sit securus.

What shall I, frail man, be pleading?
Who for me be interceding
When the just are mercy needing?

Rex tremendae maiestatis,
qui salvandos salvas gratis,
salva me, fons pietatis.

King of majesty tremendous,
Who dost free salvation send us,
Fount of pity, then befriend us.

Recordare Iesu pie,
quod sum causa tuae viae:
ne me perdas illa die.

Think, kind Jesus, my salvation
Caused Thy wondrous Incarnation,
Leave me not to reprobation.

Quarens me, sedisti lassus:
redemisti crucem passus:
tantus labor non sit cassus.

Faint and weary Thou hast sought me,
On the Cross of suffering bought me,
Shall such grace be vainly brought me?

Iuste iudex ultionis,
donum fac remissionis,
ante diem rationis.

Righteous Judge, for sin’s pollution
Grant Thy gift of absolution,
Ere that day of retribution.

Ingemisco, tamquam reus:
culpa rubet vultus meus:
supplicanti parce Deus.

Guilty now I pour my moaning,
All my shame with anguish owning,
Spare, O God, Thy suppliant groaning.

Qui Mariam absolvisti,
et latronem exaudisti,
mihi quoque spem dedisti.

Through the sinful woman shriven,
Through the dying thief forgiven,
Thou to me a hope hast given.

Preces meae non sunt dignae:
sed tu bonus fac benigne,
ne perenni cremer igne.

Worthless are my prayers and sighing,
Yet, good Lord, in grace complying,
Rescue me from fires undying.

Inter oves locum praesta,
et ab haedis me sequestra,
statuens in parte dextera.

With Thy sheep a place provide me,
From the goats afar divide me,
To Thy right hand do Thou guide me.

Confutatis maledictis,
flammis acribus addictis.
voca me cum benedictis.

When the wicked are confounded,
Doomed to flames of woe unbounded,
Call me with Thy Saints surrounded.

Oro supplex et acclinis,
cor contritum quasi cinis:
gere curam mei finis.

Low I kneel with heart’s submission,
See, like ashes, my contrition,
Help me in my last condition.

Lacrimosa dies illa,
qua resurget ex favilla.
iudicandus homo reus:
huic ergo parce Deus.

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.

Pie Iesu Domine,
dona eis requiem. Amen.

Lord, all-pitying, Jesus blest,
Grant them Thine eternal rest. Amen.

John Newton seemed to adapt it for use as well.

I am also wondering how well-used is this 1848 adaptation by William Irons:
Day of Wrath, O Day of Mourning

Day of wrath, O day of mourning!
See fulfilled the prophet’s warning,
Heaven and earth in ashes burning.
Oh, what fear man’s bosom rendeth
When from Heav’n 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, good 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!

From that sinful woman shriven,
From 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 favored sheep, oh, place me!
Nor among the goats abase me,
But to Thy right hand upraise me.
While the wicked are confounded,
Doomed to flames of woe unbounded,
Call me, with Thy saints surrounded.

Low I kneel with heart submission,
See, like ashes, my contrition;
Help me in my last condition!
Day of sorrow, day of weeping,
When, in dust no longer sleeping,
Man awakes in Thy dread keeping!

This additional verse may be used with tunes of a different meter:

To the rest Thou didst prepare me
On Thy cross; O Christ, upbear me!
Spare, O God, in mercy spare me!

Do Protestant churches use this hymn today?

Finally, I have a question about the first lines of verse

"Dies iræ! Dies illa
Solvet sæclum in favilla:
Teste David cum Sibylla!"

or

"The day of wrath, that day
Will dissolve the world in ashes
As foretold by David and the Sibyl!"

Who are the Sibyl?





Any info to add? I would love to know more about this hymn and its place in the history of the Church.

 

[VictorBravo]

Who are the Sibyl?

Prophetesses, usually meaning pagan prophetesses.

From σίβυλλα.

 

[Pergamum]

How did this reference to pagan Sibylla get into part of the Catholic Mass?

 

[irresistible_grace]

How did this reference to pagan Sibylla get into part of the Catholic Mass?

CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Sibylline Oracles

 

[Pergamum]

How did this reference to pagan Sibylla get into part of the Catholic Mass?

CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Sibylline Oracles

WOW!

Early Church Father non-cessationists co-opting a Greek pagan practice?

In pagan times the oracles and predictions ascribed to the sibyls were carefully collected and jealously guarded in the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, and were consulted only in times of grave crises. Because of the vogue enjoyed by these heathen oracles and because of the influence they had in shaping the religious views of the period, the Hellenistic Jews in Alexandria, during the second century B.C. composed verses in the same form, attributing them to the sibyls, and circulated them among the pagans as a means of diffusing Judaistic doctrines and teaching. This custom was continued down into Christian times, and was borrowed by some Christians so that in the second or third century, a new class of oracles emanating from Christian sources came into being. Hence the Sibylline Oracles can be classed as Pagan, Jewish, or Christian. In many cases, however, the Christians merely revised or interpolated the Jewish documents, and thus we have two classes of Christian Oracles, those adopted from Jewish sources and those entirely written by Christians.

Again I say "WOW!" Maybe I should start a new thread just on this side-topic..... anybody got more info on this?

 

[Contra_Mundum]

I wonder if it was expunged (in part) on account of this stanza, especially the first line:

Qui Mariam absolvisti,
et latronem exaudisti,
mihi quoque spem dedisti.

Note how the first line seems literally to read:

From absolving MARY...​

The one translation gives us:

Through the sinful woman shriven,​

Remember that the sinful woman to whom Jesus said, "Your sins are forgiven you," Lk.7:48, was never named, although she became associated with Mary Magdalene in tradition (see Lk.8:2).

The second line {edit} (my Latin is nonexistent)
...
... the translator refers to the dying thief, Lk.23:42-43.

The crucifixion, wherein Jesus said, "Father forgive them..." Lk.23:34, was a time when pardon was much in evidence.

So, could the ancient writer in fact have been referring to (or confused by the Roman faithful with) the pleading Mary of Lk.2:47ff, the mother of the Lord, and so the statement be intended to say that Jesus WAS the forgiveness of sin from the beginning of his Incarnation to the end? This seems to me at least as plausible an interpretation, as the given translation concludes:

Thou to me a hope hast given.​

But of course, this would NOT fit with Romanist dogma concerning the Immaculate Conception (the sinlessness of Virgin Mary). A sinless Virgin needs no absolution.



Another possible reflection on the original poem:

Trinity Hymnal
DAY OF JUDGMENT! DAY OF WONDERS — ST. AUSTIN
Original Trinity Hymnal, #241 (also in the revised hymnal)

Day of judgment! day of wonders!
Hark! the trumpet's awful sound,
Louder than a thousand thunders,
Shakes the vast creation round.
How the summons
Will the sinner's heart confound!

See the Judge, our nature wearing,
Clothed in majesty divine;
You who long for his appearing
Then shall say, This God is mine!
Gracious Saviour,
Own me in that day as thine.

At his call the dead awaken,
Rise to life from earth and sea;
All the pow'r of nature, shaken
By his looks, prepare to flee.
Careless sinner,
What will then become of thee?

But to those who have confessed,
Loved and served the Lord below,
He will say, Come near, ye blessed,
See the kingdom I bestow;
You for ever
Shall my love and glory know.

 

[Prufrock]

To the utter devotion or last act of worship

Rev. Buchanan,

If you'll permit me, I'm not sure where the idea of the above translation came from; perhaps you had in mind some form of laus, laudis (praise) when you saw latronem?. Exaudisti is simply the perfect of exaudio, here meaning "to give ear to" or "regard;" and latronem is the accusative form of "thief." The first two lines are a relative clause which, in English, would be standing in apposition to the subject (You). Thus the whole simply reads "You who forgave Mary and gave ear to the thief, you also have given hope to me."

 

[Peairtach]

I see from the Franciscan Archive edition, there are a couple of references to the

nourishing brilliance of the Trinity, alme candor Trinitatis

, an expression I've never come accross.

We have alma mater, nourishing mother, for schools and colleges we have attended.

Alma mater was sometimes used of the Virgin Mary:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alma_mater

 

[Contra_Mundum]

To the utter devotion or last act of worship

Rev. Buchanan,

If you'll permit me, I'm not sure where the idea of the above translation came from; perhaps you had in mind some form of laus, laudis (praise) when you saw latronem?. Exaudisti is simply the perfect of exaudio, here meaning "to give ear to" or "regard;" and latronem is the accusative form of "thief." The first two lines are a relative clause which, in English, would be standing in apposition to the subject (You). Thus the whole simply reads "You who forgave Mary and gave ear to the thief, you also have given hope to me."

As I said in the post, my Latin is non-existent, other than a bevy of "standard phrases." If I don't know something, I try to make that clear. And most of those times, I input nothing. "Even a fool is thought wise if he keeps silent." I'm silent quite a bit.

As you surmise, I plainly took the form of the words and applied them to erroneous origins. I thought the one might be related to latria, and the other to exhaurire, where we get the English, "exhaust." Totally wrong. Should have done more research.

No doubt, most reasonable people would say, "Then why did you opine, since whatever you wrote had a good chance to be misleading?"

Because I had a thought, and I decided to air it. I admitted how ignorant I was up front, so (hopefully) people wouldn't assume I knew what I was talking about. And I don't mind being corrected in a public forum. Sometimes we have to be wrong first, in order to be right. In this case, I'm happy to be wrong, and have someone smarter than me give correction.

So thanks, brother. I'll go back to that post now, and expunge it of egregious error. Your post, and my response will be sufficient and lasting witness to my mistake.


Still I wonder if "Mary" might not be the "traditional" one that I referenced (Lk.9 & 10), and instead be the Virgin. Or if Rome might have just thought it was past confusing to have Jesus pardoning an undefined "Mary."

 

[Prufrock]

I do sincerely hope you did not take the words "I'm not sure where the idea for above translation came from" in any kind of snarky or superior way, nor would I desire to appear smarter (or adopt any posture other than student to you) nor provide a lasting witness to a mistake. It truly was a simple statement of fact - your posts are always highly informed, and I did not know if some bit of historical or extra-textual knowledge had suggested something that led your thoughts in the course they took. Also, I took the "my Latin is non-existent" comment as more of a statement of modesty - a non-feigning of expertise, rather than a lack of study. Apologies for the misunderstanding.