Secular HistoryChurch History | Ministry to the Dead and Bereaved | Dies Irae |
A period of superstition and magic in Europe.
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1193 - 1280 Albert the Great
1225 - 1274 Thomas Aquinas -- Scholastics develop a "Sacramental Theology" in which Sacraments are signs of grace and have SPIRITUAL EFFECTS: e.g. the forgiveness of sins.
1254 Pope Innocent IV officially formulated the doctrine of purgatory.
1266 - 1308 John Duns Scotus
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The scholastic theologians begin to make a "synthesis" of theological beliefs about God, death, and the after life.
The emphasis on prayers for the "purification" of the dead leads to the composition of a special Mass formula, the Requiem Mass ("requiem" from the first words of the Introit, or entrance antiphon, "Requiem eternam...", "Eternal rest grant to them, O Lord...").
The focus of these Mass texts is on expiation. They are marked by fear and a pessimistic eschatology (see the commentary on the sequence "Dies irae" below). [This is another of the trends reversed by the reforms of the Second Vatican Council.]
The Franciscans, as missionaries and iterant preachers, carry the Roman ritual far and wide.
MOODLE 2010:
This period marks the shift in function of the prayers and rites into formularies. Superstitions and ill use of the Eucharist became common practice such as placing a consecrated host in the mouth of the dead with numerous other curious practices. This period was most influenced by the monasteries of Europe particularly the Augustinians and the Cistercian abbeys who standardized funeral rites and practices.
Franciscan rite of 1260 influenced 20th century. Origin of Requiem Mass which was different from Mass of the day. Increasing suffrages added to the solemnity of the funeral. Absolution service and grave blessings introduced during this time.
Development of Requiem Mass. Going to Abraham’s bosom; Vigil in church and graveside prayer.
1. Dies Irae, Icebergs, and Lex Orandi To understand something of the "theology and pastoral practice" related to death and bereavement in the Catholic Church, I suggest you examine the text of the poem "Dies Irae" which was (until 1970) an integral part of the Church's prayer for the dead. And the way we pray, reveals our belief: Lex orandi. As you read the text of this prayer, think of what the author (and those praying the prayer) thought about death and what happens after death -- the "presuppositions" that often lie in the unconscious (refer to the "Iceberg Metaphor").
Dies Irae ("Day of Wrath") is a famous 13th-century Latin hymn written by Thomas of Celano. [Richstatter Note: This is no longer certain.] It is often judged to be the best medieval Latin poem, differing from classical Latin by its accentual (non-quantitative) stress, and its rhymed lines. The meter is trochaic. The poem describes the day of judgment, the last trumpet summoning souls before the throne of God, where the good will be delivered and the evil cast into eternal flames. The hymn was used as a sequence in the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass until the 1970 revision of the Roman Missal. It is suggested in the current Latin Breviary (Editio Typica Altera, from 2000) for use in the Liturgy of the Hours during the last week of Ordinary Time, following the feast of Christ the King and leading up to the beginning of the Advent season.
The words have often been set to music as part of the Requiem service [Richstatter e.g. Mozart, Verdi, Berlioz, etc] originally as a somber Gregorian chant. It also forms part of the liturgy of All Souls Day.
The inspiration of the hymn seems to have come from the Vulgate translation of Zephaniah I:15-16:
The oldest text of the sequence is found, with slight verbal variations, in a 13th century manuscript in the Biblioteca Nazionale at Naples. It is a Franciscan calendar missal that must date between 1253 - 1255 for it does not contain the name of Saint Clare, who was canonized in 1255, and whose name would have been inserted if the manuscript were of later date.
This English translation attempts to preserve the trochaic meter of the Latin for the first four stanzas, in a style appropriate for the program for a performance. Later stanzas are translated more literally.
The poem appears complete as it stands at this point. Some scholars question whether the remainder is an addition made in order to suit the great poem for liturgical use, for the last stanzas discard the consistent scheme of triple rhymes in favor of rhymed couplets, while the last two lines abandom rhyme for assonance and are, moreover, catalectic:
("Dies Irae." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 9 Feb 2006, 20:24 UTC. 11 Feb 2006, 20:07 Emphasis added by Richstatter.)
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© Copyright: Tom Richstatter, Franciscan Province of St. John the Baptist, Cincinnati Ohio, Order of Friars Minor. All Rights Reserved. This page was created by Fr. Thomas Richstatter, O.F.M. Every effort has been, and is being made, to acknowledge sources when the ideas are not my own. Any failure to comply with the United States Copyright Act (Title 17, United States Code) will be corrected immediately should I become aware of it. This site was updated on 08/13/10 . Your comments on this site are welcome at tomrichs@psci.net.