Libera me

Last updated

"Libera me" ("Deliver me") is a responsory sung in the Office of the Dead in the Catholic Church, and at the absolution of the dead, a service of prayers for the dead said beside the coffin immediately after the Requiem Mass and before burial. The text asks God to have mercy upon the deceased person at the Last Judgment.

In addition to the Gregorian chant in the Roman Gradual, many composers have written settings for the text, including Tomás Luis de Victoria, Anton Bruckner (two settings), Giuseppe Verdi, Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Duruflé, Igor Stravinsky, Benjamin Britten, Sigismund von Neukomm, Orlande de Lassus, Krzysztof Penderecki, Antonio Salieri, Lorenzo Perosi, Arnold Rosner and Patrick Gowers (first stanza only).

Libera me, Domine, de morte æterna, in die illa tremenda
Quando cœli movendi sunt et terra
Dum veneris iudicare sæculum per ignem.

Tremens factus sum ego, et timeo, dum discussio venerit, atque ventura ira
Quando cœli movendi sunt et terra.

Dies illa, dies iræ, calamitatis et miseriæ, dies magna et amara valde
Dum veneris judicare sæculum per ignem.

Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine: et lux perpetua luceat eis. [1]

Deliver me, O Lord, from death eternal on that fearful day,
When the heavens and the earth shall be moved,
When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

I am made to tremble, and I fear, till the judgment be upon us, and the coming wrath,
When the heavens and the earth shall be moved.

That day, day of wrath, calamity and misery, day of great and exceeding bitterness,
When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire.

Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord: and let light perpetual shine upon them.

The responsory is begun by a cantor, who sings the first part of the versicles, and the responses are sung by the choir. The text is written in the first-person singular, "Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death on that fearful day", a dramatic substitution in which the choir speaks for the dead person. [2]

In the traditional Office, Libera me is also said on All Souls' Day (2 November) and whenever all three nocturns of Matins of the Dead are recited. On other occasions, the ninth responsory of Matins for the Dead begins with Libera me, but continues with a different text (Domine, de viis inferni ...). [2]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Requiem</span> Mass celebrated for the repose of deceased peoples souls

A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead or Mass of the dead, is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is usually celebrated in the context of a funeral.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canonical hours</span> Christian concept of periods of prayer throughout the day

In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or selection from, such prayers.

Libera may refer to:

John Sheppard was an English composer of the Renaissance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matins</span> Canonical hour of Christian liturgy

Matins is a canonical hour in Christian liturgy, originally sung during the darkness of early morning.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psalm 51</span> Book of Psalms, chapter 51

Psalm 51, one of the penitential psalms, is the 51st psalm of the Book of Psalms, beginning in English in the King James Version: "Have mercy upon me, O God". In the slightly different numbering system used in the Greek Septuagint and Latin Vulgate translations of the Bible, this psalm is Psalm 50. In Latin, it is known as Miserere, in Ancient Greek: Ἥ Ἐλεήμων, romanized: Hḗ Eleḗmōn), especially in musical settings. The introduction in the text says that it was composed by David as a confession to God after he sinned with Bathsheba.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tenebrae</span> Christian religious service

Tenebrae is a religious service of Western Christianity held during the three days preceding Easter Day, and characterized by gradual extinguishing of candles, and by a "strepitus" or "loud noise" taking place in total darkness near the end of the service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">O magnum mysterium</span> Religious text for Christmas

O magnum mysterium is a responsorial chant from the Matins of Christmas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Office of the Dead</span> Prayer cycle

The Office of the Dead or Office for the Dead is a prayer cycle of the Canonical Hours in the Catholic Church, Anglican Church and Lutheran Church, said for the repose of the soul of a decedent. It is the proper reading on All Souls' Day for all departed souls (Purgatory), and can be a votive office on other days when said for a particular decedent. The work is composed of different psalms, scripture, prayers and other parts, divided into The Office of Readings, Lauds, Daytime Prayer, Vespers and Compline.

<i>Officium Defunctorum</i> (Victoria)

Officium Defunctorum is a musical setting of the Office of the Dead composed by the Spanish Renaissance composer Tomás Luis de Victoria in 1603. The texts have also been set by other composers including Morales.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Antiphonary</span> Catholic liturgical book

An antiphonary or antiphonal is one of the liturgical books intended for use in choro, and originally characterized, as its name implies, by the assignment to it principally of the antiphons used in various parts of the Latin liturgical rites.

A responsory or respond is a type of chant in western Christian liturgies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rorate caeli</span> Antiphon sung during Christian liturgy

"Rorate caeli" or "Rorate coeli" are the opening words of Isaiah 45:8 in the Vulgate. The text appears at several points in the Christian liturgy of the Western Church during Advent.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liturgical books of the Roman Rite</span> Key texts of Catholicisms most widespread public worship service

The liturgical books of the Roman Rite are the official books containing the words to be recited and the actions to be performed in the celebration of Catholic liturgy as done in Rome. The Roman Rite of the Latin or Western Church of the Catholic Church is the most widely celebrated of the scores of Catholic liturgical rites. The titles of some of these books contain the adjective "Roman", e.g. the "Roman Missal", to distinguish them from the liturgical books for the other rites of the Church.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Absolution of the dead</span> Prayer or declaration regarding a dead persons sins

Absolution of the dead is a prayer for or a declaration of absolution of a dead person's sins that takes place at the person's religious funeral.

Libera me /Libera me, Domine is a Roman Catholic responsory that is sung in the Office of the Dead and at the absolution of the dead.

Christus factus est is taken from Saint Paul's Epistle to the Philippians. It is a gradual in the Catholic liturgy of the Mass. In pre-Vatican II Roman Rite practice, it was sung as the gradual at Mass on Maundy Thursday, however since the promulgation of the post-Vatican II Mass by Pope Paul VI in 1969 it has been employed instead as the gradual on Palm Sunday. Up until 1970 it was also sung daily at the conclusion of Tenebrae on the last days of Holy Week. It appeared first at Tenebrae of Maundy Thursday, but was not recited in full, ending with "...usque ad mortem". The following day at Tenebrae of Good Friday it was sung from the beginning until "...mortem autem crucis" and at Tenebrae of Holy Saturday it was sung in full. Up until the reform of the Holy Week liturgy promulgated by Pius XII in 1955 these Tenebrae services were sung in the late afternoon and evening of the previous day, and were well attended by the laity. Thus Tenebrae of Maundy Thursday was sung during the evening of Spy Wednesday; Tenebrae of Good Friday in the evening Maundy Thursday etc. For this reason Christus factus est was set by many composers of church music. From 1956 through 1969, and in the liturgical books of 1962 which are currently in use as the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, these services have been place back in early mornings of the last three days of Holy Week, with the effect that complex musical settings of this text are rarely heard in their liturgical context.

Quatre motets pour un temps de pénitence, FP 97, are four sacred motets composed by Francis Poulenc in 1938–39. He wrote them on Latin texts for penitence, scored for four unaccompanied voices.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tenebrae responsories</span> Responsories sung following the lessons of Tenebrae

Tenebrae responsories are the responsories sung following the lessons of Tenebrae, the Matins services of the last three days of Holy Week: Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Holy Saturday. Polyphonic settings to replace plainchant have been published under a various titles, including Responsoria pro hebdomada sancta.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Responsories (Reger)</span> Responsories by Max Reger

The Responsories by the German composer Max Reger are 20 short settings of mostly biblical texts in English, to be used as responsories in Lutheran church services. Composed in 1911, they were first published in Philadelphia in 1914 as The Responsories.

References

  1. Breviarium Benedictinum (in Latin). Vol. 4. 1725. p. 425.
  2. 1 2 Wikisource-logo.svg One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain :  Adrian Fortescue (1913). "Libera Me". In Herbermann, Charles (ed.). Catholic Encyclopedia . New York: Robert Appleton Company.