In Paradisum

The antiphon “In paradisum” is one of those unique chants in the Western liturgical repertoire which is not exactly liturgical, per se, but is liturgy-adjacent. It’s sung at the very conclusion of the Requiem Mass (Mass for the dead), when the body of the deceased is being borne from the church to the grave. The composer of the text and music is unknown, and I’ve had a hard time tracking down even what century it entered the service books. Its provenance seems shrouded in mystery, but its message is so powerfully universal.

The words to the chant are:

In paradisum deducant te Angeli; in tuo adventu suscipiant te martyres, et perducant te in civitatem sanctam Ierusalem. Chorus angelorum te suscipiat, et cum Lazaro quondam paupere æternam habeas requiem.

Into paradise may the Angels lead thee; at thy coming, may the martyrs receive thee, and bring thee into the holy city Jerusalem. May the choir of Angels receive thee, and with Lazarus, who was once poor, mayest thou have eternal rest.

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Day of Wrath – And Hope

The Dies Irae is probably one of the most famous pieces in the entire repertoire of Latin chant. Its first opening notes have proven to be one of the most enduring musical phrases in our culture, prominently quoted by composers like Mozart, Haydn, Berlioz, and Rachmaninoff, and even in the film scores of movies from Citizen Cane and It’s Wonderful Life, to The Shining, Home Alone, The Lion King, Star Wars: A New Hope, and many, many more.

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Halloween as Sanity in the Modern World

Halloween is sanity

Halloween is scary — apparently. From every corner of digital Christendom is sounding the quaking alarm that participation in Halloween is tantamount to inviting the devil into your house. Hearsay about pagan origins and evil practices abounds. Even cooler-headed writers skeptical of the dubious beginnings of trick-or-treating and jack-o-lanterns warn that the overall character of Halloween is unprofitable at best and harmful at worst. But there’s a countering voice among Christians (and among people of other religions or none) that Halloween is totally innocent fun, that it’s inconsequential, vacant amusement. I personally think Halloween may be more complex and interesting than either of those positions make it out to be. It may even be a source of sanity in an increasingly insane world. Continue reading “Halloween as Sanity in the Modern World”