by The Valley Forge Choir of Men & Boys
at Washington Memorial Chapel on February 29, 2003.
Silence.
Boys proceed with folded hands,
their fingers intertwined.
Men follow,
young, old, faithful, faint.
Others watch
and wait,
sitting in the wooden pews
or on stone benches
set along the chapel walls,
(some, having arrived late,
on folding chairs set up front),
all now a sudden congregation
set to hear a service sung -
an invocation to our God
that He
would grant eternal rest.
.
Requiem aeturnam ...
Organ chord sounds loudly first,
and startles some
who sit not knowing
what they should expect.
Rest eternal ...
sung in Latin verse,
the Lord beseeched with music,
God in Zion praised,
and we,
reminded that all flesh
shall die,
seek God's face
to favor us with mercy
in that coming moment.
.
Kyrie eleison ...
Lord Christ have mercy.
Surely you are able, Lord;
we pray that you be willing.
.
Rex glorie ... libera animas ...
From death deliver souls.
Oh Lord!
Is not the promise of the King of Glory sure?
Surely shall all faithful souls be saved
from being swallowed up
in deepest darkness,
from falling down forever
into abysmal obscurity.
Make those souls pass from death, O Lord;
deliver souls from death
to pass instead
to life.
.
Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus ...
Thrice holy God, Lord Sabaoth,
hear blessing from trebled voices
as organ plays with harp;
the highest hosannas sung
to the One who comes,
full of glory,
in the holy Name,
I AM.
.
Pie Jesu Domine ...
Please, Lord,
hear our prayer,
and, in your mercy,
grant eternal rest.
.
Agnus Dei, qui tollis peccata mundi ...
the world ... the sins ...
who takes sin away?
There is no one else
who can, who has, who sacrificed for us.
who ... who has mercy?
Only you, Lord Jesus Christ!
Oh, God ... like a slaughtered lamb you lay,
stretched out on a cross,
striped with bloody marks of malice,
miserable, suffering like we do,
and more,
and more,
and more ...
.
Libera me, Domine ...
lux perpetua luceat
Liberty! (Deliver me.)
Liberty? (Deliver me.)
From eternal death, deliver me.
Don't let death be dominant.
That fearful day approaches quickly
when all liberty proclaimed
in vain and bloody revolution
shall come to naught;
the wrathful truth is a bitter judge.
I tremble to consider the desolation of that day.
Those whose fantasy of perpetual luxury
will instead
be shut forever out
of Paradise,
suffering a second death.
.
in paradisum ...
In your coming ... be with us in your coming.
Be with us, Lord,
be with us now,
so that in Paradise we may be with you.
Help us find our rest, O Lord,
in you.
.
Requiem ...
requium aeturnam, dona nobis.
My heart, my flesh rejoice in God.
.
... exultaverant in Deum vivum!
To dwell with you, as you have come to dwell with us,
is bliss beyond imagination.
.
Laus et Jubilato ...
Hidden in your heart is home.
How dear your dwelling is, O Lord.
How delightful is your rest.
No comments:
Post a Comment