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Just as Jesus died and rose again, so will the Father bring with him those who have died in Jesus.  Just as in Adam all men die, so in Christ all will be made alive.

It is often argued by liturgists that the Church has long struck a sour note when celebrating today’s Feast of All Souls.  They claim that excessive focus on the punishments of Purgatory have produced liturgical practices that undermine the Church’s confidence in the mercy of Christ.  Two examples these liturgists regularly cite are the wearing of black vestments at funerals and the chanting of the Dies irae.  Accordingly, liturgical reformists after the Second Vatican Council sought to promote the wearing of white or violet at funerals (though black is not forbidden), and they succeeded in eliminating the Dies irae from the order of Masses for the Dead.  Though sensible from the perspective of one form of “pastoral sensitivity,” these reforms have not been without their critics.

Behind the liturgical debates surrounding funerals and the Feast of All Souls lies a deeper theological discussion.  For long it has indeed remained difficult when pondering the Christian mysteries to strike the right balance in emphasis between the justice and the mercy of Christ.  In our prayer and preaching, we cannot promote the good of one divine attribute at the expense of the other.  Either way, the results are not good for us.  Divine justice without mercy is a horrific prospect, and mercy without justice nullifies our freedom and the responsibility we bear for our actions.  In the last section of his encyclical Spe salvi, Pope Benedict XVI makes a bold attempt at explaining how Christ’s justice and mercy are rightly united. 

Even before the Council, however, artists were trying in their own way to achieve this balance through their craft.  I offer two examples here.  First, in text and melody, the Gregorian Dies irae fixates on what appears to be God’s overwhelming justice.  Only at the end of the poem does Christ’s mercy appear, and some argue too little too late to help mitigate the fear elicited by the rest of the poem.  In any event, because of its use in the liturgy, the Dies irae shaped the Catholic imagination—and thereby Catholic art—for centuries.

Second, in Faure’s Requiem we witness an attempt by one composer to give justice to the mercy of Christ.  In the Pie Jesu movement, Faure takes the last two lines of the poem—”Lord, all pitying, Jesus blest, grant them thine eternal rest”—and fashions a union of music and text that has become a hallmark of Christian prayer.  In it, we hear the very sweetness of Christ’s mercy, and the humility of the soul seeking his pardon.

Distinct in shape and form, these two pieces work best when put together, not when heard at the same time, of course, but when held together in individual minds and hearts.  Each conveys to us different aspects of the singular mystery of Christian salvation.  I include both here to assist your All Souls Day prayer.

After the break you’ll find the text of the Dies irae in Latin and English.

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On All Souls Day, November 2, Dr. Mark Bani and the St. Vincent Ferrer Chorale will perform a late Renaissance choral masterpiece, Missa pro defunctis by the Portuguese composer Manuel Cardoso.  The evening’s program will also include anthems for All Souls Day.

The concert begins at 7:00 PM.  A free will offering will be taken.

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