REQUIEM
777
REQUIEM
edition Roino, 1691, p. 226). In that, work, however,
there are two other Introits for the Mass of the Dead,
one of which is "Ego sura resurrectio ct vita; . . .
non morietur in a;temum"; and the other, " Rogamus
te, Domine Deus noster, ut suscipias animam hujus
defuncti, pro quo sanguinera tuum fudisti: recordare
Domine quia pulvis sumus et homo sicut foenum
flos agri." The religious idea that the soul is immortal
made even the Jews hold that the just, after death,
went to sleep with their fathers (cf. Gen., xlvii, 30;
III Kings, ii, 10; II Mach., xii, 45), and Christians
believed, with St. Paul, that they slept in Christ
(I Cor., XV, 18). From the first centuries, therefore,
prayers were offered that the dead might have eternal
rest. Gregory of Tours (Glor. Mart., I, Ixv), speaking
of a Christian woman who each day caused the Divine
Sacrifice to be offered for her deceased husband, says:
"Non difBsa de Domini misericordia, quod haberet
defunctus requiem." And St. Ambrose (Ob. Valen-
tiniani imp., n. 56) writes: " Date manibus sancta
mysteria, pio requiem ejus poscamus officio." So
originated the Introit of the Ma-ss for the Dead.
II. FoRMUL.\Ry. — The formulary of a mass con- sists of the liturgical texts that constitute the variable parts of the mass, namely the Introit, Prayer, Epistle, Gradual, and Tract, and sometimes also the Sequence, Gospel, Offertorj', Secret, Communion, and Post-Communion. Now the Missal has four of these formularies: (1) In commemoratione Omnium De- functoTum; (2) In die obitus; (.3) l7i anniversario; (4) In missis quotidianis; but the only variations among them are in the Prayer, the Epistle, and the Gospel. In the Paris Missal of Ventimille, reviewed by Quelen (ed. Le Clere, 1841), there are five for- mularies and many other Epistles and Gospels, all of which deserve to be considered, because they are all taken from the Scriptures and are verj* appropriate. Guyet, also (Heortol., IV, xxiii, 31), takes from other local uses sev'eral formula? for the Introit, etc. for the dead. There is nothing to be said in regard to the Gradual or to the Communion of the Roman for- mulary. (In regard to the sequence "Dies irae", see Dies Ir.«.) A few remarks may be made, however, in regard to the Offertorj', concerning which many writers have published contrary views (cf. Merati in "Not. Gavanti", I, .xii, 2). The words "Libera animas . . . de pcenis inferni et de prof undo lacu" may easily be understood to refer to purgatory, or, like those that follow . . . " libera eas de ore leonis, ne absorbeat eas tartarus, ne cadant in obscurum", as also the last ones ..." f ac eas Domine, transire de morte ad vitam", they may bear the interpretation that is most in accord with liistory and with theology, i. e. the one given by Merati and by Benedict XIV (De sacrif. mis., II, ix, 4), cited by Grancolas (Antiq. sacrament, eccl., p. .536). This Offertory is among the prayers that were formerly recited for the sick who were about to die, and was later adopted in the Mass, in the same manner as the Church is wont to pray, in Advent: "Rorate coeli desuper. Emitte agnum, Domine, dominatorem terrae. . . . O Adonai, veni ad liborandum nos", etc. . . . As, therefore, the Church refers these prayers to the time when the Prophets were longing for the promised Messias, so, also, she refers the Offertory of the Mass for the Dead to the time when the soul has not yet left the body. The same pope cites also an explanation by Sarnelli (Epist., Ill, 62), which is accepted by Thiers (De superstit., X, 15), and according to which these words would refer to the lake and to the dark place of pur- gatory; but the words "Fac transire de morte ad vitam" are opposed to this interpretation. The rubric after the fourth formulary of the Missal {In missis quotidianis) leaves the celebrant free to select the Epistle and the Gospel that he may prefer, and consequently there remain to be recited according to prescription only the Prayers, which must be selected
according to the indications of the Missal, in appro-
priate relation to the person for whom the Divine Sac-
rifice is offered.
The ceremonies of the Mass of Requiem are the same as those of the so-called "Mass of the Li\'ing", with the exception of a few omissions and variations indicated in title XIII of the Rubrics. The psalm "Judica me" is omitted at the beginning; this omis- sion certainly bears a relation to the masses of Passion Time, in which that psalm is likewise omitted. It should be noted, however, that the omission on Passion Sunday is due to the fact that the psalm is said in the Introit, and could not be recited twice. As this psalm xlii was omitted in all the ferial masses of Passion Time, that omission was regarded as a sign of mourn- ing, and accordingly became a characteristic of the Mass of Requiem, although the psalm itself is not at variance with the nature of this Mass. The two doxologies and the Alleluia, which are regarded as expressions of joy and festivity, are naturally omitted, to express mourning, although the Alleluia was for- merly used in Masses of Requiem, as maj' be seen in the Antiphonarj- of St. Gregory mentioned abo\e. (Cf. Cabrol, "Diction.", s. v., col. 1235.) With regard to the omission of the blessing of the water which is poured into the chalice, rubricists, taking it one from the other, say with Gavantus (Ruhr. Slis., II, vii, 4, g.) " Non benedicitur aqua . . . quae populum .significat, . . . vel aqua hoc loco significat populum Purgatorii, qui jam est in gratia." But, admitting that the water which is mixed «ith wine represents the people, as Benedict XIV shows upon the authority of St. Cyprian (Sacr. Mis., II, x, 13), this mystic explanation does not show why the water should not be blessed. It seems more probable that the ex-planation for this practice should be sought in the principle, ad- mitted in the Latin Rites, that, as an evidence of mourning, all signs of reverence and salutations are omitted, among them the blessing of objects and of persons, just as on Good Friday the blessing of the water, all obeisances and salutations, and the blessing of the people are omitted.
III. Colour op the Ve,stments. — Requiem Mass should always be celebrated with black vestments and ornaments, black, in the Latin Rite, representing the deepest mourning; for, as the Church robes its ministers in black on Good Friday, to show its great- est grief, caused by the death of the Divine Redeemer, while it uses the mi.xed colour of violet during Pas- sion Tide, so also, in celebrating the obsequies of the dead, it uses the colour of greatest grief. The one exception to the above rule was made by the Con- gregation of Rites (deer. 3177 and 3844), which pre- scribed that when the Blessed Sacrament is exposed on All Souls day, in the devotion of the Forty Hours, the colour of the vestments must be violet. In many places it was held that bishops and cardinals might use violet vestments for the Mass of Requiem; and this opinion was put into practice. It may have originated in the fact that a Mass celebrated by the bishop is considered more solemn than others; on the other hand, it may be that, as the violet vest- ments were not used prior to the thirteenth century, because Innocent III makes no mention of them (Mist. Miss., I, Ixv; P. L., 217), while black was used on penitential days, some bishops may have under- taken to substitute violet for black in the Requiem Mass also. This practice has received no authorita- tive sanction; and as the bishop, when officiating on a given day, must use vestments of the colour pre- scribed by the Rubrics for that day, there is nc> reason why he should make an exception for the Requiem Mass. And in fact, the cardinal who celebrates a solemn Mass for the dead in the pontifi- cal chapel in the presence of the supreme pontiff, on occasions of the greatest solemnity, always uses black vestments.
