A Requiem (Latin for 'rest') 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 souls of the deceased, using a particular form of the Roman Missal. It is usually celebrated in the context of a funeral (where in some countries it is often called a Funeral Mass).
Musical settings of the propers of the Requiem Mass are also called Requiems, and the term has subsequently been applied to other musical compositions associated with death, dying, and mourning, even when they lack religious or liturgical relevance.
The term is also used for similar ceremonies outside the Catholic Church, especially in Evangelical-Lutheranism and Western Rite Orthodox Christianity, as well as in certain Anglican congregations of Anglo-Catholic churchmanship. A comparable service, with a wholly different ritual form and texts, exists in the Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Catholic churches as well as some Methodist churches.
The Mass and its settings draw their name from the introit of the liturgy, which begins with the words (Latin for "Eternal rest grant them, O Lord"), which is cited from 2 Esdras 2:34-35 — requiem is the accusative singular form of the Latin noun , "rest, repose".2 Esdras 2:35 (4 Esdras in Vulgate). The Roman Missal as revised in 1970 employs this phrase as the first entrance antiphon among the formulas for Masses for the dead, and it remains in use to this day.
Liturgical rite
In earlier forms of the Roman Rite, some of which are still in use, a Requiem Mass differs in several ways from the usual Mass. Some parts that were of relatively recent origin, including some that have been excluded in the 1970 revision of the regular Mass, are omitted. Examples are the psalm Iudica at the start of Mass, the prayer said by the priest before reading the Gospel (or the blessing of the deacon, if a deacon reads it), and the first of the two prayers of the priest for himself before receiving Communion., XIII Other omissions include the use of incense at the Introit and the Gospel, the kiss of peace, lit candles held by acolytes when a deacon chants the Gospel, and blessings. There is no Gloria in excelsis Deo and no recitation of the Creed; the Alleluia chant before the Gospel is replaced by a Tract, as in Lent; and the is altered. is replaced with (May they rest in peace); the response is replaced with ; and the final blessing for the congregation is omitted. Black was the obligatory liturgical colour of the vestments in the earlier forms (including the Missal of 1962), while in the renewed liturgy "the colour black may be used, where it is the practice, in Masses for the Dead".General Instruction of the Roman Missal, 346e The sequence Dies irae, recited or sung between the Tract and the Gospel, was an obligatory part of the Requiem Mass before the changes as a result of the liturgical reform of the Second Vatican Council. As its opening words ("Day of wrath") indicate, this poetic composition speaks of the Day of Judgment in fearsome terms; it then appeals to Jesus for mercy. In the extraordinary form of the Roman Rite, commemorations (i.e. collect, secret, and postcommunion of either lower-ranking liturgical feasts that occur on the same day or votive/seasonal commemorations) are absent from the liturgy; as a result, it is standard practice for a separate, smaller Requiem Missal containing only the rubrics and various Mass formularies for Masses for the dead to be used, rather than the full Missal containing texts that will never be used at Requiems.
Roman Rite
In the liturgical reforms of the mid-20th century in the Catholic Church's Roman Rite, there was a significant shift in the funeral rites used by the Church. The theme of sorrow and grief was also made to emphasise the whole community's worship of God in which the deceased is entrusted to God's mercy, based on trust in the salvation value of the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
In the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, the Requiem Mass was sometimes termed a "Mass of the Resurrection" or Mass of Christian Burial, although the former was never official terminology. In the official English ritual, Order of Christian Funerals, published by the Bishops of England and Wales in 1990, the title is given as "Funeral Mass". "Requiem Mass" remains a suitable title for other Masses for the Dead and for the Funeral Mass itself (as the proper antiphons remain in force: Introit, "Eternal rest grant ... " / ""; Offertory, "Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed ... " / ""; Communion, "Let perpetual light shine ..." / ""). In keeping with those trends of the latter 21st century, the use of white vestments was made an allowable option by the Missal, though only by an indult; black remains the normal colour of all Requiem Masses, including Funeral Masses. Violet, a colour of penance, was also allowed by indult, since penance and reparation for the soul, presumably in Purgatory, is encouraged by the Church. The texts used for the liturgy underwent a similar change, and some of the new options for the readings reinforce an overall theme of Jesus' promise of eternal life.The Rites of Christian Burial, Catholic Publishing Company 1984
Requiem in other rites and churches Requiem is also used to describe any sacred composition that sets to music religious texts which would be appropriate at a funeral, or to describe such compositions for liturgies other than the Roman Catholic Mass. Among the earliest examples of this type are the German settings composed in the 17th century by Heinrich Schütz and Michael Praetorius, whose works are Evangelical-Lutheran Requiem Masses—adaptations of the Roman Catholic requiem, and which provided inspiration for the German Requiem by Brahms.A rather exhaustive list of requiem composers can be found at Requiem Survey: requiemsurvey.org.
Such works include: Greek Orthodox Church—Parastas Russian Orthodox Church—Panikhida Anglican (English) Requiem
Eastern Christian rites
In the Eastern Orthodox, Eastern Lutheran and Greek-Catholic Churches, the requiem is the fullest form of memorial service (, Slavonic: ). The normal memorial service is a greatly abbreviated form of Matins, but the Requiem contains all of the psalms, readings, and hymns normally found in the All-Night Vigil (which combines the Canonical Hours of Vespers, Matins and First Hour), providing a complete set of propers for the departed. The full requiem will last around three-and-a-half hours. In this format it more clearly represents the original concept of parastas, which means literally, "standing throughout (the night)." Often, there will be a Divine Liturgy celebrated the next morning with further propers for the departed.
Because of their great length, a full Requiem is rarely served. However, at least in the Russian liturgical tradition, a Requiem will often be served on the eve before the Glorification (canonization) of a saint, in a special service known as the "Last Panikhida".
Evangelical-Lutheranism In the Evangelical-Lutheran Churches, the Requiem Mass celebrates Christ's victory over death.
A German Requiem, authored by Johannes Brahms, uses the Lutheran Bible for its texts.
Anglicanism
The Book of Common Prayer contained no Requiem Mass, but instead a service named "The Order for the Burial of the Dead". Since the liturgical reform movement, provision has been made for a Eucharist to be celebrated at a funeral in various BCPs used in the various Provinces of the Anglican Communion. Prior to these additions, Anglo-Catholics or High Church Anglicans often incorporated parts of the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass as part of a funeral service — typically passages from the Ordinary of the Mass. Within this service are several texts with rubrics stating that they should be said or sung by the priest or clerks. The first few of these texts are found at the beginning of the service, while the rest are prescribed for the burial itself. These texts are typically divided into seven, and collectively known as "funeral sentences". Composers who have set the Anglican burial service to music include William Croft, Thomas Morley, Thomas Tomkins, Orlando Gibbons and Henry Purcell. The text of these seven sentences, from the 1662 Book of Common Prayer, is as follows: I am the resurrection and the life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. (John 11:25-26) I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth. And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God: whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another. (Job 19:25-27) We brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the Name of the Lord. (1 Timothy 6:7 and Job 1:21) Man that is born of a woman hath but a short time to live, and is full of misery. He cometh up, and is cut down, like a flower; he fleeth as it were a shadow, and never continueth in one stay. (Job 14:1-2) In the midst of life we are in death: of whom may we seek for succour, but of thee, O Lord, who for our sins art justly displeased? Yet, O Lord God most holy, O Lord most mighty, O holy and most merciful Saviour, deliver us not into the bitter pains of eternal death. (Media vita in morte sumus) Thou knowest, Lord, the secrets of our hearts; shut not thy merciful ears to our prayer; but spare us, Lord most holy, O God most mighty, O holy and merciful Saviour, thou most worthy judge eternal, suffer us not, at our last hour, for any pains of death, to fall from thee. I heard a voice from heaven, saying unto me, Write, From henceforth blessed are the dead which die in the Lord: even so saith the Spirit: for they rest from their labours. (Revelation 14:13)
Music
The Requiem Mass is notable for the large number of musical compositions that it has inspired, including settings by Mozart (though uncompleted),) Verdi, Berlioz, Saint-Saëns, Brahms (from the vernacular German Lutheran Bible), Dvořák, Fauré, Duruflé, and others. Originally, such compositions were meant to be performed in liturgical service, with monophonic chant. Eventually, the dramatic character of the text began to appeal to composers to an extent that they made the requiem a genre of its own, and the compositions of composers such as Verdi are essentially concert pieces rather than liturgical works.
Many of the texts in the Requiem Mass have been set to music, including:
Introit Kyrie eleison Gradual Tract Sequence (the Dies Irae) Offertory Sanctus Agnus Dei Communion Pie Jesu Libera Me In paradisum
History of musical compositions
For many centuries the texts of the requiem were sung to Gregorian melodies. The Requiem by Johannes Ockeghem, written sometime in the latter half of the 15th century, is the earliest surviving polyphonic setting. There was a setting by the elder composer Dufay, possibly earlier, which is now lost: Ockeghem's may have been modelled on it.Fabrice Fitch: "Requiem (2)", Grove Music Online, ed. L. Macy (Accessed January 21, 2007) Many early compositions reflect the varied texts that were in use in different liturgies around Europe before the Council of Trent standardised texts used in liturgies. The requiem of Brumel, circa 1500, is the first to include the Dies Iræ. In the early polyphonic settings of the Requiem, there is considerable textural contrast within the compositions themselves: simple chordal or fauxbourdon-like passages are contrasted with other sections of contrapuntal complexity, such as in the Offertory of Ockeghem's Requiem.