Requiem

Requiem is inspired by death rituals of various cultures including the Anglican Church Order for the Burial of the Dead, the Tibetan Book of the Dead, Neoshamanist dying rituals including the “Great Death Spiral,” and New Orleans jazz funeral celebrations of life. The form is in five sections, with English text from the Bible and Greek and Latin from the traditional Catholic mass:

I. “All go to the same place; all come from dust, and to dust all return.” – Ecclesiastes 3:20 (NIV)

II. “Listen, I will tell you a mystery! We will not all die, but we will all be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed.” – 1 Corinthians 15: 51-52 (NRSV)

III. “The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake. Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I fear no evil; for you are with me; your rod and your staff— they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord my whole life long.” – Psalm 23 (NRSV)
“Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem. Dona eis requiem sempiternam.” “Kyrie eleison. Christe eleison. Kyrie eleison.”

IV. (no text)

V. “See, the home of God is among mortals. [God] will dwell with them; they will be [God’s] peoples, and God will be with them; [God] will wipe every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more, for the first things have passed away.” – Revelation 21: 3-4 (NRSV altered)