Libera Me

Líbera me ("Deliver me") is a Roman Catholic responsory that is sung in the Office of the Dead and at the absolution of the dead, a service of prayers for the dead said beside the coffin immediately after the Requiem Mass and before burial. The text of Libera Me asks God to have mercy upon the deceased person at the Last Judgment. In addition to the Gregorian chant in the Roman Gradual, many composers have written settings for the text, including Tomás Luis de Victoria, Anton Bruckner (two settings), Giuseppe Verdi, Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Duruflé, Igor Stravinsky, Benjamin Britten, Krzysztof Penderecki and David Maslanka.

Líbera me, Dómine, de morte ætérna, in die illa treménda. Quando cœli movéndi sunt et terra. Dum véneris iudicáre sǽculum per ignem. Tremens factus sum ego, et tímeo, dum discússio vénerit, atque ventúra ira. Quando cœli movendi sunt et terra. Dies illa, dies iræ, calamitátis et misériæ, dies magna et amára valde. Dum véneris iudicáre sǽculum per ignem. Réquiem ætérnam dona eis, Dómine: et lux perpétua lúceat eis.

Deliver me, O Lord, from death eternal on that fearful day, When the heavens and the earth shall be moved, When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire. I am made to tremble, and I fear, till the judgment be upon us, and the coming wrath, When the heavens and the earth shall be moved. That day, day of wrath, calamity and misery, day of great and exceeding bitterness, When thou shalt come to judge the world by fire. Rest eternal grant unto them, O Lord: and let light perpetual shine upon them.

Libera Me is begun by a cantor, who sings the versicles alone, and the responses are sung by the choir. The text is written in the first person singular, "Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death on that fearful day," a dramatic substitution in which the choir speaks for the dead person.

In the traditional Office, Libera Me is also said on All Souls' Day (2 November) and whenever all three nocturns of Matins of the Dead are recited. On other occasions, the ninth responsory of Matins for the Dead begins with "Libera me", but continues with a different text (Domine, de viis inferni, etc.).

It is also sampled in the rap song Libera Me From Hell in the popular anime Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann.

References

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Herbermann, Charles, ed. (1913). "Libera Me". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton.