Mozart

My friend Frank sent me the following in an e-mail. I thought it was so beautiful, I wanted to post it. I had never read this. Enjoy.

Mozart's last and unfinished work. A death mass. Some (myself included) have speculated that he wrote it for himself. For a time Mozart became involved with Freemasonry. He was lured into it by the outward appearance of their so called philanthropy. As time passed he began to realize that the masons served a much different god than the one he knew. He left the masons, and exposed many of their rituals, beliefs, and agendas in his opera 'The Magic Flute.' As he neared death, he began to believe that someone had been poisioning him. I believe that the masons had him killed. I also believe that the Requiem Mass was his own personal prayer for forgivness and repentance.

I. Introitus
Lord, grant them eternal rest,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.

You shall have praise in Zion, O God,
and homage shall be paid to you in Jerusalem.

Hear my prayer.
All flesh shall come before you.
Lord, grant them eternal rest,
and let perpetual light shine upon them.


II. Kyrie
Lord have mercy, Christ have mercy,
Lord have mercy.


III. Sequenz

Dies Irae
This day, this day of wrath
shall consume the world in ashes,
as foretold by David and the Sybil.

What trembling there shall be
when the judge shall come
to weigh everything strictly.


Tuba Mirum
The trumpet, scattering its awful sound
across the graves of all lands,
summons all before the throne.

Death and nature shall be stunned
when mankind arises
to render account before the judge.
The written book shall be brought
in which all is contained
whereby the world shall be judged.

When the judge takes his seat
all that is hidden shall appear,
nothing shall remain unavenged.

What shall I, a wretch, say then?
To which protector shall I appeal
when even the just man is barely safe?


Rex Tremendae
King of awful majesty,
you freely save those worthy of salvation, save me!
Save me, fount of piety.


Recordare
Remember, gentle Jesus,
that I am the reason for your time on earth, do not cast me out on that day.

Seeking me, you sank down wearily,
you have saved me by enduring the cross, such travail must not be in vain.

Righteous judge of vengeance,
award the gift of forgiveness
before the day of reckoning.

I groan, like the sinner that I am,
guilt reddens my face.
O God, spare the supplicant.
You, who pardoned Mary
and heeded the thief,
have given me hope as well.

My prayers are unworthy,
but you, who are good, in pity
do not let me burn in the eternal fire.

Give me a place among the sheep
and separate me from the goats,
let me stand at your right hand.


Confutatis
When the damned are cast away,
and consigned to the searing flames,
call me to be with the blessed.

When the damned are cast away,
and consigned to the searing flames,

Bowed down in supplication I beg you,
my heart as though ground to ashes,
help me in my last hour.


Lacrimosa
This day full of tears
when from the ashes arises
guilty man, to be judged:

Lord, have mercy upon him.
Gentle Lord Jesus,
grant them rest.
Amen.


IV. Offertorium
Domine Jesu
Lord Jesus Christ,
King of glory,
Deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of hell and from the depths of the pit.
Deliver them from the mouth of the lion,

lest hell engulf them,
lest they fall into darkness;
but let the holy standard-bearer Michael bring them into the holy light, as once you promised to Abraham and to his seed.


Hostias
Lord, in praise we offer you
sacrifices and prayers:
accept them on behalf of those souls
whom we remember this day:

Lord, make them pass from death to life, as once you promised to Abraham and to his seed.


V. Sanctus
Holy, holy, holy
Lord God of hosts!
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest!


VI. Benedictus
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
Hosanna in the highest!


VII. Agnus Dei
Lamb of God,
you take away the sins of the world,
grant them rest.

Lamb of God,
you take away the sins of the world,
grant them eternal rest.


VIII. Communio
May eternal light shine upon them,
with your saints for ever: for you are compassionate.

May eternal light shine upon them,
with your saints for ever,
for you are compassionate.

Grant them eternal rest, Lord,
and may eternal light shine upon them,
with your saints for ever,
for you are compassionate.