This morning I was late to church. But you can't say I missed worship...
As I started the car, strains of Mozart's Requiem Mass flowed from the radio, part of a broadcast honoring the 252nd anniversary of Mozart's birth. As I left the driveway, sounds of the Lacrimosa began to sink in, and soon I was undone. It's a good thing the church is only 8 minutes away and traffic is minimal. (The rest of my family had left earlier.)
I sat, then, in the church parking lot, listening, and allowing the Requiem to take me (if briefly) through the process of mourning. I only regret not tuning in sooner. First was the Lacrimosa, slow, tender, and deeply sad:Mournful that day
When from the dust shall rise
Guilty man to be judged.
Therefore spare him, O God.
Merciful Jesu,
Lord grant them rest.
Then the intensity, and peacefulness, of the Domine Jesu (Offertorium): Lord Jesus Christ, King of glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of hell and from the bottomless pit...
and the Hostias: We offer unto Thee this sacrifice of prayer and praise. Receive it for those souls whom today we commemorate. Allow them, O Lord, to cross from death into the life which once Thou didst promise to Abraham and his seed. ....
Then, the exuberance of the Sanctus and its concluding fugue:
Holy, holy, holy,[more]
Lord God of Sabaoth.
Heaven and earth are full of Thy glory.
Hosanna in the highest.
Sunday, February 3, 2008
From death into life
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Your title caught my eye. It's the same (or similar) title of the sermon my Grandfather Lester Osborn was typing when he had a heart attack and passed into true life.
ReplyDeleteGod's timing is always perfect.