Libera Me

For the 1993 French film, see Libera me (film).

Līberā mē, Libera 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 by 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 Judgement. In addition to the Gregorian chant in the Roman Gradual, many composers have written settings for the text, including Giuseppe Verdi, Gabriel Fauré, Maurice Duruflé and David Maslanka.

Līberā mē, Domine, de morte æternā, in diē illa tremenda:
Quandō cœli movendi sunt et terra.
Dum veneris īudicāre sæculum per ignem.
Tremēns factus sum ego, et timeō, dum discussio vēnerit, atque ventūra īra.
Quandō cœlī movendi sunt et terra.
Diēs illa, diēs īræ, calamitatis et miseriæ, diēs magna et amara valde.
Dum veneris īudicāre sæculum per ignem.
Requiem æternam dōnā eīs, Domine: et lūx perpetua lūceat eīs.
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.).

References

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