The Dies Irae (“Day of Wrath”) is a thirteenth-century Latin hymn about the Last Judgment, sung for centuries as the sequence of the Requiem Mass for the dead. It begins with the terror of the day when Christ comes as judge and ends with a humble plea for mercy: “Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem,” “Loving Lord Jesus, grant them rest.” Below is the full hymn in Latin and in the classic English translation of William Josiah Irons, its history and meaning, where it is used today, and its place in music.
The Dies Irae in Latin
The text of the 1962 Roman Missal:
Dies iræ! dies illa
Solvet sæclum in favilla
Teste David cum Sibylla!
Quantus tremor est futurus,
quando judex est venturus,
cuncta stricte discussurus!
Tuba mirum spargens sonum
per sepulchra regionum,
coget omnes ante thronum.
Mors stupebit et natura,
cum resurget creatura,
judicanti responsura.
Liber scriptus proferetur,
in quo totum continetur,
unde mundus judicetur.
Judex ergo cum sedebit,
quidquid latet apparebit:
nil inultum remanebit.
Quid sum miser tunc dicturus?
Quem patronum rogaturus,
cum vix justus sit securus?
Rex tremendæ majestatis,
qui salvandos salvas gratis,
salva me, fons pietatis.
Recordare, Jesu pie,
quod sum causa tuæ viæ:
ne me perdas illa die.
Quærens me, sedisti lassus:
redemisti Crucem passus:
tantus labor non sit cassus.
Juste judex ultionis,
donum fac remissionis
ante diem rationis.
Ingemisco, tamquam reus:
culpa rubet vultus meus:
supplicanti parce, Deus.
Qui Mariam absolvisti,
et latronem exaudisti,
mihi quoque spem dedisti.
Preces meæ non sunt dignæ:
sed tu bonus fac benigne,
ne perenni cremer igne.
Inter oves locum præsta,
et ab hædis me sequestra,
statuens in parte dextra.
Confutatis maledictis,
flammis acribus addictis:
voca me cum benedictis.
Oro supplex et acclinis,
cor contritum quasi cinis:
gere curam mei finis.
Lacrimosa dies illa,
qua resurget ex favilla
judicandus homo reus.
Huic ergo parce, Deus:
Pie Jesu Domine,
dona eis requiem. Amen.
The Dies Irae in English
The translation by William Josiah Irons (1849), as printed in the English Missal (1912). It keeps the rhyme and rhythm of the Latin rather than translating word for word:
Day of wrath! O day of mourning!
See fulfilled the prophets’ warning,
Heaven and earth in ashes burning!
Oh, what fear man’s bosom rendeth,
when from heaven the Judge descendeth,
on whose sentence all dependeth.
Wondrous sound the trumpet flingeth;
through earth’s sepulchers it ringeth;
all before the throne it bringeth.
Death is struck, and nature quaking,
all creation is awaking,
to its Judge an answer making.
Lo! The book, exactly worded,
wherein all hath been recorded:
thence shall judgment be awarded.
When the Judge his seat attaineth,
and each hidden deed arraigneth,
nothing unavenged remaineth.
What shall I, frail man, be pleading?
Who for me be interceding,
when the just are mercy needing?
King of Majesty tremendous,
who dost free salvation send us,
Fount of pity, then befriend us!
Think, good Jesus, my salvation
cost thy wondrous Incarnation;
leave me not to reprobation!
Faint and weary, thou hast sought me,
on the cross of suffering bought me.
shall such grace be vainly brought me?
Righteous Judge! For sin’s pollution
grant thy gift of absolution,
ere the day of retribution.
Guilty, now I pour my moaning,
all my shame with anguish owning;
spare, O God, thy suppliant groaning!
Thou the sinful woman savedst;
thou the dying thief forgavest;
and to me a hope vouchsafest.
Worthless are my prayers and sighing,
yet, good Lord, in grace complying,
rescue me from fires undying!
With thy favored sheep O place me;
nor among the goats abase me;
but to thy right hand upraise me.
While the wicked are confounded,
doomed to flames of woe unbounded
call me with thy saints surrounded.
Low I kneel, with heart submission,
see, like ashes, my contrition;
help me in my last condition.
Ah! that day of tears and mourning!
From the dust of earth returning
man for judgment must prepare him;
Spare, O God, in mercy spare him!
Lord, all pitying, Jesus blest,
grant them thine eternal rest. Amen.
History
The Dies Irae is usually attributed to Thomas of Celano (about 1200–1265), a Franciscan friar and the first biographer of St. Francis of Assisi. Its opening echoes the prophet Sophonias (Zephaniah):
That day is a day of wrath, a day of tribulation and distress, a day of calamity and misery, a day of darkness and obscurity, a day of clouds and whirlwinds,
A day of the trumpet and alarm against the fenced cities, and against the high bulwarks.
By the fourteenth century the hymn was sung in Masses for the dead, and the Missal of Pope St. Pius V (1570) made it the sequence of the Requiem Mass, sung before the Gospel at funerals, on All Souls’ Day and at other Masses for the dead.
Where is the Dies Irae used today?
In the reform of the liturgy after the Second Vatican Council, the Dies Irae was removed from the funeral Mass, whose texts were revised to emphasize Christian hope in the Resurrection. It was kept as an optional hymn in the Liturgy of the Hours for the last week of the liturgical year, before Christ the King, divided into three parts. It is still sung at Requiem Masses in the traditional Latin Mass (the “extraordinary form”), including on All Souls’ Day, November 2. See All Souls’ Day.
The meaning of the hymn
The Dies Irae moves from fear to trust:
- The Day of Judgment (stanzas 1–6): the world in ashes, the trumpet calling the dead from their graves, the book in which everything is written, the Judge before whom nothing is hidden.
- The sinner’s fear (stanzas 7–8): “What shall I, frail man, be pleading?” if even the just are scarcely safe.
- The plea for mercy (stanzas 8–17): the King of tremendous majesty who saves freely; Jesus who sought the lost sheep, sat weary at the well and suffered the Cross for me; who forgave Mary Magdalene and heard the good thief. “Shall such grace be vainly brought me?”
- Prayer for the dead (the last stanzas): “Lacrimosa,” the tearful day when man rises from the dust to be judged, and the final “Pie Jesu,” asking eternal rest for the departed.
The hymn reminds us of the four last things (death, judgment, heaven and hell) and of the immense mercy of Christ. See Catholic prayers for the dead.
The Dies Irae in music
The Gregorian chant melody of the Dies Irae, with its famous opening notes, became a musical symbol of death and judgment. It is quoted by Hector Berlioz in the Symphonie fantastique, by Franz Liszt in his Totentanz, by Sergei Rachmaninoff in many works, and in countless film scores. The text is set dramatically in the Requiems of Mozart and Verdi, among many others.
Frequently asked questions
What does Dies Irae mean?
“Day of wrath,” the first words of the hymn, referring to the Day of Judgment.
Who wrote the Dies Irae?
It is traditionally attributed to Thomas of Celano, a thirteenth-century Franciscan.
Is the Dies Irae still used at Catholic funerals?
Not in the ordinary form of the funeral Mass since 1970. It is still sung at traditional Latin Requiem Masses and may be used as a hymn in the Liturgy of the Hours at the end of the liturgical year.
What is the Pie Jesu?
The last two lines of the Dies Irae, “Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem,” which many composers have set as a separate piece.
More prayers for the dead
- Catholic hymns: lyrics and meaning
- All Souls’ Day
- Catholic prayers for the dead
- Eternal Rest prayer
- De Profundis (Psalm 130)
- Catholic funeral prayers
- Christ the King Sunday
Texts and sources
- Latin: Roman Missal (1962), Requiem Mass sequence; English: William Josiah Irons (1849), as in the English Missal (1912); both public domain (Wikisource).
- Scripture: Sophonias (Zephaniah) 1:15–16, Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner), public domain.
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1908), “Dies Iræ.”