Libera me

General information

Libera me Domine de morte aeterna is the ninth responsory at Matins for the Dead, and is also used for the burial service which follows the Mass for the Dead. For this reason it often appears as the concluding movement of Requiem settings.

When the third nocturn of Matins for the Dead is said by itself a different text, Libera me Domine de viis inferni, is used instead.

Settings by composers

Ambrosian chant William Byrd ATTBarB Frédéric Chopin (misattributed? possibly Franz Gruber) SATB Gabriel Fauré B Solo from Requiem

Johann Joseph Fux SATB Giovanni Gabrieli a 16 SATB.SATB.ATTB.TTBB Robert Parsons SAATB Franz Xaver Witt

Original text and translations

Latin text Libera me, Domine, de morte aeterna in die illa tremenda quando coeli movendi sunt et terra dum veneris judicare saeculum per ignem. Tremens factus sum ego et timeo, dum discussio venerit atque ventura ira. Dies irae, dies illa, calamitatis et miseriae, dies magna et amara valde. Requiem aeternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. Danish translation Frels mig, Herre, fra den evige død på rædslens dag, hvor himmel og jord er i bevægelse, hvor du kommer for at dømme verden gennem ild. Jeg skælver og frygter, når ødelæggelsen og vreden rammer. hvor himmel og jord er i bevægelse, Hin dag, vredens dag, ulykkens og elendighedens dag, den forfærdelige og såre bitre dag. Giv dem den evige hvile, o Herre, og lad det evige lys skinne for dem.

English translation Deliver me, O Lord, from eternal death, on that fearful day when the heavens are moved and the earth when you will come to judge the world through fire. I am made to tremble, and I fear, when the desolation shall come, and also the coming wrath. That day, the day of wrath, calamity, and misery, that terrible and exceedingly bitter day. Rest eternal grant them, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine on them. Ukrainian translation Звільни мене, Господи, від вічної смерті в день той трепету, коли небеса та земля вражені будуть, коли прийдеш судити світ вогнем. Тому я тремчу і боюся, коли суд настане. День гніву, день той нещастя та жалю, великий і вельми тужний. Даруй їм вічний спокій, Господи, i вічне світло нехай ллється на них безперестанно.