Dies AbsoltttiOniB. One of the names of Gnt Friday. The title originated with the cnstom rfi^ solving penitents from ecclesiastical penalties oe cba day.— Ambrosius, Epist. 88 ; Siegel, Bandbmek d,A&p- thUmer, i, 876.
Dies Cinimm, the Latin name for Ash-Wcsb5»
DAY (q. v.).
Dies CcBBSe DominicaB or Euchazistise^w
of the designations of Maundy Thnrsday (q. v.). 1 was distinguished by the celebratian of the ladi Supper. See Maundt Thursday.
Dies DomixiiOTls (17 impiac^), the andeat nee of the Lord's Day, which was also called Sunday, £1 solisy especially when, in addressing the heaibcait was necessary to distinguish the day. Daring ^ early ages it was never caUed the Sabbath, that vai being confined to the seventh day of the weck,viii^ continued to be observed by the Jews, and in part sb^ for a short time, by some of the converts to Chriftaa- ity.— Bingham, Orig. Ecdes. bk. xx, ch. ii, § 1; Cde- man, Ancient Chri^aniiy, ch. xxiii, § 2.
Dies Irae, the fomous Latin jndgoMnt bras d the 13th or 14th century, which, in its received Irs, reads as follows :
Dies ifBB, dies ilia, Solvet ofleclitm in fitriDa, Teste David cunt l^bylla.
Quantus tremor ett fatoriM, Qnando Judex est TeDtnnui, CuncU Btricte dtseonaros?
Tuba, mimm ipargens sonnm Per lepQlcra r^onum, Coget omnes ante throoara. Mors slupebit et natnra, Qtium resniiKel creatura, Judicanti respoufura. Liber scriptus proferetor, In quo totnm ooatinetur, L'nde mnndue Jndtcetur.
Judex ergo qnam sedeUt, Quidquid latet, apparebit. Ma innltum remanebit.
Quid ram miaer tone dietmna, Qoem patox>Dnni rogatiinu, Quam vix Janius sH secarua ; Kex trpmeDdie m^eatatis, Qnl salvandOi f=alva8 gratis, 8al\-a me, font pietatSs.
DIES nLE 703
DEES JRM
Baoordare, Jera pie, Qaod 8um causa tiua via, Ne me perdaa iUa di&
Qiuerens me sedUU lassus, Redemisti cruce pawus : Tantiu labor non dt caMoa,
Jiute judex oltionls, Donnm fac remlssionls Ante diem rationis. IngemlBco tanqaam rena, CulpA rubei valtos meus : Supplicant! paroe, Deos.
Qui Marlam abeolvisti, Et latronem exaudisti, Mihi qnoque spem dedL^U.
Precefl meee non sunt digos, Sed Cu, bone, fac benlgne, Ne perenni cremer i^e.
Inter ove» locum pim^tta, Et ab hodiis me sequefltra, Statuens in pane deztra.
Confutatifl maledictiB, Flammis acribus addictis, Voca me cum benedictlB. Oro anpplex et aocliniB, Cor contritum quasi cinLSi Qen curam mel finis.
[Lacrimoea dies Ola, Qua resurget ex favilla Judicandua homo reus ; Hnic ergo parce, Deus. Pie Jesn Domine Dona eis requiem. Amen.]
This is the text of the Roman MlasaL The last six nes we consider as an addition by another hand from Ider hymns in public use. Daniel (Thesaurus hymnol, , 103) gives two other forms; one considerably lon- «r, from, a marble slab in the Franciscan church at iantua (first published by Mohnike, who, without ;ood reason, considers it the original form), and com- aencing,
Cogita (Quoso) anhna fidells
Ad quid reepondere veils
Chruto venture de coells.
I. Confento.— The hymn is variously called Prosa le morUds, De diejudicH^ In commemoraHone de/uncto- •wn^ and is used in the Latin Church on the day of ill Souls (Nov. 2), in masses for the dead, and on fn- leral solemnities. It is a judgment hymn, based npon ;he prophetic description of the great day of the Lord n Zeph. i, 16, according to the translation of the Vul- gate : " Dibs iba, dies illa, dies trijbulatioms et cm- Tustiasy dies caiamiiatis ei miserim, dies tenebrarum et zaUgims, dies nebula et turbinis, dies tubes et ckmgoris mper civltates munitas et super ongelos excelsos,'* The first words of this passage furnished the beginning and the theme of the poem. The other Scripture pas- sages which the author had in view are Psa. cii, 26 ; xcvi, 12^; xcvii, 8, etc. (hence David b introduced in the third line of the first stanza as the Scripture prophet of that day) ; 2 Pet iii, 7-11 (" The day of the
Lord will come as a thief in the night," etc. ^hence
m some versions Peter is substituted for Dcatid), and the descriptions which Christ himself gives of the gen- eral Judgment (Matt xxivAnd xxv). But the Sibyl is also mentioned, as the representative of the uncon- scious prophecies of heathenism, with allusion to the Sibylline oracle of the destruction of the world, com- mencing " Va quas ilia dies deprendU:' This apocry- phal feature, though somewhat repugnant to Protestant taste, and hence omitted or altered in many Protestant versions of the poem, is in perfect keeping with the patristic and scholastic nse of the Sibylline oracles, the 4th Eclogue of Virgil, and other heathen testimonies of the same kind, for apologetic purposes. It is intended to give the idea of the judgment of the world a univer- sal character, founded in the expectations of Gentiles, Jews, and Christians, and indicated by the light of rea^ son as well as the voice of revelation. The medieval pahiters likewise place the Sibyl alongside of the prophets of IsraeL The poem first describes the Judg- 1
ment as a certain fact, with its accompanying terrors \ then gives expression to the sense of guilt and dismay, and ends with a prayer for mercy, which prompted Christ to die for poor sinners, and to forgive the peni- tent thief.