The Office of the Dead or Office for the Dead (in Latin, Officium Defunctorum) is a prayer cycle of the Canonical Hours in the Catholic Church, Anglican Church and Lutheran Church, said for the repose of the soul of a decedent. It is the proper reading on All Souls' Day (normally November 2) for all departed souls, and can be a votive office on other days when said for a particular decedent. The work is composed of different psalms, scripture, prayers and other parts, divided into The Office of Readings, Lauds, Daytime Prayer, Vespers and Compline.
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In this Dossier
- ⭐ Core Definition: Office of the Dead
- Office of the Dead in the context of Tomás Luis de Victoria
- Office of the Dead in the context of Dirge
- Office of the Dead in the context of Chantry
Office of the Dead in the context of Tomás Luis de Victoria
Tomás Luis de Victoria (sometimes Italianised as da Vittoria; c. 1548 – c. 20–27 August 1611) was the most famous Spanish composer of the Renaissance. He stands with Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina and Orlande de Lassus as among the principal composers of the late Renaissance, and was "admired above all for the intensity of some of his motets and of his Offices for the Dead and for Holy Week". His surviving oeuvre, unlike that of his colleagues, is almost exclusively sacred and polyphonic vocal music, set to Latin texts. As a Catholic priest, as well as an accomplished organist and singer, his career spanned both Spain and Italy. However, he preferred the life of a composer to that of a performer.
View the full Wikipedia page for Tomás Luis de VictoriaOffice of the Dead in the context of Dirge
A dirge (Latin: dirige, nenia) is a somber song or lament expressing mourning or grief, such as may be appropriate for performance at a funeral. Often taking the form of a brief hymn, dirges are typically shorter and less meditative than elegies. Dirges are often slow and bear the character of funeral marches. Poetic dirges may be dedicated to a specific individual or otherwise thematically refer to death.
The English word dirge is derived from the Latin Dirige, Domine, Deus meus, in conspectu tuo viam meam ("Direct my way in your sight, O Lord my God"), the first words of the first antiphon (a short chant in Christian liturgy) in the Matins of the Office for the Dead, based on Psalm 5. The original meaning of dirge in English referred to this office, particularly as it appeared in breviaries and primer prayer books.
View the full Wikipedia page for DirgeOffice of the Dead in the context of Chantry
A chantry is an ecclesiastical term that may have either of two related meanings:
- a chantry service, a set of Christian liturgical celebrations for the dead (made up of the Requiem Mass and the Office of the Dead), or
- a chantry chapel, a building on private land, or an area in a parish church or cathedral reserved for the performance of these celebrations.
In the Medieval Era through to the Age of Enlightenment it was commonly believed such liturgies might help atone for misdeeds and assist the soul to obtain eternal peace.
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