Requiem

This past Sunday, Palm Sunday, the combined choirs of St. Mary's & St. Luke's Episcopal Churches performed Mozart's Requiem. With over 70 voices and an orchestra, the choirs mastered this beautiful piece. The word "requiem" means "rest," and is traditionally used to refer to a mass for the dead.

One line, in particular, stood out to me in the Requiem...

Recordare, Jesu pie,
Quod sum causa tuae viae

Translated this means, "Remember, Blessed Jesus, that I am the cause of Thy pilgrimage." I often think of pilgrimages as something for the rest of us, not for Jesus. A pilgrimage means you are searching for something. Imagine Jesus on a pilgrimage whose destination is us! The phrase, "remember that I am the cause of thy pilgrimage," could also be taken as Jesus speaking to us. Jesus is the cause of our searching, our yearnings, our wonderings.

This Requiem was performed to celebrate the 250th anniversary of Mozart's birth. Sitting there, listening to this amazing music gave me a sense of perspective on the Church & my own pilgrimage.

Qui Mariam absolvisti
Et latronem exaudisti
Mihi quoque spem dedisti

(Thou who didst absolve Mary Magdalene
And didst hearken to the theif
To me also hast Thou given hope)