For Catholics, November is a month of remembrance. We become mindful of many things we would prefer to forget \u2013 death and judgment, heaven and hell.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cMemory\u201d in the Jewish, Catholic, and Orthodox traditions is not mainly a matter of looking backwards, but of becoming more mindfully present. Through holy rituals, we \u201cremember\u201d saving events such as the Passover in Egypt, the birth of Jesus, or his death and resurrection \u2013 in a way allows us here today to participate and become true sharers in those saving events. They become here and now for us. We also \u201cremember\u201d what is yet to come, the fullness of life in the Kingdom of God. We glimpse the goodness of the Lord in a foretaste and anticipation of more to come.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
November begins with the twin celebrations of All Saints\u2019 Day and All Souls\u2019 Day \u2013 reminding us that the love of Jesus connects all the members of the human family, even those beyond the grave. In the very flesh and blood of the risen Body of Christ, we are truly united to those who have gone before us. We are never alone. Our deepest longings are never in vain. We are reminded not to get stuck in this fallen world that is quickly passing away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All around us (at least here in the Northern Hemisphere) nature enters its annual cycle of death and decay. So swiftly does the dazzling and majestic fruitfulness of fall plunge into darkness and decay \u2013 particularly for those of us in the upper Midwest!<\/p>\n\n\n\n
There is a marvelous medieval hymn traditionally sung during this month of remembering death and the Final Judgment: the Dies Irae<\/em><\/a>. Amidst decades of what Bishop Robert Barron has often described as \u201cBeige Catholicism,\u201d this hymn has been all but forgotten. What is more, those few who remember it tend to be drawn to it for all the wrong reasons: fear-mongering, shaming, or scrupulosity. It doesn\u2019t help that there are bad translations that reflect the shame of the translator more than the actual text. Indeed, the English translation provided in the video linked above describes \u201cuniversal dread\u201d and a \u201csevere\u201d Judge with \u201csearching eyes.\u201d None of those words are there in the original Latin poetry!<\/p>\n\n\n\n