Dies Irae! Dies Illa

Dies irae! Dies illa
Solvet saeclum in favilla:
Teste David cum Sibylla!

Quantus tremor est futurus,
Quando iudex est venturus,
Cuncta stricte discussurus!

Day of wrath and doom impending,
David’s word with Sibyl’s blending,
Heaven and earth in ashes ending!

Oh, what fear man's bosom rendeth,
When from heaven the Judge descendeth,
On whose sentence all dependeth.

This is the start of the Sequentia of the Latin Requiem – followed by the translation by William Josiah Irons.

For the people in medieval times death was constantly present – war, plague, famine, … one thing however, was for sure, that after death at the end of time trombones would sound, graves open up and all would have to appear before the throne of the judge. He was expected to be an extremely strict judge - “cuncta stricte discursurus” – investigating everything very thoroughly.

West is the direction of the setting sun and thus in medieval tradition it is the direction of the judgement. In the entrance hall of Freiburger Münster (Freiburg Cathedral), the tympanon above the main entrance depicts scenes from the last judgement.

In his search for a merciful God Martin Luther started the Reformation of the church.

Europe / Germany

Lat: 47° 59' 43.61" N
Long: 7° 51' 7.9" E

Elevation: 282m

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: High. Pinpoints the exact spot.

Canon EOS 5D MKII, Canon 15mm, Nodal Ninja Ultimate M1-L, SmaTrig 21, DXO, PhotomatixPro, Photoshop, PTGui Pro, Pano2VR