Manastirea Bârsana, Maramures, România

Bârsana is one of the famous villages of Maramures historical region in Romania. Maramures is the best preserved and most original ethnographical region in Europe.

Characteristic for Maramures are the ancestral songs and costumes and the wood architecture, here a real civilisation in wood existing.

În Bârsana had existed an important Orthodox monastery between the 14th century and 1791.

The today monastery was refounded in 1993. The three wood churches are historical monuments dating from 17-18th century. One of them is the original church of the ancient monastery.

The new buildings of the monastery have been build by the local peasants in Maramures traditional architectural style. Everything is in wood.

Pope John Paul II at Holy Martyrs Chicago 1979

Pope John Paul II at Holy Martyrs Chicago 1979

Grand Tour of a Charterhouse

The grand tour of the English Charterhouse.

As you see this clip, two questions come to mind. Did he have permission to film? and why does he starts with Russian Orthodox chant?

St. Hugh's Charterhouse Cell

Parkminster's Cells.

Not the music I would have chosen at all...but at least you can have a view inside of a cell.

Parkminister Corpus Christi Thursday

This is a Corpus Christi Procession at a Carthusian Monastery.

Mozart's Requiem Mass in D Minor - Dies Irae

John Eliot Gardiner conducts the English Baroque Soloists and the Monteverdi Choir. This performance was filmed at the Palau de la Musica Catalana, Barcelona in Dec. 1991.

A Requiem Mass in the Roman Catholic tradition is a service designed to pray for the souls of the departed. The parts of the liturgy that are meant to be sung are what constitute all Requiem Mass compositions, including Mozart's.

The structure is as follows:
1. Introit
2. Kyrie
3. Sequence: a. Dies irae b. Tuba mirum c. Rex tremendae d. Recordare e. Confutatis f. Lacrimosa
4. Offertory: a. Domine Jesu Christe b. Hostias
5. Sanctus
6. Benedictus
7. Agnus Dei
8. Lux Aeterna

Mozart died before finishing the Requiem Mass, and his wife Constanze gave the task of finishing the work to a pupil of Mozart's named Süssmayr. From the Sanctus onward, the Requiem is the creation of Süssmayr, though he did use portions of the Introit and Kyrie for the Lux Aeterna.

Below is the Latin and the English translation for the Dies irae.

Dies iræ! dies illa
Day of wrath and terror looming!
Solvet sæclum in favilla
Heaven and earth to ash consuming,
Teste David cum Sibylla!
David's word and Sibyl's truth foredooming!

Quantus tremor est futurus,
What horror must invade the mind,
quando judex est venturus,
when the approaching judge shall find,
cuncta stricte discussurus!
and sift the deeds of all mankind.

Dies iræ! dies illa
Solvet sæclum in favilla
Teste David cum Sibylla!

Quantus tremor est futurus,
quando judex est venturus,
cuncta stricte discussurus!
Quantus tremor est futurus,
Dies iræ! dies illa
Quantus tremor est futurus,
Dies iræ! dies illa
Quantus tremor est futurus,
Quantus tremor est futurus,
quando judex est venturus,
cuncta stricte discussurus!
cuncta stricte discussurus!
cuncta stricte discussurus!