A threnody is a wailing ode, song , hymn or poem of mourning composed or performed as a memorial to a dead person. The term originates from the Greek word θρηνῳδία ( threnoidia ), from θρῆνος ( threnos , "wailing") and ᾠδή ( oide , "ode"), the latter ultimately from the Proto-Indo-European root * h₂weyd- ("to sing") that is also the precursor of such words as "ode", "tragedy", "comedy", "parody", "melody" and "rhapsody".
22-570: Similar terms include " dirge ", " coronach ", " lament " and " elegy ". The Epitaphios Threnos is the lamentation chanted in the Eastern Orthodox Church on Holy Saturday . John Dryden commemorated the death of Charles II of England in the long poem Threnodia Augustalis , and Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote a "Threnody" in memory of his son. In written works: In classical music: In jazz : In film and other music: Dirge A dirge ( Latin : dirige, nenia )
44-462: A geographically extensive rural parish) or mission church . Often the parish church will be the only one to have a full-time minister , who will also serve any smaller churches within the parish. (For example, St. Peter's Church in St. George's Parish, Bermuda, is located on St. George's Island ; hence, a chapel-of-ease, named simply Chapel-of-Ease , was erected on neighbouring St. David's Island so that
66-429: A particular rite, language, nationality, or community. Each parish has its own central church called the parish church, where religious services take place. The parish church is the center of most Catholics' spiritual life since it is there that they receive the sacraments . On Sundays and perhaps also daily, Mass is celebrated by a priest resident in the parish. Confession is made available and perhaps Vespers in
88-757: 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 within breviaries and primer prayer books . In
110-426: 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
132-563: Is considerable variety in the size and style of parish churches. Many villages in Europe have churches that date back to the Middle Ages , but all periods of architecture are represented. Each diocese (administrative unit, headed by a bishop) is divided into parishes. Normally, a parish consists of all Catholics living within its geographically defined area. Within a diocese, there can also be overlapping parishes for Catholics belonging to
154-602: Is the "Dirge for Fidele", a portion of William Shakespeare 's play Cymbeline that was later set to music by multiple composers. Parish church A parish church (or parochial church ) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish . In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, often allowing its premises to be used for non-religious community events. The church building reflects this status, and there
176-636: The Bible available in England as recitation by laity of these prayers was common at funerals and gravesites. Formal liturgical saying of the Dirige –then legally required to be in Latin –persisted through the first half of the 16th century, with occasional requirements that certain proportions of a parish church 's congregation be present for such events. The word "dirge" gradually came to be associated with
198-412: The bishop licenses another building for worship, and may designate it as a parish centre of worship . This building is not consecrated, but is dedicated, and for most legal purposes it is deemed to be a parish church. In areas of increasing secularisation or shifts in religious belief, centres of worship are becoming more common, and many larger churches have been sold due to their upkeep costs. Instead
220-402: The parish priest (US ' pastor ') for celebrating those sacraments elsewhere. One sign of that is the parish church being the only one to have a baptismal font . Some larger parishes or parishes that have been combined under one parish priest, may have two or more such churches, or the parish may be responsible for chapels (or chapels of ease) located at some distance from the mother church for
242-520: The 1960s following performances by English folk bands such The Young Tradition and Pentangle . While private devotionals were proliferated under the Reform -minded Elizabeth, the number of permitted public liturgical devotions were targeted for curtailment. The Dirige was retained within the Elizabethan primer over Protestant objections to prayers for the dead and there remained resistance to
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#1732787141157264-463: The church may use community centres or the facilities of a local church of another denomination. While villages and small towns may have a single parish church, larger towns may have a parish church and other smaller churches in various districts. These other churches do not have the legal or religious status of a parish church, and may be described by a variety of terms, such as chapel of ease (this term more often refers to an additional church in
286-469: The convenience of distant parishioners. In England and many British Overseas Territories as well as former British territories, the Church of England parish church is the basic administrative unit of episcopal churches. Parishes cover almost the whole area of England. In addition to ecclesiastic parishes , with which this article is concerned, there is also a system of civil parishes , which represent
308-481: The island's residents need not cross St. George's Harbour .) In cities without an Anglican cathedral , the parish church may have administrative functions similar to that of a cathedral. However, the diocese will still have a cathedral. The Church of Scotland , the established Presbyterian church also uses a system of parish churches, covering the whole of Scotland . In Massachusetts , towns elected publicly funded parish churches from 1780 until 1834, under
330-466: The larger or more progressive parishes. There are also laity-led activities and social events in accordance with local culture and circumstances. Roman Catholics are not obliged to worship only at the parish church to which they belong, but they may for convenience or taste, attend services at any Roman Catholic church. However, their parish church is the one, where members of the parish must go to, for baptisms and weddings , unless they are permitted by
352-533: The late Medieval period , it was common for Western Christian laity –both men and women–to attend the celebration of the Divine Office (canonical hours) according to various editions of the breviary alongside members of monastic communities. However, the complexity of these breviaries proved prohibitive for a layperson to adopt in private use, so certain devotions that were invariable or only varied slightly day-to-day were adapted into primers . Among
374-594: The morning hour, but to the Office of the Dead as a whole and its pairing with the Psalms of Commendation ( Psalms 119 and 139 ). This practice was codified in the 1559 standardized primer issued under Elizabeth I , wherein both hours appeared under the collective name Dirige . Prior to the English Reformation , translated sections from the Dirige were among the most circulated vernacular portions of
396-602: The most consistent devotions within these primers was the Office of the Dead , a popular arrangement of the canonical hours as prayers for the dead . This office was itself typically divided into two hours for recitation at different times of day: Dirige (equivalent to Matins and Lauds ) in the morning and Placebo (equivalent to Vespers or Evensong ) in the evening. Both terms were derived from among first words always said when reciting those hours, with Dirige starting an antiphon derived from Psalm 5 . Gradually, Dirige and eventually "dirge" came to refer to not only to
418-413: The public liturgical performance of the devotion. In 1560 and 1561, episcopal visitors of the Church of England observed with disapproval the continued practice of clerks singing psalms in "dirge-like" fashion. Since their evolution away from Christian usage, some dirges have intentionally been written to be set to music , while others have been set or reset at later dates. Among the latter cases
440-471: The recitation of the canonical Dirige would be paid a small amount from the estate of the deceased. It is associated with the still-practiced Lyke Wake Walk , a 40-mile challenge walk across the moorlands of north-east Yorkshire, as the members' anthem of the Lyke Wake Club, a society whose members are those who have completed the walk within 24 hours. This dirge saw a resurgence in popularity in
462-470: The smallest tier of administrative units. However since the 19th century these have not shared the same boundaries, or often the same names. (In other territories arrangements may differ, e.g. in Bermuda civil and church parishes still share the same boundaries, see Anglican Church of Bermuda ). Most ecclesiastical parishes have an Anglican parish church , which is consecrated . If there is no parish church,
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#1732787141157484-527: The variety of funeral hymns it describes today. Among the earliest was a pre-Reformation funeral lament from the Cleveland area of north-east Yorkshire , England, known as the Lyke-Wake Dirge . The contents are neither scriptural nor liturgical, but rather speak to the means of salvation through Christ via alms-giving . A simultaneous development was a funerary "tariff" wherein those present at
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