Media Vita in Morte Sumus...

...In the midst of life we are dead. When I was young I grew up listening to the Benedictine Monks of Santo Domingo De Silos' Chant CD. I was completely entranced by the track, "Media Vita in Morte Sumus." The refrain is particularly haunting and it was my favorite because I thought that I had deciphered the meaning of at least one of its words. "Someday," I sang along with the monks in the main refrain, dropping out to let them sing the rest of the words that I could not associate. It turns out that they were singing, "Sancte."

Sancte Deus, sancte fortis
Sancte misericors Salvator
Amaræ morti ne tradas nos

Holy God,
Holy Strong One,
Holy and Merciful Saviour,
Do not hand us over to a bitter death.

Indeed history makes us realize that in the midst of life we are dead. But this is not defeat, for as Saint Francis prayed,

It is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.