Sir Edward Elgar’s Dream of Gerontius, based on the poem by that name by Cardinal John Henry Newman, is the story of a devout soul’s death and journey to his judgment before God. In Part II, the man is accompanied by a guardian angel, who, having safely led the soul past demons, must inform him that the agony he is to face is nearly unbearable. The angel’s description of this excruciating experience-to-come recalls the purification by fire suggested by our readings this past weekend as it narrates the story of St. Francis of Assisi and his stigmata:
There
was a mortal, who is now above
In
the mid glory: he, when near to die,
Was
given communion with the Crucified, --
Such,
that the Master’s very wounds were stamped
Upon
his flesh; and, for the agony
Which
thrilled through body and soul in that embrace,
Learn
that the flame of the Everlasting Love
Doth
burn ere it transform…
To hear Part II of Elgar's Dream of Gerontius performed by the BBC Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, with Philip Langridge
(Gerontius) and Catherine Wyn-Rogers (Angel), click on the video below. The segment cited above is at 22:28.
Image source: Norman Perryman, Elgar's Dream
"There was a mortal..."
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