The prophet Jeremiah was long considered the author of the Book of Lamentations, part of which was set to music by Argentinian composer Alberto Ginestera in 1946, in a piece entitled Hieremiae prophetae lamentationes (opus 14). Jeremiah is said to be lamenting the destruction of the city of Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonians, which Jeremiah had prophesied.
O VOS OMNES
O, all you who pass this way,
Behold and see if there be any sorrow
like my sorrow;
For the Lord has afflicted me,
as He said in the day of his raging anger.
See, Lord, I am troubled,
my bowels writhe in anguish,
my heart is turned within me,
for I am full of bitterness:
abroad the sword destroys,
and at home is death.
For that reason I lament,
and my eye pours down water;
for the consoler, who may renew my soul,
is taken from me;
my sons are desolate,
for the enemy grows victorious.
Persist in fury,
and crush them under the heavens, Lord.
EGO VIR VIDENS
I am the man who sees my poverty
under the rod of His indignation.
He has led me away
and suspended me in darkness,
where no light is.
He has made my skin and flesh old,
and has broken my bones.
He has put me in dark places,
like those long dead.
But whenever I cry out and plead,
He shuts out my prayer.
And I said: my strength has perished,
and my hope, because of the Lord.
RECORDARE DOMINE
Remember, Lord, what has befallen us;
look and consider our disgrace.
Turn us back to you, Lord,
and we shall come back:
renew our days as in the beginning.
You, however, Lord, forever will remain,
your throne for generations and generations.
To hear Alberto Ginestera’s Lamentation of Jeremiah performed by the World Youth Choir, click here. For the original text in Latin, click here.
Image source: Rembrandt, Jeremiah Lamenting the Destruction of Jerusalem (1630), https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Lamentations#/media/File:Rembrandt_Harmensz._van_Rijn_-_Jeremia_treurend_over_de_verwoesting_van_Jeruzalem_-_Google_Art_Project.jpg
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