Text in three languages, Latin, German and English:
-
Ultima in mortis hora,
Filium pro nobis ora,
Bonam mortem impetra,
Virgo, Mater, Domina. -
Wenn wir mit dem Tode ringen,
Wollst, Maria, uns beispringen,
Dass wir selig scheiden hin,
Jungfrau, Mutter, Königin. -
When death's hour is then upon us,
To your Son pray that he grant us,
Death, both holy and serene,
Virgin Mary, Mother, Queen.
The Ultima is a traditional hymn that has been sung for centuries to conclude the burial services of both monastics and mendicants. Father Raymond Balko OSB, 1892-1985, simplified and arranged the score for four voices. Sister Ruth Anne Schneider OSB, Saint Joseph, MN, made the transcription above in June 2006 from a score used at Saint Vincent Archabbey, Latrobe, PA.
