irae

Irae is the genitive singular form of the Latin noun ira, meaning wrath. It also appears as the nominative plural form of ira in classical Latin, so the sequence dies irae literally means “day of wrath.”

The phrase is most familiar as the title of a medieval Latin hymn, a sequence historically used in the Roman Catholic Requiem Mass. The text, associated with the 13th century and often linked to Thomas of Celano, meditates on the Last Judgment and divine wrath. Manuscript traditions vary, but the hymn’s core text and themes have remained influential in liturgical and literary contexts. In liturgical practice, dies irae was part of the Requiem Mass; after the Second Vatican Council its use in the revised Roman Rite was curtailed, though it persists in some rites and is frequently performed in concerts or as a cultural reference.

Musically, the dies irae is tied to a Gregorian chant melody and has been set by numerous composers within Requiem settings and other works. The association between the text and melody has made the dies irae a recognizable symbol of judgment and mortality in classical music and in broader popular culture, where the motif is often invoked in film scores and literary references to convey fate, doom, or the afterlife.