The Latin phrase Requiescat in pace (singular) or Requiescant in pace (plural) is a short epitaph that typically appears on headstones, often abbreviated "RIP" which is then often given in English as Rest in peace. The expression means "may he / she rest in peace" (singular) or "may they rest in peace" (plural) as the Latin verb is used in the optative sense.[1] It is commonly found on the grave of Catholics,[2] as it is derived from the burial service of the Roman Catholic church, in which the following prayer was said at the commencement and conclusion:[3]
| “ | Anima eius et animae omnium fidelium defunctorum per Dei misericordiam requiescant in pace | ” |
To satisfy a vogue for rhyming couplets on tombstones, the phrase has been parsed as:[4]
| “ | Requiesce cat in pace |
” |
The phrase was not found on tombstones prior to the eighth century.[5][6] It became common on the tombs of Catholics in the 18th century for whom it was a prayerful request that their soul should find peace in the afterlife. When the phrase became conventional, the absence of a reference to the soul led people to suppose that it was the physical body which was enjoined to lie peacefully in the grave.[7] This is associated with the Catholic doctrine of the particular judgement which is that the soul is parted from the body upon death but that they will be reunited on Judgement Day.[8]
References
- ^ P. L. Chambers, Latin alive and well, p. 310, http://books.google.com/books?id=TlgsB9gcRmEC&pg=PA310
- ^ Charles Langworthy Wallis (1954), Stories on stone: a book of American epitaphs, p. 226
- ^ Joshua Scodel (1991), The English poetic epitaph, Cornell University Press, p. 94, ISBN 9780801424823, http://books.google.com/books?id=Z6oULX3wr58C&pg=PA94
- ^ Francis Edward Paget (1843), A tract upon tomb-stones, p. 18, http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=IvgDAAAAQAAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA18
- ^ The Church of England magazine (Church Pastoral-aid Society): 208, 1842
- ^ Robert Jefferson Breckinridge, Andrew Boyd Cross, Antiquity of the Religion, , The Baltimore literary and religious magazine 3: 204, http://books.google.com/books?id=xtQRAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA204
- ^ Joshua Scodel (1991), The English poetic epitaph, Cornell University Press, p. 269, ISBN 9780801424823, http://books.google.com/books?id=Z6oULX3wr58C&pg=PA269
- ^ Karl Siegfried Guthke (2003), Epitaph culture in the West, p. 336
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