Sic transit gloria mundi
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Sic transit gloria mundi is a Latin phrase that means "Thus passes the glory of the world". It has been interpreted as "Worldly things are fleeting." It is possibly an adaptation of a phrase in Thomas à Kempis's 1418 work The Imitation of Christ: "O quam cito transit gloria mundi" ("How quickly the glory of the world passes away").[1][2]
The phrase played a part in the ritual of papal coronation ceremonies until 1963.[citation needed] As the newly chosen pope proceeded from the sacristy of St. Peter's Basilica in his sedia gestatoria, the procession stopped three times. On each occasion a papal master of ceremonies would fall to his knees before the pope, holding a silver or brass[citation needed] reed bearing a piece of smoldering tow. For three times in succession, as the cloth burned away, he would say in a loud and mournful voice, "Sancte Pater, sic transit gloria mundi!" ("Holy Father, so passes worldly glory!")[3] These words, thus addressed to the pope, served as a reminder of the transitory nature of life and earthly honors. The stafflike instrument used in the aforementioned ceremony is known as a "sic transit gloria mundi", named for the master of ceremonies' words.[citation needed]
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd ed. (1989) online, s.v. "sic transit".
- ^ Thomas à Kempis, The Imitation of Christ, book 1, chapter 3.
- ^ William Henry Francis King, Classical and Foreign Quotations (London: J. Whitaker & Sons, 1904), 319.
