# Pies jesu Domine. Dona eis Requiem. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 23, 2005, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pies-jesu-domine-dona-eis-requiem/323068 "2005-09-23T15:39:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 17\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 3:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pies-jesu-domine-dona-eis-requiem/323068/1 "2005-09-23T15:39:03Z")
From a film, but looking for a factual answer. What is the translation of the phrase? ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pies-jesu-domine-dona-eis-requiem/323068/2 "2005-09-23T15:54:08Z")
It’s Latin, from the Requium mass: “Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem”= Merciful Lord Jesus, grant them rest. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pies-jesu-domine-dona-eis-requiem/323068/3 "2005-09-23T15:55:30Z")
Would’ve been funnier if it was ‘Give it a rest!’ ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pies-jesu-domine-dona-eis-requiem/323068/4 "2005-09-23T15:58:49Z")
I thought it was “That really hurt. I think I’ll do it again.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pies-jesu-domine-dona-eis-requiem/323068/5 "2005-09-23T15:59:50Z")
Bring forth the Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch! ---
**Author:** ![St.Urho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8e7dd6/32.png) [@St.Urho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St.Urho)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pies-jesu-domine-dona-eis-requiem/323068/6 "2005-09-23T16:42:50Z")
Shouldn’t it have been: Pies jesu Domine. :smack: Dona eis Requiem. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pies-jesu-domine-dona-eis-requiem/323068/7 "2005-09-23T16:47:41Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > It’s Latin, from the Requium mass: > > “Pie Jesu Domine, dona eis requiem”= Merciful Lord Jesus, grant them rest. I forgot to thank you. Anyway… Is this something Catholics ‘just know’? ---
**Author:** ![MissTake](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misstake/32/3189_2.png) [@MissTake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MissTake)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pies-jesu-domine-dona-eis-requiem/323068/8 "2005-09-23T16:50:58Z")
> [@St. Urho](#): > > Shouldn’t it have been: > > Pies jesu Domine. :smack: Dona eis Requiem. Diet Coke and sinuses do not mix. ---
**Author:** ![YaWanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/bbce88/32.png) [@YaWanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YaWanna)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pies-jesu-domine-dona-eis-requiem/323068/9 "2005-09-23T16:54:05Z")
See, I thought it meant “Jesus brought pie, everybody take a break.” 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pies-jesu-domine-dona-eis-requiem/323068/10 "2005-09-23T16:55:07Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > I forgot to thank you. > > Anyway… Is this something Catholics ‘just know’? It’s probably best known from _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_. It’s chanted by monks who then whack themselves in the head with short boards. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pies-jesu-domine-dona-eis-requiem/323068/11 "2005-09-23T16:56:33Z")
> [@](#): > > Anyway… Is this something Catholics ‘just know’? Largely. Even though the Mass isn’t in Latin any more, there’s still enough of it lying around that you pick up bits and pieces via osmosis. Including most of the words from that quote, and the ones you don’t pick up on, you can generally figure out from context. Of course, some of us then went on to actually take Latin classes, which are much more likely to be offered at Catholic schools, so we’ve got an even better excuse. ---
**Author:** ![Maendosa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ebca7d/32.png) [@Maendosa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maendosa)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pies-jesu-domine-dona-eis-requiem/323068/12 "2005-09-23T17:02:38Z")
A ‘requiem’, in particular a Catholic requiem is a specific mass. From the Wikipedia entry for Requiem: “This use of the word requiem comes from the opening words of the Introit: Requiem æternam dona eis, Domine, et lux perpetua luceat eis. (Grant them eternal rest, O Lord, and may everlasting light shine upon them.) The requiem mass differs from the ordinary mass in omitting certain joyful passages such as the Gloria, Credo, and Alleluia, and by the addition the sequence Dies Iræ.” The ‘Pie jesu’ is an additional text. Thanks to Mozart, I can now recite almost all of a requiem by heart (even though I’m not Catholic). I find his rendition to be my absolute favorite, followed closely by the modern composition of John Rutter. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pies-jesu-domine-dona-eis-requiem/323068/13 "2005-09-23T17:07:58Z")
> [@Daithi Lacha](#): > > It’s probably best known from _Monty Python and the Holy Grail_. It’s chanted by monks who then whack themselves in the head with short boards. I knew that. (I’ve watched THG three times over the last few days – once for the film, and the other two times for the commentaries.) What I was getting at was how people knoew what it meant (and which **Chronos** answered). ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pies-jesu-domine-dona-eis-requiem/323068/14 "2005-09-23T17:45:33Z")
> [@St. Urho](#): > > Pies jesu Domine. :smack: Dona eis Requiem. :: applauds :: ---
**Author:** ![Sal\_Ammoniac](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/8dc957/32.png) [@Sal\_Ammoniac](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sal_Ammoniac)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 5:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pies-jesu-domine-dona-eis-requiem/323068/15 "2005-09-23T17:48:18Z")
It’s also true that the phrase is familiar to people who know classical music. Every composer worth his salt wrote a Requiem, it seems. The Mozart one has been mentioned, but Fauré and Brahms also wrote well-known versions. There must be a million others. ---
**Author:** ![Jurph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/50afbb/32.png) [@Jurph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jurph)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pies-jesu-domine-dona-eis-requiem/323068/16 "2005-09-23T18:06:24Z")
> [@Maendosa](#): > > Thanks to Mozart, I can now recite almost all of a requiem by heart (even though I’m not Catholic). I find his rendition to be my absolute favorite, followed closely by the modern composition of John Rutter. \ Rutter’s _Requiem_ is awesome, but his _Gloria_ is even better! \ ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 23, 2005, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pies-jesu-domine-dona-eis-requiem/323068/17 "2005-09-23T18:41:01Z")
Not to mention Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “Pie Jesu” from Requiem. Two women sing that during Mass at my church and although it sounds pious enough I have to laugh at the fact that a show tune is being sung there. I’d say the “Agnus Dei” and “Ave Maria” would be the Latin prayers I would know by heart as a Catholic person and product of Catholic schools.