Philosophy:Sic transit gloria mundi

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Short description: Latin phrase


Juan de Valdés Leal, Finis gloriae mundi (1672). Seville, Hospital de la Caridad

Sic transit gloria mundi is a Latin phrase that means "Thus passes the worldly glory." In idiomatic contexts, the phrase has been used to mean "fame is fleeting".[1][2]

The phrase was used in the ritual of papal coronation ceremonies between 1409 (when it was used at the coronation of Alexander V)[3] and 1963. 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 reed, bearing a tow of smoldering flax. For three times in succession, as the cloth burned away, he would say in a loud and mournful voice, "Pater Sancte, sic transit gloria mundi!" ("Holy Father, so passes worldly glory!").[4] These words, thus addressed to the pope, served as a reminder of the transitory nature of life and earthly honours.[5][6][7]

A form of the phrase appeared 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").[8][9]

In literature and art

  • American poet Emily Dickinson's first published poem was titled "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi."[10][11]
  • An 1819 etching by British illustrator George Cruikshank is titled "The Sailors Progress: Sic transit gloria mundi."[12][13]
  • In Robert A. Heinlein's novel Starman Jones, toward the end of Chapter 12 "Halcyon," there is this line of dialogue: "Sic transit gloria mundi—Tuesday is usually worse."
  • The first-season finale of American TV series Yellowjackets is titled "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi."
  • Robert Hugh Benson's novel Lord of the World ends with a reference to the phrase: "Then this world passed, and the glory of it."
  • It is the last line spoken in the movie The Masque of the Red Death, by the Red Death after he reveals he spared six from his plague.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Merton, Sophia (2022-10-07). "'Sic Transit Gloria Mundi': Definition, Meaning, and Examples" (in en-US). https://writingtips.org/sic-transit-gloria-mundi/. 
  2. ↑ "30 Latin Phrases Everyone Should Know – Page 6 – 24/7 Wall St." (in en-US). https://247wallst.com/special-report/2019/09/12/latin-phrases-everyone-should-know/6/. 
  3. ↑ Elizabeth Knowles, ed (2005). The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (Second ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-860981-0. 
  4. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Papal Coronation 07 -Sic transit gloria mundi". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEk4D5cnNls. 
  5. ↑ King, William Henry Francis (1904), Classical and Foreign Quotations, London: J. Whitaker & Sons, p. 319, https://books.google.com/books?id=yoUVAAAAMAAJ&pg=319, retrieved November 10, 2010 
  6. ↑ Richardson, Carol M. (2009), Reclaiming Rome: cardinals in the fifteenth century, BRILL, p. 393, ISBN 978-9004171831, https://books.google.com/books?id=P-eVh-lxCi0C&pg=PA393, retrieved November 10, 2010 
  7. ↑ Bak, János M. (January 1990), Coronations: medieval and early modern monarchic ritual, University of California Press, p. 187, ISBN 9780520066779, https://books.google.com/books?id=m6nsnzLRPlIC&pg=PA187, retrieved November 10, 2010 
  8. ↑ Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (via Oxford Reference), http://www.oxfordreference.com/view/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100504553?rskey=l3W1UC&result=1 
  9. ↑ à Kempis, Thomas. "Book 1 Chapter 3". Imitation of Christ: translated from Latin into English. Christian Classics Ethereal Library. http://www.ccel.org/ccel/kempis/imitation.ONE.3.html. Retrieved 11 November 2010. 
  10. ↑ "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi — an early poem by Emily Dickinson (1852)" (in en-US). 2020-12-29. https://www.literaryladiesguide.com/classic-women-authors-poetry/sic-transit-gloria-mundi-emily-dickinson/. 
  11. ↑ Dickinson, Emily (1998) (in en). The Poems of Emily Dickinson. Harvard University Press. pp. 8. ISBN 978-0-674-67622-0. https://books.google.com/books?id=GYuUA9gn1hUC&dq=emily+dickinson+%22Sic+Transit+Gloria+Mundi%22&pg=PA8. 
  12. ↑ "The Sailors Progress: Sic transit gloria Mundi". https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/814526. 
  13. ↑ "The Sailors Progress. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi." (in en). https://philamuseum.org/collection/object/217334. 

External links



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