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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."

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

Origin

The phrase was used in the ritual of papal coronation ceremonies between 1409 (when it was used at the coronation of Alexander V)[1] 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!").[2] These words, thus addressed to the pope, served as a reminder of the transitory nature of life and earthly honours.[3][4][5]

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").[6][7]

In idiomatic contexts, the phrase has been used to mean "fame is fleeting".[8][9]

  • In Happy Days' Season 4, Episode 14 (A Shot in the Dark (1977)), the Fonz uses the phrase to simultaneously harken to his habit of adding "-amundo" to the end of anything; console Richie for a bad shot in a basketball game; and to offer to his date (who was formerly a member of the rival team's date) "that is a Latin phrase; means you're going to stay at my place, at least 'til Monday."
  • The phrase was used to comic effect in a scene in the 1998 film Rushmore, "Sic transit gloria... Glory fades" delivered by Max Fischer, the film's protagonist.
  • The phrase was also the title of the first-season finale of the drama series Yellowjackets.
  • The phrase was used in the 1964 film The Masque of the Red Death, delivered by the Red Death.
  • In the 1959 book A Canticle for Leibowitz, as a second nuclear armageddon is breaking in the 38th century, one of the monks mutters, "Sic transit mundus", or "So passes the world" prior to departing Earth.
  • In July 2022, Jacob Rees-Mogg used this phrase during an interview with Channel 4's Krishnan Guru-Murthy and translated it as "so perishes the glory of the world".
  • "Sic Transit Gloria... Glory Fades" is the second track on the 2003 album Deja Entendu by emo/post-hardcore band Brand New. The song was the second single released from Deja Entendu and began receiving radio play on November 18, 2003.
  • American poet Emily Dickinson's first published poem was titled "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi." It was published in the Springfield Daily Republican newspaper on February 20, 1852.[10] It was later republished in the poetry collection The Complete Poems of Emily Dickinson, edited by Thomas H. Johnson.[11]
  • An 1819 etching by British illustrator George Cruikshank is titled "The Sailors Progress: Sic transit gloria mundi."[12][13]

See also

References

  1. ^ Elizabeth Knowles, ed. (2005). The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (Second ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-860981-0.
  2. ^ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine: "Papal Coronation 07 -Sic transit gloria mundi" – via www.youtube.com.
  3. ^ King, William Henry Francis (1904), Classical and Foreign Quotations, London: J. Whitaker & Sons, p. 319, retrieved November 10, 2010
  4. ^ Richardson, Carol M. (2009), Reclaiming Rome: cardinals in the fifteenth century, p. 393, ISBN 978-9004171831, retrieved November 10, 2010
  5. ^ Bak, János M. (January 1990), Coronations: medieval and early modern monarchic ritual, p. 187, ISBN 9780520066779, retrieved November 10, 2010
  6. ^ Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (via Oxford Reference)
  7. ^ à Kempis, Thomas. "Book 1 Chapter 3". Imitation of Christ: translated from Latin into English. Christian Classics Ethereal Library. Retrieved 11 November 2010.
  8. ^ Merton, Sophia (2022-10-07). "'Sic Transit Gloria Mundi': Definition, Meaning, and Examples". Writing Tips. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  9. ^ "30 Latin Phrases Everyone Should Know – Page 6 – 24/7 Wall St". Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  10. ^ "Sic Transit Gloria Mundi — an early poem by Emily Dickinson (1852)". Literary Ladies Guide. 2020-12-29. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  11. ^ Dickinson, Emily (1998). The Poems of Emily Dickinson. Harvard University Press. p. 8. ISBN 978-0-674-67622-0.
  12. ^ "The Sailors Progress: Sic transit gloria Mundi". metmuseum.org. Retrieved 2022-10-17.
  13. ^ "The Sailors Progress. Sic Transit Gloria Mundi". philamuseum.org. Retrieved 2022-10-17.

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