Learning Latin with the Liturgy: Justorum Animae - the Souls of the Just

The Offertory for the Feast of All Saints

Justorum animae in manu Dei sunt, 
The Souls of the Just are in the hand of God,

et non tanget illos tormentum mortis. 
and the torment of death will not touch them.

Visi sunt oculis insipientium mori, 
They seemed to die in the eyes of the foolish,

Illi autem sunt in pace.
They are, however, in peace.

In addition to its use on the Feast of All Saints, the text is used widely for various liturgical functions on feast days of saints and martyrs, such as the Feast of Saints Isaac Jogues, Jean de Brébeuf and Companions on October 19th.

The text is based on the Book of Wisdom 3:1-3:

1) But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and no torment will ever touch them.
2) In the eyes of the foolish they seemed to have died, and their departure was thought to be a disaster
3) and their going from us to be their destruction; but they are at peace.

Nota Bene: In the Latin word 'Iustorum' the Latin initial 'i' is pronounced as a 'y' sound before vowels. In English speaking areas, where we have borrowed words from Latin and pronounce such initial 'i' as a 'j', it is common to spell the Latin now with a 'j'. It should still, however, be pronounced as 'yustorum'.


Here is a grammatical description of the Latin of this text:

Latin	English	Parsing	Grammar Points
Justorum	of the Just	gen. pl. masc. adj.	iustus, iusta, iustum
animae	the souls	nom. pl. fem. noun	anima, animae
in	in		Prep. + Abl.
manu	the hand	abl. sing. fem. noun	manus, manus
Dei	of God	gen. sing. masc. noun	Deus, Dei
sunt	they (are)	3rd pers. pl. pres. ind. verb	sum, esse, fui;
et	and		conj.
non	not		adv.
tanget	will touch	3rd pers. sing. fut. ind. verb	tangō, tangere, tetigī, tāctus
illos	them	acc. pl. masc. dem. adj.	ille, illa, illud; direct object of the verb tanget
tormentum	the torment	nom. sing. neut. noun	tormentum, tormenti; subject of the verb tanget
mortis	of death	gen. sing. fem. noun	mors, mortis
Visi	Seemed	nom. pl. masc. past. part.	videō, vidēre, vīdī, vīsus; passive used with meaning “to seem”
sunt	they (are)	3rd pers. pl. pres. ind. verb	sum, esse, fui; used in conjunction with past part. of videor
oculis	(in) the eyes	abl. pl. masc. noun	oculus, oculi
insipientium	of the foolish	gen. pl. masc. noun	īnsipiēns, īnsipientis
mori	to die	infinitive	morior, moriri, moritus
illi	They	nom. pl. masc. dem. adj.	ille, illa illud
autem	however		adv.
sunt	are	3rd pers. sing. pres. ind. verb	sum, esse, fui
in	in		Prep. + Abl.
pace	peace	abl. sing. fem. noun	pax, pacis