Jody
what does "scales"mean? The forms were filed; the medical examiner and the JP, meanwhile, had lurched off history's stage. Father Cain, however, had remained. He had dodged ahead of the procession in the corridor and stationed himself on the loading dock. He continued to vibrate with prayers. Over the past half-hour he had scored a complex litany—scales, harmonics, and full chords of benedictions: Cum spiritu tuo sursum corda; Dominus vobiscum; Gratias agamus Domino Deo nostro; Dignum et justum est—and he was standing between the emergency area entrance and Oneal's spotless vehicle awaiting his cue.
Jun 25, 2013 3:02 PM
Answers · 4
The author is comparing the priest's long sequence of prayers to composing music. To score something is to write the music for it. So started with the basic prayers, comparing them to musical scales(do,re mi, etc), then moved onto more complex prayers comparing them to harmonics and then to full chords. A benediction is a prayer that is typically said that the end of a service and contains a blessing.
June 25, 2013
In this context, 'scales' is a musical term. It is a set of musical notes arranged in a descending or ascending order in relation to pitch. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scale_%28music%29
June 25, 2013
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