Names and titles of Jesus in the New Testament which rises in victory as the Resurrected Christ was employed in early Christology, e.g. in 375 Saint Augustine wrote: "Why a lamb in his passion? For he underwent death without being guilty of any inequity. Why a lion in his resurrection? For in being slain, he slew death." The Lamb of God title has found widespread use in Christian prayers and the "Agnus Dei" ("Lamb of God who take away the sins of the world have mercy on us; Lamb of God who take away the sins of the world grant us peace") is used both in liturgy and as
Agnus Dei (Barber) that version to the conductor, who premiered it in New York with the NBC Symphony Orchestra. In setting it to the liturgical Agnus Dei, a part of the Mass, Barber changed the music only a little. As with the other arrangements of "Adagio for Strings", it was published by G. Schirmer. Graham Olson describes the composition for Allmusic. After reflecting the history and pointing out the "Adagio"s associations with mourning, nostalgia, love and passion, qualified as "sentimental Romanticism", he writes about the choral setting: "Barber brought to the surface the work's sense of spirituality." He observes similarities to works of