"Lord, I am not worthy to receive you..."

  • Thread starter Thread starter DL82
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
japhy said:
The words are different, and they can be taken to mean different things. Plus, the Latin is almost word-for-word from Scripture, so why shouldn’t our translation be as well?
Click to expand...
Indeed, they can be taken to mean different things. For example:
  1. “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you” can mean two things: I am not worthy to have you in my house, and I am not worthy to receive you in the form of the Eucharist. This double meaning allows the phrase to be a direct foreshadower of the Eucharist, through direct meaning, not through analogy. By my way of thinking, this passage is quoted right before communion because of this double meaning.
  2. “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof” means only that I am not worthy to have Jesus in my house, and has application to communion by stretched analogy at best.
Thus, the former is superior to the latter as a statement recited right before communion. The latter, newer phrase has little to do with Communion, and perhaps is better placed in the Introductory Rite if not eliminated altogether as unnecessary.
 
Walter_Maxey said:
Indeed, they can be taken to mean different things. For example:
  1. “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you” can mean two things: I am not worthy to have you in my house, and I am not worthy to receive you in the form of the Eucharist. This double meaning allows the phrase to be a direct foreshadower of the Eucharist, through direct meaning, not through analogy. By my way of thinking, this passage is quoted right before communion because of this double meaning.
  2. “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof” means only that I am not worthy to have Jesus in my house, and has application to communion by stretched analogy at best.
Thus, the former is superior to the latter as a statement recited right before communion. The latter, newer phrase has little to do with Communion, and perhaps is better placed in the Introductory Rite if not eliminated altogether as unnecessary.
Click to expand...
Our body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. it’s still a bit of a stretch?

peace
 
DL82 said:
I just re-read the passage in Matthew Ch8 where these words are taken from:

“Lord, I am not worthy to receive you under my roof, but only say the word and my servant shall be healed”

These are the words spoken by the Roman centurion who comes to Christ to ask Him to heal his servant. The centurion says that he trusts Christ’s authority even if He’s not physically present to heal the servant.

Only problem with this is, Christ doesn’t then go in under the centurion’s roof. He just says the word, and that’s enough to heal him.

Surely this is the opposite of what happens at Mass, Christ really does come in and is received by us. Though we are unworthy, He really does come.

Do these words imply that somehow the Eucharistic host only speaks the word of healing to us, and it isn’t actually Christ Himself who enters our bodies and is digested when we receive Him?

This is a side to the Real Presence I hadn’t really considered before. Any ideas why we say these words?
Click to expand...
The prayers before Communion really speak more about our unworthiness to receive Him rather than what happens when we receive. We ask Him to make us worthy, to heal us from the wounds of our souls caused by our sins.
 
I know this is from an old thread, but…

Isn’t this going to change with the new translation coming out in Advent?
 
Walter_Maxey said:
Thus, the former is superior to the latter as a statement recited right before communion. The latter, newer phrase has little to do with Communion, and perhaps is better placed in the Introductory Rite if not eliminated altogether as unnecessary.
Click to expand...
By “newer” I assume you mean “much, much older,” right?
 
Walter_Maxey said:
Indeed, they can be taken to mean different things. For example:
  1. “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you” can mean two things: I am not worthy to have you in my house, and I am not worthy to receive you in the form of the Eucharist. This double meaning allows the phrase to be a direct foreshadower of the Eucharist, through direct meaning, not through analogy. By my way of thinking, this passage is quoted right before communion because of this double meaning.
  2. “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof” means only that I am not worthy to have Jesus in my house, and has application to communion by stretched analogy at best.
Thus, the former is superior to the latter as a statement recited right before communion. The latter, newer phrase has little to do with Communion, and perhaps is better placed in the Introductory Rite if not eliminated altogether as unnecessary.
Click to expand...
“Domine, non sum dignus, ut intres sub tectum meus, sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea”* has been said at Mass since at least the 16th century (and the Council of Trent), however it has probably been said in the forms of Mass before that, I however do not know 100% certainly if they are the exact words used.

*This Latin translates to: Lord, I am not worth that thou shouldst come under my roof. Speak but the word and my soul shall be healed
 
The_Reginator said:
When I became a Catholic I attended a Tridentine Mass. I felt more at home there than at the O.F. Mass at my local parish. The English translation of the Latin is much closer to the old BCP. 🙂

If only the Anglicans hadn’t left Christ’s Church… 😦
Click to expand...
Translating the Mass (forbidden at the time) into English and getting their own copyrights on them are probably a couple of reasons why they “left” the Church and eventually forfeited their Apostolic Successsion as well. But I’ll agree that the new translations are closer to the BCP than the current ones. And then there are some translations like “hallowed,” “trespasses” in the BCP Our Father that won’t change. My guess is that “sanctified” and “debts” which would be closer to the Latin belong to some other Protestant denomination.

Cavete omnes translationes.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top