"Word of the Lord" vs "The Word of the Lord"

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A local parish has its lectors and EM remove the “the” after readings and say, “Word of the Lord” and after communion say, “Body of Christ” instead of “The Word of the Lord” and “The Body of Christ.”

Is this widespread? Why would they do this? Next time I’m at this parish I’ll ask them but there are so many knowledgeable people here I thought I’d ask the forums first.
 
scriabin said:
A local parish has its lectors and EM remove the “the” after readings and say, “Word of the Lord” and after communion say, “Body of Christ” instead of “The Word of the Lord” and “The Body of Christ.”

Is this widespread? Why would they do this? Next time I’m at this parish I’ll ask them but there are so many knowledgeable people here I thought I’d ask the forums first.
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That seems very odd. I know that the Lectionary used to say “This is the Word of the Lord” and changed that to simply “The word of the Lord” because “This” implied that the reading was the sum total of the word. But I can’t think of a rationale for removing “the”.
 
I’m not certain, but Latin may lack a specific word for “the.” I know that the Latin text for “The Body of Christ” is simply “Corpus Christi.” Perhaps this is another case of creatively missing the point.
 
You’re correct, Music Man, Latin does not have a word for “the”, so it can be assumed with nouns or phrases, which is what must be going on here. Personally I liked “This is the Word of the Lord” better, the current one has always sounded sort of abrupt to me. Just a personal preference though, not a point of doctrine…
 
Well, I think we answered this question in four posts. Good work people.

What shall we argue about for the rest of the thread?
 
NMJenny said:
Personally I liked “This is the Word of the Lord” better, the current one has always sounded sort of abrupt to me. Just a personal preference though, not a point of doctrine…
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👍 Me too. Especially as a “revert” Catholic, “the Word of the Lord” seems abrupt. Still getting used to it.😉
 
The Latin for “The Word of the Lord” is Verbum Domini (at least that is how I hear it from the Vatican telecast of the Papal Masses). As someone else indicated, Latin does not use “the” in this case.

In Spanish, we say, “Palabra del Senor”. For Holy Communion, the priest says, “Cuerpo de Cristo”.
 
You’ve got to be hearing that wrong.

OK, just grasping at things to argue about, since we appear to have answered the question.

So, how 'bout them emsHC?
 
When saying “This is the Word of the Lord” the reference seemed to be pointing to the book where the Word was written. In fact, many priests and deacons used to hold up the book at this point (when saying "THis is the Gospel of the Lord), making an even visible connection to the book iteself. However, once the readings are proclaimed, the Word is no longer in the book but present in the minds and hearts of those who have just HEARD the Word. Hence, in saying “The Word of the Lord” implies that this Word goes beyond the words in the Lectionary. That is also why I tell our lectors that they should pause and look out at the people when they say this final phrase.
 
Several years ago the readers in our diocese were told not to say ‘this is’. It’s not the proper translation.
 
Claire_from_DE said:
Several years ago the readers in our diocese were told not to say ‘this is’. It’s not the proper translation.
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You’re right. It is Verbum Domini, which means, “The Word of the Lord.” Now, I erred regarding the Spanish version of The Body of Christ. In Spanish, it is “El Cuerpo de Cristo.” When ministering the chalice, we say, “la Sangre de Cristo”, which means, “the Blood of Christ”. However, after we proclaim our reading, we say “Palabra del Senor.” We don’t have “the”, which would be “la” in Spanish, in front of the word.
 
Dropping the definite article because it doesn’t exist in the original Latin is a bit silly.

You might as well say, “Word of Lord”, since “Domini” is not preceded by an article either.

Why not go further and drop the word “of”, since it’s only assumed because the word for “Lord” is in the genitive?

We’ll end up with “Lord’s Word”, “Christ’s Body”, etc.

Next thing they’ll tell us that putting prepositions at the end of sentences and splitting infinitives have gone from venial to mortal sins.

My God, the people who run our churches worry about the darndest things. 🤷
 
benedictgal said:
You’re right. It is Verbum Domini, which means, “The Word of the Lord.” Now, I erred regarding the Spanish version of The Body of Christ. In Spanish, it is “El Cuerpo de Cristo.” When ministering the chalice, we say, “la Sangre de Cristo”, which means, “the Blood of Christ”. However, after we proclaim our reading, we say “Palabra del Senor.” We don’t have “the”, which would be “la” in Spanish, in front of the word.
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Isn’t sangre a masculine word requiring ‘el’ rather than ‘la’?
 
I think “This is” is dropped in the lectionaries of some countries (like the USA) but in the lectionaries of other countries, it is still there.
 
I recall years ago there being a move to drop the article before “Word of the Lord.” The reason given was greater theological accuracy. The problem is that in English it just doesn’t scan. You can’t get people to adhere to the policy because it’s poor English usage. The liturgical nit pickers have already lost this one.

Matthew
 
Isn’t “And also with you” a bit redundant. “And” and “also” mean the same thing. Isn’t the same as saying “And and with you” or “Also also with you.”
 
PacoG said:
Isn’t “And also with you” a bit redundant. “And” and “also” mean the same thing. Isn’t the same as saying “And and with you” or “Also also with you.”
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That is why we are, thank God, reverting back to “And with your spirit”, which is what the original Latin says in the Roman Missal: “et cum spiritu tuo” (I’m quoting this from memory, but, it is an approximation). The new ICEL translation should be coming soon and will, hopefully, correct all of the mistakes found in the current English translation of the Roman Missal.
 
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