Latin word of the day
Instead it's from the Latin incarnare, to make flesh. In the Greek text of the New Testament this reads Kai ho Logos sarx egeneto, but the word we mostly commonly use to describe what happened to the second person of the Trinity - Incarnation - is not taken from these Greek words. Incarnare: And the Word was made flesh so reads the beginning of John 1:14. It later came to have a much more substantial meaning and was used by the early Church Fathers to describe God as three persons, one in being. Then it came to refer to the characters themselves. This originally referred to the masks characters would wear in a dramatic performance on stage. It's lifted straight out of the ancient language, from persona.
Again, without Latin, we would not have this word. Persona: Person is a crucial word not just in our theological vocabulary, but also in Western culture. It was first coined by the Latin Father Tertullian, writing in the early part of the third century. Largely for its first two centuries, Trinity as a term describing God was unknown to the Christian world. The Latin source for this word is trinitatem, the term for the number three. Trinitatem: Latin has also given us one the chief words we use to describe to Whom we pray: the Trinity. That Latin word in turn comes from the Latin noun prex, simply translated as prayer or request. But dictionaries tell us that our verb to pray originates with the Latin verb precari, meaning, beg, implore, entreat, supplicate. And, like grace, it's a word most of us would not suspect of being Latinate: prayer. Prex: This is one of the means through which we receive grace. In Latin, gratia has the primary meaning of favor, goodwill, kindness, and friendship.
#Latin word of the day full
Those readers who have ever said the Hail Mary in Latin may be familiar with the phrase plena gratia - full of grace. This most simple and fundamental words in our vocabulary of faith has its origins in the Latin word gratia. Gratia: Grace - it's what we all need and what none of us can earn through our own efforts apart from God. Below are twelve words that have shaped the faith in Western Christendom. While you may not need to know Latin to understand the Mass anymore, it is impossible to imagine the Christian faith as we know it without Latin - including where the word "Mass" comes from. But in the post-Vatican II era, it may seem that Latin is not as relevant as it once was. We all know that Latin is the language of the Church.