Darryl P.

Reyes
Diwa
17 October 2015

Fr.

G.

O.

I-GSL

LITURGICAL LANGUAGE
A very important element of the Christian liturgy is language. The belief of
the Christian people is verbally expressed in their worshiplex orandi, lex
credendi The question, then, of liturgical language has sparked much debate
during the reforms if Vatican II, even up to now. Some prefer Latin over other
modern language, while others, the reverse. A look into the development of
liturgical language in the early Church could shed light on this question.
Greek, as history points out, was the lingua franca of the period when the
Church was established. It was the language of both the learned, the elite,
and the common people. Since the Church started as domestic gathering of
different sorts of people from varying societal strata, She has gladly adapted
the common language of her members. Greek thus became the liturgical
language of the Church. However, Greek did not stay permanent in its place
as a lingua franca. More and more Latin-speaking people became members
of the Church, as Latin recovered its place as a common language. The
Church had to deal with this, so the liturgy became bilingual. A remnant of
this period remains until today at the Papal Mass on the most solemn
occasions, when the Gospel is proclaimed in both Latin and Greek. It was
only in the papacy of Damasus I that an entirely Latin liturgy emerged. This
was out of pastoral consideration because Latin has become the common
language of Rome. These two languages, Greek and Latin, both contributed
well to the liturgical vocabulary of the Church, since She has adapted well for
Her use the words earlier used in the former religions of the people.
A look into this facts tell us that on the question of liturgical language, the
first consideration of the Church is to worship in a way understood well by
the people. So, whatever language the people knew well is the language of
the liturgy. She believes that to worship in spirit and in truth includes
comprehension of words prayers, enabling the people to join themselves into
the action of the Church. This is seen well in the reforms of Vatican II when
from Latin, the Church shifted to the languages of the people.