What the Gloria says now:
Lord Jesus Christ,
only Son of the Father,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the world:
have mercy on us;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
New translation:
Lord Jesus Christ,
Only Begotten Son,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
Son of the Father,
you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us;
you take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer;
you are seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
Much of the new translation for the second half of the Gloria is more of a matter of rearranging clauses into a sequence that better reflects the original order of the Latin. There are, however, several interesting things that might go by otherwise unnoticed. Jesus is twice mentioned as God’s Son. This not only better reflects the Latin, but reminds us that Jesus is unbegotten – a theological point which we will discuss when we examine the Nicene Creed. We also see that the phrase “you take away the sins of the world” is repeated twice. This should remind us of the Agnus Dei which we recite shortly before receiving communion:
Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, have mercy upon us.
Lamb of God, you who take away the sins of the world, grant us peace.
The new translation makes clear that one of the great reasons to proclaim the glory of Christ is that He is indeed our Savior who took away the sins of the world with His redemptive passion. The words themselves are taken from the Gospel of John 1:29: “The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and said, "Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.” Not coincidentally John the Baptist baptized Jesus at this time and God in Heaven is heard to say, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” (Matthew 3:17) Thus, we are again reminded that Jesus is the Son of God. The phrase, , “Behold, the Lamb of God,” was so closely associated with John the Baptist in the very biblically minded Middle Ages that it became part of his iconography. Often John was portrayed with a cross topped staff flying a thin pennant or banner inscribed with the words Ecce, Agnus Dei. The Latin word, Ecce, “Behold”, is used on another occasion in the life of Christ in the Vulgate: when Christ is shown to the crowd by Pontius Pilate who exclaims Ecce Homo or “Behold the man.” (John 19:5)
Thursday the First Week of Advent,
Dr. Tim Brennan
