• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

“What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too…” Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2007)

  • Our Team
  • Catholic Hymnal
  • Jogues Missal
  • Site Map
  • Donate
Views from the Choir Loft

ICEL added “Died” to the Nicene Creed • (I am not kidding!)

Jeff Ostrowski · October 27, 2020

HENEVER I DISCOVER something interesting, I follow the example of Josef Hofmann and jot it down 1 in a designated spot. An example would be how President Ronald Reagan chose someone as his Chief of Staff whose name was almost identical: Donald Regan. Well, today I have something to say which you might want to write down. You probably won’t believe it, but it’s true:

The Nicene Creed does not
say that Our Lord “died”—
the word “death” was added
in the 1970s by ICEL.

Now, it is certainly true that when we pray the Apostle’s Creed (not the Nicene Creed) we find these words:

“passus sub Póntio Piláto, crucifíxus, mórtuus, et sepúltus”
“suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried”

But the Nicene Creed says something different, as this 1957 Missal shows, and please pay careful attention the Latin taken directly from the official 1962 Missal:

“Crucifíxus étiam pro nobis:
sub Póntio Piláto passus,
et sepúltus est.”
“He was crucified also for us,
suffered under Pontius Pilate,
and was buried.”

This translation is nothing new, as this 1806 Missal shows. The 1965 Roman Missal says the same thing. But look at the rather strange way ICEL chose to translate this passage in the 1970s—adding “died” and tampering with suffered under Pontius Pilate:

“Crucifíxus étiam pro nobis:
sub Póntio Piláto passus,
et sepúltus est.”
“For our sake he was
crucified under Pontius Pilate;
he suffered, died, and was buried.”

To be fair to ICEL, the official Latin punctuation seems to have been modified in the 1970 version of the ORDO MISSAE—but there is still no mention of “death” (mórtuus). Was such a change justified? Was ICEL afraid that people might think Our Lord was somehow crucified yet did not die? Or was ICEL confused, unwittingly mixing up the Nicene Creed with the Apostle’s Creed? It is true that the Latin word “passio” could refer to the sufferings under Pontius Pilate (e.g. the unjust scourging) and also to our Lord’s death: the culmination of his sufferings. For example, consider the use of “passio,” as in Passio Domini Nostri Jesu Christi. The martyrdom of a saint is also called “passio.”

The revised (“MR3”) ICEL translation published circa 2010 also inexplicably adds the word “death” and thereby seems to downplay (for example) the unjust scourging of Our Lord:

“Crucifíxus étiam pro nobis:
sub Póntio Piláto passus,
et sepúltus est.”
“For our sake he was crucified
under Pontius Pilate; he
suffered death and was buried.”

It would be interesting to see if the word “death” was added in French, German, Italian, or any other language.

Since we are speaking of the “Passio” of Our Lord Jesus Christ, I would like to share some pages from an absolutely remarkable Roman Catholic manuscript:

*  (15th century MS.) • “Catherine of Cleves Hours”
—This is the greatest Dutch illuminated manuscript in the world.

Agony in the Garden • Arrest of Christ

Our Lord before Caiaphas • Christ is mocked

Our Lord before Pilate • Christ before Herod

Our Lord is unjustly scourged • Crowning with thorns

Carrying of the Cross • Preparation of the Cross

Our Lord’s Crucifixion • Joseph of Arimathaea before Pilate

Our Lord is taken down • The Lamentation

Our Lord is placed in the tomb • The Resurrection

The Holy Trinity • God the Father

God the Son

Three Divine Persons of the Trinity

Christ Accepts His Father’s Decree to Save Mankind

The Infant Christ is sent to earth

Man of Sorrows Returned to the Trinitarian Throne

The rulers of earth adore the Trinity

 


NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   Josef Hofmann—the greatest pianist of all time—also had an excellent memory. He could hear a complicated piece of music just once and memorize it instantly. In concerts, he would play pieces he hadn’t thought about (much less practiced) for decades—which is why he would bring a copy of the program with him on stage, to find out what he was performing! Josef Hofmann once gave a series of twenty-one consecutive concerts in St. Petersburg without repeating a single piece, playing 255 different works from memory. Yet (according to Abe Chasins) Hofmann kept a little notebook with him at all times, and jotted down things he found particularly interesting so he could remember them.

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Follow the Discussion on Facebook

Filed Under: Articles, Featured Tagged With: Josef Hofmann Pianist Extraordinaire, Nicene Creed, The Lord's Passion Last Updated: November 24, 2020

Subscribe to the CCW Mailing List

Jeff Ostrowski

About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Los Angeles.—(Read full biography).

Primary Sidebar

Corpus Christi Watershed

Quick Thoughts

Surprising Popularity!

One of our most popular downloads has proven to be the organ accompaniment to “The Monastery Hymnal” (131 pages). This book was compiled, arranged, and edited by Achille P. Bragers, who studied at the Lemmensinstituut (Belgium) about thirty years before that school produced the NOH. Bragers might be considered an example of Belgium “Stile Antico” whereas Flor Peeters and Jules Van Nuffel represented Belgium “Prima Pratica.” You can download the hymnal by Bragers at this link.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • To Capitalize…?

In the Introit for the 6th Sunday after Pentecost, there is a question regarding whether to capitalize the word “christi.” The Vulgata does not, because Psalm 27 is not specifically referring to Our Lord, but rather to God’s “anointed one.” However, Missals tend to capitalize it, such as the official 1962 Missal and also a book from 1777 called Missel de Paris. Something tells me Monsignor Knox would not capitalize it.

—Jeff Ostrowski
15 February 2021 • “Sung vs. Spoken”

We have spoken quite a bit about “sung vs. spoken” antiphons. We have also noted that the texts of the Graduale Romanum sometimes don’t match the Missal texts (in the Extraordinary Form) because the Mass Propers are older than Saint Jerome’s Vulgate, and sometimes came from the ITALA versions of Sacred Scripture. On occasion, the Missal itself doesn’t match the Vulgate—cf. the Introit “Esto Mihi.” The Vulgate has: “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in domum refúgii…” but the Missal and Graduale Romanum use “Esto mihi in Deum protectórem et in locum refúgii…” The 1970s “spoken propers” use the traditional version, as you can see.

—Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

“The sun, at one moment surrounded with scarlet flame, at another aureoled in yellow and deep purple, seemed to be in an exceedingly swift and whirling movement, at times appearing to be loosened from the sky and to be approaching the earth, strongly radiating heat.”

— ‘Dr. Domingos Pinto Coelho, noted lawyer from Lisbon and chairman of the Bar Association (1917)’

Recent Posts

  • (Screenshots) • Proving Holy Saturday Took Place In The Morning
  • “Homily: Second Sunday of Lent” • Father Valentine Young, OFM
  • Part 2 • “Starting Your Own Traditional Latin Mass”
  • Is This Really The Same Church??
  • Solmization from the Inside

Copyright © 2021 Corpus Christi Watershed · Charles Garnier on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

Corpus Christi Watershed is a 501(c)3 public charity dedicated to exploring and embodying as our calling the relationship of religion, culture, and the arts. This non-profit organization employs the creative media in service of theology, the Church, and Christian culture for the enrichment and enjoyment of the public.