Lead Us Not Into Temptation

 

The words "Lead us Not Into Temptation" From the Lord's prayer, presents trouble for Pope Francis. He states that the translation makes it sound as if God is the one leading us into temptation. I've said this prayer since I was knee high to a tadpole and I never looked at it this way. However, here are a few excerpts from the story according to World Catholic Report

Pope Francis said that “lead us not into temptation” is a poorly translated line of the Our Father.

“This is not a good translation,” the Pope said in the video, published Dec. 6. “I am the one who falls, it’s not (God) who pushes me toward temptation to see how I fall. A father doesn’t do this, a father helps us to get up right away.”

He noted that this line was recently re-translated in the French version of the prayer to read “do not let me fall into temptation.”

The Latin version of the prayer, the authoritative version in the Catholic Church, reads “ne nos inducas in tentationem.”

The Pope said that the one who leads people into temptation “is Satan; that is the work of Satan.” He said that the essence of that line in the prayer is like telling God: “when Satan leads me into temptation, please, give me your hand. Give me your hand."

It further states...

"According to the French episcopal conference, the decision to make the change was accepted by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in June 2013.


The new translation, released Dec. 3 to mark the first day of Advent and the beginning of the new liturgical year, now reads “ne nous laisse pas entrer en tentation,” meaning, “do not let us fall into temptation,” versus the former “ne nous soumets pas à la tentation,” or “lead us not into temptation.”

I take issue with this. I get what he's trying to say, but I think he's wrong. We are going by our Church's Mother tongue which use to be Latin before Vatican II decided every church had their own tongue which was to be spoken in their own language and we no longer focused on the teaching of Latin.

The translations of the Lord's Prayer were translated from Greek (which was translated from Christ's language of Aramaic) to Latin. 
Some say the translation is faulty and the Greek translation (which is "And let us not be led into temptation" should be the replacement.

I respectfully disagree that it was a misleading translation. Great care was taken with The translation process. et ne nos inducas in tentationem (Lead us not into temptation) is a literal translation of the Greek version, given to us by St. Jerome. (click the name to learn more about this Saint)

To understand the translation, let us understand St. Jerome. He was highly intelligent, a historian, and a trilinguistic. He was a holy man and the father of the standard Latin translation of the bible that has held for 1600 years. He, in fact, is the patron saint of archeologists, bible scholars, librarians and translators. He studied himself under the renowned theologian, St. Gregory. St. Jerome could understand Greek, Hebrew and Latin. He could also read Aramaic, but could not speak it well. 

There were early translations from Greek to Latin, before St. Jerome, but they missed the mark. Since Latin was becoming far more widely spoken and understood than Greek, they needed a proper, and accurate translation, and that is when St. Jerome came into the picture. He also took it upon himself to translate the old Testament from Hebrew into Latin.

St Jerome is credited with RESTORING the New Testament to it's original Greek state in his Latin Translation from the Old Latin translations which were deemed inadequate. In fact, many have stated you can see the Greek influences in the Latin Vulgate.

So the actual translation is not misleading or faulty. The accepted Latin translation is as close as literal as the language can get. St. Jerome worked on the thought of, "not word for word, but sense for sense". This is now called the Dynamic equivalent. The DE is used when the readability of the translation is more important than the preservation of the original grammatical structure. Meaning, the words may not translate exactly grammatically, but the spirit is the same. So "Lead us not into temptation" is the same as "let us not be led into temptation".

I never grew up thinking God led me to sin. But I understood there'd be trials, tribulations and tests (which would include temptations from the evil one). We were taught to understand that we are praying for deliverance from those tribulations and tests.

We must also consider that languages evolve and temptation may have had a different meaning that it does now, or (more likely) may have had more than one meaning. Most Apologists believe that temptation meant "Test" or tribulation in this sense. Thus making it "please do not put us to the test, instead deliver us from evil."

Just like Adam and Eve, God sometimes puts our faith and obedience to the test, and the evil one takes advantage. So the translation in Greek (let us not be led) and Latin (Lead us not into) are both valid in this sense when you understand the meaning behind it.

A lot of people accuse this of being an English translation problem since many languages use a form of "Let us not be led." That is not true.

The 1600 year old Lord's Prayer in the St. Jerome Latin is the first known use of the phrase "Lead us not", and all Roman Catholic churches used it, all across the world.

That is until Vatican II when the masses began to be said in the tongue of whatever country. Even then, many used a translation of the Latin prayer in their own language until modern times. Like the French who only this month changed the words from "lead us not" to "let us not be led".

So it is not an "English" problem... it is a lack of proper theological education problem.

Whichever the Pope chooses, I will continue to pray it as it's always been prayed, only I prefer to pray it in Latin. There used to be a time when every Catholic church in every country across the world spoke one language in Mass, Latin. Prayed as one unit, spoke with one voice. All around the world we prayed the same words, together.

Now we speak in thousands of different languages, some of whom do their own translations. It is no longer a single unified Church in Christ.

I don't feel we need a better translation, we need better teachers to explain these questions. We should also return to a unified, one Church way again, where we are all speaking the same language with the same translation and interpretations, in one voice.

I will always prefer the Traditional Latin Mass for this reason.

We need to stop dumbing down our religion and smartening up the Faithful. Instead of watering things down so people don't have to actually LEARN something, make them educate, make them get involved. TEACH them.

If Catholicism was being properly taught to our children, not only at Catholic schools or CCD, but at home... this wouldn't be an issue now.

When I taught CCD, the kids told me they weren't even going to church. The parents were using CCD as daycare. Other than that, they never went to church, never talked about God at home. The parents felt it was our responsibility to impart thousands of years of theology on kids 1x a week for a few months a year. Parents hold responsibility for their child's eternal soul and it's just not being done and now we have this. Changing prayers because the Pope can't answer the simple question as to "why it is this way". instead of teaching, change it... right? (sarcasm)

I again blame Vatican II for trying to water the religion down. When we lose our traditions, when we move to the modern, we put our own conveniences before God, and this is what you get. That's a blog for another time however.

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For more information on the Latin Bible and St Jerome:

Further Reading:

St Jerome and the Latin Bible

Et Ne Nos Inducas in Tentationem

St Jerome the Bible Translator

The Vulgate

Biography of St. Jerome

Saints and Catholics - Misonceptions

I thought I would use my first blog entries to explain some great misconceptions people have about Catholics. I've heard everything from, we're a cult that worships statues, to we hold saints as demi-gods with magic powers to grant wishes.

I laugh whenever I hear those statements... sadly however, it isn't a joke. There are people who actually believe that.

This first entry, I thought I would focus on the whole "Catholics worship saints as magical gods" thing. FYI... we don't.

I think one reason this misconception exists, is because there are protestants who believe that when we die, that's it until the end times. No one is currently in heaven but for God, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, Angels. But biblically we know that is not true.

1. Jesus said to the man crucified with him after he asked Christ to remember him, "On this day you will be with me in paradise". (Luke 23:42-43)

2. The bible tells us: "And Behold, the veil of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth quaked, rocks were split, tombs were opened, and the bodies of many saints who had fallen asleep were raised. And coming forth from their tombs after his resurrection, they entered the Holy City and appeared to many." (Matthew 27:51-53)

These saints rose from their sleep because of Christ's sacrifice and resurrection. So we know they had to have entered heaven, either after appearing in the Holy City as proof Christ is the messiah, or when Christ ascended into Heaven himself. We know they could not remain on earth after their awakening.

So if we are to believe the bible holds the word of God and is an accurate journal of Christ's time on earth, then we must believe Saints ARE in heaven.

Catholics believe all who enter heaven are saints. For example, if your grandmother passes away, pious woman, and enters heaven because of her devotion to God... she is a saint.

of course, some saints are more well known by a great population because of the way they lived and miracles that happened in their lifetime. The story of their lives spread, the miracles that happened and continue to happen become widely known, so they become a fixture in the Catholic faith.

As an example: St. Bernadette of Lourdes. She is well known by Catholics as a child visionary who the Blessed Mother appeared to. We'll talk about saints in later blogs. That said, many miracles happened in the grotto where Mary appeared to her as Mary promised would happen. Thousands came to the grotto for healing in Bernadette's time. That Grotto still stands today.

Bernadette became a nun after the apparitions ended, and suffered greatly in her final years. No one knew how greatly until near the end when they were shocked to hear from a doctor how excruciating her disorder was (tuberculosis of the bone). She offered her sufferings up to God and passed at the age of 35. 

She was known far and wide even before her passing. Because of her pain and quiet suffering, when one has physical pains or health issues of the body, they ask St. Bernadette to intercede on their behalf. 

We look at the lives of saints as a guide of how we should be. But being sinners, being human... sometimes we have our failings, we have our spiritual emergencies, we have dark times when we need to reach up for help.

So many times I hear on Facebook... "My grandmother just had a stroke, I could really use prayers from everyone for her." or "I've hit some hard times. I am not looking for anything, but I could really use your prayers."

That is basically what we do as Catholics when it comes to saints. We don't "pray" to them in worship... we ask them to pray with us and pray on our behalf.

They can't perform magic, only God grants miracles.. but many times, because of their intercessions, God will use them as a tool in which a miracle can occur.

For example: There is one who is still waiting to become an official saint in the Catholic church, although the faithful know he is in heaven and thus a saint already, even if not canonized officially. he is Venerable Bishop Fredrick Baraga.

He was a Bishop of the Catholic diocese of Marquette in Michigan. We'll talk about him in another blog dedicated to his work in the church.

However, speaking of miracles, There was a person who was suffering greatly. They had a large (and probably cancerous) tumor on their liver. They couldn't walk without a cane, and their health was waning quickly. The patient asked to visit the tomb of Bishop Baraga where they prayed for the Bishop's intercessions. The current Bishop at that time took out a relic of Bishop Baraga's, a stole, and touched it to the patient's stomach and prayed with him, asking Bishop Baraga to pray as well.

Shortly after, the patient was found to be free of the tumor, and had enough strength to no longer need the cane, all the pain was gone. The cane the patient used is still standing next to Bishop Baraga's tomb as testimony. This was a claim backed up by multiple doctors who had been dealing with the patient. It was investigated and deemed a true miracle by the church. (and the church is quite thorough. Not everything is deemed miraculous. It must pass many tests.)

God performed the miracle... but we faithful in Christ of the Catholic Church believe it was in direct response to the intercessions of Bishop Baraga.

So in essence, we merely ask the saint, who we believe is enjoying the glory of Heaven because of their good works on earth, to pray for us and with us... we do not worship them. We may thank them if our prayers are heard and a miracle happens for praying for us... but wouldn't you thank a friend who reached out to give you comfort in hard times?

Saints do not desire worship. Just as in life when everything was about God, so it is for them in their eternal heavenly life. It's about God, and praying for miracles that will help open people's eyes to God's love and mercy. I'm sure they like to be thanked for their prayers, but they don't desire praise... they do not believe in being worshiped.

I'm sure people will still say, "Say what you will. Saint's can't perform miracles". 

"Peter said (to a crippled beggar who had come seeking alms) 'I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, Rise and walk.' Then Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles grew strong." (Acts 3:6-7)

Peter and John performed a miracle after Christ sent them into the world to continue God's work. The miracle came from God... but he did it through them. They were the vessel for his miracle, and they did it in Christ's name.

That is how we feel saints work. We believe saints are alive in heaven with our savior. They have God's sympathetic ear, and pray on our behalf. It's not much apart from when people ask friends to keep them or someone they care about in their prayers during tough times.

So to finish this post: Catholics do not worship saints.

::QUESTION FROM A GUEST::

I got this question on my old blog, but I was never able to answer it because I lost the login password and email. lol

"I get Catholics don't believe saints have to wait till judgement day...(which is the belief of the church I use to attend. I'm in the process of becoming a Catholic)... can I pray to my great aunt? I was very close to my great aunt. She was my grandma because my grandma (her sister) passed before I was born. She was a very God fearing woman. She lived her life giving to charities, reading the bible, going to church (she was Catholic)... she never spoke ill of anyone. She use to go to confession weekly even though I couldn't think of anything she'd have to confess. So I think she could be in heaven. Can I ask for her to intercede for me, or can I only ask approved saints."

Of course you can. That is how many saints have become saints. The faithful ask for their intercessions because they knew of that person in life and that person's righteous devotion, So they believe that person must be in heaven as a saint, and they ask for intercessions. God performs a miracle through that saint's intercession... it's investigated by the church, and if the required miracles are all proven to pass each test... eventually that saint is canonized. 

However, many saints go unnoticed by the church. For example: I believe firmly that my father is in heaven. I've never seen someone with such zeal for Christ... but what would the Catholic church know of this man from a small town few have ever heard of? If he is in heaven (which I believe he is), not being recognized by the church does not make him less of a saint.

So if you believe your great aunt is in heaven, feel free to ask her to pray on your behalf. But remember, that does not supersede your own personal responsibility to pray directly to God yourself. We ask the saints to pray for us, AND WITH us.

- God Bless -

I say Amen

FURTHER READING:

Praying to the Saints

Welcome to my Blog

You may recognize some information that will be coming to this blog. That is because I use to run a blog called Catholic Talk also here on blogger. My mind isn't as sharp as it use to be, and with multiple emails, passwords, for various websites, blogs, social media accounts... I forgot the email and password used, and thus I have lost access to that account. *Sigh*

So for those returning from that blog, Welcome back. For those seeing this for the first time, Welcome. And God bless you all.

This is a Traditional Catholic blog (Pre-Vatican II) what you can expect to find in coming days:

1. Discussions about why there are Catholics who practice Pre-Vatican II Catholicism

2. What issues we have found in Vatican II, and the heresy we feel is being taught.

3. Discussions for our protestant and non-Christian friends to clear up misconceptions they have about the Catholic church and what we actually believe. Some facts may surprise you as they are completely different from what many have been taught about us Catholics. (For example: We do NOT worship statues, saints are NOT demi-gods to us, we do NOT worship our Blessed Mother nor place her on the same level as God.)

And there will be discussions about a variety of faith related issues, as well as editorials on current events in the Catholic world.

I am not an apologetic, I am simply a woman who has studied theology, the bible and had many discussions with Novus Ordo priests as well as Traditional Catholic priests. I am sharing my beliefs, my thoughts, and things I have learned on my journey. I welcome loving debate.

Please also note: This blog runs in ascending order, meaning the newest blog will always be at the top. So please make sure you go back and read previous blogs, especially if the new blog is in relation to something already discussed.

All that said, I simply want to speak about God, and his divine love and mercy.

So welcome one and all no matter your race or religion (or lack there of). I welcome you all with love for being willing to open your hearts to what I have to say. I am not here to convert, merely speak what I've come to believe is the truth. If anything I say brings someone closer to God and a better understanding and appreciation of the Catholic faith, then Glory be God's name.

Bookmark this page for updates!

May the Peace of God be with you, and with your spirit.

- I Say Amen