Reading Jane at My heart was restless, I came across a link to this story at Rorate Caeli about an interview given by Cardinal Cañizares Llovera to the Spanish paper La Razón. Here is a link to the full interview (in Spanish). Rorate Caeli has translated a part of the interview:
[La Razón:] Nevertheless, Benedict XVI has reiterated in some instances the propriety of receiving communion kneeling and in the mouth. Is it something important, or is it a mere matter of form?Many people have suggested to me that the rumours of Archbishop Ranjith's departure from the Congregation for Divine Worship have arisen because he has been so outspoken on things like Communion in the hand and kneeling. It seems that now, even if he does go to Colombo, the line will be held even more strongly at the Congregation.
[Cañizares:] - No, it is not just a matter of form. What does it mean to receive communion in the mouth? What does it mean to kneel before the Most Holy Sacrament? What dies it mean to kneel during the consecration at Mass? It means adoration, it means recognizing the real presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist; it means respect and an attitude of faith of a man who prostrates before God because he knows that everything comes from Him, and we feel speechless, dumbfounded, before the wondrousness, his goodness, and his mercy. That is why it is not the same to place the hand, and to receive communion in any fashion, than doing it in a respectful way; it is not the same to receive communion kneeling or standing up, because all these signs indicate a profound meaning. What we have to grasp is that profound attitude of the man who prostrates himself before God, and that is what the Pope wants.
I do enjoy reading articles in Google's translator and this one had a gem.
Posee la poco común capacidad de aunar, cuando habla, la firmeza con la caridad, encarnando el epigrama latino de «suave en el fondo y firme en la forma».is rendered as
Possesses the rare ability to combine, when he speaks, the firmness with love, embodying the Latin epigram "soft on the bottom and firm on the way."
9 comments:
Google translator did that??. Well, then it is excellent. That was a very difficult spanish phrase, with words we seldom use, as the verb "aunar" (to make "one" ethimologically, I guess).
Still, I would not have placed the article "the" before "firmness", but I'm not a native english speaker.
And I would have translated "Posee" as "He has" (Though, on second thought, translating it as "Possesses" may be right, as in our everyday speech we never say "posee" but "tiene").
I was re-reading the paragraph. Does the sentence "Soft on the bottom and firm on the way" makes sense in english?.
Javier
Deo Gratias, what seems to be an important idea, this idea of the exterior action reflecting of the interior belief...I know this is something as Latin Rite Catholics that has been somewhat lost.
That is an excellent quote.
I do not understand why people have a problem with kneeling in the first place. In my voyage into the church, one of the crucial questions for me was "What in life are you actually prepared to kneel before?" Now I would say, this is the only thing worth kneeling before.
Javier - "soft on the bottom and firm on the way" sounds rather comical in English. I think that the Spanish ought to be the other way round in any case: "suave en la forma y firme en el fondo", translating the Latin "suaviter in modo, fortiter in re." The common English translation for this is "Gently in manner, resolutely in action" although in most contexts, you would probably want to use adjectives rather than adverbs, as the Spanish does.
You are right that in English one would need to say "He possesses" and leave out the definite article before "firmness". You would probably also shift "when he speaks" to after "love" but that would be a matter of style.
I agree with you that Google translator does a remarkable job - it is fun to see some phrases rendered in odd ways but one can usually get most of the meaning of a text and then look the odd word up in a dictionary. My Spanish is not very good so it is a help to me.
Dear Father
This is good news indeed!
Alan and Angeline
Fr. Tim,
well, yes, the phrase is sort of weird, because it could make sense both ways. It could perfectly be "suave en la forma y firme en el fondo", as you very aptly point, meaning someone with deep convictions but who is kind in leading or in correcting those who are in error.
But, it could also go as in the text: "suave en el fondo y firme en la forma". It would not mean unsteady foundations. It could mean someone with a soft and kind heart, but who, nonetheless, aware of the dangers of error, has a steady hand to guide and correct others.
Javier from Argentina
I just love the picture of the Cardinal in his office.
It is so refreshing to hear a cardinal reiterate the importance of kneeling for communion. It sometimes seems like this practice has become old fashioned or overly pious, but Cardinal Canizares explains beautifully why this is far from being the case.
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