Trend Watch

Consubstantial

As a controversy emerged over a prayer of the Mass ...

When:

Lookups spiked on April 12, 2011.

Why:

In a new English translation of the Roman Catholic prayer book, one of the prayers of the Mass replaces the phrase "one in being with the Father" with "consubstantial with the Father."

This change, intended to make the English version closer to a literal translation of the original Latin, is causing controversy. Some priests argue that the new language is difficult to understand.

Consubstantial means "of the same substance," and comes from the Latin words for "together" and "substance." The Latin term was used in religious contexts to mean "one and the same."


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