AND WITH YOUR SPIRIT

Probably the most noticeable change for
the laity in the revised translation of The
Roman Missal will be the response to “The
Lord be with you,” which restores the
phrase “And with your spirit” in place of
“And also with you.” This change is specifically
called for by Liturgiam authenticam,
the instruction from the Congregation for
Divine Worship and the Discipline of the
Sacraments regarding the translation of
liturgical texts. It states that the Latin
phrase, Et cum spiritu tuo, must be translated
as literally as possible. English is the
only major European language that does
not mention the spirit in the current
translation of this response; the Greek liturgy
of the Eastern Churches also employs
the equivalent of “And with your spirit.”
So the new form has both tradition and
widespread use on its side. Underlying the
use are scriptural and theological reasons.
This ancient Christian use of “spirit,” in both Greek and
Latin, was strange to the ancient world. “Nothing like it is
known outside Christian writing” (Paulinus Milner, “Et Cum
Spiritu Tuo,” in Studies in Pastoral Liturgy, vol. 3. ed. by Placid
Murray, osb, Dublin: The Furrow Trust, 1967. p. 202). “With
your spirit” was long thought to be a Semitic idiom meaning
nothing more than “with you.” The Hebrew word nephesh
means “soul” or “spirit,” but it can also mean “self.” But the
Hebrew word behind “with your spirit” is not nephesh but
rather another Hebrew term, ruah, which means “breath” or
“spirit.” The Greek word for spirit, pneuma, is never used in
the Old Testament to render nephesh, but only when translating
ruah. Thus, it seems clear that the use of “spirit” in the
liturgy is not intended merely as a euphemism for “you” but
bears some other special theological significance.
Sometimes, Saint Paul calls the gifts of the Holy Spirit
pneumata (see 1 Corinthians 14:12: “So with yourselves, since
you are eager for pneumaton, spiritual gifts . . .” and 14:32,
“The spiritual gifts of the prophets are subject to the prophets”;
see similar usage in Revelation 22:6 and 19:10). The episcopal
ordination prayer of The Apostolic Tradition (third or fourth
century ad) asks God for the “spirit of leadership”: “And now
also pour forth the power which comes from you, of the spirit
of leadership which you gave to your beloved Child, Jesus
Christ, and which he accorded to your holy apostles who have
founded the Church in every place . . . .” This Ordination
prayer, then, specifically refers to a gift of
the spirit that was given to Christ, which
Christ in turn bestowed on the apostles,
and which this prayer shows is bestowed
upon bishops in the Church. The
Ordination prayer for priests similarly
asks, “Look upon your servant who is
here and grant him the spirit of grace and
of council of the presbytery so that he
may aid and govern your people with a
pure heart . . . .” In the prayer for deacons:
“Grant the spirit of grace and zeal to
your servant.”
Given the petitions employed in
these ordination prayers, it is noteworthy
that the phrase “And with your spirit”
is used only in response to an ordained
minister. The non-ordained member
leading the assembly in prayer (for example,
at a wake service, a Holy Communion
service, the Liturgy of the Hours) would never say “The Lord
be with you” because, at least in part, they do not receive the
phrase in return “And with your spirit.” The “spirit” mentioned
here refers specifically to the spirit received in
Ordination. It is an affirmation by the assembly that the
ordained minister has received the appropriate anointing with
the spirit to make him the leader in sacramental ministry.
This usage has a special beauty: it is less about the person of
the priest than about the office of the priesthood, which is supported
and guaranteed by the Spirit of God given in ordination.
Early Church Fathers, such as John Chrysostom,
Theodore of Mopsuestia, Narsai of Nisibis, and Abraham bar
Lipheh explicitly back this interpretation.
One scriptural usage may be set in objection to this interpretation:
Galatians 6:18, Philippians 4:23, and Philemon 25
all use “spirit” in a more general sense as addressed to the whole
Church: “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.”
Saint Paul is not referring here to the particular gifts of the
Spirit possessed by each member of the local Church, because
“spirit” is in the singular. Rather, he is referring to that gift of
the Spirit which each local Church possesses in so far as it is a
unity in Christ for the worship of the Father (Milner, page
206). In this sense, the ordained minister represents the whole
Church in a way that the non-ordained does not. For this reason,
the laity may offer a blessing in their own name only,
whereas the ordained bless in the name of the Church —
because of the “spirit” they have received in ordination.

Preparing Your Parish for the Revised Roman Missal: Homilies and Reproducibles for Faith Formation © 2011 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training
Publications, 3949 South Racine Avenue, Chicago IL 60609; 1-800-933-1800; www.LTP.org. Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 1973,
2010 International Committee on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). All rights reserved. Photo © John Zich. This image may be reproduced for personal
or parish use. The copyright notice must appear with the text. For additional information about the Missal visit www.RevisedRomanMissal.org. Published with
Ecclesiastical Approval (Canon 823, 1).