Heretical Lauda Sion Translation

The official Mexican translation of the Corpus Christi sequence makes several references to bread an wine which are absent in the original Latin of Saint Thomas.

Stanza 3

Laudis thema specialis,

panis vivus et vitalis

hodie proponitur.

Special theme for glad thanksgiving,

Is the quick'ning and the living

Bread today before you set.

(From the official English translation, which does not have the inaccurate content of the Spanish)

Gustosos hoy aclamamos

a Cristo, que es nuestro pan,

pues el es el pan de vida,

que nos da vida inmortal.

In this verse, in addition to the text's reference to the living and life-giving bread (pan de vida que nos da vida inmortal [both scriptural terms]) it adds, Christ is our bread (Cristo, que es nuestro pan). That expression is unfamiliar to the Christian tradition and confuses the truth about the Eucharist. Christ is not "our bread!" He is "the living bread come down from heaven" and "the bread of life" both in a metaphorical sense. But never "our bread." Why? Well, the Eucharist is not bread at all!

Stanza 14

Caro cibus, sanguis potus:

manet tamen Christus totus,

sub utraque specie.

The flesh food, the blood drink:

Yet under each species

what remains is all Christ.

(My own translation, the official English being very loose.)

Su sangre es nuestra bebida;

su carne, nuestro alimento;

pero en el pan o en el vio

Cristo esta todo completo.

The Latin does not mention the bread and the wine explicitly but just the word specie (a clear doctrinal term referring specifically to the accidents of bread and wine as opposed to the substance which is completely Christ. The point being made is that, while the flesh is food and the blood is drink under the appearances of bread and wine, none of their reality is present but only Christ, Who fully replaces the bread and the wine with his flesh and blood self: Christus totus. The totus is in reference to the filling of the reality of the species of bread and wine. They are fully taken over by Christ. They are entirely Christ! And that it is the complete Christ present under either of the forms.

The Spanish text should read, instead of "pero en el pan o en el vino" (a heretical statement: Christ is in the bread and the wine) "pero bajo cada forma".

Stanza 21

Ecce panis angelorum,

factus cibus viatorum:

vere panis filiorum,

non mittendus canibus.

El pan que del cielo baja

es comida de viajeros.

Es un pan para los hijos.

No hay que tirarlo a los perros!

Panis angelorum is "the bread of angels", not simply "the bread which descends from heaven," which could be confused with the manna of the desert. The "bread of angels" is a distinctive Thomistic term for the Eucharist and should be translated literally and presented to the faithful as part of this extraordinary hymn.

Stanza 22

In figuris praesignatur,

cum Isaac immolatur,

agnus Paschae deputatur,

datur manna patribus.

Isaac el inocente,

es figura de este pan,

con el cordero de Pascua

y el misterioso mana.

The Latin does not mention "this bread" (este pan) at all!!! The implicit subject of the sentence is panis angelorum, "the bread of angels!"

This is a casual observation by a parish priest who over the past decade has seen a gradual but sure deviation from doctrinal clarity in the texts being published for Spanish worship music, especially in the eucharistic hymns. They often sing the praises of bread and wine!!! We do not adore bread and wine. We do not worship bread and wine. The Eucharist is not bread and wine at all! And that is what we need to sing, worship and adore, the absence of bread and wine!

May the worshipper beware of bread and wine idolatry which is being pushed down the throat of the hispanics in America, in place of the worship of the Flesh and Blood of the living God. Behold one of the insidious snares of vernacular worship. If we simply used Saint Thomas' Latin text we would all be better off.