Diocese of Covington - Messenger at 402 E. 21st Street, Covington, KY 41015 US - Nicene Creed - "Incarnate"

Priest & People:

I believe in one God,
the Father almighty,
maker of heaven and earth,
of all things visible and invisible.
 
I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
the Only Begotten Son of God,
born of the Father before all ages.
 
God from God, Light from Light,
true God from true God,
begotten, not made,
consubstantial with the Father;
through him all things were made.
For us men and for our salvation
he came down from heaven,

[At the words that follow up to and including 'and became man,' all bow.]

and by the Holy Spirit
was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
he suffered death and was buried,
and rose again on the third day
in accordance with the Scriptures.
He ascended into heaven
and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
He will come again in glory
to judge the living and the dead
and his kingdom will have no end.
 
I believe in the Holy Spirit,
the Lord, the giver of life,
who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
who with the Father and the Son
is adored and glorified,
who has spoken through the prophets.
 
I believe in one, holy,
catholic and apostolic Church.
I confess one baptism
for the forgiveness of sins
and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
and the life of the world to come. Amen.

Nicene Creed - "Incarnate" 

The Church always says what She means and means what She says. This is particularly true within the context of the Liturgy. For the manner in which the Church prays effects that which She believes.

From the time of Her infancy, the Church has known that Jesus is the Christ, the anointed one, the Messiah sent from the Father for the salvation of the world. As She has grown in age as well as in knowledge and wisdom, it has been necessary for the Church to express Her faith in clear statements of belief. The necessity has been due in part to the need for catechesis of the faithful, but also for the protection of the faith from those who would attempt to manipulate it.

In 325, the early Church Fathers came together in the Council of Nicaea to protect the faith against heresies that denied the divinity of Christ. And again in 381, the Fathers came together in the First Council of Constantinople to define the divinity of the Holy Spirit. Out of these two Ecumenical Councils we get the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, or what we typically call the Nicene Creed.

The English word “creed” comes from the Latin word “credo,” which is actually the compilation of two words, “cor” meaning “heart,” and “do” meaning “I give.” So, a creed is the giving of one's heart. When we recite the profession of our faith together we are not stating just words, but we are giving our hearts, the core of our being, to the God in whom we believe.

In our study of the English translation of the 3^rd Edition of the Roman Missal, many will notice some substantial word changes in the Nicene Creed. One in particular is the use of the word “incarnate,” which replaces the word “born.” The statement in the creed currently says, "… he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man." On November 27, 2011, the English translation will change to "… was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man." Both statements are true. The faithful should not be confused by those who might claim that our current translation is wrong and that is why it has changed. But the reason it has been changed to “incarnate” is because that statement is more correct. It is a more nuanced and precise description of what God has done in the person of Jesus Christ. It states that Jesus was not only born (like all of us who are human), but that God has been born into human history. The word incarnation means to put on flesh. By changing the English word in the creed, we more accurately express that which we believe, that God, in the person of Jesus Christ, emptied himself of all that he was and, putting on flesh, became one like us, while losing nothing of his divinity. Some of the sayings in the revised translation of the Missal may be confusing, but we are speaking about God, and therefore we must be as precise as possible.

Finally, something should be said about the rubric which dictates the gesture we make when we profess the creed. It calls for all the faithful — clergy, religious, and laity — to bow. As human beings (made up of a body and soul) we need to express in tangible ways that which is invisible. Therefore as we confess our belief in the incarnation, we express with our words and our actions God coming down from heaven to earth. So important is the need to incorporate our bodies into our worship that on two feast days — the Solemnity of the Annunciation on March 25 and the Solemnity of Christmas on December 25 — the Church asks us to do more than bow in the creed, we are called to genuflect. As God comes down to earth, we too go down to the earth and touch our knee to the ground.