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Glite Dictionary
sursum corda

sursum corda

1 9.9
A Latin phrase a priest says to ask people at a church service to lift their hearts
  • noun
  • /ˈsɜr.səm ˈkɔr.də/
  • Literature
: sursum corda
  • The priest began the Eucharistic prayer with the words sursum corda.

Examples

  • During Mass, the congregation responded after the sursum corda was proclaimed.

  • The phrase sursum corda reminds worshippers to focus their hearts on spiritual matters.

  • The priest began the service with sursum corda.

  • During the Mass, we all responded with sursum corda.

  • During the Eucharistic prayer, the priest invited the congregation to respond with sursum corda.

  • Every Sunday, the faithful joyfully raised their hearts to God when they heard sursum corda at the start of Mass.

  • In the liturgy, the phrase sursum corda serves as a reminder for worshippers to elevate their spirits.

Surface Forms

sursum corda singular

Morphology

sursum + corda

This is a Latin liturgical formula whose constituent tokens are not English words a B1 learner would know (dictionary entries are missing). The meaning 'lift up your hearts' is a conventional ecclesiastical translation rather than a compositional English phrase, so an English learner who only knows the constituent forms as given would not be able to derive the meaning.

Etymology

Sursum corda is a Latin church saying that literally means 'lift up your hearts', with sursum meaning 'up' and corda meaning 'hearts'. A priest says it to ask the people to raise their thoughts to God, so today sursum corda still invites worshippers to focus on the spiritual part of the service.