Ad Honorem Immaculatae Conceptionis Mariae Oblatio

75 verb translated as the action of God who consecrates will express that God chooses man and sanctifies him. Furthermore, what may seem extremely surprising is the correct trans- lation of the Magisterium’s texts into the various languages. It turns out that the use of different words can cause confusion and ambiguity in the understanding of consecration. A classic example of this is the conciliar sentence in the Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen Gentium from the main paragraph regarding the theology of the religious state. In Latin, this fragment reads as follows: Per baptismum quidem mortuus est peccato, et Deo sacratus; ut au- tem gratiae baptismalis uberiorem fructum percipere queat, consi- liorum evangelicorum professione in Ecclesia liberari intendit ab im- pedimentis, quae ipsum a caritatis fervore et divini cultus perfectione retrahere possent, et divino obsequio intimius consecratur. (LG, 44) Controversies arose from translations of the phrase “divino obsequio intimius consecrator.” The majority of translations into national languages used a reflective verb which indicates that a person consecrates himself to God and that his consecration is a human action in regard to God. 5 Thus, in Polish we have: “poświęca się służbie Bożej;” in Italian it says: “ si consacra più intimamente al servizio di Dio;” in French it reads : “se consacrer plus intimement au service divin;” in Spanish: “ se consagra más íntimamente al servicio de Dios;” and in Belarusian: “ яшчэ больш прысвячае сябе Божаму служэнню .” On the other hand, translators of the same excerpt into some other languages used a passive verb which emphasized that the consecration is an act of God working in man. Thus, in English we have: “ he is more intimately consecrated to divine service;” in Portuguese: “é con- sagrado mais intimamente ao serviço divino,” and in German: “ wird dem göttlichen Dienst inniger geweiht.” After the release of the Conciliar document, Lumen gentium , several commentaries appeared, clarifying the doubts in regard to the proper in- terpretation of par. 44 of that Constitution. 6 They clearly indicated that 5 Official translations into national languages may be viewed on w2.vatican.va . 6 See G. Ghirlanda, I significati del termine “consacrazione” nel CIC 1983 , in: Congregazione per gli Istituti di Vita Consacrata e le Società di Vita Apostolica, Consecratio et consecratio per evangelica consilia . Atti del Seminario Internazionale. Roma 1-3 marzo 2018 , op. cit., pp. 9-44; Z. Pałys, Rozwój teologii konsekracji zakonnej. Studium historyczno-teologiczne od Vaticanum II do “Vita consecrata” Jana Pawła II , Wydawnictwo La Salette, Krakow 2008, pp. 73-77.