The ''Sursum corda'' (
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
: "Lift up your hearts" or literally, "Upwards hearts") is the opening dialogue to the
Preface
__NOTOC__
A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a '' foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface often close ...
of the
Eucharistic Prayer
The Anaphora is the most solemn part of the Divine Liturgy, or the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, a thanksgiving prayer by virtue of which the offerings of bread and wine are believed to be consecrated as the body and blood of Christ. This is the us ...
or
Anaphora in
Christian liturgies, dating back at least to the third century and the
Anaphora of the Apostolic Tradition. The dialogue is recorded in the earliest liturgies of the Catholic Church in the west and east, and is found in all ancient rites.
Definition
The Sursum Corda (
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
: "Lift up your hearts" or literally, "Up hearts!", that is, "Hearts up!") is the opening dialogue to the
Preface
__NOTOC__
A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a '' foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface often close ...
of the
anaphora, also known as the "Eucharistic Prayer", in the
Christian liturgy, dating back at least to the 3rd century and the
Anaphora of the Apostolic Tradition. The dialogue is recorded in the earliest liturgies of the Christian Church, and is found in all ancient rites.
Though the detail varies slightly from rite to rite, the dialogue's structure is generally threefold, comprising an exchange of formal greeting between priest and people; an invitation to lift the heart to God, the people responding in agreement; and an invitation to give thanks, with the people answering that it is proper to do so. The third exchange indicates the people's assent to the priest continuing to offer the remainder of the Eucharistic Prayer on their behalf, and the need of such assent accounts for the universality of the dialogue.
[A New Dictionary of Liturgy and Worship (ed. J. G. Davies), p.16. SCM Press, 1986.]
See also
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Canon of the Mass
*
Divine Liturgy
Divine Liturgy ( grc-gre, Θεία Λειτουργία, Theia Leitourgia) or Holy Liturgy is the Eucharistic service of the Byzantine Rite, developed from the Antiochene Rite of Christian liturgy which is that of the Ecumenical Patriarchate of ...
*
Holy Qurbana
Notes
{{Lutheran Divine Service
Latin religious words and phrases
Order of Mass