The unutterable name

Our friends the New Liturgical Movement share with us the welcome decision of the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments regarding the use of the Divine Name.

To over simplify the June 29th decision of the Congregation: the Divine Name is not to be used, neither in speech nor in text.

I welcome this decision and whole heartedly and wish it had only come sooner. I've long been disturbed at various songs that sign the name of God, the name that the Chosen People refused to utter.

One might well ask why this decision has been given. The answer is quite simply, really. It is a matter of respect for the Divine Name of God, the name that the Jewish people do not say and that the early never uttered.

His Emminence Francis Cardinal Arinze, Prefect of said Congregation, explains the reasoning thus:

The venerable biblical tradition of Sacred Scripture, known as the Old Testament, displays a series of divine appellations, among which is the sacred name of God revealed in the tetragrammaton YHWH... As an expression of the infinite greatness and majesty of God, it was held to be unpronnouncable and hence was replaced during the reading of Sacred Scripture by means of the use of an alternate name: "Adonai," which means "Lord."

The word tetragrammaton means something like "four letters." The name of God given in Hebrew is a series of four letters, transliterated in the Roman alphabet as YHWH. As you may know, ancient was written without the use of vowels and thus today it is translated in many different forms, with various degrees of accuracy.

This decision means that, "In liturgical celebrations, in songs and prayers the name of God in the form of the tetragrammaton YHWH is neither to be used nor pronounced."