Give us this day our DAILY bread? Could it mean more?

I was reading some Twitter posts and came across something very interesting, something I had never heard before. It was the Lord's prayer from the Douay-Reims Bible, the traditional English Catholic Bible from 1582.

I was intrigued. Why is it translated that way? Normally, the word used there is "daily", but they are using "supersubstantial". So, of course, I Googled it, and was amazed. There was a very thorough article on the subject explaining it.

Here's a few takeaways from the article:

• The Greek word used in the Gospel in two places (Luke 11:3 & Matthew 6:11) is "epiousios".
• Not only are these the only places in the Bible where this word is used, they are the only places in all of literature!
• The word was, in fact, invented by the Gospel writers and is derived from the root words "epi" meaning over or above and "ousia" meaning being, essence, or substance.

The word "ousia" is also found in such words as homoousia which describing the fact that Jesus Christ, the second person of the Holy Trinity, is of the same substance as God the Father, the first person of the Holy Trinity (i.e. 1 God, 3 persons).

The translation of "supersubstantial" is apt in this circumstance.

St. Jerome, who first translated the Bible from Greek to Latin, uses the word "daily" in one context for the word and supersubstantial in another. Yet, St. Jerome himself stated:

“We can also understand supersubstantial bread in another sense as bread that is above all substances and surpasses all creatures.”

Clearly, this is a reference to the Holy Eucharist. If it were meant simply as "daily" as in something you pray for each day, then they would have used a pre-existing word such as "hemera" which means daily. They intended for the word to mean something more. Plus, they specifically used the word bread. They didn't say food or sustenance, or anything other word, but bread.

Given those pieces of information, it seems clear they intended something very special and unique in the prayer. They are referring to bread, but bread whose substance is "above" or "beyond", something supernatural. Well, that accurately describes the Eucharist. Appearance of bread, but in substance, something greater, something supernatural. Specifically, the body and blood of Christ.

To read the full, very interesting article, please click here.