Some videos on YouTube are claiming that there’s a prayer in Latin where the Vatican invokes Lucifer!
But here’s the truth . . .
The prayer in question—the Exsultet—is actually referring to Jesus Christ.
The word lucifer originally had no connection to the devil. It was the Latin word for the morning star (i.e., the planet Venus when it appears in the east).
Venus is the brightest planet in the sky, and because it sometimes appears before dawn, it was referred to as lucifer or the bringer of light (lux = “light” + ferre = “to bring”). It was called the same thing in Greek, where its name was phôsphoros (phôs = “light” + pherein = “to bring”). It also had other names.
The morning star is so bright and prominent that the Bible uses it as a symbol. In Isaiah 14:12, it symbolizes the persecuting king of Babylon (cf. 14:3). In 2 Peter 1:19, it is a positive spiritual symbol. And in Revelation 2:28 and 22:16, it is a symbol of Jesus.
It is also a symbol of Jesus in the Exsultet—a prayer sung at Easter by various Christians, including Catholics, Anglicans, Lutherans, and Methodists.
After the Paschal (Easter) Candle is lit, the deacon sings, “May this flame be found still burning by the morning star: the one morning star who never sets, Christ your Son, who, coming back from death’s domain, has shed his peaceful light on humanity, and lives and reigns for ever and ever.”
(Latin: Flammas eius lúcifer matutínus invéniat: ille, inquam, lúcifer, qui nescit occásum. Christus Fílius tuus, qui, regréssus ab ínferis, humáno géneri serénus illúxit, et vivit et regnat in sæcula sæculórum.)
When this is sung in Latin, the Latin word for “morning star”—lucifer—is used. To make it clear this is not a personal name but just a noun, it is left uncapitalized in the Latin text.
Other Christians use their own versions of this prayer, which also invoke Jesus as the morning star. They just don’t typically use Latin.
There is no devil worship happening. The prayer merely refers to Jesus as the morning star, in keeping with his own declaration: “I am . . . the bright and morning star” (Rev. 22:16).
This augmented video was originally taken from Catholic Answers Live, February 1, 2018 (2nd hour)
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