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Saturday, February 23, 2013

Smoking Brassieres

Being a conscientious lector, I prepare my readings before hand.  Sunday, the Second Sunday of Lent, I am reading Genesis 15: 5-12, 17-18.  This is the story of God making a covenant with Abraham.  It describes the ritual that was usual when making a covenant.

Abraham prepared the sacrifices just as required.  Then:

When the sun had set and it was dark, there appeared a smoking fire pot and a flaming torch, which passed between those pieces.

The Lector preparation that I used gives an interesting note on the latest N.A.B. Translation.  It tells us that in the Catholic Churches in the U.S.A. the intended word for smoking fire pot had to be substituted because it sounded like "smoking brassieres."  The word in question was "a smoking brazier."  Americans mispronounced brazier, as women's unmentionables.  And that's the only thing the listeners concentrated on--brassieres; not the rest of the scripture passage.

I can't imagine why.




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