sursum corda

American  

[soor-soom kawr-dah, kohr-] / ˈsʊər sʊm ˈkɔr dɑ, ˈkoʊr- /

noun

Ecclesiastical.

1. the words “Lift up your hearts,” addressed by the celebrant of the Mass to the congregation just before the preface.

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sursum corda British  

/ ˈsɜːsəm ˈkɔːdə /

noun

1. RC Church a Latin versicle meaning Lift up your hearts, said by the priest at Mass

2. a cry of exhortation, hope, etc

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Etymology

Origin of sursum corda

Borrowed into English from Latin around 1550–60

Example Sentences

The visits of death are always solemn, but the end of the just is the most moving sursum corda that we can- 343 - hear on earth.

From Life of St. Francis of Assisi by Houghton, Louise Seymour

The figure on the tomb is a modern restoration, very elaborately clad in full pontificals, while the hands are clasped about a heart, representing the sursum corda, or lifting up of the heart.

From Bell's Cathedrals: The Cathedral Church of Winchester A Description of Its Fabric and a Brief History of the Episcopal See by Sergeant, Philip Walsingham

However, sursum corda; faint heart never writ romance.

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 24 (of 25) by Stevenson, Robert Louis

The beginning of prayer is a sursum corda, a lifting up of the heart to GOD.

From Religious Reality by Rawlinson, A. E. J. (Alfred Edward John)

Marie-Salom� des Saintes-Maries is, I think, the heroine’s name; she has got to be yet: sursum corda!

From The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson - Swanston Edition Vol. 25 (of 25) by Lang, Andrew