Maranatha is an expression of Aramaic origin that, when translated into Portuguese, has a similar meaning to "come Lord" or "our Lord comes".
Etymologically, the term "maranatha" arose from the joining of two Aramaic words: maran, which means "our Lord" or "Messiah will come", and athah, which means something relating to "Jesus is here".
Christian history tells that, before the appearance of Jesus, when a Jew met another, he would greet him saying "Maran", which means "Our Lord will come". However, after Jesus appeared, when the same Jew, now converted to Jesus, met another Jew, he added the word atha after Maran, forming the expression maran atha, which means something like "the Messiah has come, is here, and will return".
The expression maranatha is present in the Christian Holy Bible, precisely in the book of I Corinthians 16:22 - "If anyone does not love the Lord, let him be accursed. Maranatha!" - in which it was first used by the apostle Paul, also known as St. Paul or Paul of Tarsus.
The expression maranatha was also widely used during sacred services to invoke the spiritual presence of Jesus Christ during suppers.
Today, maranatha is a common prayer word among members of the World Community of Christian Meditation.
Maranatha Church
THE Christian church maranata is a religious community whose main philosophy is to follow all the teachings of Jesus Christ that are described in the Holy Bible.
See also the meaning of church and day of Pentecost.