Your Catch-Up Program with Reading for the New Translation

The Roman Missal, Third Edition, in English

+++   Have you not been yet looking at our helps to the word changes for the Mass that is starting this Advent?   If so, this below information is for you. 

Question:    Is the Mass changing?  Just when is it coming?

The essence of the Mass is not changing, but the way it is celebrated will be noticeably different.     The structure and the order of Mass will remain  the same, but many prayers and responses of           the Mass will be updated, ‘tweaked’ or restored more closely to its original Latin meaning in English..  Thus, the Mass will sound a little different in its English translations, and you will need to review some new words you’ll soon be using in your prayers at Mass, and you’ll need to see some of the ones the priest will now be using, so to know their cues for your response.

The switch will occur on the Masses of the First Weekend of Advent, on Nov. 26-27, yet some of the acclamation prayers will be introduced and sung prior to that weekend, so you can begin to learn some of them (such as the Memorial Acclamation/Mystery of Faith and a musically matching Holy-Holy and Great Amen prayer).

Question:    Just how much are these familiar prayers changing? 

Enough is changing that you would benefit with reviewing it a bit.  For example, in one of the present” Mystery of Faith” prayers choices—that is presently prayed as “Lord, by Your Cross and Resurrection, You have set us free…” it is changing a bit to become “Save us, Savior of the world, for by Your Cross and Resurrection You have set us free.”   You can see that it is a slight change in order in words prayed, but not much in the words used.   Yet, you’ll need to know the updated prayers. 

Question:    Will we have prayer cards to help us at Mass?  Will the missalettes have these new words?     Yes, we will provide pew  cards at Mass for all to have as a guide.  The changes will also be in the new missalettes in the pews.  We imagine that we all will be needing to use them for awhile, until we get real familiar with the texts.  The priest also will be using a brand new Missal.  It is called The Roman Missal: 3^rd Edition.    No longer will the priest’s current Sacramentary Book will be used for Mass—it will be replaced.  

Question:    What resources has the parish already made available?  

We had a Saturday workshop earlier in the year at our parish from a leading liturgist in DC, and the Archdiocese Divine Worship Office also came out earlier this year and offered ( to anyone interested) a class on the New Translation. We promoted it;  it was held a parish nearby us for all Bowie area Catholics.

We had a bulletin insert series last Spring to mid-Summer to get us familiar with things.   Then, we have had another bulletin insert series that began in August that will go right up to Advent, that offers a very detailed study of the New Translation of the Missal.  We have posted at our parish web site and in various bulletin notices how to go to read and print the entire series. 

We also have a place on our parish web site to read all sorts of articles on the matter.

Our Sunday homilies each week do address a point on the upcoming changes, too.  

Question:    Why do we need a new translation of our English-language prayer book for Mass?  Whose idea was it and when?

A few decades ago, the Second Vatican Council (1962-65) called for a “more extended use of the mother tongue within the Mass.(SC #53)”  Thus, the universal Latin language (which had been followed to keep all Catholics using the same universal prayers) was given over to native languages of the people.  So—various groups worked quickly to develop an office English translation.  Meanwhile—the same process was happening for other languages.  These were introduced around 1970.  However, some of the translation work produced differences and short-cuts and a going-away from a literal, word for word translation of the Latin.   The ability of translators had been a bit limited for their task at hand, but they provided a solid work for people to now pray in their own familiar tongue.   But as the translators and liturgy experts skills grew through the end of the last century, it prompted Pope John Paul II and the Vatican to call for a more precise translation of the Latin Roman Missal, announced in 2001. Pope Benedict XVI has brought this work to its realization by promulgating The New Translation of the Roman Missal for the Church to now implement around the world and in all languages.   Commissions on the liturgy (such as one who is called ICEL-The International Commission on English in Liturgy) and the Vatican’s Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments have been busy, leading us up to this point.  The leaders of the Church were truly convinced this was all under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Who leads us to glorify Christ Jesus The Son, and to give due honor to the Father.  People were convinced the Spirit was leading this operation of prayer and work of renewal in it. 

Question:    What are some of the benefits of doing all of this?

There is much benefit: √ The Mass will have even more Biblical allusions and vital theological concepts in it (Ex. And with your spirit from 2 Tim 4:22, and the God of Hosts/Sabbath in the Holy-Holy/Sanctus prayer, and the Centurion’s Prayer back in the Prayer Before Receiving Eucharist.)   √ Plus, the actual words prayed in the upcoming Missal will give us a better sense of the richness of the Latin text and we’ll improve over the omissions or additions or paraphrases in the current missal.  A good example of this is in the Gloria prayer of the” New” Missal.   √ Plus, the renewal in the liturgy will preserve more fully the theological tradition captured through the centuries in the liturgy.          

Question:    There’s a rumor that the Latin Mass is being promoted or pushed now?  Is that where the average Catholic is now headed?

No--while it is true that the Catholic Church is letting more Latin-said Masses be prayed today, because some Catholics are asking for it—the high majority of the Masses in the world will remain in vernacular languages.   The very-reverent tone of the New Translation will be pleasing to persons, and anyone who was looking back to the reverence of older days of the Mass, will see that the modern renewed translation does wonderfully.  Yet if Catholics want to use the ancient language of the liturgy, they also may do so, too.  It’s all about praying well.   The New Translation does give options for Gregorian Style chant in the prayers, if so liked, but it also gives welcome to  any modern developments in liturgy, just provided they are permitted by the local bishop or superior, as in the Spirit of the Liturgy.   This New Missal puts a Latin tone into all of the various languages prayed in the Mass around the world, thus we could say that the Latin Mass is not what is being heralded here, but the united improvement of all non-Latin Masses to be one great Mass in diverse languages.   It should lead to more Catholics who are exalting the Lord God in what is due Him.

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