Holy See approves new English translation of the Order of Mass - Plus, a bishop's pastoral concern

[japhy]

Two bits of exciting news! First, the CDWDS in Rome has given the USCCB approval for the new English translation of the Order of Mass.

Second, Bishop Arthur Serratelli (Paterson, NJ), the chairman of the Bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship, spoke these important words on June 12th during the Bishops’ meeting:
There’s a concern or an interest that has surfaced for the Committee on Divine Worship that I feel many of us as bishops share. And that’s, when this new text is proposed for use, that prior to it there be a proper catechesis not just for the laity, but for our priests. Certainly the style of prayer is a little different than what we’ve been used to. Familiarity with the text that we have is one thing; we need to become more familiar now with the new text. So many of us feel that there should be some kind of process, maybe even involving a number of the committees of the conference, so that we can adequately prepare materials that can be used in various dioceses, so that the priest as well as the laity will have a deeper understanding of the texts and the way to properly use them in liturgy. A suggestion was made in the committee that as a conference that we pull some of our resources together so that we can produce these catechetical resources that would aid all of us.
Long live Sacrosanctum Concilium (esp. articles 14 and 19)!

 

[po18guy]

This smacks of proper catechesis! Thus, it will be controversial! I look forward to it as the English liturgy never squared with other languages. Even the English translation of the Lord’s Prayer is somewhat off and other languages, mostly Latin based, do a much better job of translating it.

It is well past time for a better general catechesis.

Christ’s peace.

 

[tee_eff_em]

Two bits of exciting news! First, the CDWDS in Rome has given the USCCB approval for the new English translation of the Order of Mass.

From that press release:

The more significant changes of the people’s parts are:
…
2. In the Confiteor, the text “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault” has been added

I think they mean: “… has been translated” (the text has always been there in the Latin).

But good news, in any case!

tee

 

[rpp]

This is good news.

Liturgy should not be dumbed down!

 

[lak611]

This is wonderful news! I just hope it doesn’t take too long for the changes to be implemented.

 

[Dauphin]

I think this means that we won’t be hearing quite as much Haugen and Haas. Their Mass settings won’t work with the new translations.

For example, this (Warning: Haugen. You may experience mild vomiting.)…

youtube.com/watch?v=dvj64BztuQA

…can’t be used with the wording “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord, God of Hosts”.

 

[Brenda_V]

This is good news.

Liturgy should not be dumbed down!

This makes me happy.

I also don’t see a problem with it, at least here, my Priests will do what they need to learn about it and truly understand it and then bring it to the laity.

Brenda V.

 

[Sarabande]

This is exciting news. I think a lot of mass settings will probably need to be reset. This apparently won’t be the first time either. One of my older friends told me about how prior to the translation we are currently using, there was another one. Many composers of the time apparently composed some pretty nice mass settings to that translation - some even more beautiful and appropos than what we have now. The music “library” of the parish he works in actually still has these compositions. Unfortunately, when the current translations came, many of the compositions could not be reset properly or for some reason the composer(s) didn’t bother.

Anyway, I would be interested to see what new compositions come out of this.

 

[ibkc]

I think this means that we won’t be hearing quite as much Haugen and Haas. Their Mass settings won’t work with the new translations.

:dancing: :extrahappy: :clapping:

 

[benedictgal]

Thank God! Not only will Haugen and Haas be wailing and gnashing their teeth, so will most of OCP’s stable. Bob Hurd is not going to be a happy camper. Of course, he has also been fooling around with the Spanish versions of the Mass.

This also means the death knell for the Haugen, Walker and Hurd versions of the Gloria.

The only caveat is that we still have to contend with “Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again.” The Memorial Acclamation is directed to the Second Person of the Trinity in second-person terms (you). “Christ has died…” is written in the third-person (he).

Oh what a happy day! Bless you, Cardinal Arinze. And, a shout out goes to Cardinal Pell for trying ot make sense of the whole thing and holding the line.

 

[japhy]

I think they mean: “… has been translated” (the text has always been there in the Latin).

Yeah… there was very little change in the Latin text from the second edition to the third; I think nothing was changed, as far as Mass with a congregation is concerned.

The first article on this page is also, well, a bit frightening! Long story short: in 1966 already, an article in America magazine was pushing for modern simplistic English. Here’s an actual example: the Pater Noster as it “should” be:Heavenly Father, may your name be said reverently. May your reign over men come soon. May your wishes be carried out on earth, just as they are in heaven. Give us today the food we shall need tomorrow. Cancel our debts to you: we cancel those others owe to us. Keep away from us the worst trials and save us from the power of evil. Answer our prayer.
That’s right, “amen” is too archaic! The article is about how our society must shape our liturgy. That is, in the vernacular, bass-ackwards.

 

[japhy]

I think this means that we won’t be hearing quite as much Haugen and Haas. Their Mass settings won’t work with the new translations.

I would very much like to hear some neo-traditional (in other words, contemporary compositions that adhere to the musical heritage of the Church) settings for the Ordinary!

 

[benedictgal]

I would very much like to hear some neo-traditional (in other words, contemporary compositions that adhere to the musical heritage of the Church) settings for the Ordinary!

The Aussies tried to make a decent stab at it with their version of the new translation of the Gloria. If we could just shorten the musical interlude and get straight to the song, it would work.

Someone was selling a bootleg copy of the new ICEL translation on ebay. The vendor’s name is sacerdote. I bid on it and lost by $100.

 

[btdn]

:dancing:

Now I expect Rome to act this fast all the time.

 

[Joannm]

The folks at OCP and other publishers have already been working on the translations for about 2 years already, based on what they knew was coming down the pike from the green and gray books. The new settings are already to go to print in many cases or they just need to be tweaked. Don’t you think those composers that have been criticized knew this was coming and reworked their settings?

As far as catechesis, I am on our diocesan liturgy commission and yesterday I received an e-mail stating that developing catechetical materials is on our agenda for September. The missal might not be ready to be implemented for another 2 years but the catechesis will need to be started well in advance.

 

[mozier]

May this be the end of the “God, you are big. Make us big like you. Amen.” prayers (thank you, Fr. Z, for that one!).

I know that there will be naysayers who will come after my post and try to take the wind out of the sails, but don’t be discouraged. An excellent English translation, plus the revival of the Traditional Latin Mass (1962) should be cause to rejoice, not naysay.

 

[Jordan_Francis]

**Benedictgal
**
The only caveat is that we still have to contend with “Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again.” The Memorial Acclamation is directed to the Second Person of the Trinity in second-person terms (you). “Christ has died…” is written in the third-person (he)

Not according to this article:

Following the Consecration, the present first Acclamation, “Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again,” becomes in the new translation, “We proclaim your death, O Lord, and profess your resurrection until you come”-which is what the Latin actually says

catholicinsight.com/online/church/liturgy/new_mass.shtml

 

[japhy]

Don’t you think those composers that have been criticized knew this was coming and reworked their settings?

Reworked their settings, or crammed the new translation into their settings?

The missal might not be ready to be implemented for another 2 years but the catechesis will need to be started well in advance.

ABSOLUTELY. The idea of waiting for the catechesis to start until after the new translation is upon us and in use is a disaster waiting to happen.

 

[japhy]

May this be the end of the “God, you are big. Make us big like you. Amen.” prayers (thank you, Fr. Z, for that one!).

That’s the prayer that came to mind when I read the “modern” Our Father.

 

[tee_eff_em]

Not according to this article:
catholicinsight.com/online/church/liturgy/new_mass.shtml

IIRC, the US Bishops asked to retain Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again. It is unclear to me whether this is what the CDWDS approved (nor whether it will have any effect north of the border).

(NB The article cited is at least 2 years old and was originally published in Australia)

tee