Is this "approved" wording?

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I often attend Mass at a certain Parish in a neighbouring Diocese(I live only a few miles away from this Diocese).

Often celebrating Mass there is a certain retired Priest, I’ll call him “Father Priestly”.😃

After the Consecration, at the “This is the Lamb of God” part, Father Priestly holds up the Consecrated Host and says:

“This is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world. We should be happy to be called to this meal”.

Is this wording allowed? Father Priestly does say the correct words of the actual Consecration.

Any insight?🙂
 
I know of only one approved English translation:

“Happy are those who are called to his supper.”
 
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msproule:
I know of only one approved English translation:

“Happy are those who are called to his supper.”
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The Pastor of this Parish(not the same Priest as the above-mentioned Father Priestly) often says:

“Blessed are those who are called to this altar”.

Is this wording prohibited?

Thank you!🙂
 
No priest has the right to take it upon himself to change the words of the Mass. He ought to be corrected–in love, of course. And if he won’t be corrected, you should document how often he does this and let the bishop know about it.
 
The priest should use the approved translation, which is
“This is the Lamb of God
who takes away the sins of the world.
Happy are those who are called to his supper.”

I have seen many priests change this wording. I think their incorrect belief that they may change the words could be from the 1975 General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM), n. 11:

“It is also up to the priest in the exercise of his office of presiding over the assembly to pronounce the instructions and words of introduction and conclusion that are provided in the rites themselves. By their very nature these introductions do not need to be expressed verbatim in the form in which they are given in the Missal; at least in certain cases it will be advisable to adapt them somewhat to the concrete situation of the community.”

This has a footnote 20: “See Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship (SCDW), Circular letter on the eucharistic prayers, 27 April 1973, no. 14.”

This letter expands on what is meant by an “introduction”.

“14. Among elements favoring a fuller adaptation that are within the power of individual celebrants may be mentioned the introductions, the homily, and the general intercessions.
First, the introductions. They are ways of leading the faithful to a more thorough grasp of the meaning of the sacred rites or certain of their parts and to an inner participation in them. Particularly important are the introductions that the General Instruction assigns to be prepared and spoken by the priest: the comments introducing the faithful to the day’s Mass before the celebration, to the liturgy of the word before the readings, and to the eucharistic prayer before the preface; the comments concluding the whole rite before the dismissal. Prominence should be given to those introductions that the Order of Mass provides for certain rites, for example, the introductions to the penitential rite and the Lord’s Prayer. By their very nature such introductions do not require that they be given verbatim in the form they have in the Missal; consequently it may well be helpful, at least in certain cases, to adapt them to the actual situation of the community. But the way any of these introductions is presented must respect the character proper to each and not turn into a sermon or homily. There must be a concern for brevity and the avoidance of a wordiness that would bore the participants.”

(From Documents on the Liturgy, Liturgical Press, 1982, ISBN 0-8146-1281-4, pages 627-628).

Basically the Vatican said to priests: “Feel free to make up the way you get people to begin the Our Father.” Priests felt if they could change that, they could also change the way they got people to say other prayers.

In the 2002 General Instruction of the Roman Missal this has been changed.

The 1975 GIRM n. 11 has been replaced with 2002 GIRM n. 31. Now there is no footnote to the letter above. It has:

“31. It is also up to the priest, in the exercise of his office of presiding over the gathered assembly, to offer certain explanations that are foreseen in the rite itself. Where it is indicated in the rubrics, the celebrant is permitted to adapt them somewhat in order that they respond to the understanding of those participating. However, he should always take care to keep to the sense of the text given in the Missal and to express them succinctly. The presiding priest is also to direct the word of God and to impart the final blessing. In addition, he may give the faithful a very brief introduction to the Mass of the day (after the initial Greeting and before the Act of Penitence), to the Liturgy of the Word (before the readings), and to the Eucharistic Prayer (before the Preface), though never during the Eucharistic Prayer itself; he may also make concluding comments to the entire sacred action before the dismissal.”

So the permission to change the “introduction and conclusion” has been removed. Only where the rubrics indicate does the priest have permission to change the texts. The rubrics in the 2002 Roman Missal’s Order of Mass do not give the option to change this wording.
 
Actually in this particular place if I remember correctly it states “Or similar words” which is one of the few occasions where slight variations can be made
 
Yes, the 1975 GIRM was insufficiently specific about when adlibbing could occur and the This is the Lamb of God part, in my experience, usually was modified. The new translation will be much more literal. I don’t have the Latin in front of me, but I think it’s “ecce Agnus Dei, ecce qui tollit peccata mundi. Beati qui ad cenam Agni vocati sunt.” The new translation is something like, “Behold the Lamb of God. Behold Him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are they who are called to the supper of the Lamb.” Hmm, much better. A lovely apocalyptic ring.
 
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mosher:
Actually in this particular place if I remember correctly it states “Or similar words” which is one of the few occasions where slight variations can be made
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No, you do not remember correctly. The rubrics in the Roman Missal’s Order of Mass do not have anything about “similar words” for the prayer “This is the Lamb of God”.

In the 1975 Roman Missal it has: “The priest genuflects. Taking the host, he raises it slightly over the paten and, facing the people, says aloud: This is the Lamb of God …”.
The Latin text for this is: “Sacerdos genuflectii, accipit hostiam, eamque aliquantulum elevatam super panem tenens, ad populum versus, clara voce dicit: Ecce Agnus Dei…”.
(From Daily Roman Missal, Scepter Publishers, 1996, ISBN 0-933932-58-8, pages 738-739).

The 2002 Roman Missal is slightly different, allowing the consecrated host to be held over the chalice or paten. But it has nothing about similar words:
“26. Sacerdos genuflectit, accipit hostiam, eamque aliquantulum elevatam super patenam vel super calicem tenens, versus ad ministrum, clara voce dicit: Ecce Agnus Dei …”
(From Missale Romanum, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2002, page 670.)
 
John Lilburne:
No, you do not remember correctly. The rubrics in the Roman Missal’s Order of Mass do not have anything about “similar words” for the prayer “This is the Lamb of God”.

In the 1975 Roman Missal it has: “The priest genuflects. Taking the host, he raises it slightly over the paten and, facing the people, says aloud: This is the Lamb of God …”.
The Latin text for this is: “Sacerdos genuflectii, accipit hostiam, eamque aliquantulum elevatam super panem tenens, ad populum versus, clara voce dicit: Ecce Agnus Dei…”.
(From Daily Roman Missal, Scepter Publishers, 1996, ISBN 0-933932-58-8, pages 738-739).

The 2002 Roman Missal is slightly different, allowing the consecrated host to be held over the chalice or paten. But it has nothing about similar words:
“26. Sacerdos genuflectit, accipit hostiam, eamque aliquantulum elevatam super patenam vel super calicem tenens, versus ad ministrum, clara voce dicit: Ecce Agnus Dei …”
(From Missale Romanum, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2002, page 670.)
Click to expand...
Thanks for the correction.
 
John Lilburne:
No, you do not remember correctly. The rubrics in the Roman Missal’s Order of Mass do not have anything about “similar words” for the prayer “This is the Lamb of God”.

In the 1975 Roman Missal it has: “The priest genuflects. Taking the host, he raises it slightly over the paten and, facing the people, says aloud: This is the Lamb of God …”.
The Latin text for this is: “Sacerdos genuflectii, accipit hostiam, eamque aliquantulum elevatam super panem tenens, ad populum versus, clara voce dicit: Ecce Agnus Dei…”.
(From Daily Roman Missal, Scepter Publishers, 1996, ISBN 0-933932-58-8, pages 738-739).

The 2002 Roman Missal is slightly different, allowing the consecrated host to be held over the chalice or paten. But it has nothing about similar words:
“26. Sacerdos genuflectit, accipit hostiam, eamque aliquantulum elevatam super patenam vel super calicem tenens, versus ad ministrum, clara voce dicit: Ecce Agnus Dei …”
(From Missale Romanum, Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 2002, page 670.)
Click to expand...
I don’t know if it is licit or not, but our priest frequently changes the words to just about the entire Mass… He also favors the eucharistic prayers for children at Sunday Mass. Virtually every change he makes either dumbs down the Mass or changes the wording to something that seems less reverential and transcendent though I’m sure that is not the intent. But what about the gesture associated with the Ecce Agnus Dei referred to here --this priest typically does not raise the chalice or the host – he points to the altar and says his “this is the Lamb of God…happy are we who are invited to this meal.” Has anyone else ever seen it done this way?
 
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