New Roman Missal Will Take Effect in November
Amanda Matyas, Tower Staff
September 30, 2011
Filed under News
A new Roman Missal will be implemented in Roman Catholic liturgy around the world on November 27, the first day of advent. This Missal contains a new and more accurate English translation of particular parts of the Mass that will also include additional prefaces to the Eucharistic prayers and prayers for the observance of recently canonized saints.
Pope John Paul II announced in 2000 that a new typical edition of the missal would be published. A document called Liturgiam Authenticam, which was published in 2001 by the Vatican, contains the translation principles that were to be used. A Latin version was published in 2002 of the Missal that Pope John Paul II announced in 2000, said David Pennington, Associate Campus Minister for Liturgy and Worship.
“It was re-issued in 2008 with some changes, again in Latin but over the course of the time from 2000 until now, the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), suggested how to translate it into English,” said Pennington.
The Holy See believed that the fruits of Liturgiam Authenticam were not being realized by worshipers because of the translation problems. In some of the translations, words in prayers may have been poorly used and were not conveying the proper meaning of the Mass.
“It recognizes the universality of our faith and so the different language groups now are in more harmony as these changes come into effect,” said Rev. Jude DeAngelo, Chaplain and Director of Campus Ministry. These new changes are having a positive effect on the Catholic community as worshipers are gradually embracing it.
The prayers said during Mass will be translated differently. “For the people, our response to “‘the Lord be with you”’ is going to be “‘and with your spirit”’…. Other things that are going to be changing a lot are the Gloria and the Creed,” said Pennington.
For example, in the new translation of the Nicene Creed, Catholics will say, “I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. …God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father.” The Nicene Creed has been changed to the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed.
The sung parts of the Mass texts will also be changed, such as the Gloria and Holy Holy. “The mass of Light Gloria that everyone loves, we can’t use any more because the texts aren’t the same,” said Pennington.
When asked if he thought the Catholic Church would lose members because of the changes, Pennington replied, “This is going to be a tough change for a lot of people who are older. Older folks remember the changes that happened right after the Second Vatican Council and their question is going to be “‘why is this changing again?’”
“I think for people of our age, it’s going to be an easier change because the more we learn about these texts and why these changes were made, it makes this a lot more interesting. It really lets us in on our patrimony and our history about where our prayers came from, about old language that we are unfamiliar with… it opens up a whole realm of our churches history,” stated Pennington.
“It’s going to take some time for people to adjust to the wording. A lot of the words come from the Psalms and the Psalms have a different way for expressing reality because it is poetry,” said DeAngelo.
A one hour long information session was held earlier this week concerning the new changes in the Missal. A more in depth session will be held October 10and October 12, location is to be determined, in which the new texts will be reviewed for those in attendance.
David Pennington will also be addressing the student body during Sunday Masses for a couple of minutes each week, to give people sound bites to prepare for these changes. The worship aides given each week at Mass will also contain pieces of information for students to review.
Once the new Missal comes into use in November, pew cards will be placed in all of the Chapels and in the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, and will contain the responses that will now be used during Mass.
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Please note the correct spelling of “Missal”, not “missile” (see paragraphs 12 and 14). Also, Mass is always capitalized, unless you are weighing something in the chemistry lab.
Spelling counts!
Dr. Robert Farrell
Class of 1989
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Hmmm. I thought the R.C.Church never changes. Just kidding. I remember the Vatican II changes and how the old people hated ‘em. I do find it amusing that the church keeps fine tuning the wording of things.
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Consubstantial-
Yei, yei, yei!
That would have wowed them at the Sermon on the Mount!
Wonder why Jesus didn’t preach/pray like that. Let’s check out the Our Father.
Hmmm… nothing there.
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James Locke Reply:
October 5th, 2011 at 2:56 pm
@Paul, Yeah right, try actually living what Jesus preached on the Mount. Nobody does. Believing in con-substantiality (a pretty easy word for anyone with a high school degree) is hardly difficult.
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People need to understand—-especially Americans, that the Church makes these changes to restore tradition and the richness culture that the Roman Catholic Church has strived to preserve in the last 2,000 years.
The prayers in the old missal go back into the centuries at the time of the Apostolic Age, while many other prayers go back to the early Church fathers and saints who shaped our Church today.
The Pope, H.H. Benedict XVI is a faithful servant to tradition and wishes to impart this new restoration to the modern generation as wished by Blessed Pope John Paul II—-who began this whole translation initiative back in 2,000. Pope Benedict is only implementing this goal.
The Roman Catholic Church has lost a great deal of its tradition, its culture, its identity and its morality—–and needs spiritual and physical renewal. She needs penitence and a restoration to her old glory. This degeneration is reflected in the “watered-down” Catholicism we have today, its loss of penitential attitude and protestant practices which reject many important doctrines that the Roman Catholic Church has worked hard to stabilize in 2,000 years. The Orthodox church makes this same plea to the Pope, who is facing the same challenges against modern heretics who wish to destroy the Church and her traditions immemorial.
Some and many may feel that this is not congruent with the modern age of 2011, but remember that the Church does not concern itself with the world and the culture—-only the preservation of her doctrines and God in the many years to come, until Jesus Christ returns again from Heaven.
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Mrs Cecile Walker Reply:
October 9th, 2011 at 8:16 am
@Graham Reade Jr., Hello Mr Reade – I read your comments with interest, and accept that no doubt most American people with agree with you. For myself however, being 100% English – it is regrettable that the original Latin of the Mass has clearly been translated into Standard AMERICAN English – which is a bastardisation of PURE English in both spelling AND pronunciation – and therefore does not necessarily reflect the truly ENGLISH translation from the Latin . Mrs Walker
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Mrs Cecile Walker Reply:
October 9th, 2011 at 8:21 am
@Mrs Cecile Walker,
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Mrs Cecile Walker Reply:
October 9th, 2011 at 8:26 am
@Graham Reade Jr., Hello Mr Reade – Not sure if you got my earlier reply – a few problems with my computer – so will reiterate my comments. Your comments on the new translation of the Mass are interesting, and I am sure American people will agree with you. However, being 100% English myself, it is regrettable that the translation is clearly in American Standard English – itself a bastardisation of PURE English (see Prof Noamh Chomsky) and therefore cannot properly reflect the truly pure English language. Mrs Walker
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My wife and I are looking forward to the new missal. We want to share this Catholic faith with our children and bring them up as good people who know God in their hearts with strong religious foundation. Thank you Holy Father, the holy spirit chose well when he appointed you as vicar of Christ on earth.
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Having asked my Parish Priest who actually initiated the changes in the translation of the Mass – and found that he did not know/could not answer that – can you answer please? Also, if this instruction has come from one Pope or another – does this mean it is Dogma and that if anyone does not co-operate, they will be excommunicated? Thank you, Mrs Walker
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James Locke Reply:
October 9th, 2011 at 12:21 am
@Mrs Cecile Walker, This translation was done by the USCCB, in cooperation with your local ordinary. The Pope approved of the translation of the Eucharistic Prayer personally. The rest was approved by an office in the Vatican dedicated to these things (translations).
While it is not dogma, you will not be able to use the other translations since they will be obsolete and invalid. Will you be excommunicated? No. But your priest will be committing a sin of disobedience to his Bishop. He swore a vow to obey his ordinary and this New Missal is going to be the standard from now on in English.
If he does not like it, the Latin has been the same for a very long time.
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I have received a reply to my original question – thank you for that- but could not reply directly as it was a Noreply address! I also note that the answer came from someone who did not have the courage or courtesy to put a name to it! This says a lot for those responsible for introducing (without prior consultation with the Catholic population of this country) this new translation. I am pleased to know I shall not be excommunicated by not accepting this change – but since I am assured (and believe) that the Mass itself has not changed, I shall continue to respond in church in exactly the same way as I have been doing for the past 40 years, – and who, may I ask, is going to stop me? This is a completely non-enforceable regulation and therefore not worth the paper it is written on.Mrs Cecile Walker
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