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Roman Missal 3.0
Happy Advent! Throughout the world many parishes have begun fully using the new Roman Missal with the start of the new church year yesterday. So how did it go for you?
At the parish I went to (I was away from my home church during the Thanksgiving holiday), the experience was a bit mixed. I was very excited to experience this new moment but it wasn’t quite what I expected. Turns out that the changing of the words was indeed an interesting experience with some members using the new translation (there were copies for everyone) and others just responding with the former translation. In addition some were not responding at all which is a problem no matter what translation is used! I faithfully followed the instructions in my booklet but I have to say I missed a few correct responses because the rhythm of the former translation just came so naturally! All in all, it wasn’t a big shocker. It was the community at prayer and worship.
As we proceed with the implementations of the new translation of the Roman Missal, I have to keep reminding myself that this is not the last word either for the liturgy or for the Church as a whole. While I am displeased with some of the wording (some new, some which was retained), I have to remember that no translation is equal to the Word, and no translation is finally determinative of who we are, what are theology should/should not be, how we are to be in the world. The final word resides alone in Jesus the Christ. This commitment to the Word of God, along with the treasure of the Catholic faith, impels us to be people of Gospel love, of social justice, of compassion, and of prayer. And just as the beatitudes are right along side the woes in Luke’s Gospel, we must be on guard against being judgmental towards one another, against complacency, and against collusion with unjust and anti-Gospel behavior and systems. It is this commitment that must ring true in every choice of words — liturgical or otherwise.
The words that did stand out to me at yesterday’s liturgy were not those of the new or old translation but those of faith. The liturgy at the parish I went to began not with a restlessness over the new translation but with the announcement that a baby would be baptized. The welcoming and the sacrament of baptism put in bold relief what the liturgy is really about. Yes, the words are important, but a commitment to Jesus Christ in and through the community of faith is at the very top. With a few humble gestures and poignant words, in the little bundle of life of a child, we remembered who we are and whose we are.
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{ 9 comments }
All in all things were pretty non-eventful at my parish. We had excellent worship aids to guide us and things went quite smoothly. There were places where I stumbled (either falling into the previous responses, or where the words just kind of stuck in my throat because of what they conveyed) but it wasn’t as bad as i thought it might be. Those in the pews have it infinitely easier than the priests.
i needed to read this today, julie. i am so bitter about the changes. thank you for this insightful post.
….And also with you. Oops! I mean, And with your spirit. I don’t have an opinion on the new wording. I am hoping that the changes make me think more when I pray instead of reciting everything from rote.
ditto on marla’s post.
I thought it was funny when I kept hearing, “and also with… your spirit!”
For me, the changes were not so much of a jolt as I expected. I grew up with the first incarnation of the Roman Missal and the Tridentine Mass, and this “new” translation strongly harks back to that. So, I might say, this is more Roman 1.1 than Roman 3.0.
I do have a problem with the word “consubstantial” and the use of “incarnate” as a participle. In the first instance, the translators seem to have forgotten their audience in favor of “being truer to the original Latin.” Jesus spoke to the people in their own language. He used stories that people could relate to. I think he’d be appalled that this translation substitutes formality and “majesty” of language for simpler words that more people can understand and relate to. And I think they didn’t do much to restore the poetry that we lost in the Roman 2.0 version. I do like the fact that they’ve gone back to the words of the Centurion “…that thou should come under my roof….” It’s a beautiful story that was in danger of getting lost.
In my parish, we did pretty well with the new congregational responses up until the very end of the Mass. I always had to laugh at the 1.0 version of the dismissal: “Ite, missa est,” which they used to say meant: “Go, you are sent forth.”
Well, on Sunday, the deacon said, “This Mass is ended,” and the people responded with a heartfelt, “Thanks be to God.” Pretty well summed it up!
Well, I recognize that IF you still have the old St. Joseph missal from the 1950′s the translation will match the “new” responses. Pre-Vatican words, although not incorrect cause me concern about the direction the church is taking to make the liturgy meaningful to all in attendance.
I was born post-Vatican 2, so i never knew (until recently) that mass used to be said in Latin until recently… Initially i found the changes weird. My parish is run by the Jesuits, and my parish priest started phasing in the changes from 6 weeks ago, so by the first Sunday of Advent, we were all well-trained! :p Over here in Malaysia, the Archdioscese distributed a dvd on the changes and reasons for the changes. I never knew that many countries and peoples were translating from the English Missal into their own local languages. Hence, if the English translation is slightly off from the Latin, then the translation of the translation would be even further off from the original Latin.
I agree that “consubstantiation” doesn’t quite roll off the tongue as well as “of one in being”. But i suppose it conveys the message slightly better (at least to my brain anyway). “Same substance” and “same being” is not quite the same.
My ONLY grouse is when the Saturday evening mass (the others don’t do this) choir sings the “Our Father” with the tune for the “Pater Noster” and “Holy Holy” with the tune for “Sanctus Sanctus”… Sounds so weird to my ear..
I grew up Catholic, but I’ve been going to a Congregationalist church for the last several years. And believe you me, there’s a ton more variety in how worship services are structured. My very own congregation has two different services that have very different “feels”.
And still, there can be a very strong sense that “this is the way church ought to be” — the term ‘worship wars’ gets thrown around a lot. Geez. Something got really screwed up here. On all sides.
One of my pastors, whom I respect very highly, says that what’s really going on here is a tension between worship that emphasizes transcendence and worship that emphasizes intimacy. And the important thing to remember is that they’re BOTH true and BOTH important. It can be entirely legitimate to put more emphasis on one or the other as long as you remember that they’re BOTH true and BOTH important.
It seems as if Missal 3.0 takes some steps (not huge steps, from what I’ve seen) towards emphasizing transcendence. The use of “heightened” or even kind of “awkward” language seems to me to be fundamentally about emphasizing transcendence. That’s not a bad thing — I can understand criticisms that we’ve de-emphasized ‘mystery’ in ways that are not good. Vernacular doesn’t need to mean “commonplace.”
To put another spin on it, using examples that might be more recognizable here, I try very hard not to use masculine pronouns for God. Which can lead to clunky language sometimes, and even downright odd language. E.g. saying things like “Godself” instead of “Himself” — that is downright weird.
But I think that’s okay — and actually it’s a good thing because the very odd-ness can emphasize transcendence. Is it a bad thing for our language to sound differently when we’re talking about or to the Wholly Other? I don’t think so.
And really, this is still the Post Vatican II Mass. I haven’t ever seen an old Latin Mass but I’ve been to very traditional Catholic-leaning Episcopal services (think John Henry Newman just before he was received as a Roman Catholic) with the priest’s back to the people. That would be a huge deal. But this isn’t that.