At their meeting last week, the U.S. bishops approved the new draft translation of the Order of the Mass (that’s the prayers you hear every week, not the ones that change based on what liturgical day it is).
The translation now goes to Rome to receive Rome’s approval.
Apparently there were a few changes that the bishops asked to make, but these are characterized as minor (e.g., optional alternative prayers that we already have in the U.S. that are being proposed for inclusion in the new Order of Mass, e.g., using certain memorial acclamations at the Mystery of Faith that are in the U.S. Sacramentary but aren’t in the Latin original).
GET THE STORY.
MORE HERE.
AND HERE.
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Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."
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Does anyone know where we can find the actual text of the changes?
The article mentions some of them:
— Whenever the priest says “The Lord be with you,” the people will respond “And with your spirit.” The current response is “And also with you.”
— In the first form of the penitential rite, the people will confess that “I have sinned greatly … through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.” In the current version, that part of the prayer is much shorter: “I have sinned through my own fault.”
— The Nicene Creed will begin “I believe” instead of “We believe” — a translation of the Latin text instead of the original Greek text.
During the offertory prayers, the priest will pray that “the sacrifice which is mine and yours will be acceptable” instead of the current prayer that “our sacrifice will be acceptable.”
Before the preface, when the priest says “Let us give thanks to the Lord our God,” instead of saying “It is right to give him thanks and praise,” the people will respond “It is right and just.”
— The Sanctus will start “Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord God of hosts.” The current version says “Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might.”
I must respond with cautious optimism.
I had read from a source of uncertain reliability that the Apostles’ Creed would be allowed during Mass as an option, which is being done illicitly now in some parishes during regular adult masses. I wonder if that was one of the “deals” made.
This info could be completely wrong though.
What compelling pastoral need did the bishops cite in keeping the made-up acclamation?
It was bad enough to learn that ICEL had just thrown a new one for the heck of it; I’m now hearing acclamations that only vaguely resemble anything in the translations (has anyone else heard the “we celebrate, we remember, we believe” schmaltz?).
PVO
I found the “white book” of the USCCB (i.e., the new translations from ICEL, as amended by the vote of the USCCB) in PDF format at this website:
http://www.vivificat.org/
For some reason, I can’t manage to get a link to the specific post, but scroll down to Friday, June 16, 2006. It is the first entry under that dateline.
And it does indeed seem to grant a wider option of using the Apostles’ Creed. Whether this is one of the adaptations of the American bishops, or is coming from ICEL, I cannot tell.
As I said, though, this is the text as amended by the USCCB – Rome still has ultimate oversight (and line-item-veto power) over the amendments.
I don’t really care for “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.” I might translate it “my fault, my fault, waaaay my fault” Still I’d prefer the Latin original “mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.” It’s been suggested that this translation may be a step toward a wider reintroduction of Latin (although maybe just from Conspiracy theorists, who aren’t few in number)
As for the Apostles’ Creed, it’s in every missalette, and much the same words are used in baptismal vow renewals, at which masses there would not be a creed spoken as normal. Is it not truly a valid option now? Moreover…is the English translation of that in accord with the Latin?
Dear P.,
Here is the PDF doc you reference. Note that it is in the space of some individual with a comcast.net account.
Petellius: are you sure this is the version that was actually voted on? I’ve seen this link elsewhere, and if memory serves me right it has been floating around for a long time.
I don’t know how old Christopher is, but before the 1970 translation came in we used the form “Through my fault, through my fault, through my own most grievous fault”, so it doesn’t ring strange to me.
I wonder what the rubric will be for the penitential rite? Three strikes of the breast, or just one? Not that I see many people striking their breast at all, rubrics or not — but a return to the older “mea culpa” translation may jog some memories.
David C. –
Well, I can’t be 100% certain; I’m basing my statement on two data:
1) Both of the websites where I have seen it (I am afraid I can’t recall the second site where I saw it) have posted it since the bishops’ recent vote, and indicate that it is the amended version of the USCCB.
2) Every one of the USCCB amendments which I have seen reported elsewhere in the press/on the internet (approximately a half dozen out of the 62 approved by the American bishops) is present in the text of the PDF – including the most controversial ones. Some examples:
– In the Creed, the PDF text reads “one in being” rather than the “consubstantial” which was in the original ICEL version.
– In Eucharistic Prayer II, the much-debated “dew” of ICEL (and of the Latin) has been replaced by “outpouring”, as approved by the USCCB.
– “Unigenitum… tuum” of E.P. IV is translated as the amended “Your only-begotten Son” rather than the original “Your only-begotten” of the ICEL draft; and so forth.
It is on this basis that I assume that it is the “white book”. Not having seen the actual booklet myself, I cannot assure anyone with complete certainty that this is the genuine article. But it seems pretty likely.
On the other hand, I notice that the 7 adaptations approved by the USCCB (not to be confused with the 62 amendments) are not included in the PDF…. Things like the inclusion of the Asperges among the various penetential rites at the beginning of the Missal, and the addition of “Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again” among the options for the Mysterium Fidei. So I’m not entirely sure what to make of it. The translation itself certainly matches up, as said above, with what seems to have come out of the USCCB. Perhaps the 7 adaptations are handled in a separate section, or a separate document?
I think the link also has the Sanctus as “Holy Holy Holy Lord, God of mighty Hosts”, which was one of the earlier ICEL draft translations. This doesn’t match the newer “Holy Holy Holy is the Lord, God of Hosts”.
Great, now the U.S. has a Novus, Novus Ordo. We shoulda just stuck w/the Latin.
Unfortunately, that is a draft from April 2004, not the current version voted for by the USCCB. You can tell by clicking on the yellow post-it which should be vissible when you open the pdf.
Also, this is the exact version that I downloaded from the same cite a few months ago.
Oh well, I guess we have to wait and see.
Seems I was mistaken in my understanding, then. My apologies for the confusion.
+J.M.J+
Not a “Novus, Novus Ordo”, just a better translation of the same Order of the Mass.
In Jesu et Maria,
Those acclamations should not be included if they are not in the original 1970 Latin Missal