matt's blog

Monday, March 27, 2006

New English translation of the Mass?

I just realized that the Regnum Christi Evening of Reflection, which I had hoped to go to, starts in about four minutes. :( I suppose I'll go next month - and the extra time with my wife is always nice, and it gives me a few minutes to blog.

There's been speculation about this for a while now about the proposed revision of the English translation of the Mass, and since this came up in conversation not too long ago. I've found one article on this that appears to be reputable, and it's cited in several places: http://catholicinsight.com/online/church/liturgy/new_mass.shtml

Please keep in mind that any of this information is subject to change - as I understand it, there is still a long way to go on approving any number of changes, so it's not clear which ones will actually occur.

Here are a few examples:
  • "And also with you" becomes "and with your spirit," which is perhaps a bit more awkward, but much more faithful to the Latin text.
  • In the Confiteor, ("I confess to Almighty God..."), "through my own fault" becomes "through my fault, through my fault, through my most grevious fault." (The Latin reads "mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa").
  • In the Nicene Creed, "We believe" becomes "I believe" (from the Latin credo).
  • "This is the Lamb of God" becomes the much stronger "Behold, the Lamb of God" (Ecce, Agnus Dei)
  • And probably one of the most striking changes - "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed" becomes "Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed." This recalls the text of Luke 7.
The article closes with the following phrase: lex orandi, lex credendi (roughly, "The rule of prayer is the rule of believe.") There is an intimate connection between liturgy and doctrine. If our liturgy doesn't express the depth of our belief, then it seems obvious that we would gradually forget the depth of our belief.

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