The New Roman Missal

Louie VerrecchioPreparing the Way for the Roman Missal 3rd Edition, Part 2: Constructing a Solid Foundation
October 29th, 2010 by Louie Verrecchio

I’m sure that you’re anxious to explore the new prayers and responses contained in the forthcoming English translation of the Roman Missal, but before we delve into the text itself, it’s important for us to take the time to construct a solid foundation upon which our understanding may rest, and it is easily constructed of just three simple building blocks:

- First, it’s going to be very helpful for us to review just a little bit of background on the Roman Missal; to see how we moved from the 1st Edition to the 3rd Edition that we now await in English, what kinds of changes (beyond just matters of translation) can be found between them, what motivated the changes in the first place, etc…

- Secondly, catechesis has been so severely lacking over the last 40+ years that we desperately need to take some time to consider exactly what Holy Mass truly is. The poorly translated liturgical texts that are soon to be replaced, as well as the often misguided approach that has been taken to promote “active participation” in many places (topics we will address in some detail later), have also contributed to an environment in which many Catholics simply lack an awareness of what liturgy truly is, and it’s important that we rectify the situation in preparation for the newly translated Missal.

- Lastly, St. Pio of Pietrelcina put things in perspective as well as anyone when he said, “The world could better survive without the sun than to do without Holy Mass!” This being the case, we really need to give some sober and humble consideration to what “active participation” in Holy Mass as Holy Mother Church understands it truly means, so we might be properly disposed to receive all that the Lord wishes to give us therein.

After we’ve constructed this solid foundation using these three building blocks, we will then be well prepared to examine the new text found in the Missal itself. Specifically, we’re going to be taking a close look at all of the forthcoming changes to the people’s parts of Holy Mass. Yes, there are changes coming to the priest’s parts as well, but in order to prioritize, we will focus our efforts here on those parts of the Missal that are specific to the laity.

Let’s begin with a brief look at some background:

The first edition of the Roman Missal for the Ordinary Form of Holy Mass, or the Novus Ordo Missae (Latin for “new order of Mass”) as it is sometimes called, was promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1969.

Some minor revisions were made in 1975 (the 2nd edition) and the typical edition (or the official Latin text upon which all other translations are based) for the 3rd edition – the one that we now await in English – was approved by Pope John Paul II in the year 2000. That’s right, a full decade ago!

Wow! There must have been a whole lot of changes between the 2nd and 3rd editions, right?”

Well no, not really. The actual changes between the most recent editions of the Missal – in their official Latin form – are rather small in number. Among them we will find more opportunities for Communion under both species, and prayers that acknowledge the some three hundred Saints that were canonized between 1975 and the year 2000.

OK, so why on earth is it taking so long?

Well, the previous English translations were carried out using a method called “Dynamic Equivalence,” an approach that sought to translate the Latin text into the so-called “language of the people.” Even though the intentions may have been good, it soon became clear that this approach stripped away critical theological significance from certain texts.

You see, similar to Sacred Scripture, the prayers and responses that we offer at Holy Mass often have multiple layers of meaning. In their purest form, they serve to elevate the hearts and minds of the faithful toward God fostering union with the Divine. They should, in other words, move us beyond ourselves and the present world in a way that draws us ever more deeply into the realm of sacred mystery.

By bringing the language of the Mass “down to earth,” so to speak, as in the previous translations, the text was often “made flat” as Cardinal Francis George, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops described it. This caused the richly layered content of the Missal to be obscured at times, while in some cases the translations were just plain incorrect.

As a result, we as a People – clergy as well as laity – began to lose our grip on something very, very valuable: our sense of the sacred.

Recognizing the need to recover what had been lost, Holy Mother Church called for a more literal and faithful translation of the Latin text to be carried out in the Missal’s third edition. This made it necessary for English speaking bishops and liturgical experts to re-examine the entirety of the Roman Missal, not just those parts that had changed between the official versions of the 2nd and 3rd Editions, so improvements and corrections could be made where needed.

To say the least, this was a substantial undertaking!

At great cost we had learned a valuable lesson over the last forty years; the Latin prayers and responses in the Roman Missal – drawn as they are from a rich liturgical tradition that includes texts that are often hundreds and some even more than a thousand years old – must be treated with the utmost care when attempts are made to translate them into the vernacular. To say the least; much is at stake.

With this in mind, guidelines for the new translation were clearly established by the Congregation for Divine Worship in a 2002 document (Liturgiam Authenticam) the full name of which includes the title, “The Fifth Instruction for the Right Implementation of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy.”

This refers, of course, to the first document that emerged from the Second Vatican Council, Sacrosanctum Concilium, in which the Council Fathers outlined their vision for liturgical reform, and it tells us something very important; the forthcoming new English translation of the Roman Missal is directly related to Vatican II!

This means that in order to prepare for the new Missal, both pastors and their people need to discover and embrace what the Council Fathers actually taught; because apart from this, the new translation will lack vital context and we will be hard pressed to receive all that it has to offer.

Even those Catholics who are largely unfamiliar with the Council’s treatment of the sacred liturgy as expressed in Sacrosanctum Concilium are well aware of at least one crucial fact; namely, there is a great deal of confusion over the Council’s true intentions.

While this is not the place to cover in great detail the many misconceptions surrounding the matter, consider just the following handful of changes to Holy Mass since Vatican II:

- Turning the priest around to face the congregation

- Constructing free-standing altars to accommodate the practice

- Removing altar rails and giving Communion in-the-hand

- Eliminating the Latin language

- Introducing popular music and the “Folk Mass”

Many more examples exist, but what do all of these things have in common? None of them, not one, was even remotely suggested much less encouraged by the Council, and yet most Catholics simply assume that Vatican II is the author of each!

And so the point is this; if we’re really serious about living in the light of truth and recovering our sense of the sacred, it’s time to put an end to the confusion. We simply must explore Holy Mass anew to rediscover (for some, for the very first time) the true essence of the sacred liturgy. We must be humble enough to look at Holy Mass through the eyes of Holy Mother Church as expressed in the words of the Council Fathers, so we might come to understand their vision for the liturgy’s renewal, preparing ourselves well for the great treasure that is offered in the new English translation of the Roman Missal.

This is where we will pick up the discussion in Part Three of our series.


Louie VerrecchioPreparing the Way for the Roman Missal 3rd Edition, Part 3: Sacred Liturgy, Sacred Signs

Fully conscious and active participation. This is a phrase that has been invoked so often over the last four decades that it can almost be considered a mantra, and not without good reason. After all, it is according to the council the “aim to be considered before all else” in the matter of liturgical reform (cf SC 14).

This begs two very important questions, however: One, in what are we called to participate, and secondly, how are we called to do it?

Let’s begin with the former. We are called to participate in the sacred liturgy, of course, but this leads to yet another question. What exactly is liturgy? The answer to this question is of the utmost importance! Common sense alone should tell us that unless we have a good sense for what liturgy is and what takes place within it, we cannot possibly participate in it in a truly fruitful way.

In the Latin rite, the word “liturgy” typically refers to the official public service of the Church; e.g. Holy Mass, of course, but also the Liturgy of the Hours; Eucharistic Exposition, Adoration and Benediction; Stations of the Cross, etc. In other words, all of those rites that are not considered private devotions.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church offers additional insight:

“The word ‘liturgy’ originally meant a ‘public work’ or a ‘service in the name of/on behalf of the people.’ In Christian tradition it means the participation of the People of God in ‘the work of God.’” (cf CCC 1069)

Did you catch the distinction? “Liturgy” originally (i.e. prior to Christ and the Church) was considered a public work of the people. For Christians, however, we understand that it means the people’s participation in the work of God.

The difference is tremendous! Is the liturgy our work? No, it is God’s work, and we have the great privilege and indeed the duty to take part in it. The Catechism continues:

“Through the liturgy, Christ, our Redeemer and High Priest, continues the work of our redemption in, with, and through his Church.” (CCC 1069 cont.)

Again, don’t miss the essential point. Who is working in the liturgy? It is Christ our Redeemer who is working. And what is he doing? He is continuing the work of our redemption.

The council tells us that the liturgy reflects the very nature of the Church because in the liturgy just as in the Church, “the human is directed and subordinated to the divine, the visible likewise to the invisible, action to contemplation…” (cf SC 2)

Question for you: Do human beings like to be subordinated to anything? Please allow me to answer for you, heck no! It takes sincere humility and a deliberate act of the will to subordinate oneself (yes, even to the divine) and to truly embrace and accept in faith that the liturgy is not of our own making; rather it is a gift from the Lord to his people.

How often we insist on doing things our way, but in the sacred liturgy this cannot be – not if we want to participate in it in an authentic and fruitful way. This requires us to approach Holy Mass cognizant that Christ’s saving work is primary, his grace is operative, our role is simply co-operative with his. We must realize that in the liturgy we are neither masters nor choreographers; rather, we are caretakers of a precious and magnificent gift.

I dare say that adopting such a mindset will require a major “attitude adjustment” for many of us, clergy included.

Now don’t misunderstand me, we do indeed have a crucial role to play in the sacred liturgy (after all, it is for us) but our attention must ever be drawn to, and remain focused upon the fact that when we participate in Holy Mass we are entering into nothing less than the saving work of Christ mystically made present as he accomplishes the work of our redemption – something the community, no matter how devout and creative or well-intentioned, can not possibly do for itself.

So how does the liturgy, properly celebrated, provide for our attention to be so directed? “By signs perceptible to the senses” (SC 7).

The human person encounters many signs at Holy Mass – words, music, incense, postures, vestments, etc., and each of these point to the deeper underlying truth that we are participants in a divine action – an action so profound that we call it sacred mystery.

The Council Fathers tell us that the sacred signs at Holy Mass have been chosen by Christ or by the Church that teaches in his name (cf SC 33).

Note this well: the sacred signs at Holy Mass do not come from the liturgy committee, nor do they come from the music director, the pastor or even the bishop as an individual, and they most certainly are not the product of man’s creativity. They come from Christ and the Magisterium, and they play a crucial role in fostering within the faithful an abiding sense of the sacred.

It is one thing to know that Holy Mass is a divine action that is properly called sacred mystery; it is quite another to experience it as such, and sacred signs that delight the senses make the transition from concept to reality possible within us. And just in case you’re wondering, this most certainly includes our prayers and responses! (Keep this in mind when we explore the new text of the Roman Missal in future installments.)

These sacred signs at Holy Mass – that is, all that is perceptible to the human person – are not ends unto themselves; rather, they are intended to draw the hearts and minds of the faithful into the redemptive work of Christ mystically accomplished in our midst, and to foster an awareness of Holy Mass as nothing less than a foretaste of heaven itself! (cf SC 8 )

But when we assert our own will and allow the perceptible things at Holy Mass to deviate from the signs chosen by Christ and His Church, they can often distract us from the sacred more so than to attract us toward it, drawing our focus more to ourselves than to our Savior, and it is at this point that these things cease to be sacred signs at all. They become instead the ballast that holds our feet to the here and now, obscuring in some measure the divine presence in our very midst.

Let’s be honest, this happens in many places today on a regular basis, and as a result we frequently fail to receive as fully as possible the gift that is being offered by Christ to His people at Holy Mass.

Make no mistake, we too make an offering of ourselves at Holy Mass, but truly sacred signs remind us that it is Christ who must act first, that we may respond in humility so as to enter into communion with him and with one another. We simply cannot initiate this divine encounter on our own; an encounter in which “God meets man in an embrace of salvation,” as Pope Benedict XVI describes it.

If we humbly meet the Lord at Holy Mass in this way, we can contribute to our own sanctification as well as that of both the Pilgrim Church and the entire world, but even the gift of ourselves is made possible only by God; for it is through Baptism alone, in Christ, with the ongoing aid of divine grace that we can so participate in the sacred liturgy.

It is for this reason that the council describes the sacred liturgy as that wonderful exchange in which “the human is directed and subordinated to the divine, the visible likewise to the invisible, action to contemplation,” and it is sacred sings that point the way, urging the faithful toward the kind of “fully conscious and active participation” that the council had in mind.