What the MSM Likes About the 3rd Edition of the Roman Missel

Pope John Paul II announced a revised version of the Missale Romanum during the Jubilee Year 2000. The process of translating the new Missal began in 2003 and has been ongoing since then. The Roman Missal was implemented in the United States of America on the First Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2011.

The bishops in the early seventies were anxious to get the new Missal to the people as quickly as possible. But the translation they hastily approved was distorted because it was based on a flawed principle of translation known as “dynamic equivalence”. The principle was endorsed in Comme le prévoit, the 1969 translation guideline produced by the Consilium for Implementing the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy. The International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) was faithful to much of that instruction, and even went beyond it, so what we ended up with was a paraphrase rather than a translation.

A reorganized ICEL has worked on the translations, under the guidance of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDW) through the Vox Clara (“A Clear Voice”) committee, chaired by Cardinal George Pell. The new principles for translation are set out in an official instruction, Liturgiam authenticam.

Among other things, the revised edition of the Missale Romanum contains prayers for the observances of recently canonized saints, additional prefaces for the Eucharistic Prayers, additional Votive Masses and Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Occasions, and some updated and revised rubrics (instructions) for the celebration of the Mass. The English translation of the Roman Missal also includes updated translations of existing prayers, including some of the well-known responses and acclamations of the people.

Striking examples of inaccuracy are evident if Latin references to Our Lady in the Missale Romanum are checked against the ICEL texts previously in use.

In the old ICEL version the bland expression “the Virgin Mary” is used again and again. This does not truthfully translate a variety of references to Mary in the Missale Romanum. Nor does “blessed” truly render “beatissima”, because this superlative, “most blessed”, is reserved for the Mother of God, proclaiming her as the pre-eminent saint, the Queen of all Saints. “Dynamic equivalence” becomes more destructive when Marian phrases that convey doctrinal truths taught by the Church are simply removed. In the first Preface of Our Lady, two unequivocal Latin phrases expressing Mary’s perpetual virginity just vanished. The second became a paraphrase: “She became the virgin mother of your Son”. But that does not carry the Latin “virginitatis gloria permanente”, literally “the glory of her virginity remaining”. “She became the virgin mother of your Son” barely hints at Mary’s perpetual virginity as set out in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. In the collect for the third day before Christmas the adjective “immaculate” also vanished. In the collect for the Memorial of Our Lady of Mount Carmel the mystical representation of the Son of Mary as a holy mountain has also vanished, even if it is central to Carmelite spirituality. Why? Here we touch on ideological motives reflecting the era when the first ICEL translations were made. These examples of the destructive effects of “dynamic equivalence” as employed by the earlier ICEL translators reveal a vernacular version of the text of the Roman liturgy that in some places tells lies, so that, at these points and many others, it is no longer the Roman liturgy. Here we find an amazing failure to comprehend a basic principle of Christology and Mariology. The Marian adjectives are doctrinal not poetic. Let me assure you that all this is corrected in the new translation, which gives full honor to the Mother of God.

The new ICEL translations reflect not only accuracy but reverence for the mystery of God, indeed the centrality of God, which is the meaning of Christian worship. In the Roman Canon, after the consecration we find a rhythmic repetition: “hostiam puram, hostiam sanctam, hostiam immaculatam”, now to be rendered as “this pure victim, this holy victim, this spotless victim”. At present this is boiled down as “this holy and perfect sacrifice”. The ICEL of the past avoided repetitions, but repetition is always a part of prayer. In the “I confess” we will admit that we have “greatly” sinned, “through my fault, my own fault, my own most grievous fault”. Again the new ICEL is not afraid of symbolic repetition and respects familiarity with the “mea culpa” phrase among Catholics (and, indeed, western Christians). The only change in the “Holy, holy...” is replacing “God of power and might” with a more literal “Lord God of hosts”, Dominus Deus Sabaoth, the word “Sabaoth” being a Hebrew reference to the countless angelic armies. This is a return to the first (1964) English version of the Mass. A particularly beautiful development is the complete retranslation of the invitation to Communion. Instead of the blunt and bland “This is the Lamb of God … happy are those who are called to His supper”, the priest will say, “Behold the Lamb of God. Behold Him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those called to the supper of the Lamb”. Our response will be closer to the words of the centurion in the Scriptures (Luke 7: 6-7): “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.” Note the shift to God’s initiative, not “that I should receive you” rather “that you should enter under my roof” and the restoration of “soul”. There was a fear of the word “soul” among theologians forty years ago.

The entire Church in the United States has been blessed with this opportunity to deepen its understanding of the Sacred Liturgy, and to appreciate its meaning and importance in our lives.  Parishes should now be in the planning process for the implementation, with a goal toward executing that plan in the coming months.