May 5 2011 | comments icon 0 COMMENTS     print icon print

4-CHAS-3

Teaching on the revised Roman Missal

In this keynote address to the Catholic Secondary Head Teachers Association (CHAS) on April 27, Bishop Philip Tartaglia of Paisley outlined part of the background to the revised Roman Missal and described some of the characteristics of the new text. (Pic: Paul McSherry)

On the First Sunday of Advent 2011, a new version of the Roman Missal, the book containing all the Proper and Common texts of the Mass, (but not the Readings, which are contained in the Lectionary),  will come into full use in the parishes of Scotland. From September, some parts of the new Roman Missal will begin to be used.

• Why has the Roman Missal been revised? The translation of the Roman Missal that we currently use, sometimes called the Missal of Paul VI, came fully into use in 1970. Everyone accepted that the translation from the original Latin was done hurriedly in order to get an English language text into use after the seismic change from Latin to the vernacular languages sanctioned by Vatican II. Despite the haste, the texts were accessible, they became familiar and they have basically served us well for the last forty years. However it has been long been accepted that a new translation was overdue.

• Who has done the revision? ICEL, the International Commission for English in the Liturgy, which represents the English language Bishops’ Conferences of the world and which operates by authority of the Congregation for Divine Worship in Rome, is the body which translates liturgical texts from Latin into English. The revised translation of the Roman Missal was the joint work of a complex and quite lengthy process. It involved the principal translating body, ICEL, assisted by a specialist Rome-based translation committee known as Vox Clara. It also involved the English language Bishops’ Conferences from around the world. And it involved the Congregation for Divine Worship itself. Of course, all along the Holy Father kept a close eye on this project and, by all accounts, made some significant interventions in deciding on this or that word or phrase. The Pope, obviously, had the final say in these matters. At each stage, the English-language Bishops’ Conferences, including the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland, were invited to comment on the project of translation, propose amendments which were sent back to the Congregation to be acted upon (or not), and eventually the bishops approved the texts by a formal canonical vote. In fact the revised Roman Missal to be used throughout Scotland will be published by the authority of the Bishops’ Conference of Scotland.

• What is the guiding principle of the new translation? When the work on the new translation of the Roman Missal was begun, an important decision was taken. The translating bodies were instructed to use a different principle of translation from the one which was used to produce the present Roman Missal. The earlier principle of translation was called Dynamic Equivalence which tended to produce a text which was guided by the original Latin but did not necessarily translate it so very closely, at times nearer a paraphrase than a translation. This gave us a text which has an accessible, informal tone and a somewhat muted register with regard to addressing God and the realm of the sacred. This principle of translation was implemented on the basis of an instruction issued in 1969, originally written in French, entitled Comme le prévoit, issued by the Liturgy Consilium of the time. The new principle of translation, however, is called Formal Equivalence and is set out in the Congregation for Divine Worship’s document Liturgiam Authenticam (2000), which has had wide exposure to comment and critique. In a word, Formal Equivalence produces a translation which is closer to the Latin original in text, in form and in structure. For that reason, we can expect the Gloria, the Creed and the Eucharistic Prayers as well as the Proper Prayers of the Mass, to sound quite differently in the revised translation. The new translation has been described as a sacred vernacular, taking us on to a new linguistic register for the liturgy.

• Why has there been controversy around the introduction of the revised Roman Missal? As far as I understand it, there has been controversy principally for two reasons. Firstly, the Holy See took the decision to reconstitute ICEL in order to get a new approach to translation, and this was bitterly contested in some quarters and applauded in others. Secondly, a strand of opinion within the Church does not approve of the principle of Formal Equivalence being used as the guiding principle for liturgical texts, fearing that it will take the Church in the wrong direction, while others welcome it. Many things can be said about these matters, but my hope is that this controversy will be a nine-day wonder once the new Missal begins to be used and once people get used to the new texts.

• So what will the revised text of the Roman Missal be like? Bishop Joseph Toal, as President of the Liturgy Commission of the Bishops Conference of Scotland, recently addressed a letter to the priests of Scotland on the revised Roman Missal. In that letter, he listed some of the characteristics of the new translation. Apart from a greater faithfulness to the original Latin in word, in form and in structure, Bishop Toal mentions the care that has been taken to render biblical allusions in the liturgical text which links the prayers of the Mass to the Liturgy of the Word. For example, the change to the most famous response of them all reflects these concerns: The Lord be with you – And also with you, has become And with your spirit, which more accurately translates the Latin, Et cum spiritu tuo, as well as recalling more directly some texts from the New Testament.

• A new emphasis on mystery and reverence: The bishop also mentions that the revised texts of the Mass will display a renewed sense of the sacred. They will express an emphasis on reverence for the graciousness and majesty of God and the corresponding human posture of humility and unworthiness before God’s unfathomable mystery. This is most typically expressed in the re-appearance of the triple penitential phrase in the I Confess, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault, translating and reproducing the evocative rhythm of the Latin words, mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. I have also noticed myself that words expressing redemption, grace, sanctification and eternal life are translated more clearly than in the present text. There is also a more faithful translation of language which presents the unity of the Sacrifice of the Cross with the Sacrifice of the Mass, which is really the core of what we are doing when we celebrate the Eucharist. The potential for a new catechesis on the Mass is everywhere, and it is important that we take this opportunity in dioceses, parishes and schools throughout the country.

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