The Hermeneutic of Continuity

In the combox of the post " Telling the truth - a new corrected translation ", Lawrence the Roman writes concerning the new corrected ICEl translation of accipiens et hunc praeclarum calicem in sanctas ac venerabiles manus suas : Jesus Christ did not take “a precious chalice". "He the cup" (I Cor 11: 25) "He took a cup" (Matt 26:27) "He cup a cup" (Mark 14:23 "He did the same with the cup after supper.." (Luke: 22:20) "The inspired books teach the truth. Since therefore all that the inspired authors or sacred writers affirm should be regarded as affirmed by the Holy Spirit, we must acknowledge that the books of Scripture firmly, faithfully, and without error teach that truth which God, for the sake of our salvation, wished to see confined to the Sacred Scriptures." (Catechism of the Catholic Church No. 107) Just as the Sacred Scripture is the “soul of theology” it should also be the “soul of the Liturgy”. Let’s not...

Fr Z links to and quotes an important point made at the blog Serviam : A Semantic Proposition . He outlines the different reactions to the new ICEL translation and points out that many people have no idea what is really going on: As most people don’t know there is anything wrong with the current translations, their default position will likely be “why hassle me with a change where none is needed?” They might also conclude that the original prayers were simply re-written by Pope Benedict to reflect his conservative agenda. Then we are put in a defensive position from square one. In my own comments to people about the new translations, I have always pointed out that the older translations are inaccurate in many places and deficient in many others, and that the new translations are a vast improvement in terms of fidelity to the text that we were supposed to be using all along. When people (especially priests) look doubtful about this, I generally quote my favourite example which has...

Mgr Charles Pope has drawn attention to the fact that the New Roman Missal Translation Contains Some Last Minute Changes . Fr Anthony Ruff at the PrayTell blog has posted a helpful table with a comparison of the changes . They are genuinely minor but somewhat irritating nevertheless. In the combox, Mgr Pope says It’s kinda murky as to who in the Vatican got their fingerprint on this at the last moment. Quite so. Leaving that slight annoyance aside, it is interesting that Mgr Guido Marini, the Master of Pontifical Liturgical Celebrations recently spoke about the liturgical texts to be used during the Papal Visit to Britain next month and referred to the ordinary as having been approved a while ago. This presents something of an anomaly since, for example, in the USA, the implementation of the new translation is set for the first Sunday of Advent 2011. We have, as yet, no date for England and Wales. Thus we have texts that are approved for use but not yet "implemented". O...

On Thursday 15 July at 8.15pm, Fr Michael Lang will be speaking to the London Oratory's "Call to Youth" meeting. His talk is titled "Introduction to the new English translation of the Missal". Fr Michael Lang is a priest of the London Oratory who is working in the Congregation for Divine Worship in Rome. He will explain the reasons behind the changes in translation that are due to be made in the Missal. This is a great opportunity for young adults to meet Fr Lang and to hear him speak. It is a fairly safe bet that there will be no icebreaker games, you will not be "broken up" into small groups, and you will leave knowing more than you did when you arrived. The talk is at 8.15pm in St.Wilfrid's Hall. there will be drinks & sandwiches afterwards as usual. The group is for people aged 18-35. (A note from me: please don't gatecrash if you are outside this age range. These meetings are generally quite full and they are intended for youn...

The response "And with your spirit" is one of the more controversial expressions in the new ICEL translation (that we will perhaps be able to use one day sometime when the books have been printed and the Bishops let us, and ICEl say its OK, and everybody thinks we have all had enough catechesis, and priests have learned to pronounce all "them fancy words" and the people have been sensitively prepared, and the local milkman has distributed the video ... That's enough! ED ) Sorry. As I was going to say, there are two good articles on this response. Louie Verrecchio writes at Catholic Exchange , and Msgr Charles Pope at the Archdiocese of Washington . They both pick up on this quotation from St John Chrysostom: If the Holy Spirit were not in our Bishop [referring to Bishop Flavian of Antioch] when he gave the peace to all shortly before ascending to his holy sanctuary, you would not have replied to him all together, And with your spirit. This is why you reply wi...

Damian Thompson reports on the great news that James MacMillan's new Mass will be sung in Coventry as well as Glasgow . This follows his earlier report on the rather depressing proposals for the music at the Pope's Mass, concluding with the sound observation, "The Coventry Mass should be one that makes the heart soar, not the toes curl." The new Mass by James MacMillan is a setting for the words of the new ICEL translation. It is not clear yet whether the Holy Father will himself use the new translation at the Masses in Glasgow and Coventry. Fr Blake discusses the question of Jumping the gun with ICEL as has Fr Boyle . Fr Blake's post on ICEL: Ad Experimentum makes interesting reading. I would have thought that a Bishop in his own diocese has competence to authorise the use ad experimentum of a text that has received recognitio from the Holy See. In fact, the new translation is being used all over the place at "special" gatherings, by Bishops,...

The other day I posted a video clip of Mgr Harbert explaining some of the reasoning behind the new translation of the Roman Canon. Several people contacted me to ask if a transcript were available. Mgr Harbert has kindly pointed me to two sites with further information and resources. The Notre Dame Center for Liturgy has videos and transcripts from Mgr Harbert and a number of other scholars. Become One Body, One Spirit in Christ is the website for an interactive DVD that has been produced to help in catechesis. Just to remind you, the texts of the Ordinary of the Mass have been available for some time at the website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, along with plenty of useful information, FAQ, and parish resources. See USCCB Roman Missal .

This just sent to me from ICEL: 30 April 2010 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE The Bishops of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy [ICEL] join me in welcoming the announcement of the approval by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments of the definitive English text of the Third Edition of The Roman Missal. This news ushers in the final phase of preparation for the publication and implementation of the Missal in our eleven member Bishops’ Conferences and the many other territories where the sacred liturgy is habitually celebrated in English. It also brings to a conclusion the long and complex process by which the translation has been prepared, a process in which the Bishops of the Commission and the Bishops of the English-speaking world, together with the members of the Roman Missal Editorial Committee, the ICEL Secretariat and the translators and consultants who are our closest collaborators have worked together with national conferences an...

At the end of the lunch with officials of the Vox Clara Committee, the Holy Father gave a short address in which he praised their work, and welcomed the news that the new translations would soon be ready for publication. Pope Benedict also spoke of the need for the changes to be introduced sensitively and of the "opportunity for catechesis". There is an important nuance in this. People who are well catechised already will not need to have catechesis to be able to accept the texts. But for the very many in the anglophone world who have been poorly catechised, the new translations will present an excellent opportunity for catechesis, especially on the Mass as sacrifice; something that the new translations present much more faithfully, in accord with the original texts. Here is a link to the Holy Father's address .

Following Cardinal Pell's announcement to the National Catholic Register that the new ICEL translations would receive formal approval today, this notice has appeared on the Vatican Bollettino today : INCONTRO CONVIVIALE DEL SANTO PADRE CON I MEMBRI DEL COMITATO "VOX CLARA" Alle ore 13.15 di oggi, nella Casina Pio IV, il Santo Padre Benedetto XVI pranza con i Membri del Comitato "Vox Clara", Comitato di consulenza su questioni circa la celebrazione del Rito Romano in lingua inglese, annesso alla Congregazione per il Culto Divino e la Disciplina dei Sacramenti. CONVIVIAL MEETING OF THE HOLY FATHER WITH THE MEMBERS OF THE "VOX CLARA" COMMITTEE At 13.15 today, in the "Casino Pio IV", the Holy Father Benedict XVI will lunch with the members of the Vox Clara Committee, the Committee of consultation on questions regarding the celebration of the Roman Rite in the English language, annexed to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline ...

Edward Pentin, who reports for the National Catholic Register and for the Catholic Herald, reports this morning   that the Congregation for Divine Worship will approve the new ICEL translation of the Missal later today. Must check the Bollettino before going out for lunch today... The texts of the Ordinary of the Mass have already received recognitio so this decision would relate to the proper texts of the Missal. Cardinal Pell told the Register yesterday that although formal approval would be given today, the newly translated Missal would not be available until 2011. Now I am old enough to remember the last time we had a new translation. For several years, priests were using bits of paper with new texts until finally the printed Missals were published. Nowadays it would be easy enough to produce good quality, dignified pdfs which could be discreetly inserted into the altar Missal. Would it be too much to allow priests to use the texts of the Eucharistic Prayers and ot...

ICEL has posted texts and music for the ordinary of the new translation of the Roman Missal. These include "Credo 1" and "Credo 3" settings, the tones for the readings and so on. It would be a good development if the introduction of the new translations was accompanied by a move to sing the Mass rather than sing at the Mass, and for the scriptural texts of the various antiphons to begin to take the place of the random hymns that have replaced them.

Damian Thompson has written on the recent campaign by Fr Ryan, pastor of Seattle Cathedral to delay the implementation of the new ICEl translations with the petition "What if we just said wait?" (I recommend signing the petition "We've waited long enough".) Now that Fr Ryan has been given space in the Tablet for his campaign. See: The plot to sabotage the new Missal is a test of Archbishop Vincent Nichols's leadership . As Damian points out: What we can expect now, I’m afraid, is a repeat of the situation in America: constant whispering against the new Missal by “senior clergy” and their lay allies who want to delay the introduction of the Missal until… well, we might as well be frank about this: until after this Pope dies, when they hope that a new regime in the Vatican will allow them to cling on to the grisly paraphrase of the Roman Missal currently in use, or to introduce something worse. Fr Peter Stravinskas has written an excellent article in America...

In recent days, I have skimmed over posts on other blogs about the petition " We've Waited Long Enough " - for the new ICEL translation, that is. I mistakenly assumed that it was the same as the one I mentioned a few weeks ago. It's not, it is a different one. Here is the wording: We believe that the newly approved English translation of the 2002 Missale Romanum needs to be implemented as soon as possible. We believe that the Church in English-speaking nations has waited far too long for an accurate, faithful translation of the original Latin. We believe that the current translation currently in use in English-speaking nations is overdue to be replaced, as it was developed using the method of dynamic translation, a method rejected by the Vatican in the document Liturgiam Authenticam. We stand united with the English-speaking bishops' conferences in their approval of the new translation. We oppose any efforts to continue to delay this new translation. Sign the pet...

Some liberal Catholics in America have started a petition called " What if we just said wait? " proposing a "grassroots review" of the Roman Missal and a delay in implementing the new (more accurate) translations of the texts of the Missal. The poll website refers to an article from America Magazine . Some snippets: ... systematic dismantling of the great vision of the council’s decree. ... endorsement, even encouragement, of the so-called Tridentine Mass. [Err. Who calls it that now?] ... We can see the present moment only as one more assault on the council and, sadly, one more blow to episcopal collegiality ... Bishop Donald Trautman of Erie, Pa., tried mightily to stop the new translation train but to no avail. You get the picture, perhaps. See Fr Z for a full fisk . The "Statement of Concern" from "What if we just said wait?" offers only one choice, presuming that this speaks for the people of God. The poll from What If We Said, “FINALLY!?” ...

Well I suppose we would all like to consign missalettes to the bonfire but being forced to do so by copyright legislation does seem one of the barmier consequences of the use of copyright on liturgical texts. See Jeffrey Tucker's article: Bonfire of the Missalettes

Thanks to Jeff Pinyan for the link to Bishop Serratelli's article in the current issue of Adoremus: The New Missal - Historic Moment in Liturgical Renewal . His Lordship gives some helpful examples of how the new translations will convey much better the richness of the texts of the editio typica of the Missal. Having questioned the whole business of "catechetical" preparation for the new translations yesterday, I must admit that some of the materials he refers to on the USCCB website are very good. (See Roman Missal Formational Materials .) The following point was very well made by Bishop Serratelli: In the liturgy, we should use a noble language that lifts us up as well as honors God. From the earliest Latin texts from the 4th century, the style of the language used in prayer differed from street language. In the new translations, the noble, heightened style of liturgical prayer is certainly a gain for all. This accords with the important work done by Fr Michael Lang on...

Many of us will be profoundly grateful once the new ICEL translations are allowed to be used for the celebration of Mass. (Have a look at this post to see why.) It will be a blessing to be able to say the prayers of the Mass using a reasonably accurate translation instead of the poor version that I have had to use since my ordination 25 years ago. It has been slightly puzzling therefore, to see so many official sources speaking of the need for catechesis and training before these translations are brought into use. The very wording of the new ICEL will itself be a great catechetical improvement on the poverty of language that we have been forced to put up with for so long. Let me once again quote my favourite example: Latin text accipens et hunc praeclarum calicem in sanctas ac venerabiles manus suas Old ICEL he took the cup New ICEL he took this precious chalice into his holy and venerable hands, So what is the training for? Do some people perhaps need to be taught how to pronounce ...

Fr Andrew Wadsworth has been appointed by the Holy See as General Secretary of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy and Executive Director of the ICEL Secretariat in Washington DC, to take up post from September 2009. This is very good news. Fr Wadsworth has taken a leading role in England in promoting the worthy celebration of the liturgy in both the usus recentior and the usus antiquior . With regard to the latter, he played a leading role in the two highly successful training conferences for clergy at Merton College, Oxford. Fr Wadsworth (47) is a priest of the Archdiocese of Westminster, ordained in 1990. He has Masters degrees in Italian and Theology, and is an accomplished musician. He has taught Latin, Greek and Italian as well as fulfilling various pastoral responsibilities, including parish work and hospital chaplaincy. He has most recently been Catholic Chaplain at Harrow School as well as teaching Italian there. As well has having good Latin and Greek, Fr ...

Jeffrey Tucker at the NLM has for some time been leading the opposition to ICEL's policy on copyright. Yesterday he kept the momentum going with a fine post: Religion and Royalties on Ritual Texts . He argues that the texts of the Mass should be put into the public domain "immediately and without qualification." I entirely agree with him.