Welcoming the New Translation of the Roman Missal A Pastoral Letter to the Parishioners of St. Peter Parish Reverend Father Robert T. Cooper In his address to the Bishops of Scotland, England and Wales at the end of his Visit to the United Kingdom, Pope Benedict XVI drew attention to the imminent publication and implementation of the new English translation of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal. In doing so he thanked all the bishops for the contribution you have made, with such painstaking care, to the collegial exercise of reviewing and approving the texts. He described the provision of the new missal as an immense service to Catholics throughout the Englishspeaking world and encouraged the English-speaking bishops to seize the opportunity that the new translation offers for in-depth catechesis on the Eucharist and renewed devotion in its manner of celebration. With such strong approval for the new translation of the Roman Missal coming from Pope Benedict, we, the clergy and pastoral staff at St. Peter Catholic Church, have begun the work of introducing the texts of the missal within our parish s catechetical programs, and we invite the lay faithful to welcome the introduction of the new missal and to indeed seize the opportunity it offers to renew our faith in the Eucharist and in all aspects of its celebration. We began the introduction of the sung Mass Parts in the month of October as we prepare for the full implementation of the new translation on the First Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2011. In praising the collegial work of the bishops in preparing the new translation, Pope Benedict highlighted the responsibility of the bishop for divine worship. Indeed this is
his pre-eminent role, and in his own diocese, he has the task of ordering, promoting and safe-guarding the entire liturgical life of the local Church. At St. Peter Parish, we will introduce the Missal in accord with our ministry in the person of Christ the High Priest, and in communion with the directives set by our Archbishop, the Most Reverend Gregory Aymond, and our Our Holy Father. In doing so we wish to remind the faithful that the Sacred Liturgy is a gift from God, given to us by Christ through His Church. It is not something, therefore, that we put together ourselves or re-create according to our own ideas and expectations. It is the means by which the mysteries of our faith in Our Lord s life, death and resurrection are made present for us, and through which we receive the grace of His living presence in word and sacrament. It is a beautiful gift by which we worship God in Our Lord Jesus Christ through the prayers prepared for us when we gather to celebrate the Sacred Liturgy in accordance with the norms given to us by the Church through the Pope and the Bishops. An important principle in Catholic teaching is lex orandi, lex credendi (the law of praying, the law of believing) meaning that what we say in prayer is what we believe, or the Church believes as she prays. But the liturgy is not meant to teach in the same way that a catechism teaches, or even in the same way that a homily teaches. On this point, the words of the great liturgical pioneer, Father Romano Guardini, are worth hearing again: The liturgy wishes to teach, but not by means of an artificial system of aimconscious educational influences. It simply creates an entire spiritual world in which the soul can live according to the requirements of its nature.. The liturgy creates a universe brimming with fruitful spiritual life, and allows the soul to wander about in it at will and to develop itself there.. The liturgy has no purpose, or at least, it cannot be considered from the standpoint of purpose. It is not a means which is adapted to attain a certain end it is an end in itself. This is the authentic spirit of the liturgy. As Guardini says, the liturgy aims to create a new world for believers to dwell in a sanctified world where the dividing lines between the human and the divine are erased. Guardini s vision is beautiful: The liturgy creates a universe brimming with fruitful spiritual life. The new translation of the Mass restores this sense of the liturgy as transcendent and transformative. It restores the sacramentality to our liturgical language. The new translation reflects the reality that our worship here joins in the worship of heaven. The new edition of the Missal seeks to restore the ancient sense of our participation in the cosmic liturgy. The Letter to the Hebrews speaks of the Eucharist bringing us into the heavenly Jerusalem to worship in the company of angels and saints. The Book of Revelation starts with St. John celebrating
the Eucharist on a Sunday. In the midst of this, the Spirit lifts him up to show him the eternal liturgy going on in heaven. The message is clear: The Church s liturgy is caught up in the liturgy of the cosmos. And our Eucharistic rites have always retained this vision of the cosmic liturgy. It is vital therefore that the fullest attention is given to expressing the faith of the Church in all our prayers, and especially in the texts of the Sacred Liturgy. In order to achieve this, the Holy See has instructed that all translations from the original Latin of the Roman Missal should have a stricter adherence to the Latin, both in the words and the structure of the prayers. This means that some of the words we are familiar with in the present English Mass will change, and I am aware that it will take some time to get used to the new words. On the First Sunday of Advent, the full Missal will come into use, replacing the present English Missal, and it will then be the text used at all English Masses celebrated in the United Sates according to the Roman Rite. A very noticeable change will be the response to The Lord be with you (Dominus Vobiscum) it will now be And with your spirit (a more literal translation of the Latin Et cum spiritu tuo). In the Confiteor we will again say through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault, offering a fuller translation of the Latin mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa. In the Creed we will say I believe, translating the Latin Credo. Parts of the Gloria will change, and in the Sanctus we will begin Holy, Holy, Holy, Lord God of hosts As the priest presents the Body and Blood of Christ to the faithful immediately before Holy Communion he will say this beautiful invitation to the Lord s Supper: Behold the Lamb of God, behold him who takes away the sins of the world. Blessed are those who are called to the Supper of the Lamb. And the response will be: Lord I am not worthy that you enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed. Our humble words before receiving the Lord in Holy Communion give a clear example of how the new text tries to honor the scriptural references and metaphors which abound in the ancient Latin prayers of the Roman Missal. In this prayer we repeat the words of the centurion who came to Jesus seeking healing for his servant (Luke 7:6-7), while expressing his own sense of unworthiness that Jesus should even consider entering under his roof. Throughout the new translation great attention has been given to such biblical allusions, and this helps us understand that the traditional words we use in prayer (i.e. the Our Father and the Hail Mary) often come from the Word of God, and the Gospels in particular. This can help us see the unity between the Missal, the sacred prayers of the Liturgy,
and the Lectionary, the divine Word of God proclaimed from the Scriptures. On occasions the various scriptural nuances and references need to be explained, but surely this is exactly what Pope Benedict refers to when he speaks of in-depth catechesis on the Eucharist. We do need to deepen our faith in the Sacred Mysteries and the freshness of this new translation may open up this opportunity for us. When we speak of the Liturgy as the celebration of the Sacred Mysteries of our faith it tells us that there needs to be a strong sense of the sacred in all that we do and say at Mass in the décor of the church and its furnishings, in the vestments and vessels used, in the person and actions of the priest, deacon and other ministers, in the quality of the music and the full and active participation of the faithful, and not least in the words read from the missal and lectionary and those offered by the homilist. The words of the prayers in the new translation of the missal do seek to offer a renewed sense of the sacred. We will notice a strong emphasis on reverence for the mystery of God, the graciousness and majesty of the Lord, and the necessary human stance of humility and unworthiness before our gracious God. He has recognized the depths of our sinfulness and our struggle with evil and has sent His Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, to redeem us by His death on the cross, His resurrection from the dead and ascension to the Father s right hand. In the Mass we reach out to our Savior and are touched by His saving grace. Ours is a strong and very real faith in what happens at Mass and it is appropriate that the robust words used in Latin to express the human reality and our need for the Lord s redeeming mercy are translated accordingly in English. This has meant that the new translation has returned at times to an older, more traditional terminology than we have been used to in the present English text. This is particularly the case with regard to the words which encourage us never to lose sight of the unity between Christ s sacrifice on the Cross and the Holy Sacrifice of the Eucharist, in which the Lord s self offering is made present for us in the sacrament of His Body and Blood. Pope Benedict has noted: The reality of the Eucharistic sacrifice has always been at the heart of the Catholic faith. The new translation, especially in the Eucharistic prayers, will help keep this fundamental truth of our faith before us, and perhaps point us also towards the renewed devotion in the celebration of the Eucharist which Pope Benedict asked the Church to strive for. More personally, I encourage all of you to pray these new texts. Similar to meditating on Sacred Scripture or spiritual authors, the prayers of the Mass provide abundant food for personal spiritual growth as they succinctly and eloquently present the eternal truths of our Faith and help us to experience the Word Made Flesh made present in the words of man.
Through this new translation, we need to invite our brothers and sisters to know the liturgy as a mystery to be lived. As Pope Benedict has said, our Eucharistic mystagogy must inspire an awareness that one s life is being progressively transformed by the holy mysteries being celebrated. That is the great promise of this new translation and new edition of the Missal. The promise of a people nourished and transformed by the sacred mysteries they celebrate the promise of a people who are able to offer themselves as living sacrifices, holy and acceptable to God; a people who experience Christ living in them, as they are being changed into His likeness from one degree of glory to another. I want to leave you with one last image. I hope it will inspire us to always participate in the sacred liturgy with passionate intensity and a keen awareness of the liturgy of heaven. One of his altar servers left us this description of how St. Josemaría Escrivá used to pray the Mass. For [St. Josemaría], the liturgy was not a formal act but a transcendent one. Each word held a profound meaning and was uttered in a heartfelt tone of voice. He savored the concepts. Josemaría seemed detached from his human surrounding and, as it were, tied by invisible cords to the divine. This phenomenon peaked at the moment of consecration. Josemaría seemed to be disconnected from the physical things around him and to be catching sight of mysterious and remote heavenly horizons (Andrés Vázquez de Prada, The Founder of Opus Dei, Vol. 1, 206). I think it is fitting that I should end this pastoral letter on Welcoming the New Translation of the Roman Missal with a call to personal holiness, for that is the purpose of the divine liturgy that our worship is offered to God for the praise and glory of his name, for our good and the good of all his holy Church. All changes can be difficult to adapt to, and this will be true also of the texts of the Missal, particularly for the priests as we familiarize ourselves with the revised prayers. For Catholics there is nothing more important than the celebration of the Eucharist, and our understanding of its meaning has grown over the last 40 years through its celebration in our own language. Those responsible for the new translation, the Holy See and the Bishops, have sought to enhance the quality of our English text, bringing to the fore the beauty and richness of the prayers of the ancient Roman Rite. The Church now wishes to pass on the fruit of these endeavors to the Catholics of the English-speaking world. I ask you to welcome it as something good, a gift from the Church, through which we will continue to worship God and celebrate in English the Holy Mysteries of our faith. In a special way, let us make the prayers of the heavenly liturgy our own as we cry out with one voice: Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts! Hosanna in the highest! Given at the Rectory, November 9, 2011 Feast of the Dedication of the Lateran Basilica in Rome Reverend Father Robert T. Cooper Parochial Vicar St. Peter Catholic Church, Covington, Louisiana