From the Catholic Northwest Progress:
BY JAMES BREIG
The Roman Missal is the book containing the prescribed prayers, chants and instructions for the celebration of Mass in the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Missal translated into English under 1969 Vatican rules will be replaced when the third edition of the Roman Missal is introduced on the First Sunday of Advent, Nov. 27.
Because a new edition of the Latin Roman Missal was promulgated by Pope John Paul II in 2001, it is necessary for all the countries of the world to translate this missal into the vernacular, says Msgr. Anthony Sherman, executive director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat of Divine Worship, in explaining why the changes are being made.
But translation is not something easy to accomplish, concedes Msgr. Kevin Irwin, dean of the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America in Washington, D.C.
"We all bring our own prejudices and ideas to translation," he says. "It is hoped that the new texts will be more accurate so that our faith and our statements of faith are reliable."
Changes rare
One of the earliest indications of the format for the Mass is found in the letters of St. Paul, said Carolyn Lassek, director of the Liturgy Office for the Archdiocese of Seattle. The early Christians met mostly in homes, and an oral tradition of extemporaneous prayers by the celebrating bishop evolved from this "domestic church."
By the second century early descriptions of the order of the eucharistic celebration emerged, including a letter by St. Justin Martyr to the Emperor Antoninus Pius in A.D. 155 that describes the Mass we celebrate today. (See letter, page M4.)
Msgr. Irwin says changes to the Roman Missal are rare.
"The previous Roman Missal (in Latin) was published in 1570, with minor adjustments [being made] in editions through 1962," he says. "After the Second Vatican Council, the new [Roman Missal] was published in 1970, followed by a 1975 edition with minor adjustments and then the third edition in 2002 with additional prayers for new saints' feasts etc."
Lassek said although the prayers of the Mass have been translated from Aramaic, Greek and Latin across the centuries, "the Latin has held primacy of place" because it was not only the language of the church but of the marketplace and academic institutions.
"The Mass prayed in Latin helped Catholics around the known world to experience themselves as a universal community," she said.
Some have raised concerns that the new English translations are less than user-friendly, but in the view of Father Paul Turner of the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph in Missouri, vocabulary is not a major problem.
"People will readily understand the texts," he says. "Latin uses a variety of synonyms for words like 'sacrifice,' 'love,' 'mercy' and 'wonderful.' In order to represent that diversity and to provide variety among the prayers in English, a broad vocabulary is being used in the translation."
Language of love
Lassek adds that the new translation is intended to be more faithful to Scripture as well as a more literal translation from the Latin. She also notes that the "graced and gifted character of the Mass" requires a special language.
"The liturgy is the language of love, and poetry is the best expression of love. So the language of the eucharistic celebrations demands a richer, more poetic imagery," she said.
Even as the fathers in the Second Vatican Council approved translation of the Latin prayers into the vernacular, Lassek said, they recognized that their work would have to be revised and enriched.
"The experience of the power of the Holy Spirit in the Second Vatican Council concerning liturgy was expressed in the 'Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy,'" she said. "It was important for the fathers of the council to provide a translation of the Mass in vernacular that the people could begin to experience."
By the 1980s, she said, the work of revisiting and enriching the original translation had begun. Partially as a result of the first experience of translation, bishops' conferences around the world have repeatedly stressed that the new translation should not be used without prior and significant explanation.
"One of the things we did not do 40 years ago, when the liturgy was first put into the vernacular, was to explain the changes fully," Father Turner said.
Lassek, who has helped parish leadership in the Archdiocese of Seattle prepare for implementation of the new missal over the past two and a half years, agreed.
"Above all," she said, "the implementation process has rekindled our appreciation of and gratitude for so gracious a God who gifted us with the Eucharist."
