The New Translation of the Mass
Tomorrow morning's mass will be the last time the mass in use for the past 40 years will be prayed in the English-speaking world. The new translation of the mass will begin with Saturday evening's vigil mass, the first Mass of Advent. Our diocese is one of only three in the entire country that has spent the past months since October teaching the New Translation to the faithful during each Sunday mass.
There have been multiple articles and editorials by Catholics who rail against the new translation claiming it will confuse the faithful and is a throwback to pre-Vatican 2 days. One bishop said of the new translation of the Roman Missal : "elitist," incomprehensible to the average Catholic and a looming "pastoral disaster." Actually, the truth is there is a high probability that this new translation will encourage the faithful to learn what the Mass is all about and stir revival in the Church. Blessed John Paul 2 knew what he was doing when he called for the new translation and I am thankful to see this rolled out in my lifetime.
Why is the new translation so important? What's the big deal? The big deal is that the Church has always operated being guided by the ancient principle of Lex Orandi, Lex Credo, "The law of prayer is the law of belief." How we pray affects how we believe.
The liturgy is the prayer of the Church, the most important aspect of our Christian faith because it is in the liturgy we come to meet the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith.
So the way we pray the liturgy affects what we believe. Why not accept a translation that will be more faithful to the original text of the Latin so we will pray more accurately what the heart of the Church is asking us to pray and believe?
"The Church's faith precedes the faith of the believer who is invited to adhere to it. When the Church celebrates the sacraments, she confesses the faith received from the apostles - whence the ancient saying: lex orandi, lex credendi . The law of prayer is the law of faith: the Church believes as she prays. Liturgy is a constitutive element of the holy and living Tradition." (The Catechism)
There have been multiple articles and editorials by Catholics who rail against the new translation claiming it will confuse the faithful and is a throwback to pre-Vatican 2 days. One bishop said of the new translation of the Roman Missal : "elitist," incomprehensible to the average Catholic and a looming "pastoral disaster." Actually, the truth is there is a high probability that this new translation will encourage the faithful to learn what the Mass is all about and stir revival in the Church. Blessed John Paul 2 knew what he was doing when he called for the new translation and I am thankful to see this rolled out in my lifetime.
Why is the new translation so important? What's the big deal? The big deal is that the Church has always operated being guided by the ancient principle of Lex Orandi, Lex Credo, "The law of prayer is the law of belief." How we pray affects how we believe.
The liturgy is the prayer of the Church, the most important aspect of our Christian faith because it is in the liturgy we come to meet the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist, the source and summit of our faith.
So the way we pray the liturgy affects what we believe. Why not accept a translation that will be more faithful to the original text of the Latin so we will pray more accurately what the heart of the Church is asking us to pray and believe?
"The Church's faith precedes the faith of the believer who is invited to adhere to it. When the Church celebrates the sacraments, she confesses the faith received from the apostles - whence the ancient saying: lex orandi, lex credendi . The law of prayer is the law of faith: the Church believes as she prays. Liturgy is a constitutive element of the holy and living Tradition." (The Catechism)
posted by Russ Rentler, M.D. | 10:34 AM
1 Comments:
I am also thankful for and excited by the corrected translation.
People naturally oppose change, but those are not the vocal opposition that I see. The opposition comes from the progressive "spirit of Vatican II" crowd. By that phrase, I mean post conciliar, progressive, Protestantization changes taken beyond the actual changes called for in Vatican II.
Translation of the novus ordo liturgy is a great example of this. By "dynamic translation", words were not translated literally but by intent -- which means by interpretation. No interpretation was necessary. IMHO that was just an excuse to change the liturgy. The result was dumbing down with some loss of sacredness, beauty and meaning. That is now being reversed.
A good illustration of the "debate" is the correction that Christ died for many vs. for all. Saying "for all" leads people to believe that everyone is saved, which is patently false and far more Protestant than Catholic. Scripture does not say "for all", but "for many" because although our Lord died so that all may have salvation, not all will accept that gift. It is not automatic. Faith alone is also insufficient.
Yes indeed, how we pray affects how we believe!
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