The New Missal

  • The new translation of the Holy Mass:

    By Brian MacMichael

    Eucharistic Prayer, Part 1
    Last week, we began looking at the new translations we shall encounter in the Liturgy of the Eucharist, and we made our way to the Preface. At the conclusion of the Preface comes the Sanctus, which in Latin means “Holy.” The Sanctus, like the Gloria, is intended to be sung — in fact, many different settings of the Latin text exist even in Gregorian chant. Here is the English translation we will begin singing this Advent:

    Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts.
    Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
    Hosanna in the highest.
    Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.
    Hosanna in the highest.

    The only textual difference from our current version is that “God of power and might” becomes “God of hosts.” The word “hosts” refers to a great gathering or multitude, and speaks here of God’s command over the heavenly host of angelic armies. This reference has a Biblical foundation in Isaiah 6:1-3, where the prophet writes, “I saw the Lord seated on a high and lofty throne… Seraphim were stationed above… ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!’ they cried one to the other. ‘All the earth is filled with his glory!’” And in Luke 2:13, a “multitude of the heavenly host” also announced the birth of Jesus to the shepherds.

    The words of the final three lines can be found in the Gospel of Matthew, during the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem before His Passion, as the people shouted, “Hosanna to the Son of David; blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord; hosanna in the highest” (Mt 21:9). Versions of this acclamation appear in the other Gospels, and the “Blessed is He…” line comes from Psalm 118, amidst a passage that became understood as a reference to Christ.

    The Sanctus reminds us that all creatures on “heaven and earth” owe thanksgiving to God (“Eucharist” actually means “thanksgiving”). And if we truly believe that the angels are also present and worshiping with us as we celebrate the Holy Eucharist, then every fiber of our being should reflect the utmost reverence. Therefore, immediately after the Sanctus, we kneel. Kneeling is a sign of respect and humility that is distinctly human and bodily — it is something that even the angels, being pure spirit, cannot do.

    There are four main Eucharistic Prayers used during the Mass. Eucharistic Prayer I (the Roman Canon) was formerly the only Eucharistic Prayer used in Roman Catholic worship. As the name suggests, it was used in Rome, and invokes many early Roman popes and martyrs (“We honor Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus…”). After the Second Vatican Council, we received Eucharistic Prayers II, III, and IV — all of which also have origins in regional liturgies of the Early Church.

    The Eucharistic Prayers are rich texts, but here we will examine just a couple of noteworthy translation changes. The first is in Eucharistic Prayer II, when the priest asks God, “Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall.” This new mention of “dewfall” may sound odd, but it is actually a powerful Biblical image. In Exodus 16, the Lord tells Moses that He will rain down a daily portion of bread, which would appear as “dew” in the morning. Numbers 11:9 says, “When the dew fell upon the camp in the night, the manna fell with it.”

    The Eucharistic connection between manna and the dew becomes even more profound when we consider that the Our Father, which we pray before Holy Communion, also speaks of our daily bread. The manna was only to be gathered as a daily portion, in order to cultivate complete trust in the Lord. The Eucharist, as the fulfillment of the manna, is our constant recourse and sustenance.

    The second example comes in Eucharistic Prayer III. There is a familiar line that currently reads: “from east to west, a perfect offering may be made to the glory of your name.” This will instead become a more faithful rendering of Malachi 1:11: “from the rising of the sun to its setting a pure sacrifice may be offered…” While the geographic east-west imagery is beautiful in its own right, it does not carry the full cosmic scope of both space and time implied in the rising and setting of the sun. The new imagery conveys the sense that the Holy Mass and the one Sacrifice of Jesus Christ have a truly eternal quality.

    Posted on February 9, 2011, to:

  • The New Translation of the Holy Mass:

    By Brian MacMichael

    The Liturgy of the Eucharist
    We continue our review of the upcoming translation changes in the Order of Mass by starting into the Liturgy of the Eucharist, which begins with the Preparation of the Gifts. When the gifts of bread and wine are placed upon the altar and raised by the priest as an offering to God, we often hear two prayers spoken aloud over each element (they can also be spoken quietly by the priest).

    The current versions of these two prayers are very familiar, so it is easy to see that the differences (shown in bold) are relatively minor. The following is the new translation of the prayer spoken when the priest lifts the paten (the sacred vessel that holds the unleavened bread):

    Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,
    for through your goodness we have received
    the bread we offer you:
    fruit of the earth     and work of human hands,
    it will become for us the bread of life.

    And this will be the new prayer at the lifting of the chalice:

    Blessed are you, Lord God of all creation,
    for through your goodness we have received
    the wine we offer you:
    fruit of the vine and work of human hands,
    it will become our spiritual drink.

    The people’s response to both prayers remains, “Blessed be God for ever.”

    These prayers over the bread and wine are very important, because they express the sacramental reality of the sacred liturgy. Through our human work amidst creation, we offer back to God what is already His (the new translation highlights that we first “received” these gifts from Him), and He brings it to its heavenly fulfillment. In an overarching sense, this applies to our entire Christian lives on earth. Just as the bread and wine become Christ’s Body and Blood, we look forward to our resurrection in glorified bodies (as we profess in the Creed), and also to the perfection of all creation in the heavenly Jerusalem.

    After reciting a couple quiet prayers for humility and purity, the priest then washes his hands, and extends this invitation to prayer:

    Pray, brethren (brothers and sisters),
    that my sacrifice and yours
    may be acceptable to God,
    the almighty Father.

    Whereas the current translation has “our sacrifice,” the new translation is changed to “my sacrifice and yours.” This seemingly slight distinction, found in the original Latin, actually conveys the reality that those who are gathered offer the holy sacrifice of the Mass in different ways. The priest offers it on our behalf in a special manner, in persona Christi (in the person of Christ), by virtue of his ordination.

    But those of us in the pews are not idle spectators. The Second Vatican Council’s Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy no. 48 says that the faithful should be “conscious” participants “by offering the Immaculate Victim, not only through the hands of the priest, but also with him, they should learn also to offer themselves.”

    This call to join ourselves to the action of the priest is answered when the people stand and make the following response:

    May the Lord accept the sacrifice at your hands
    for the praise and glory of his name,
    for our good
    and the good of all his holy Church.

    The addition of “holy” reminds us that the Church belongs to Christ, and is founded on His grace. Afterwards comes the priest’s “Prayer over the Offerings” — part of the proper prayers that change depending on the liturgical day. Just as with the Collects at the beginning of Mass, many of these will feature richer and fuller content.

    The Eucharistic Prayer itself then begins with this dialogue:

    Priest: The Lord be with you.
    People: And with your spirit.
    Priest: Lift up your hearts.
    People: We lift them up to the Lord.
    Priest: Let us give thanks to the Lord our God.
    People: It is right and just.

    Of the two highlighted changes, we have already seen “And with your spirit.” The phrase, “It is right and just,” is a simple rendering of the Latin, “Dignum et iustum est,” emphasizing the fact that it is fitting and fair (“just”) to give thanks to God, since He is both our Creator and Redeemer.

    This dialogue is followed by the Preface, a more lengthy prayer that can vary depending on the liturgical occasion. Most Prefaces in the new translation expand upon the words of the preceding dialogue by beginning, “It is truly right and just, our duty and our salvation, always and everywhere to give you thanks.”

    Posted on February 3, 2011, to:

  • The new translation of the Holy Mass:

    By Brian MacMichael

    The Creed, Part 2
    Last week, we reviewed the origins of the Creed, and began looking at the changes in the new translation, such as “I believe,” and “consubstantial.” Now, we will look at a few additional elements of this ancient profession of faith.
    Once again, the newly translated Nicene Creed is fully reproduced below, changes in bold:

    I believe in one God,
    the Father almighty,
    maker of heaven and earth,
    of all things visible and invisible.

    I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
    the Only Begotten Son of God,
    born of the Father before all ages.
    God from God, Light from Light,
    true God from true God,
    begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
    through him all things were made.
    For us men and for our salvation
    he came down from heaven,

    and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
    and became man.

    For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
    he suffered death and was buried,
    and rose again on the third day
    in accordance with the Scriptures.
    He ascended into heaven
    and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
    He will come again in glory
    to judge the living and the dead
    and his kingdom will have no end.

    I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
    who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
    who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
    who has spoken through the prophets.

    I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
    I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
    and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
    and the life of the world to come. Amen

    In looking at the Creed as a whole, we recognize a definite structure: the first section speaks of God the Father, the second focuses on the Son, the third on the Holy Spirit, and the fourth on the Church. The portion on God the Son is by far the longest, for as we have seen previously, the need to affirm right doctrine about Jesus Christ was of utmost importance in the Early Church.

    Let us turn to the phrase that stands alone in the middle of the Creed: “and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man.” Our current translation reads, “by the power of the Holy Spirit he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man.” This simple change from “born” to “incarnate” is perhaps the most important amendment in the new text of the Creed, because it more accurately conveys the truth of the Incarnation — when the Son of God took flesh.

    The current wording can easily be interpreted to mean that Christ did not actually become man until the moment He was born. Of course, the reality is that the Son of God took on human nature from the moment of His conception in the Blessed Virgin Mary’s womb, at the Annunciation. The Lord’s birth in Bethlehem is certainly a profound, public epiphany; but Mary’s “yes” to the Archangel Gabriel in Nazareth is understood as the moment when the Son first “came down from heaven” to dwell among us. In using the term, “incarnate,” the new translation leaves no ambiguity.

    The significance of this line is also underscored by the fact that the faithful are supposed to make a “profound bow” (that is, a bow of the body from the waist) while reciting it, as an expression of reverence towards the great mystery of the Incarnation. This gesture is not something new with the coming translation — we all should be doing it even now whenever the Creed is recited, though many are unaware of this.

    Although it is not a change, there is an interesting significance to the subsequent mention of Pontius Pilate in the Creed. It functions to affirm and profess the authenticity of the events surrounding Christ’s Passion by situating them within a definite historical context — when Pilate was Roman governor of Judea.

    There are a handful of remaining minor changes in the new Creed translation. Describing the Resurrection as being “in accordance with the Scriptures” speaks inclusively of the New Testament, in addition to “fulfillment” of Old Testament prophecy surrounding Christ’s rising. Towards the end, “I confess one baptism” carries more conviction than “acknowledge.”

    And by saying, “I look forward to the resurrection of the dead,” one expresses a sincere desire, rather than simply “looking for” the resurrection. The Latin “exspecto” conveys a sense of anxious waiting and expectation!

    Creed text reproduced with permission of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy.

    Posted on January 26, 2011, to:

  • The new translation of the Holy Mass:

    By Brian MacMichael

    The Creed, Part I
    Our look at the new translation of the Order of Mass continues with the Nicene Creed, which is a profession, or “symbol,” of the truths of the Christian faith. This Creed was originally adopted at the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325 and then updated at the Council of Constantinople in A.D. 381, during times in which clarifying right doctrine was especially important for the Church. It is therefore also referred to as the “Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed.” (The “Filioque” clause, by which the Catholic Church affirms that the Holy Spirit “proceeds from the Father and the Son,” was recognized later.)

    The Nicene Creed is used at all Masses on Sundays and solemnities (although the older, shorter Apostles’ Creed will also be an option with the new Missal), and it may be recited or even sung, just as the Latin text was chanted.
    The following is the complete new English text of the Nicene Creed, with changes in bold:

    I believe in one God,
    the Father almighty,
    maker of heaven and earth,
    of all things visible and invisible.

    I believe in one Lord Jesus Christ,
    the Only Begotten Son of God,
    born of the Father before all ages.
    God from God, Light from Light,
    true God from true God,
    begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father;
    through him all things were made.
    For us men and for our salvation
    he came down from heaven,

    and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary,
    and became man.

    For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate,
    he suffered death and was buried,
    and rose again on the third day
    in accordance with the Scriptures.
    He ascended into heaven
    and is seated at the right hand of the Father.
    He will come again in glory
    to judge the living and the dead
    and his kingdom will have no end.

    I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life,
    who proceeds from the Father and the Son,
    who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified,
    who has spoken through the prophets.

    I believe in one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church.
    I confess one Baptism for the forgiveness of sins
    and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead
    and the life of the world to come. Amen

    The first major change is difficult to miss: the Creed will now say “I believe” instead of “We believe.” Other language groups have been using “I believe” in the vernacular, because it is a straightforward translation of the ancient Latin text, which begins with “Credo in unum Deum” (“I believe in one God”). The Catechism of the Catholic Church offers a reflection on this phrase: “Whoever says ‘I believe’ says ‘I pledge myself to what we believe.’” — no. 185. It is a recurring opportunity to reaffirm one’s personal faith, just as when individuals respond, “I do,” if there is a renewal of baptismal promises during Mass.

    The next change is the line, “all things visible and invisible,” which is currently “seen and unseen.” The Latin “visibílium” and “invisibílium” convey a more specific demarcation between the bodily and the spiritual realms. For instance, a child playing hide-and-seek may be unseen yet is still considered visible, whereas one’s guardian angel is indeed invisible by nature.

    In addition, the new Creed translation recovers Christ’s title, “Only Begotten Son” (“Fili Unigenite”), which we also saw in the revised Gloria. To say the Son is “born of the Father before all ages” is a very profound theological truth, for the Son is not “born” in the human sense of beginning one’s life, but eternally proceeds from the Father while being always fully God.

    This observation leads us to a major wording change: from “one in being” to “consubstantial with the Father.” “Consubstantial” (“consubstantiálem” in the Latin text) is an unusual word that will require some catechesis, but it is a crucial early theological term, asserting that the Son is of the “same substance” with the Father — meaning He equally shares the Father’s divinity as a Person of the Holy Trinity.

    Although it carries the same basic meaning as “one in being,” the more precise use of “consubstantial” is an acknowledgement of how the Greek equivalent of the word was so important for safeguarding orthodoxy in the Early Church. In the 4th century, the description “homoousios” (“same substance”) was affirmed over “homoiousios” (“like substance”). The reality of who Christ is thus hinged upon a single letter!

    Creed text reproduced with permission of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy.

    Posted on January 19, 2011, to:

  • The new translation of the Holy Mass:

    By Brian MacMichael

    The Gloria
    After examining the first part of the Gloria last week, we turn to the second half of this beautiful, ancient hymn. It is helpful once again to reproduce the entire text of the new Gloria translation:

    Glory to God in the highest,
    and on earth peace to people of good
    will.

    We praise you,
    we bless you,
    we adore you,
    we glorify you,
    we give you thanks for your great glory,
    Lord God, heavenly King,
    O God, almighty Father.

    Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,
    Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the
    Father,
    you take away the sins of the world,
    have mercy on us;
    you take away the sins of the world,
    receive our prayer;
    you are seated at the right hand of
    the Father, have mercy on us.

    For you alone are the Holy One,
    you alone are the Lord,
    you alone are the Most High,
    Jesus Christ,
    with the Holy Spirit,
    in the glory of God the Father. Amen.

    The first half of the hymn is addressed to God the Father, whereas the remainder is addressed to God the Son. Right at the beginning, we notice a change, with “only Son of the Father” being replaced by the title, “Only Begotten Son.” The phrase “Son of the Father” is moved to after “Lord God, Lamb of God.”

    The addition of “Only Begotten Son” recovers a key phrase from the Latin text — “Fili Unigenite.” This is a venerable title of Jesus Christ, which speaks of the fact that the Son of God comes forth from the Father, yet is no less an eternal Person of the Divine Trinity. We may draw a connection to the Nicene Creed, in which we profess that Jesus Christ is “begotten, not made.”

    The subsequent lines contain the final changes in the new Gloria. Unlike our current translation, this text includes two lines (rather than one) that begin with “you take away the sins of the world,” thereby reflecting the Latin text. By regaining this line and an additional “have mercy on us” in the next line, the new translation features a classic threefold structure of supplication: “have mercy on us … receive our prayer … have mercy on us.” We also see this sort of structure in the Kyrie and Lamb of God.

    In addition, there is a slight change within the phrase, “you take away the sins of the world” (which comes from John 1:29). The current translation has “sin of the world,” while the new translation will have the plural, “sins” (in Latin, “peccata”). Though a seemingly minor change, it does give greater emphasis to the fact that Christ does not just conquer sin in general, but also forgives all our individual sins.

    Having examined the text of the Gloria, it is appropriate to say a few words about the musical implications. The new translation of the Order of Mass will, of course, necessitate that new sung settings be written for the parts of the Mass. Due to substantial changes in wording, the Gloria will be the most challenging piece for sacred music composers to render in English. For instance, the fivefold description of worship — “We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory” — is quite different from the current phrasing.
    It is important to recognize that the Gloria really should be sung whenever possible — it is a hymn, after all. The text of the Gloria is also most clearly expressed when it is sung straight through (“through-composed”) without refrains (i.e., repetition of the opening line). This maintains its overall structure and flow. Recall again that the first half is addressed to the Father, and the second half to the Son — interjecting lines from one part into another disrupts the content.

    Having musical settings that are simple to learn, yet very beautiful, will contribute greatly to making Mass more reverent and giving proper glory to God. The best-known Latin chant version of the “Gloria in excelsis Deo” (the one from Mass VIII) is both simple and sublime, allowing the singer to linger gracefully upon such phrases as the aforementioned five descriptions of worship, all within the fluid rhythm of Gregorian chant. Official, intuitive English chant versions of the Gloria and other Mass parts have also been developed, drawing inspiration from various traditional Latin settings.

    The new translation will present many similar opportunities in the area of sacred music.

    Gloria text reproduced with permission of the International Commission on English in the Liturgy.

    Posted on January 11, 2011, to: