Since the U.S. bishops at their June, 2011 meeting gave permission for the Mass settings (music) to begin, some parishes are getting a head start in using or at least practicing these musical settings to familiarize themselves with the new words and melodies before the actual implementation in Advent. One of three more difficult pieces to learn will be the Gloria because it is not used during Advent, but will start on Christmas (The one time during Advent the Gloria will be sung or recited is on December 8th, the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception and its Vigil, December 7th). The Bishops have urged choirs and congregations to start learning the new Gloria during October and November so they will have the music on their ear and the new wording in their minds somewhat ready for Christmas. Since most congregations double their size at Christmas and Easter, things will appear quite foreign to those who only attend Mass on those holy days. If the regular church-going congregation knows a new Gloria melody and other musical settings we will not have such mute congregants on these solemnities. The new Roman Missal stresses singing the parts of the Mass more than ever before. The priests will have to tone up their vocal cords if they have been gifted with some musical ability!

If possible, priests have been urged to sing the Preface at Sunday Masses, but now they are urged to sing the Dialogue preceding the Preface vig. “The Lord be with You…etc”. Since during Mass the new response to the “Lord be with you” will be “And with your spirit” if we sing it from the very beginning of the wording changes, we will be more apt to remember the new response when we say it at all the Masses we attend. We can say or sing the response “and with your spirit” as much as five times during Mass so the more we sing that response, musicians say the more easily we will remember it. It will take time and patience and mistakes will be made by all of us so we have to be more tolerant. Most parishes will have the new wording printed on cards inserted in the pews and they will be printed in new Missalettes and new personal missals that parishioners have.

In the new wording for the Creed, whether the Nicene Creed, which we ordinarily use on Sundays and holy days or the Apostles Creed used on certain occasions, we begin by saying “I believe” instead of “We believe” and we will say “I believe” four times during the Creed(s). This again is a more accurate translation of “Credo”. Having a laminated pew card or missalette in front of us will have us use the new translation. By saying “I believe” each individual now personally asserts his or her belief in all the dogmas of our Christian faith.

Another noticeable change will be in the acclamation after the narrative of institution (Consecration). The priest will say, “The Mystery of Faith” instead of “Let us proclaim the Mystery of Faith” Why this change? The priest has made an announcement about our faith and the congregation makes an acclamation. It is the faith for us to affirm. People will notice that the most popular American proclamation “Christ Has Died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again”, has been eliminated. The U.S. Bishops debated over this response for years. They felt it was not an acclamation, but a theological proclamation or statement. The new wording for the three possible responses proclaim what Jesus has done for us by His Cross and Resurrection. These responses resemble the ones we know well, but their deeper meaning is revealed in the new wording.

New compositions and revised settings have been prepared by various musicians for this new translation. Through them you will sing your praise to Christ in a new way.

We welcome Father Jay Haskin to St. Vincent Ferrer Parish for the next few months. Father Jay Haskin comes to us from the Diocese of Burlington, Vermont and will return to his diocese in mid-December in time to start shoveling snow! We also welcome back Father Paul Hervey from the Diocese of Venice, Florida who will help out with Masses at St. Vincent. We thank them for their service here in our parish.

Very Rev. Michael T. Driscoll, O. Carm.
Administrator Pro-Tem

Attitude toward change will be most important for all involved in the liturgy. If we have a positive attitude, the transition in learning new responses and the reasons for change will be well received. If we are negative about the changes, it will be obvious in how we respond or do not respond. The 11 English speaking Conferences of Bishops in various countries have struggled a long time in making the language more accurate and hopefully better. It was not done overnight and it may not be perfect, but it is what we have and we all should try to adjust when these word changes are introduced at the beginning of Advent.

For the past 40 years or so, the official English language prayer book that the priest used for Mass was called the Sacramentary. The Latin Roman Missal, source of these prayers, came out in various editions in English in 1974 and 1985. In 2001, in preparation for the third edition of the Roman Missal, the Vatican presented translating guidelines in an instruction known by its Latin name Liturgiam Authenticam. What was the goal of this document in translating texts? It stated in #20: “…. While it is permissible to arrange the wording, the syntax and the style in such a way as to prepare a flowing vernacular text suitable to the rhythm of popular prayer, the original text in so far as possible, must be translated integrally and in the most exact manner, without omissions or additions in terms of their content, and without paraphrases or glosses.”

Liturgiam Authenticam points to this priority: “So that the content of the original texts may be evident and comprehensible even to the faithful who lack any special intellectual formation, the translations should be characterized by a kind of language which is easily understandable, yet which at the same time preserves these texts’ dignity, beauty, and doctrinal precision” (#25).

In addition, translators strive to perceive and render accurately the words and phrases that are drawn from the Scripture and from other ancient sources, such as the writings of the Church Fathers and early liturgical texts.

What was the guiding principle of the previous Sacramentary that we have been using for the past 40 years? The translation principle was called “dynamic equivalence.” This meant one translated from the official Latin basic thoughts rather than words. The translators task was to take into account the meaning each word and phrase and translate what it means into the new language. Its intention was to help us understand what the meaning is behind this particular word or phrase while trying to be faithful to the original Latin. So the translators took freedom with the structure and content of the Latin text. This translation helped our Englishspeaking communities to jump from praying Mass in Latin to praying in English. The translations sacrificed some of the nuances and exactness of the original Latin to give us, as was thought, a better understanding of the faith. It laid a foundation for what will now be coming this Advent. After this lengthy time, Rome wanted the translation to reflect the theological depth of the original Latin.

The new principle, formulated in Liturgiam Authenticam (LA), is called “formal equivalence”. This principal means that words and phrases in Latin are translated literally and exactly into the vernacular. According to LA, exactitude is important with emphasis on faithful and literal adherence to the original Latin text in the Roman Missal of 2002. So this new translation will be more formal and not what we are used to in ordinary conversation. Many sentences are longer so the priest celebrant of Mass will have to take deeper breaths to finish some of these sentences. Previously, the Sacramentary translation had the long sentences broken up in the English translation. As of October 1, 2001, the new book will be sent to parishes that have ordered copies and the priests have lots of homework ahead of them.

Very Rev. Michael T. Driscoll, O. Carm.
Pastor Pro-Tem