A Note from Fr. Rich
The First Sunday of Advent is the beginning of the Church’s new liturgical year. This year it is also the time when we begin to use the new English translation of the Roman Missal. The Roman Missal is the book that contains the various prayers and rituals used when we come together to celebrate the Eucharist. These include the many responses and prayers with which we have become familiar as well as the musical settings for those parts of the Mass we normally sing.
The Second Vatican Council, in 1964, opened the way for the use of vernacular (native) languages in the Eucharistic Liturgy. Following the Council, therefore, the Latin text of the Roman Missal was translated into various languages for use around the world. The English version being first published in the US in 1973. A subsequent revision/edition was promulgated in 1975 and a third in 2000. A new English translation has been approved for use in the United States beginning at the liturgies for the First Sunday of Advent, Nov. 26 & 27, 2011.
This third translation is attempting to be more authentic to the Latin edition which is the norm for all the various vernacular translations. It is also attempting to capture some of the beautiful scriptural images that had been lost in the last translation. While these are positives it will still be a challenge because change is not always easy.
For one thing we will probably need to use some written aids so we can respond. In one sense this is hard but in another it will mean that we have to focus on what we are saying. Sometimes when we are too familiar with what we say or do forget the importance of what we are doing. The Mass has not changed; only some of the words we use. Remembering that is very important. It is a monumental time for all of us to once again delve into the wonderful richness of our Eucharistic Liturgy.
In the next few months we will be putting some articles in the bulletin and providing various resources on this page to help parishioners understand what is being changed and to become somewhat familiar with some new wording that affects many of the responses and prayers of the Mass. We have also begun learning some new musical settings for the responses because of the new wording we will be using.
In order to help everyone in this transition we are including a number of excellent resources that can be used to better understand the new Roman Missal. You can look at them at your leisure and become more familiar.
These are the web sites that we totally recommend.
The web site of the Archdiocese of Boston provides a comprehensive set of audio clips of the various prayers and chants for the new translation of the Mass.
The web site of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops – This site is chock full of resources including a side-by-side comparison of the people’s prayers as they were and as they will be as well as answers to almost any questions about the changes. There is also some great information about the nature, purpose, theology and structure of the Liturgy. Look for some of their resources to appear in our bulletin as inserts.
There are also some video clips on youtube of people speaking about the new missal. These can be very appealing to many people:
- History of the Change (14 minutes)
- Specific Changes (12 minutes)
- Eucharistic Prayer Changes (12 minutes)
Music
One of the biggest changes that the “people” will notice is in the music. Some excellent resources can be found at the following links:
http://www.reverbnation.com/officeofdivineworshipsaintceciliaschola
From the National Association of Pastoral Musicians
http://www.npm.org/Chants/index.html
