The Roman Missal

This week the Bishops of England and Wales published a Letter about the New Translation of the Roman Missal.

The letter will be read tomorrow in all parishes. It welcomes the new translation due to come into effect this Advent.

A special website under the Liturgy Office of the Bishops of England and Wales has been set up to explain everything that needs to be known about the new translation.

In his recent post WDTPRS: 6th Sunday of Easter (2002MR) – memory and busy love Father Z explains and illustrates simply, cogently and concisely why the ICEL translation presently in use since 1973 has been in need of reform and has to be replaced by a new and more literal English translation.

He does this by examining the Collect for tomorrow, the 6th Sunday after Easter.

He writes:

"ICEL (1973):

Ever-living God,

help us to celebrate our joy

in the resurrection of the Lord

and to express in our lives

the love we celebrate.

In the ICEL version [1973] just what we are “celebrating” (which we do a lot – here we have that same word twice), is not entirely clear. We are celebrating the “our joy” and then later “our love.”

The Latin says we are celebrating “days of joy in honor of the rising Lord.” In Latin we celebrate with sedulus affectus (or at least affectus sedulo (adv.)).

Also, the aspect of “remembering” has been expunged.

While there is none of the poetry of the original in this rendition, it does however get at the dimension of expressing concretely what we are celebrating. This is important. Doing something because of what Christ did is clearly important in both versions of the prayer.

I regret that ICEL forgot the memory aspect: it is important in understanding what the prayer really says"