Rocco Palmo at Whispers in the Loggia has a long post on the new translation of the Sacramentary, which had been discussed at the latest meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which, oddly, received almost zero coverage in the national media. The media was either "poped out" after Benedict XVI’s triumphant visit, or failed to realize the symbolic meaning of some of the bishops’ discussions on the liturgy. Rocco’s post is under "Orlando Redux" here. One prediction: When the new Sacramentary is first distributed and used, there will, necessarily, be some time before the priests and faithful are, literally, "on the same page." That is, those who are used to praying without referring to the missalette might find themselves praying the wrong/old prayers out of habit; those who are following the correct/new missalette might find that some of their fellow parishioners aren’t following along as carefully as they should; and some priests used to saying the same words for decades might stumble on the new prayers, and perhaps even, out of habit, declaim the wrong/old ones. This should be temporary. Others have suggested to me, more darkly, that some priests might actually cling to their old Sacramentaries, which would, sadly, throw parishes into greater confusion. (That last possibility is one that I hope fails to materialize.) All this points out that the transition may be just as important as the translation. James Martin, SJGibbets, Part Three Hundred
Rocco Palmo at Whispers in the Loggia has a long post on the new translation of the Sacramentary, which had been discussed at the latest meeting of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, which, oddly, received almost zero coverage in the national media. The media was either "poped out" after Benedict XVI’s triumphant visit, or failed to realize the symbolic meaning of some of the bishops’ discussions on the liturgy. Rocco’s post is under "Orlando Redux" here. One prediction: When the new Sacramentary is first distributed and used, there will, necessarily, be some time before the priests and faithful are, literally, "on the same page." That is, those who are used to praying without referring to the missalette might find themselves praying the wrong/old prayers out of habit; those who are following the correct/new missalette might find that some of their fellow parishioners aren’t following along as carefully as they should; and some priests used to saying the same words for decades might stumble on the new prayers, and perhaps even, out of habit, declaim the wrong/old ones. This should be temporary. Others have suggested to me, more darkly, that some priests might actually cling to their old Sacramentaries, which would, sadly, throw parishes into greater confusion. (That last possibility is one that I hope fails to materialize.) All this points out that the transition may be just as important as the translation. James Martin, SJ
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16 years 9 months ago
Dear Robert, I would very doubt it, since the bishops are still tinkering with it. There have been dribs and drabs posted here and there (for example, on the Tablet's website) but nothing comprehensive, as far as I know. Peace, James Martin, SJ
16 years 9 months ago
Is there an copy of the new translation available online?
16 years 9 months ago
We would never be sailing in this boat of conflict and ambiguity if the Mass was left alone. Focus should have been on further educating the faithful on what the Latin means...That could have been done. Providing everyone a Latin/English Missal would have been a start..People knew what Mass was about then...Funny how now that it is in the vernacular many people know less what happens during Mass than when it was in Latin...And I am speaking from experience as a 39 year old. I attend a TLM and the Latin has pushed me to actually read the prayers and decipher the texts..That never happened in vernacular Mass. I guess you would call that "active participation"
16 years 9 months ago
I don't think that the MSM has covered this because, quite frankly, it is of little to no interest to the readership at large. Even Catholics, in the main, don't care about it until they are faced with the reality of whatever will happen. Vatican II changes were made after hundreds of years of sameness and the totality of these changes WAS news. This change (however it will end up) comes with only 50+ years of dealing with Novus Ordo as we have it now. I also suspect that introduction will take a lot of time, be done quite poorly, and, like the recent changes in how one is to approach receiving the Eucharist, observed by only a few. Ditto for the attempt to revivify the Latin Mass ... ho hum to almost everyone.
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