July, 2011

This is the 4^th article in this Liturgy Series in preparation for a new translation for the Mass prayers which will be used by both the priest and the people and will be introduced for our use on the First Sunday of Advent of this year (November 27^th).

What Was Wrong With The Less Formal, More Conversational Style Translation Of The Roman Missal We Have Been Using Since Vatican II?

A more exact, literal translation of the official Roman Missal from Latin into English is important for several reasons:

1. The language of this revised translation will be more similar to that which we hear in Sacred Scripture. Thus, connections between the Scriptures and the Mass texts will be easier to recognize and understand their deep significance.

2. Many of the original phrases used in Latin were altered or lost in the earlier English translations. The revised English translation will bring us closer to the translations used by many other cultural and language groups and will help to connect us linguistically to other Catholics throughout the world.

3. The English versions of many of our liturgical texts are used as the base language by a number of other countries to guide their own translations. Therefore, it is important that our English texts be as precise and as close as possible to the original and official Latin text of the Roman Catholic Church.

4. There is a great Latin expression used in the Church: “Lex orandi, lex credendi” – “the law of prayer is the law of belief.” It is important for us to understand the truth of this expression. The words we use in worship shape our beliefs. They shape how we view our relationship with God and how we situate ourselves in relationship to God. And so, it is very important that we consider very carefully the words that we use in worship, because the words we use have a big influence in what we end up thinking, believing, and living out in our life. Therefore, our English translation needs to be authentic and accurate in order to convey the highest quality message possible.

This is the 3^rd article in this Liturgy Series in preparation for a new translation for the Mass prayers which will be used by both the priest and the people and will be introduced for our use on the First Sunday of Advent of this year (November 27^th).

Why Do We Need A Revised Translation?
There are several reasons for a revised translation.

1. Following the Second Vatican Council, a new Latin edition of the Missal was written, and then was translated into many different languages. The process of translating this Missal into English was enormous, but parishes were anxious to begin celebrating Mass in their local languages instead of Latin as before.

2. There is another issue at play. The English translations up until now have used what is called dynamic equivalence, a process which focused on the meaning of what was being said, rather than the direct, literal translation from the original Latin. Basically, this approach just gave the general sense of the original Latin text. The translators were not so concerned with giving an exact, strict translation, a literal word for word translation. They simply wanted to convey the general meaning. This meant that it was less formal and more conversational. However, the new translation uses formal equivalence, which pays stricter attention to the specific words and sentence structure; it is a more literal, word for word translation and is more faithful to the original Latin text, which is the official text of the Roman Catholic Church. We will begin using this new translation on the First Sunday of Advent (Nov. 27^th).

3. As well as moving to a formal equivalence translation, after the year 2000, Pope John Paul II authorized a third edition of the Roman Missal in Latin, the official language of the Roman Catholic Church. This was necessary because a number of new prayers for the Mass had been written. Also, because Pope John Paul canonized more than 480 saints, the prayers for their feast needed to be included in a new Missal. Therefore, this third edition of the Missal contained many new texts that need to be translated into English.