July, 2011

The following weekly Liturgy Series is 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).

How did the Roman Missal Originate?
In the early Christian Church, many of the prayers that were said at Eucharist were memorized and handed down by word of mouth. Eventually the prayers were collected and written down in books known as sacramentaries (book of sacraments). Scripture readings were recorded in other books and the Psalms were written in a book called the Psalter. Throughout the ages, as these manuscripts were passed down, modifications and additions were made. Eventually, all the chants, prayers, instructions and scriptures were organized into one book. It was written in Latin and as the texts contained in it continued to evolve over the next five centuries, it became quite large. It wasn’t until the Second Vatican Council that the Church called for a more frequent use of the local language, which is called “the vernacular”. So, after Vatican II the Mass was translated from Latin into French, Italian, German, English and the other various local languages of the peoples and nations around the world.

How has the Roman Missal changed in recent history?
Since the Second Vatican Council ended on December 8, 1965, there have been three revisions, or editions, of the Roman Missal in Latin. The first edition was published in 1969, the second in 1975, and the third in 2002. The English translation of the most recent 2002 edition of the New Revised Roman Missal has finally been completed. It will serve all English speaking people in the Roman Catholic Church throughout the world. The Congregation for Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in Rome is the department at the Vatican which regulates the standard texts of the Roman Missal that is used by all English speaking countries and the Canadian Conference of Catholic Bishops has received approval from the Congregation for the implementation of the New Revised Roman Missal in Canada. The date for the implementation of the New Revised Roman Missal in Canada has been set for the First Sunday of Advent, 2011, which will be November 27^th of this year.