What Is The Roman Missal?

Over the past several years, you revised in 1998 and are currently have heard much through newspa- used in the liturgy. !e texts that are pers, blog postings, and Twitter found in the current edition of "e about the revised translation of "e Sacramentary have been retrans- Roman Missal. You may be wonder- lated and will eventually be used in ing, “What is "e Roman Missal, and English-speaking countries. With how does this translation a"ect us?” this translation, the name of the book Take notice of the red book will change from "e Sacramentary the priest uses most often dur- to "e Roman Missal, a translation ing Mass. This book is called The of the Latin title, Missale Romanum. Sacramentary, which together with All of the prayers we say in the Lectionary for Mass make up English have corresponding Latin The Roman Missal. The Missal is texts. After the Second Vatican the col lection of prayers, chants, Council, the Latin texts were trans- and instructions (rubrics) used to lated into the vernacular, or com- celebrate Mass. !is includes prayers mon language, of particular regions. such as the Sign of the Cross and The first English translation of opening greeting; Collects; Gloria; The Roman Missal was completed Creed; Eucharistic Prayers; Holy, quickly in 1969. It aimed for a “spirit” Holy, Holy; Memorial Acclamations; of the texts rather than an exact lit- and the #nal blessing. !e majority eral translation of the Latin words. of the prayers we recite or sing at A second revision of these texts Mass are contained in this book and it is these prayers that are occurred in 1975. In 2001, the Congregation for Divine currently being retranslated from the original Latin into English. Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, the liturgical In the early Christian Church, many of the Mass prayers commission in Rome, issued a document outlining the meth- were memorized and handed down orally. Scribes eventually odology and process for translating liturgical texts into ver- collected the prayers and recorded them in liber sacramentum nacular languages. !is document, Liturgiam authenticum, (book of sacraments or sacramentaries). Other books were called for a more literal translation of the original Latin, and used for the scripture readings: Lectionaries and a Book of the so a group of scholars, poets, and theologians convened and Gospels (Evangeliary) for the scripture readings, and addi- worked painstakingly on providing a third English transla- tional books for the chants and antiphons. Slight changes and tion. !e Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline additions developed as manuscripts were handed on and hand of the Sacraments announced recognitio on April 30, 2010. scribed. Eventually the chants, scripture readings, prayer !ese texts will be implemented on November 27, 2011, the texts, and instructions were compiled into a single volume, the First Sunday of Advent. Missale Plenum (complete Missal). When Johannes Gutenberg When the translation is used, you will notice slight invented the movable printing press in 1470, this allowed the changes in the prayers we hear and say at Mass. For example, Mass texts to become standardized and published universally. we will soon respond, “And with your spirit” to “!e Lord be In 1474, the first Missale Romanum (Roman Missal) was with you.” Being faithful to the original Latin prayers will printed in Latin and the texts contained in this volume enhance the meaning of the texts. !ey will be more poetic, evolved over the #ve ensuing centuries. and there will be a more obvious connection to the scriptural Because the amount of scripture proclaimed at Mass roots of our prayers. !ere is an old axiom, lex orandi, lex increased following the Second Vatican Council (1962 –1965), credendi—that is “the law of prayer is the law of faith” or “that the Missale Romanum (Roman Missal) was divided into two which we pray is that which we believe.” !is is why the prayers separate books: The Lectionary for Mass (four volumes of of the Church are so important and why the Church has initi- Sacred Scripture) and "e Sacramentary (prayers, chants, and ated the process of revising the English translation. !e words of instructions [rubrics] for the celebration of the Mass). !e our prayers are what we believe as a Church and form us as the Lectionary texts for the dioceses of the United States were body of Christ. For more information about "e Roman Missal, please visit this Web site: www.Revised Roman Missal.org.

Written by Jill Maria Murdy. Preparing Your Parish for the Revised Roman Missal: Homilies and Reproducibles for Faith Formation © 2011 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 3949 South Racine Avenue, Chicago IL 60609; 1-800-933-1800; www.LTP.org. Excerpts from the English translation of !e Roman Missal © 1973, 2010 International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). All rights reserved. Photo © Joῧ Zich. "e copy- right notice must appear with the text. Published with Ecclesiastical Approval (Canon 823, 1). Why Was The Roman Missal Revised?

Kristopher W. Seaman

For several years, bishops in translation of the Latin. A English-speaking countries have considerable amount of time has been working together to been spent trying to accurately produce a unified translation of translate the Latin texts into the texts of the Mass. The book English in a literal manner which will used by the priest at Eucharistic keep intact the structure, order and liturgies is officially now to be vocabulary of the Latin language. At called the Roman Missal. We have first this may seem awkward been calling thaW³red book´ The (especially the priest¶s prayers), but if Sacramentary. The Roman Missal we lend our ears to really comprehend contains all of the prayers of the these prayers, they are quite beautiful Eucharistic liturgy. The Order of and poetic. In essence, the translators Mass, prayers for a feast day, were to maintain the poetry of the Latin Solemn Blessings and Eucharistic Prayers are all found in language in the revised liturgical language that we will now hear. the Roman Missal. After approving the revised English translation of the The current prayer texts with which we are familiar Roman Missal, the bishops of the English-speaking countries are from the Missal of Pope Paul VI. At the Second Vatican (there are 11) sent the texts to Rome for review. Once Council, it was decided that liturgical texts could be prayed reviewed, the translation was given recognitio²the Latin officially in vernacular languages (the language of the term for ³recognizing´ the translation or approving it. people: English, Italian, etc.). This approval came in After proofing the text, the Bishops back here in the U.S. November of 1963, when the Council issued the Constitution sent the text to publishers with the adaptations for the U.S. The on the Sacred Liturgy. This document provides the vision for publishers had to typeset and send proofs to the Bishops¶ all subsequent liturgical reforms in the Roman Catholic Committee on Divine Worship for final approval before Church. The bishops, then, reformed the liturgical books for printing the Roman Missal . That process took about a year the sacraments, including the Eucharist, or Mass. The result because of the enormous amount of texts included in the was the 1969 Missal of Paul VI, a fully revised book first Missal. The new edition ships to parishes on October 1. published in Latin. The Missal was then translated into As we waited for the approval of all of the prayers of vernacular languages around the world. In 1974, the U.S. the Mass, it allowed time for the composition of music for edition of the Sacramentary was approved by the Holy See; the Gloria, the Holy, Holy; and other parts of the Order of however, only a year later an ³updated´ Latin edition was Mass. It also provided time for pastoral leadership to printed in Rome, modifying prayers and rubrics understand the reasons for the revisions and to begin (instructions) that needed fixing. It was not until 1985 that educating their Assemblies. In this time between the the next update for the English Sacramentary in the U.S. was implementation of the revised edition of The Roman Missal approved. and implementation, parishes will continue to educate. In 2000, to commemorate the new millennium and the As our parish studies the revised translation, you will Jubilee Year, Blessed Pope John Paul II called for a third see that many of the priest¶s and some of the people¶s parts edition of the Roman Missal, which was then published in have changed. For example, when the Presider proclaims, 2002. He wanted to include revised prayers that dated back ³The Lord be with you,´ the people will reply, ³And with to our early Church Fathers and included many updates since your spirit.´ That response is the direct translation of 2 the Second Vatican Council. Many of these updates include Timothy 4:22 and a reminder to the priest of the spirit that he additions to the liturgical calendar with saints that have been received at ordination and that we, the people, assure him that canonized; John Paul II canonized an amazing 482 during his he has the assistance of God¶s spirit from his ordination in pontificate! As with all liturgical books, this edition of the order to perform the prophetic function of the Church. Other Roman Missal was first published in Latin. Thus, national revisions, too, will help us relate the prayers of the Mass to bishops¶ conferences have been working to translate the Missal Scripture. The response to the Lamb of God, for example, in the local languages of the people. alludes the Centurion¶s request that his servant be healed One reason for this revised translation is obviously the (Matthew 8:8 and Luke 7:6 ³Lord, I am not worthy that you additions to the Missal. The second is due to new rules for should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my translating liturgical texts. The document Liturgiam authenti- soul shall be healed.´). cam (Fifth Instruction for the Right Implementation of the The revised prayers of the Mass will be implemented on Constitution), from the Holy See, called for a more literal the First Sunday of Advent, November 27, 2011.

Preparing Your Parish for the Revised Roman Missal: Homilies and Reproducibles for Faith Formation © 2011 Archdiocese of Chicago: Liturgy Training Publications, 3949 South Racine Avenue, Chicago IL 60609; 1-800-933-1800; www.LTP.org. Excerpts from the English translation of The Roman Missal © 2010, International Committee on English in the Liturgy Corporation (ICEL). All rights reserved. Photo © John Zich. This image may be reproduced for personal or parish use. The copyright notice must appear with the text. Published with Ecclesiastical Approval (Canon 823, 1). Edited by Stephen Adams, 2011