At the same
time as Pope Francis was in Columbia during late September, the Vatican issued
a new document from the pope – a motu proprio,
that is, a document written on his own initiative. In this document, Pope
Francis announced a change in Canon Law which would return the process for
approving translations of liturgical texts back to national bishops’
conferences rather than the Vatican. We might not think so, but this is an
important change, which will allow the formal language used in our current
celebrations of Eucharist to give way to language consistent with our lives
today.
Words
matter. Some words convey intellectual content and some words touch the heart and
reflect our deepest selves. Words can draw us closer to God and things divine,
or not. The culture in which we live also makes a difference to what words
convey. In so many ways, words matter.
The Constitution on the Liturgy, the first
document of the Second Vatican Council, called for our Eucharistic Liturgy to
be in the vernacular, so that the faithful (you and I) could celebrate Christ’s
self-gift to all with “full, conscious and active participation.” Any of us who
were in the pews in 1973, as well as the priest-presiders, knew what arduous
work it was to make the switch from Latin to English, but the effort made us
experience Eucharist in a deeper way. It also became clear that the first
English translation of the Roman Missal needed to be followed by a more
polished, life-touching version. The International Commission on the English
Language produced a beautiful new Mass text for use beginning in 1998, but Rome
rejected this translation and had another translation prepared which we began
to use in 2011.
Here is the
Opening Prayer for the Feast of All Saints, as translated in each of these
three time periods. I offer them here for you so you can get the “feel” of each
way the community is encouraged to pray, and what we might look forward to. Try
praying each of these out loud and hear how they feel.
1973
Let us pray…
Father, all-powerful and ever-
living God, today we rejoice in the
holy men and women of every time
and place. May their prayers bring us
your forgiveness and love.
We ask this…
1998
Let us pray…
All-holy and eternal God,
you have given us this feast
to celebrate on one day the
holy men and women of every
time and place. Through their
manifold intercession, grant us
the full measure of your mercy
for which we so deeply long.
We ask this…
2011
Let us pray…
Almighty, ever-living God,
by whose gift we venerate
in one celebration
the merits of all the Saints,
bestow on us, we pray,
through the prayers of so
many intercessors, an
abundance of the
reconciliation with you
for which we earnestly long.
Through our Lord….
It will probably be five to 10 years
before our faith communities have a new Eucharistic translation that speaks to
our hearts, but we may see glimpses of it before then. Even to know it is
coming is an encouraging thing.
~Sister Joan Sobala
