Back to the beginning: Changing the Sacramentary

This weekend I will observe a little ritual which it's been my pleasure to carry out now for some 37 years. I will move the ribbons in the Sacramentary to the collects and preface for the First Sunday of Advent. The ribbon for the collects brings us back to the front of the Sacramentary such that the left hand page will not easily lie flat but will buckle up a bit against the right hand which holds a year's worth of pages yet to pray through.

This is, I know, a small task but one which never fails to remind me that the Church is beginning a new year, another year of celebrating our life in Christ and the saving events that bind us together as the Body of Christ: a new Year of Grace.

I've moved those ribbons in suburban and city parishes and in campus chapels. The ribbon-turning began when I wasn't altogether sure of where the ribbons were supposed to go. And I moved those ribbons in years when I wondered if I would remain in this ribbon-bound priesthood. I changed the ribbons in years early on when I found the Sacramentary to be somewhat limiting but later, that same book became an old and reliable friend. I've actually worn out a Sacramentary or two and even before trading in for a new copy, the ribbons themselves have sometimes needed to be replaced.

I've turned the ribbons back to Advent in years of the Church's grace and in years of its disgrace. Those ribbons and the book they mark have been with me for coming close to four decades and I thank God for the grace of all those years born of the prayers and rites the Sacramentary offers us. 

And now a new Year of Grace is about to begin and I will find myself at 5:00 this Saturday evening, witnessing the lighting of the first candle on our parish Advent wreath and then opening the book to where the ribbon will lead me to pray these beautiful words yet again:

Father in heaven,
our hearts desire the warmth of your love
and our minds are searching
for the light of your Word.
Increase our longing for Christ our Savior
and give us the strength to grow in love,
that the dawn of his coming
may find us rejoicing in his presence
and welcoming the light of his truth. 

But this will be the last year I'll have an opportunity to pray these words of the alternative Opening Prayer.  Beginning with Advent 2011, we'll be using a new Roman Missal with a new translation of the ordinary parts of the Mass and those parts (like the Opening Prayer) which the priest prays.

There's been much controversy over this translation and the theory of translation from which the new texts will derive.  I've not paid a lot of attention to these matters on this page although there is a link on the sidebar to the USCCB site dealing with these concerns.  For an in depth look at all of this go to the always informative Pray Tell Blog which provides this helpful summary link to its coverage of the translation and development of the new Roman Missal.

No one defends the translation we've been using as perfect.  I'm not unaware of its problems but neither am I ignorant of its value.   Regardless of my opinion of the coming new translation, I understand the need for a corrective review of the current texts.  Even with its imperfections, however, the present Sacramentary is not the danger to souls that some make it out to be.

Following the story of the translation controversy it comes to mind that over some 37 years, I don't recall one person ever approaching me to question or to complain about the translation of the ordinary parts of the Mass or the prayers in the Sacramentary - with the exception of comments about texts that rely on masculine pronouns to stand for both genders of the faithful.  Of course the average worshiper is unfamiliar with the Latin text and thus unlikely to offer a critique of its translation.  But neither have any parishioners in my own experience complained that the texts are banal, trite, uninspired, or somehow lacking in reverence for all that is holy - as some in the thick of the debate like to claim.

My purpose here is not to enter the fray and take one side or the other.  I'm a pastor and between now and Advent 2011 I will need to find ways to prepare for and introduce my parish and myself to these changes - that's the given. My point in this post is simply to acknowledge the anticipated passing of an old friend, the 1975 Sacramentary.

The most important ministry I offer as a priest is my work in leading the people of God in the celebration of the sacraments.  All other elements of my ministry flow from the liturgy and lead back to it.  The ritual books for individual sacraments not withstanding, the Sacramentary is a pastor's constant companion in the liturgy: at the chair, at the altar, at the doors of the church.  And what pastor could even prepare to celebrate the liturgy without the Sacramentary close at hand?

The Sacramentary has served the Church well in spite of its flaws.

As Advent begins and we pray from the current Sacramentary for one more year,  I'll likely notice its weak points more readily and enjoy its fruits more fully one last time.  And I'll pray that we who minister with the new Missal and all who are served by it will find in its pages and language a faithful companion and voice for our prayer in the decades ahead.

On this weekend, however, this pastor will be pleased to pray, one more time, that the dawn of his coming will find us rejoicing in his presence and welcoming the light of his truth...


Subscribe to A Concord Pastor Comments
YearofGrace2011