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This afternoon I set aside some time to prepare for praying the collects for the Mass of the Immaculate Conception which I celebrated this evening. I believe I have a good facility for reading and praying in public. I prayed the Opening Collect without hesitation or stumbling over any words.
But I wonder what was heard... what was understood by those in whose name I was praying... did the text and my praying of it lead others to prayer?
Here's the opening prayer for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception that I prayed this evening, as found in the new Roman Missal:
O God,Here's the opening prayer for the Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception as found in the former Sacramentary:
who by the Immaculate Conception of the Blessed Virgin
prepared a worthy dwelling for your Son,
grant, we pray,
that, as you preserved her from every stain
by virtue of the Death of your Son, which you foresaw,
so, through her intercession,
we, too, may be cleansed and admitted to your presence.
Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Father,Here's the alternate opening prayer from the former Sacramentary. (This prayer is not available in any form in the new Missal.)
you prepared the Virgin Mary
to be the worthy mother of your Son.
You let her share beforehand
in the salvation Christ would bring by his death,
and kept her sinless from the first moment of her conception.
Help us by her prayers
to live in your presence without sin.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever.
Father,I wonder what was heard when I prayed the new translation this evening. I wonder what was understood. Did those words lift peoples' hearts to God and sustain them in prayer?
the image of the Virgin
is found in the Church.
Mary had a faith that your Spirit prepared
and a love that never knew sin,
for you kept her sinless
from the moment of her conception.
Trace in our actions
the lines of her love,
in our hearts her readiness of faith.
Prepare once again a world for your Son
who lives and reigns
with you and the Holy Spirit
one God forever and ever.
This is a look at but one text among many in this evening's liturgy. Still, this was the opening collect for a solemnity on our calendar and I'm not easily convinced that it succeeded in collecting the prayers of the faithful gathered to celebrate. I'm not sure it drew those present into the spirit and meaning of the day's feast.
I think it's important that our discussion about the new translation move beyond counting how many times folks remembered or forgot to respond, "And with your spirit." We can't measure the success of the new translation by how long it takes us to grow accustomed to it. How these texts function or fail to function in our liturgy is the issue that needs our ongoing attention.
I don't post this to encourage anyone's anger about the new translation or to deepen disappointment. Rather, now that the new translation is here, our continued study of these questions can only benefit from our experience of the texts we've been given.
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Thank you for laying these out so clearly for comparison and also for highlighting the key questions they raise.
ReplyDeleteThe cadences and the patterns of stress in the new text are awful.
The most marked differences are shown by the caesuras (pauses in a line of verse dictated by sense or natural speech rhythm.)The revised translation is so disjointed.
I am also relieved that you are moving the discussion beyond the trivial arguments.
As a lover of language,I can only describe the revised translation as a dog's dinner and it does not lead me closer to prayer. More seriously it has the effect of driving me further away.
But how can our questions benefit from our experience when the hierarchy are not listening to any objections or prepared to alter any of this?
Blessings
Thank you for this... I watched and listened to my boss work his way through the Collect last night. He, like you, is a skilled and most able presider, but it was a challenge I think, and for me as one being "collected" it was a challenge too.
ReplyDeleteYour invitation into the deeper wisdom here is a gift. I think that many people, myself included, are still stuck at the "and also with your spirit" conversations for more than one reason. One, or so it seems to me (and I am referring to IRL conversations more than online) that among many people, it is a way to deal with the many feelings this new translation brings up. That would include things such as confusion and embarrassment or just plain struggle.
It would seem to me that until we start to get more used to hearing these words, we won't be able to go deeper. That said - your call for us to do so is needed.
Thank you for being such a good shepherd Fr. Austin.
I am sorry to say that I did leave mass last night with an increasing sense of disappointment in the new translations both those that the celebrant and the parishioners pray.
ReplyDeletePerhaps things will improve as we become more used to the changes, but some of the language just seems so stilted. It makes me wonder if anyone ever said these texts aloud before printing them for our use.
Rosemary
I left a comment here the day you posted but it seems to have gone astray. Now I've forgotten it so it so it is consigned to the ether !!
ReplyDeleteNo matter- no doubt Ignatius donkey would probably be pleased. :-)
Blessings