The New Translation Part 2: Poetry in Motion

This is the second installment in a series of short articles I wrote/adapted/edited for my parish bulletin. I will publish the others as they they appear.

As we learned in the last installment, a new translation of the Mass is coming, starting in Advent. Back in 2000, Blessed Pope John Paul II issued the third edition of the Roman Missal, the ritual text for the celebration of the Mass. After more than ten years of consultation and work, the new English translation of the text is finally ready.

In future bulletins, we will go through the changes to the peoples’ parts one by one, but for now we’re going to take a look at the translation as a whole. What’s different?

The structure of the Mass remains unchanged in the new edition. However, the translation of the prayers is changing to more closely reflect the original Latin texts. In some cases, new options for prayers are available, and some old options may no longer be present.

The translators were asked to make the English texts more closely follow the Latin original. As a result, the wording is more formal and a bit more complex than ordinary conversation.

They did this for three main reasons:

• to keep the theological vocabulary developed over 2000 years to communicate important concepts of the faith,
• to keep the biblical language and images found in the original,
• to try to keep some of the poetry of the original.

As an example, in the current translation we hear the phrase “… so that from east to west a perfect offering may be made”. In the new translation, instead of “from east to west”, we will now hear “from the rising of the sun to its setting”. This language is not only more faithful to the Latin original, but it is also poetic, incorporating the movement of the sun as an indication of passing time, instead of just geography.

The long-term goal of the new translation is to foster a deeper awareness and appreciation of the mysteries being celebrated in the Liturgy.

Next time: “and with your spirit”.

(Based on Roman Missal Formational Materials provided by the Secretariat for the Liturgy of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2010)