The new translation of the Roman Missal will be "unveiled" next weekend for the first Sunday of Advent. Word on Fire blog contributor Kerry Trotter gets a little insight into some of the changes from liturgy expert Dr. Denis McNamara.
May the Lord be with you.
And also with—
Wait, hold that thought.
Change is afoot for Catholics in the English-speaking world, as the Roman Missal, Third Edition will be introduced next Sunday, marking the first time since the late '60s that the original Latin text of the Mass has been revisited. While the Missal, the guidebook of the Catholic liturgy, will hardly be unrecognizable to clergy and lay alike, it contains enough changes to wake folks up, and presumably get them thinking.
“It’s definitely a much more accurate rendering,” said Dr. Denis McNamara, the assistant director of the Liturgical Institute at St. Mary’s of the Lake Seminary in Mundelein, Ill. “Which is great news.”
This edition was a long time in the making, McNamara said, with past attempts scrapped due to the sheer magnitude of the undertaking. But now with multiple publishers on board, as well as a comprehensive road map for the Missal’s roll out on November 27, Catholics worldwide will experience a new Mass.
“Oh, people will notice,” he said. While in some respects the changes are seamless, they are far from invisible...