Church of Saint Thomas More

Questions and answers

What’s is this I hear about a new Missal?
It’s not a new Missal, but a new translation of the Missal we have now.

The New Translation of the Roman Missal - what is the Roman Missal?
The Roman Missal is the book that contains all the prayers and instructions for the celebration of the Mass. Some of these prayers are spoken or sung by the whole congregation (e.g. the Gloria and the Creed), others by the priest alone (e.g. the Collect and the Eucharistic Prayer). The Missal is first written in Latin, and is then translated into other languages. This means that, while Mass is celebrated in many languages throughout the world, it is the same core Latin text that is being prayed by the Church.

The New Translation of the Roman Missal - whose idea was it anyway?
Until the early 1960s, Mass was celebrated in Latin throughout the world. At the Second Vatican Council (1962-5), the bishops of the world agreed that Mass could be said in the language of the country in which it was being celebrated. This would enable people to understand more fully what was being said and help them to participate more fully. In 1970 Pope Paul VI agreed the official Latin text that would be used for the Mass, which was then translated into different languages. An English translation was made available as quickly as possible, but it was intended to be temporary. We have been using this ‘temporary’ translation for some 40 years! From September, we will be using a new, more ‘considered’, translation.

Why do we need a new translation?
The new translation of the Missal is necessary for a number of reasons. Firstly, the translation made in the early 1970s was done very quickly to enable people to use English at Mass. In the process, some of the richness of the original Latin prayers was, quite literally, ‘lost in translation’. It became clear that a further translation was needed, which would keep the original words, meaning and style of the Latin as far as possible, and would ‘bring out’ the Biblical language and imagery in the prayers of the Mass. Secondly, the new translation also means a new edition of the Missal which will include some texts added since the 1970s e.g. additional Eucharistic Prayers, some new Masses for the Blessed Virgin Mary and Masses for new Feasts of Saints added by the Church to the liturgical calendar.

Is the Mass changing...?
The structure of the Mass is not changing, nor are the actions of the Mass. The readings in our Sunday and weekday missals are not changing at this time, nor the hymns we sing. However, from the beginning of September, we will notice changes in what we say at Mass. Some texts have changed by a few words, some by much more. We will relearn prayers we were used to repeating from memory. Some prayers said by the priest will also sound different and musical settings of some words of the Mass text will reflect the new translation. The style of language will be more formal. However, the new translation is a wonderful opportunity for us to “hear again” the familiar texts, discovering new richness and meaning in them.

Does that mean that our present Mass has been wrong?
No, not at all. It’s a bit like giving your car a good service. The Church now wants us to change the oil and fine-tune the performance. We’re not buying a new car. The Mass will sound different, but it will still be the same Mass.

What is different in the 3rd edition?
The 3rd edition of Latin Missale Romanum was published in 2002. The number of changes since the 1st or 2nd editions is not large. Indeed, it is worth remembering that the structure of the Mass we celebrate every day remains the same. The 2nd Latin edition was published in 1975 so the new Missal incorporates additions which have been made since then: Saints who have been added to the Universal Calendar, texts from liturgical rites which have been published since then. One example might be Eucharistic Prayers. The 2002 Missale Romanum was the first Latin edition to include the Eucharistic Prayers for Reconciliation and those for Masses for Various Needs and Occasions — and so, they will be included in the new English edition.

What are the four presences of Christ in the Mass?
The Second Vatican Council (1962 -5) reminded us of our ancient faith: Christ is always present in his church, especially in its liturgical celebrations. So, each time we come to Mass we experience the presence of Christ in four different ways: • Christ is present in the congregation – the people gathered together; • Christ is present in the person of the priest; • Christ is present in the Scriptures that we listen to during Mass; • Christ is present in the bread and wine when it becomes Christ’s Body and Blood. The more we are able to understand and join in the Mass, the more we will come to love it. The new translation will help us to do that because the words we will now use will say more clearly what our faith is teaching us.

Why are biblical influences important?
As we use the new translation we will perhaps notice more biblical connections than we have been used to. The texts of the Mass are precious to us, partly because they were inspired by the Bible. These words have come down to us over the centuries, and most of the words we speak at Mass are rooted in the Bible. When we gather for Mass, we are praying with words that have been given to us by our ancestors, who knew the Bible well and prayed it well. The new translation of the Missal tries to make the connections between the Bible and the Mass clearer than they are now. Over the coming weeks we will be looking at some of the revised words we will be saying and hearing at Mass from the beginning of September.

‘And with your spirit’
One of the first things we will notice with the new translation is that, when the priest says ‘The Lord be with you’, we now say ‘And with your spirit’. This is much closer to the original Latin ‘et cum spiritu tuo’, and is found in e.g. German, Italian, French and Spanish. It is a very biblical response: St Paul concludes four of his letters with a very similar expression e.g. 2 Tim 4:22 ‘The Lord be with your spirit. Grace be with you.’ (see also Galatians 6:18, Philippians 4:23, Philemon 25). For nearly 2000 years, Christians have been greeting each other, ‘The Lord be with you’, ‘and with your spirit.’ So the new translation will bring unity to this response in all the languages of the world - and with all previous Christian generations.

‘The Word of the Lord’
At the end of the readings and the Gospel at Mass, we are used to
hearing ‘This is the Word of the Lord’; ‘This is the Gospel of the Lord’. In the new translation, the words ‘This is’ are
now left out and we will hear ‘The Word of the Lord’ and ‘The Gospel of the Lord’. One of the reasons is that the Latin does not include ‘This is’. But there is more to it than that. If the priest or deacon lifts the book and says ‘This is’, it can suggest that he is talking about the book itself. In fact, he is talking about the Word of God - which is alive and active. The words at the end of the readings are announcing a great event. They are telling us that God has spoken; that Christ is present. We respond ‘Thanks be to God’, or ‘Praise to you, Lord Jesus Christ’ which is our acknowledgement that what we have heard is, indeed, the Word of God.

The Gloria and the Creed
While some of the words in the Gloria and the Creed will change, others stay the same, so we will have to be careful that we don’t slip into the old texts! The first lines of the Gloria itself echo the angels’ message to the shepherds, announcing the birth of Christ (Luke 2:14). Because of these changes, new music is being written so that we will be able to sing the new translation, too. When it comes to the Creed we will notice the first change immediately - ‘I believe’, not ‘We believe’. We have become used to praying the Creed all together as a parish. However, when we say ‘we believe’ it could suggest that between us all we believe everything being said. It is not clear that we all believe everything that is being said. To say ‘I believe’ makes it quite clear that each one of us believes everything we are saying.

The Mystery of Faith
For Catholics, a ‘mystery’ is not a puzzle that cannot be solved. It is a truth that is so deep that we know we’ll never be able to get to the bottom of it; a truth we’ll never completely be able understand. One example of this is our belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. We believe that Christ is truly present but we can’t wholly explain it. The priest shows us the host and then the chalice. Then he genuflects and says ‘The mystery of faith’. We continue with one of three responses. These are all different from the ones we have been used to and they come directly from the New Testament. So when the priest says ‘The mystery of faith’ he is inviting us to welcome this Real Presence of Christ. We then make our response, which we address to Christ.

‘Lord I am not worthy’
As the priest invites us to receive Holy Communion, he will say ‘Behold’, rather than ‘This is’, ‘the Lamb of God’. ‘Behold’ means ‘to look at’ and is our invitation to adore Christ who we are about to receive in Holy Communion. We are used to saying ‘Lord I am not worthy to receive you’ ... This will change to: ‘Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed’. This is almost exactly what the Roman Centurion said when he came and begged Jesus to heal his servant (see Mt 8:8, Lk 7:6). When Jesus says he will come to the Centurion’s house, the man knows that Jesus doesn’t need to do that, that just his word will be enough. The Centurion says: ‘Lord I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word and my servant will be healed’. Our new reply changes only one word of the Centurion’s speech – ‘my servant will be healed’ becomes ‘my soul will be healed’.

What about the readings?
The readings we hear proclaimed at every Mass are not part of the new translation of Missal and so our current Lectionary remains the same both the selection of readings and the scripture version. A new publication of the Lectionary is in preparation. The selection of readings will remain the same but the text will be drawn from the New Revised Standard Version of the Bible and the Grail Psalter. Both of these translations however have to be considered in the light of Liturgiam Authenticam. There is no date yet for the new publication of the Lectionary.

What about music?
The translation of the majority of texts sung by the people at Mass is changing, for example the Gloria and the Sanctus. It is recognised that one of the simplest ways of introducing the new translation is to sing it and composers are working on new settings or reworking current settings to adapt to the new words.

But I’m a welcomer, not a reader. Why should this affect me?
Because everyone who carries out a ministry in the church is also a member of the whole assembly. We will all be affected by new responses and other changes in texts, because we all join together in the celebration. Every ministry needs to be involved in helping us to move forward.

Will I need to change anything I do?
Probably not a great deal. However, the new Missal gives us an opportunity to look at everything we do, and how we do it. Think of it like having the tracking of the wheels on your car checked: not obvious to the naked eye, but if you don't do it performance may be affected.

So what else do I need to know?
There will be opportunities to explore the new texts and also the way we celebrate. We’d love you to be part of this.

If you have any questions or require more information please send an email to 'general info'.

Church of
Saint Thomas More

Hartley Wintney

Times of Masses

Questions and answers