The introduction of the new Mass translation got off to a good start this morning at the morning Mass celebrated by Monsignor Malachy. The priest's greetings and people's responses are being introduced first between now and Advent, and the rest of the Mass prayers will come into use on the first Sunday of Advent.
Below is the main part of Fr Hugh's homily of the last two Sundays explaining some of the reasoning behind the introduction of this new English translation:
When Mass began to be
celebrated in different languages other than Latin after the Second Vatican
Council, an English translation from the standard Latin text of the Mass had to
be produced fairly quickly. It was always meant to be provisional, but ended up
being used for a long time. The principle used for translating at the time was
called ‘dynamic equivalence’. The idea was not to translate exactly literally
from the Latin, but to make the wording as flowing and understandable as
possible. That’s all very well, but the English language translators took that
principle a bit too far in some ways and the English text ended up more a paraphrase than a
translation in many places. It skipped over some ideas or summarised them too
much. It ended up making some of the prayers sound bland and unmemorable. But,
of course, the Mass in the old translation is fully valid and indeed
glorious – Human language is limited no matter what language we use and nobody
knows that better than God. Translation is a tricky matter and no translation is perfect until all human limitations on language are removed at the heavenly banquet. Yes, we have received Christ himself and all the graces he showers on us in this sacrament, in the Mass with the old translation, but now, with the new translation, we will be able to hear more clearly the wonderful richness of the prayers
In 2001, Pope John Paul
II set the ball rolling by having new principles for translation drawn up and
the work of drawing up a new English translation from the Latin began. In fact
there was a lot of consultation done along the way with a broad range of people
about how the prayers sound. And so the new translation is finally ready now
and it will be phased in this Autumn and Winter. Here at Sacred Heart Church,
because of various practical factors, we’ll be starting with the priest’s
greetings and people’s responses from the last week in September for the daily Mass and for the first Sunday in October for Sunday Masses. Then, the full
translation including the Eucharistic Prayers will be in use for the first
Sunday of Advent.
What fully convinced me
that this new translation is really good news was seeing the Latin original,
and the old translation, and the new translation side by side. The old
translation misses too much at times. Obviously, people don’t have time to go
and learn Latin in order to see this, but bear with me for two examples.
Before communion in the
current translation, we say, ‘Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only
say the word and I shall be healed.’ In fact, this line in the Mass is based on
the words of the centurion who asked Jesus to heal his servant in St Luke’s
Gospel.[1] He
said ‘Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof.’ The old
translation misses the roof idea. This is the Latin line in the Mass: ‘Domine, non sum dignus ut intres sub tectum
meum, sed tantum dic verbo, et sanabitur anima mea.’ And the new
translation will reflect this much better. It will be ‘Lord, I am not worthy
that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be
healed.’ The Irish translation gets this right already, ‘A Thiarna, ní fiú mé
go dtiocfá faoi mo dhíon, ach abairse an focal agus leigheasfar m’anam.’
Here’s the next example: In Eucharistic Prayer I, before the
consecration of the precious blood, this is the line in Latin, ‘accipiens et hunc praeclarum calicem in
sanctas ac venerabiles manus suas.’ The new translation gets this right. It
is ‘he took this precious chalice in his holy and venerable hands.’ The old
translation really chopped it down. It just said, ‘He took the cup’. I could go
on with hundreds of examples like this.
The new translation makes some triple repetitions heard
again, like in the Confiteor. The old translation had cut out repetitions. But
would you cut out repetitions in popular music? Or in poetry?
The new translation
lets the language of sacrifice be heard more clearly. We’ll hear more clearly
about God’s grace. It gives Mary the full title she has in the original, ‘the
Most Blessed Virgin Mary’ whereas the outgoing translation just calls her ‘the
Virgin Mary.’ The way we pray forms the way we believe so it’s important to get
it right and the new translation will help us to better experience the sacred.
Pope Benedict has said
that he prays that ‘the
change will serve… as a springboard for a renewal and a deepening of
Eucharistic devotion all over the English-speaking world.’[2]
I know some feel that with all the turmoil in the Church in Ireland at the
moment that it’s not a good time to introduce the translation. But, there will
never be a perfect time. In fact, this can be good preparation for the
Eucharistic Congress of next year because it will spur us to reflect on many
aspects of the celebration of the Eucharist.
