RBWords - Volume 24 - Number 6: June 2011
Something to Think About
When I entered the Dominican Order in August 1964, it was an exciting time in the life of the church. The Second Vatican Council was about to begin its third and final session and some of the documents were beginning to appear. But what was catching our attention was the change in the language of the liturgy! The bishop of Winona, MN, where I made my novitiate (It gives me chills just to think of it), “jumped the gun” and started the English in the Mass several months earlier than Advent. When Advent arrived, the other changes began with the priest now facing the congregation! Oh my! (Some of the elderly Dominican priests at the novitiate had trouble remembering that if they turned around, they would be facing a wall!) The translations of the texts of the scriptures and the other sacraments gradually made their appearances and it was these that I learned as part of my formation, and have used them for the 40 years that I have been a priest. Well…..this Advent, it’s all going to change again, although not back to Latin (or at least in the “ordinary rite” – more on this in a moment). The Holy See has determined that the same English text will be used all over the planet (or on the moon or other planets). This determination, made in the face of considerable linguistic challenges, will mean some interesting worship days ahead of us! Unlike Latin, English is a living language and is constantly in development. Things will get very interesting in a few years! I have a feeling that it won’t take long before individual conferences of the bishops will petition for “variances” to avoid some unfortunate expressions! It will be a long process of “nibbling” at it till the translators finally realize that English is not Latin and has a different syntax. Right now, that doesn’t matter, so there are thousands of workshops and study sessions to prepare ministers and pew-people for the new texts. (The old joke about the priest who begins the Mass muttering “There’s something wrong with this microphone,” only to have the congregation respond, “And also with you!” will suffer a bit, but “And with your spirit!” will do, I’m sure!) I, for one, have read most of it and have pretty much said, “Whatever!” Rome has spoken, even if the English they’re using isn’t!
To muddy the waters further, however, the Latin liturgy which was in use when I entered religious life has been restored to use! (As the "extraordinary rite") The Dominican Order had its own version of the Mass, a version that I was very attracted to before I entered the Order. I never got to celebrate Mass in that rite because the Order adopted the Roman rite in 1968 (without, however, doing away with the Dominican rite). Now, it seems, if I can find the necessary books I can celebrate the old Dominican rite if I should choose to do so. I don’t know if I will, but this whole thing just adds to the emotional and intellectual commotion for me. Stay tuned. However, if you happen to have a 1962 Dominican altar missal you want to give away, I’ll take it off your hands! IT’S SOMETHING TO THINK ABOUT.
It Has Been Said
Mother Church earnestly desires that all the faithful should be led to that full, conscious, and active participation in liturgical celebrations which is demanded by the very nature of the liturgy, and to which the Christian people, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a redeemed people” (I Pet. 2:9, 4-5) have a right and obligation by reason of their baptism. In the restoration and promotion of the sacred liturgy the full and active participation by all the people is the aim to be considered before all else, for it is the primary and indispensable source from which the faithful are to derive the true Christian spirit.
From THE CONSTITUTION ON THE SACRED LITURGY (Sacrosanctum Concilium) #14