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WHY ARE WE
HAVING A NEW TRANSLATION?
"The Council also desires that, where necessary, the rites be
revised carefully in the light of sound tradition, and that they be
given new vigour to meet the circumstances and needs of modern
times."
From the Introduction to
Sacrosanctum Concilium
To read the full liturgy document
issued by the Second
Vatican Council please click
here
The texts of the Mass we
use now have now have been in use since 1970. Over the coming weeks
and months there will be short articles in the Parish
Newsletter which will help us to understand what these changes are
and why they have come about. There will also be plenty of
opportunities provided to learn more about it and become familiar
with the changes. A number of day and evening sessions will be
arranged for those who would like to find out more - we shall be
arranging a series of meetings in the Parish (probably eight) to
give more information on the new translations and the new
missal. We will publish some material ourselves and will also
provide web links for those who
have internet access. This will be a great opportunity for us all to
learn more about the Mass and deepen our understanding of the
liturgy and its meaning and relevance for us in our lives today.
Further details regarding dates of Parish Meetings soon
Until the early 1960s, Mass was celebrated in Latin throughout the
world. Wherever you happened to be on Sunday the Mass would be
celebrated in the language you were used to. At the Second Vatican
Council, in the early 1960’s, it
was agreed that Mass could be said in the language of the country in
which it was being celebrated, i.e. in the vernacular. There would be no fundamental change
to the Mass itself, just the language being used. This would enable
us to understand more fully what was being said and help us to
participate more fully. An English translation was made available as
quickly as possible, but it was intended to be temporary. A more
considered translation would be issued later. Now, some 40 years has
since passed! This translation has at last been agreed by Rome and
we will begin using it in our parishes this September.
This new translation keeps the original words, meaning and style of
the Latin as far as possible. The new translation also means a new
edition of the Missal which will include some additional text such
as, prayers for the saints who have been added by the Church to the
liturgical calendar.
So, as
we have already seen above, until the early 1960s, Mass was
celebrated in Latin throughout the world. At the Second Vatican
Council it was agreed that the Mass could be celebrated in our own
language, and in 1970 Pope Paul VI agreed the official Latin text
that would be used. This was then translated into different
languages to be used throughout the world. It proved to be a huge
task which was completed in a very short time. However, because it
was done so quickly, some of the richness of the original Latin
prayers was, quite literally, ‘lost in translation’. It was seen
that a further translation was needed.
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