Parishes to celebrate Mass using the new translation of the Missal
The new Missal enables us to come to a deeper understanding of the Eucharist, which is the source and summit of the life of the Church – Bishop McAreavey
This Sunday, 27 November – the First Sunday of Advent and the beginning of the new Church year – parishes across the island of Ireland will pray for the first time the prayers of the Mass using the full version of the new translation of the Roman Missal. The Missal is the liturgical book which contains the texts for the celebration of the Mass.
Importantly, the structure and order of the Mass is not changing. Since September changes which apply to the people’s responses at Mass, which are few in number, have been incrementally introduced by priests so as to prepare the faithful for the full implementation of the new translation. The new Missal will be prayed at all Masses from this weekend. Feedback to date indicates that there is a high level of awareness about the changes and this has involved much private and public discussion by priests and congregations.
Welcoming the new edition of the Missal, Bishop John McAreavey, Bishop of Dromore and the Irish bishops’ representative on the International Commission for English in the Liturgy, said: “I encourage the faithful to avail of the special resources which have been made available to explain the changes to some of the words at Mass. This information is available in our local churches and on www.catholicbishops.ie. I am encouraged by the many who have embraced these changes to date. The new Missal has provided all of us with a fresh opportunity for catechesis and a deepening of our understanding of the Eucharist.
“The new text is the result of the dedicated work of many people from throughout the English speaking world over the past ten years. The challenge faced by the translators of the new text was to produce a text that was faithful to the original Latin and, at the same time, suitable for worship today. I believe that the new texts capture the wealth of theological vocabulary of the original text and so helps us to enter more fully into the riches of the liturgy itself.
“The publication of the new edition of the Roman Missal is an opportunity to deepen our understanding of all that we celebrate as we – the Christian community – gather to worship. I would like to emphasise that the use of a new edition of the Missal is not simply about new words or translation. The new Missal enables us to come to a deeper understanding of the Eucharist, which is the source and summit of the life of the Church. This is good news for all of us,” Bishop McAreavey said.
Notes to Editors
In order to assist parishes a number of brief video resources and texts – including a useful question and answer leaflet – are now available on www.catholicbishops.ie , these include:
- Introducing the new Missal – questions and answers to assist our preparation for changes in some of the words we pray at Mass
- The Order of Mass
- Topics and Questions – these are short informational notices for parish bulletins and missalettes which may be used up to and including the first Sunday of Advent
- Brief videos – Bishop John McAreavey, Fr Patrick Jones, Director of the National Centre for Liturgy and Brenda Drumm of the Catholic Communications Office, in a series of brief video responses, answer some of the key questions about the introduction of the new Missal:
Video 1: What is the Roman Missal and the question ‘Is the Mass changing?’
Video 2: Why is the Church introducing the new translation of the Missal and what the changes can we expect at Mass during September and November 2011
Video 3: This explains some of the detail of the changes such as the new response ‘and with your Spirit’
- Background statements and published articles on the introduction of the new translation of the Roman Missal from individual bishops and the Irish Bishops’ Conference
- See also information and resources for parishes on the National Centre for Liturgy website www.liturgy-ireland.ie:
1. The changes as they affect the Congregation (i.e. the Congregational Card)
3. Music
4. The suggested schedule for the introduction of the people’s parts of the Mass
Background
The publication and use of a new edition of the Roman Missal is the culmination of a project launched in the Jubilee Year, 2000, when Pope John Paul II announced the third edition of the Missal. The Latin Missale Romanum was published in 2002 and the agency established by Bishops in countries where English is spoken was entrusted with the specialist work of translation.
This agency, the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), always intended to revisit the translation given in the Missal we have used since St Patrick’s Day, 1975. Working with norms for translation given in the instruction Liturgiam authenticam, ICEL began their work in 2002, sending the Missal to bishops’ conferences in twelve segments.
Irish bishops reviewed and commented on each segment, assisted by our Irish Commission for Liturgy. ICEL received the Commission’s detailed comments and those from the other eleven English speaking bishops’ conference it serves.
Revised texts were then placed before the Irish Bishops’ Conference and approved over a period of six years, making it possible last year to forward the complete Missal to the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in the Vatican for its approval or recognitio. The Congregation made changes, ensuring that a common text will be used throughout the English-speaking world. It was assisted in its work by Vox Clara, a committee of senior bishops formed in 2001.
Further information:
Catholic Communications Office, Maynooth: Martin Long 00353 (0) 86 172 7678
