And With Your Spirit
In 2002 the Holy See published the 3rd edition of the Roman Missal. The Bishops of England and Wales are presently collaborating with other English-speaking Conferences, through their agency ICEL, in preparing a translation.
In the next few years, throughout England and Wales the new English translation of the Roman Missal will be introduced into parishes. There are a number of changes relating to the people’s parts and the tone of the language which is intended to reflect the sacred solemnity of the Mass and not the usual “street” English. The new translation is also a much closer translation from the original Latin.
Parishioners especially will need solid formation on the changes, for example:
| PART OF MASS | PRESENT TEXT FOR PEOPLE | NEW TEXT FOR PEOPLE | |
| Greeting | Priest: The Lord be with you. People: And also with you. |
Priest: The Lord be with you. People: And with your spirit. |
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| Penitential Act, Form A (Confiteor) |
I confess to almighty God, and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have sinned through my own fault, in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do; and I ask blessed Mary, ever virgin, all the angels and saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord, our God. | I confess to almighty God and to you, my brothers and sisters, that I have greatly sinned in my thoughts and in my words, in what I have done and in what I have failed to do, through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault; therefore I ask blessed Mary ever-Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God. | |
| Penitential Act, Form B | Priest: Lord, we have sinned against you: Lord, have mercy. People: Lord, have mercy. Priest: Lord, show us your mercy and love. People: And grant us your salvation. |
Priest: Have mercy on us, O Lord. People: For we have sinned against you.Priest: Show us, O Lord, your mercy. People: And grant us your salvation. |
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| Gloria | Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on earth. Lord God, heavenly King, almighty God and Father, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory. Lord Jesus Christ, only Son of the Father, Lord God, Lamb of God, you take away the sin of the world: have mercy on us; you are seated at the right hand of the Father: receive our prayer. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen. | Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to people of good will. We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory, Lord God, heavenly King, O God, almighty Father. Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son, Lord God, Lamb of God, Son of the Father, you take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us; you take away the sins of the world, receive our prayer; you are seated at the right hand of the Father, have mercy on us. For you alone are the Holy One, you alone are the Lord, you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ, with the Holy Spirit, in the glory of God the Father. Amen. | |
As deacons, or those in formation we should become familiar with the new texts which are available using the following links. We need to be prepared to answer the inevitable questions on what the changes are and why they are being made.
At this stage, there is not a great deal of detail on the websites of the England and Wales Bishops Conference, but you can get more information from the USCCB.
I have ordered a book that I saw through Fr Tim Finigan’s blog at http://the-hermeneutic-of-continuity.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-book-praying-mass-prayers-of-people.html. When it arrives and I’ve had a chance to read it, I will post a review.