Introduction from
Canon Paul Townsend
Within weeks of setting the dates for my sabbatical leave, the bishops of England and Wales announced that the first stage of the introduction of the New Missal would be on Sunday 4th September. I am sad to be away and to miss this historic moment in the life of our parish, and of the Church in this country.
I was a teenager during the last changes to the Roman Missal in the late 1960s. I remember that it happened in a number of stages, the last of which was the use of English rather than Latin for the words of the Institution Narrative in the Eucharistic prayer. I was a 6th former then and the occasion was a moving and historic one for us all. Brought up in the silence and the Latin of the Tridentine Rite, it was really strange to hear the Lord’s words “Take this all of you and eat it….” spoken aloud and in our own language. It was about that time that I can remember receiving the Precious Blood from the chalice at the Holy Thursday Mass. That was a very moving experience as well. The new Missal of 1969 brought many changes and opened the way to far more participation and flexibility in the celebration of Mass. At the same time it provided an opportunity for us to develop appropriate liturgy to accompany the vision of the Second Vatican Council which saw the Church’s mission as essentially proclaiming the Gospel through communion and mission.
The Roman Missal which was published in this country in 1974 was seen as a short term provision. Now on the 4th September 2011 it will cease being used so that a new and more permanent translation, closer to the Latin of the original Missal, can be introduced in two stages. The final stage will be on the First Sunday of Advent this year when the prayers and prefaces will be introduced.
If the translation of 1974 brought greater participation, the new translation of this year will take us deeper into the mystery and meaning of the Mass. Much of the language of the present 1974 Missal is imprecise and loosely translated and as a result much of the meaning is lost.
I would like to mention two particular changes. The first will be heard as soon as the Mass begins. The response “And also with you” will be replaced by “And with your spirit.” The use of the word ‘spirit’ has a very specific meaning. In the new form of words we are saying that the Lord is with the priest in his special task of presiding at the Eucharistic celebration. The word ‘spirit’ refers to the special character and function of the priest which is described in the ordination ceremony when the Bishop anoints the candidates hands with Sacred Chrism “The Father anointed our Lord Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit. May Jesus preserve you to sanctify the Christian people and to offer sacrifice to God.”
The second change is when the priest says the words over the chalice. The previous translation says that Jesus shed his blood for all, whereas the new translation says that he poured out his blood for many. It was Pope Benedict who asked for ‘all’ to be replaced by ‘many’ because that is what Jesus said at the Last Supper (See Mark 14:24) It is also the meaning of the word in the Latin original. The use of the word ‘many’ over the chalice must be held in tension with our belief that Christ saving work is for all men, women and children of all times and places. (See 2 Corinthians 5:14-15) It is this saving work that we celebrate and encounter in the Mass.
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Music
The changes to the words of the Mass will affect the music we use for parts of the Mass such as the Gloria and the Holy, Holy. Canon Paul has asked that we begin to use the new music exclusively from 4th September until Advent. St Peter’s choir is learning the chants and will make a CD for worshipping communities to use if they wish; the community at St Thomas More Stockbridge has already been learning the chants with Canon Alan.
TO HEAR THE NEW CHANTS SUNG BY PARISHIONERS, GO TO THIS PAGE.
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