The Genius of the Roman Rite

I got Keith Pecklers' new book this week, The Genius of the Roman Rite: On the Reception and Implementation of the New Missal. It's a historic overview of how the prayers and responses we use at Mass in the Roman Catholic Church have developed and been introduced over time. The latest development is a new edition of the texts of the Mass - the Third Edition of the Roman Missal of Vatican II - with the English translation being implemented most likely at the beginning of Advent 2011. The Vatican has given its recognition of the English translation for the United States, but we are awaiting the final published version from the Vatican. Pecklers' book is valuable because it places this new edition and translation in its context in the history of Mass texts for the Catholic Church. If you trace the entire history of these texts, you will find that there is always a continuity and a focus on a noble simplicity of texts.

A lot has already been done to prepare Catholics in the United States for the implementation of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal - much of it behind the scenes and with priests and liturgy offices. Here at my parish, our liturgy committee has been preparing for over a year - we spent the past year reading and praying through all the new texts for the Order of Mass. This spring, I gave a presentation to all of our liturgical ministers on the history of the Roman Missal and the changes that are coming. Just a couple weeks ago, I attended a two-day conference in Louisville for priests, led by Msgr. Tony Sherman, the head of the US Bishops' Office of Divine Worship. And there will be much more to come.

While there will certainly be a time of adjustment when we implement these new texts, I'm looking forward to the opportunity it will provide for catechesis on the liturgy and how we as Catholics pray. So many of the changes have been done so that the Sciptural allusions in our Mass prayers - which are in the Latin version but were not in the last English translation - will be brought out. We will realize more and more how much of our prayer has its basis in Scripture. And there really is a noble simplicity in these new translations - it's not every-day speech, because we're not addressing an every-day person. We're addressing God, and we will be doing so in a humble, awe-filled manner that will both distinguish our prayer from the language of everyday life and help us to connect our lives of faith with what we do outside of Mass.

So much to do, and so many great opportunities for catechesis! At least we have a lot of time to prepare!