New Roman Missal

About the Roman Missal - Third Edition

The third edition of the Roman Missal in Latin was published in 2002 and since that time many committees have been hard at work preparing the English translation. Those translations have been approved by the U.S. Bishops and Rome, and a date of Nov. 27, 2011 (the first Sunday of Advent, the beginning of the new liturgical year) has been set for its implementation.

What does all this mean? To be honest, it means a great deal. The words we say and hear at every Mass are about to change. The Mass will remain the same, but the sound will be different, we might say. It will not affect the scripture readings you hear at every Mass, the Prayers of the Faithful, or your favorite hymns. The new translation pertains to the words we speak or sing at every Mass (the “Mass parts” as we sometimes call them).

Many have asked why the Church is “changing the Mass.” Again the Mass itself is not changing, but rather many of the words we use in the Mass are changing. The Mass is still the Mass — the celebration of the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. That itself can never change. But there have been various translations used over time to help the faithful more deeply celebrate that Paschal Mystery.

This new revised translation is trying to achieve a greater adherence to the original Latin than the former translation did. Some have said that the Church is “going back to Latin.” That is not true. English is here to stay. It will be enriched however through a reexamination of the original texts in Latin.

Ironically, those of us who celebrate Mass in Spanish will not experience such changes — they’ve already been incorporated into the Spanish texts. These new translations only apply to the English-speaking churches (so our brothers and sisters in Great Britain, Australia and much of Canada will be going through the same thing).

How will this impact us at CtR? Join us for the workshops coming in October to help you become more familiar with the forthcoming changes. We want to not only know what the new words are going to be, but also why the new words are being used.

Further information