The Papal Visit, the New Mass and the Scones.
No time to post the text of the new Mass, apparently.....
William Oddie of the Catholic Herald has another interesting contribution about the fact that whilst the US Bishops already have their new text of the NO online, the E&W bishops haven’t posted anything yet.
One could obviously argue that now that the Holy Father is coming everyone is busy preparing sandwiches and brewing tea, so that there is no time to say “we are improving the Mass and here we explain to you how and why”; not even the time to simply post the text and say “this is the new text starting from Advent 2011; enjoy the reading and we’ll explain the modifications in the coming months”.
Why is that, is the rather rhetorical question of the author. The answer is obviously that it is very difficult to make a halfway serious effort to explain the changes introduced by the new version without exposing all the deficiencies of the old one, in which our old Sixty-Eighters had such an emotional (and political) investment. In the US, where by all the problems there are still bishops ready to fight the good fight, the Bishops’ conference naturally reflects this different, mixed attitude but in the UK, where the Magic Circle still dominates the appointments and feels rather strong, this does not happen.
I do not know whether this is supposed to be an additional slap in the face of the Holy Father and I want to assume that before his visit at least the bare text will be available online as an obvious tribute to the man who was the driving force behind it. Still, by the actual crop of bishops one can never know. They’ll blame the scones, I suppose.
Mundabor
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Posted on September 2, 2010, in Catholicism and tagged Catholic Church, Catholic Herald, Catholicism, Christianity, conservative catholicism, Magic Circle, New Mass, papal visit, Religion and Spirituality. Bookmark the permalink. 8 Comments.
Mundabor's Blog 
Mundabor,
Just this past Sunday I read the new text of the English NO online and must say, I am underwhelmed. I was expecting pure poetry, and it disappoints, but is much better than what we have now. I get the feeling that the true reformers had to fight bitterly for what is gained. I was hoping that all the Eucharistic prayers would have a longer litany of saints. I have not heard the names Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cosmos, Damian, and Chysologus(?) for 25 or more years. No priest in these backwaters has ever chosen that particular litany…always very abbreviated to the bare minimum…you know, get the Mass over with quickly to keep everybody happy.
Surprisingly I’m sad to see a current line changed from “keep us free from anxiety” to “keep us from distress”. Have you ever had anxiety…true, naked anxiety of a severe degree???…it is pure torture. This line had deep meaning for me and untold millions of others. Yes, Lord, keep us free from that mental hell. Why did they water it down to distress???? You get distressed about a pimple, you get anxiety from great fear of unexplainable origin.
It sounds as if England has some very ineffective shepherds. Is there not a one like our Chaput or Dolan? How long, Mundabor, how long????? I hope the Holy Father’s visit to England is not too embarrassing for you.
Hi Redvelvette,
no Chaput or Choby in sight I am afraid.
I’d love to think that the Papal visit would be embarrassing for *them*, but the ugly truth is that they’ll continue to do as they please as they know that Benedict will not pick a fight with them.
Still, if I were Nichols my nights would be troubled anyway. The trend is not toward more progressive bishops, but more conservative ones. Let a Scola or Burke succeed Pope Benedict and see themshivering…
M
One last question…anxiety sounds like a Greek word to me…the line “keep us free from anxiety”….what was the original translation intoLatin and then the Vulgate? Is there no Latin word for anxiety?
RV,
I do not know the Novus ordo (as I attend the TLM) and you should ask for someone with a latin english verion of the NO.
In the TLM we have the traditional English “Deliver us, we beseech Thee, o Lord, from all evils, past, present, and to come [..] that […] we may be always free from sin and safe from all disquiet” as translation of the original Latin “Libera nos, quaesumus, Domine, ab omnibus malis, praeteritis, praesentibus, et futuris [..] ut [..] a peccato simus semper liberi et ab omne perturbatione securi”.
In Italian I remember “from all disquiet” translated (Novus ordo) with “da ogni turbamento”. Yes the Latin doesn’t give the idea of life-shaking drama, but rather asks God to free us from even lesser evils than that.
Just my two cents.
M
Mundabor,
After I wrote that bit about you feeling embarrassed about the Holy Father’s visit, I thought I could have worded that much better. Certainly you will feel great joy! Nothing can diminish the holiness, the humility, the intellect, the beauty of the man Joseph Ratzinger. He will bring something great and God-filled to your island and the popular press, for all their ham-handedness will be in thrall, for reasons they know not.
I got shivers up my spine reading the TLM translation of that passage from the NO I questioned. I have not been to a TLM since the 4th or 5th grade while living in the very Catholic American upper Mid-west. Used to go daily in Catholic school and we’d sing the responses and it was so very beautiful. We had a classically trained organist from Eastern Europe, and derisively call the man “Orgie”, but he was thrilling in his mastery of the organ. One day the TLM will again be celebrated far and wide, in every nook and cranny of the planet. I also predict the universal language will again become Latin. Silly of me, but just sayin……
RV,
I’ll be frank with you, I do not have any particular emotion associated with the Papal visit. The fact is, I was born and raised in Rome and to me (as to every other Roman, I’d say) the Pope has always been part of the furniture. To get excited for a papal visit would be to me like -now that I live in London- being excited when I walk in front of the entrance to Downing Street.
I do not doubt, though, that the E&W hierarchy will embarrass itself big time. I do hope the Pope will see and learn, and take action.
As to the translation, “shivers up the spine” is, I think, the appropriate expression 😉 . I studied Latin at what you call “high school” (or somethign like it) and there were authors more elegant than the Latin Mass for sure; but none able to inspire the same reverence and at the same time so “accessible”. Besides being beautiful, it is a very “manageable” Latin.
M
Mundabor, the Pope will see and learn – and take no action whatsoever!
I’m afraid you are right, Misericordia.
If he had wanted to look for a confrontation, he would have avoided sending Nichols to Westminster and Smith to Southwark. The bishops obviously know very well that he will not go for a fight, which is the reason why they’ll continue to do as they please.
M