New Translation of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal

Pastoral Letter of Terence Patrick Drainey, Bishop of Middlesbrough Dear brothers and sisters, I don’t consider myself old, well, not very old, but already since my boyhood I have lived through at least six major changes in the language used to celebrate the Holy Mass and the Sacraments. I have assisted at the Tridentine Mass, Dialogue Mass, Latin Mass with some English dialogue, Mass using...
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The New Translation – Lord I am not worthy

As the priest invites us to receive Holy Communion, he will say ‘Behold’, rather than ‘This is’, ‘the Lamb of God’. ‘Behold’ means ‘to look at’ and is our invitation to adore Christ who we are about to receive in Holy Communion. We are used to saying ‘Lord I am not worthy to receive you’…. This will change to: ‘Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my...
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The New Translation – The Mystery of Faith

For Catholics, a ‘mystery’ is not a puzzle that cannot be solved. It is a truth that is so deep that we know we’ll never be able to get to the bottom of it; a truth we’ll never completely be able understand. One example of this is our belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. We believe that Christ is truly present but we can’t wholly explain it. The...
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The New Translation – The Gloria and the Creed

We will also notice some changes in the Gloria and the Creed. In fact, there is not a great deal of change in the new words that we will pray so we will have to be careful that we do not slip into the old texts! The first lines of the Gloria itself echo the angels’ message to the shepherds, announcing the birth of Christ (Luke 2:14). Because of these changes, new music is being written so that...
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The New Translation – ‘The Word of the Lord’

At the end of the readings and the Gospel at Mass, we are used to hearing ‘This is the Word of the Lord’; ‘This is the Gospel of the Lord’. In the new translation, the words ‘This is’ are now left out and we will hear ‘The Word of the Lord’ and ‘The Gospel of the Lord’. One of the reasons is that the Latin does not include ‘This...
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The New Translation – ‘And with your spirit’

One of the first things we will notice with the new translation is that, when the priest says ‘The Lord be with you’, we now say ‘And with your spirit’. This is much closer to the original Latin. When the Mass was first translated into English we were one of only four languages that did not translate it as ‘your spirit’. It is a very biblical response: Paul...
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The New Translation – Biblical influences

As we use the new translation we will perhaps notice more biblical connections than we have been used to. The texts of the Mass are precious to us, partly because they were inspired by the bible. These words have come down to us over the centuries, and most of the words we speak at Mass are rooted in the bible. When we gather for Mass, we are praying with words that have been given to us by our...
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The New Translation – The Four Presences of Christ

The Second Vatican Council reminded us of our ancient faith: Christ is always present in his church, especially in its liturgical celebrations. So, each time we come to Mass we experience the presence of Christ in four different ways. Christ is present in the congregation – the people gathered together; Christ is present in the person of the priest; Christ is present in the scriptures that we...
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