Welcome to my new series called ' About the Mass Series Volume 2-New Translation'
In
my fourth section of this series on Same
Mass, New Words, Deeper Meaning and Greater Love of the Mass as an
overview of why the English speaking world have a new translation of the
Mass.
In today's post,we consider how to appreciate the poetic texts.
Just as many Catholic churches were adorned with stained glass and other great works of art to please the eye, so the words for worship were shaped to please the lips and the ear, since the beauty of the language proclaimed the beauty of God. As a consequence of this desire to please the lips and ear in language when worshiping God, many of the Latin prayers are beautiful because they were crafted with a poetry of vocabularly, rhythm, structure and sentiment.
However, since most people nowadays do not study Latin, this beauty is lost, just as those who know a language can appreciate and recognise its poetry and style of prose. When we consider the revised translation of the Mass, many of us are hampered by this lack of knowledge of Latin. However, if we consider our own language of English, we know that a more formal tone is used in certain situations (eg business letter vs a letter to a friend) with a different sentence structure.
The new vernacular of the Mass has strived to make the translation better. Some changes seem small, while others are considerably larger. The guiding principle was to achieve a translation that better evokes what the Latin says and that the beauty of the translation and languague would proclaim the beauty of God.
Some prayers express a different attitude from the previous translation in that they sound humbler and more modest in the presence of an awesome God, since they acknowledge the majesty of God and that we are the created not the Creator. God is not giving us an inferior complex here, rather the new translation reminds us of our relationship with Him- God is the Creator and we, the created. This change of attitude expressing some humility and modesty is definitely a timely reminder.
Other changes have music in mind. Many of the sentences were crafted in a way that their rhythms and words can be sung well in English.
So as we attend Mass, we may become more aware of some of these rhythms, attitudes and style of prose and learn to appreciate the texts as we become more familiar with them. Unfortunately, sometimes the texts are not proclaimed well by the priest and/or by the people. It is important therefore to do your own homework when it comes to appreciating the texts. With this in mind you may:
Just as many Catholic churches were adorned with stained glass and other great works of art to please the eye, so the words for worship were shaped to please the lips and the ear, since the beauty of the language proclaimed the beauty of God. As a consequence of this desire to please the lips and ear in language when worshiping God, many of the Latin prayers are beautiful because they were crafted with a poetry of vocabularly, rhythm, structure and sentiment.
However, since most people nowadays do not study Latin, this beauty is lost, just as those who know a language can appreciate and recognise its poetry and style of prose. When we consider the revised translation of the Mass, many of us are hampered by this lack of knowledge of Latin. However, if we consider our own language of English, we know that a more formal tone is used in certain situations (eg business letter vs a letter to a friend) with a different sentence structure.
The new vernacular of the Mass has strived to make the translation better. Some changes seem small, while others are considerably larger. The guiding principle was to achieve a translation that better evokes what the Latin says and that the beauty of the translation and languague would proclaim the beauty of God.
Some prayers express a different attitude from the previous translation in that they sound humbler and more modest in the presence of an awesome God, since they acknowledge the majesty of God and that we are the created not the Creator. God is not giving us an inferior complex here, rather the new translation reminds us of our relationship with Him- God is the Creator and we, the created. This change of attitude expressing some humility and modesty is definitely a timely reminder.
Other changes have music in mind. Many of the sentences were crafted in a way that their rhythms and words can be sung well in English.
So as we attend Mass, we may become more aware of some of these rhythms, attitudes and style of prose and learn to appreciate the texts as we become more familiar with them. Unfortunately, sometimes the texts are not proclaimed well by the priest and/or by the people. It is important therefore to do your own homework when it comes to appreciating the texts. With this in mind you may:
- Read the prayers aloud a number of times at home in your prayer time and learn to feel their natural rhythm. Use the punctuation to assist you find it.
- Pray these prayers during the week, so that when you hear them the following Sunday, these prayers will resonate with your own spiritual rhythm.
- Exlore why certain words or phrases are used and try and understand and appreciate its beauty.
Next week: Who prepared translation?
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