Friday, October 14, 2011

Interesting...

Someone passed on a South African bishop's column complaining about the new translation of the Roman Mass being "foisted" upon the people.  I found the complaint of the bishop rather amusing since, and I do not know if he could recall it, the Roman Catholic's I knew complained that the shift from Latin to English and the Novus Ordo was a change dumped upon them without their approval.  I well recall some of those who were greatly disappointed by their first experience with the vernacular and the "new" mass.  Interesting, how those in love with and, perhaps, responsible for imposing the liturgical changes that sprung in the wake of Vatican II, are now complaining that the more accurate translation of the Latin which begins on November 27 of this year are being imposed upon the people. 

Though mass attendance has declined for various reasons, one of them is, not in the least, the perceived lack of reverence and the disconnect of the English words used in Roman Catholic parishes since the 1970s with the liturgical tradition and practice prior to the change. 

I have no horse in this race but it is amusing to sit in the stands and watch as the gladiators do battle over which words are the more faithful translation and which translation is more salutary for the needs of and the state of the Roman Church today...

5 comments:

Terry Maher said...

The point is indeed a remarkable one. But not new. This has been going on for forty some years. You want to see "foisted" -- you should have seen the imposition of what is being replaced. It was remarked then that the new and open church on a less mediaeval authoritarian model was open only to those who did not oppose it, just like the one before.

So being foisted on or imposed upon is not the issue at all. The issue is what is sought to be foisted and imposed. "You will be assimilated" is the is the motto of all camps.

One difference this time. As you note, the original imposition was of a new Mass including any Latin one. Now it is the imposition of a new translation of the Latin of the new Mass. The new Mass remains imposed as the ordinary form of worship of the Roman Church. If the earlier imposition was wrong, a better translation of it means nothing.

And you are right too -- we have no horse in this race. In view of which, we should put our bastard horses bred after the model of the novus ordo out to pasture.

Chris said...

Come, come, Fr. Peters. Lutherans are by NO means exempt from the gladiators doing battles over words which are more faithful translations. I've seen it many times myself.

You are wrong though to assume that the drop off in Mass attendance is NOT due to English supplanting the Latin Extraordinary Rite. More and more young Catholics are clamoring for that and saying that the English and the Novus Ordo are precisely the reasons because they are, in their minds, irreverent and disconnected.

With regards to language in the liturgy, English is a horrible language for singing hymns to God. It really is. Its metrics do not conform to the psalmody of the Ancient Church, whether Gregorian or Byzantine, hence why they are being more and more discouraged. As a chanter in the Greek Church, I absolutely hate to chant our hymns in English so I do as much as I can in Greek. It flows better and it conforms to the Byzantine system much better. A recessive psalmody for a recessive language.

Pastor Peters said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Uhhhh, "You are wrong though to assume that the drop off in Mass attendance is NOT due to English supplanting the Latin Extraordinary Rite."

I think you read him wrong. He said this very thing was "not in the least" which means it was a significant reason

Terry Maher said...

For the cat's sake, why just the other day this Catholic down the street ran out the house, said "Judas chanting Priest if I can stand another minute singing in English with its disconnect with the psalmody of the ancient church", then the guy across the street ran out damn near tripping over the IHM statue in the lawn and said "You too? I thought I was the only one" and as they marched toward the parish down the street others joined too, and now there's a vocal demonstration outside the rectory demanding an EF Mass in the regular Sunday schedule.