|
Edited on Wed May-19-10 03:08 AM by Matilda
Paul VI order the formation of the "Sacrosanctum Concilium" in 1963, and it commenced work in 1964. The revisions were ready for dissemination in 1969, and were sent to bishops around the world, who - in a first for Rome - were given considerable freedom in deciding how to adapt local customs and understanding into the new missal, and it was only in 1973 that the current missal was available for use.
It was also left to bishops to decide how and when the vernacular should be employed; it was never intended that the Latin Mass should be replaced, but at parish level, that's what happened. Clearly, that's what the faithful preferred, and that's how it came to be. But the Latin Mass has never gone away; it remains the official language of the Roman Missal.
Obviously, the vernacular makes the Mass more accessible for many, but not only is the standard of translation often poor, it has in some cases changed the wording and the meaning behind the words of the Mass. This ranges from the simple and obvious - "et cum spiritu tuo" means "and with thy spirit"; it can never mean "and also with you" - to the profound.
The words of the Consecration were changed in places, and there are those who believe that this has changed the true significance of the Mass as a sacrifice and made it more of a community memorial, as it is in the Protestant churches. From my reading, these views have some validity, but this is an issue for theologians. Why it was done, nobody seems to know, although some traditionalist websites mutter about dark plots, but perhaps it was just an excess of enthusiasm. But this is what has caused the breakaway movements among both priests and laity to the traditionalist Catholic churches. I'm sure the Vatican hopes that addressing this issue may help to heal the split, but the venom some of the websites spit at the "Novus Ordo" mass makes that seem unlikely. It's now much more than a matter of translation.
Latin is a very precise language - there are about thirty ways of saying "go", each one referring to a very specific action. Latin means what it says and says what it means, and because it's a dead language, it can never change, so there is no freedom in translation. If these problems are going to be rectified, it can only be good. And if some of the beauty is restored to the liturgy in the process, everybody will benefit.
|