New Translation: Words Are Sacramental

I visited the Huffington Post website at the suggestion of Fr. Z to participate in their poll (“Which Catholic Mass Language Do You Prefer?”), and stumbled upon this quote from a parishioner:

"It's not shaking my church experience," said McCormack, as she handed out church bulletins. "You have the spirit between you and God and the words are insignificant."

The words are insignificant? Wrong! The words are very significant. And that is precisely why we have a new translation.

In fact, the words of the liturgy are a most significant sign – a sacrament. The words of the liturgy are sacramental in themselves. This is an important idea behind the Mystical Body, Mystical Voice presentation developed by Fr. Douglas Martis and Mr. Christopher Carstens of The Liturgical Institute in Chicago; this presentation is the foundation of the “new translation” workshop which our local Society of St. Gregory the Great has conducted in two locations in our diocese (look around that blog for a couple of posts on the MBMV workshops).

Jesus is not only the Son of the Father; He is also the Word of the Father. He is THE Word! The Church has developed a liturgical language which “sacramentalizes” and makes present the Word. Our choice of words for liturgical prayer is critical because language itself is sacramental. There are realities in the liturgy that our language communicates and makes present. Therefore we must find the best words – the ones that express faithfully and beautifully the unseen realities celebrated in our worship.

When the Church uses certain words, She expects certain images to be evoked from Scripture. For instance, if we hear “water” in the liturgy, we should immediately be thinking about baptism;  about the blood and water flowing from the side of Jesus; about the crossing of the Red Sea; about Moses striking the stone with his staff so that water would gush out; the “living water”; and so on. When the Church uses the word “sin” in our prayers, She really does want us to think about our sin – not about the fact that, hey, nobody’s perfect and God will forgive us anyway. No: She means sin. That’s why we are to strike our breast at the words “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault” – we’re supposed to really be grieved by our sins!

The type of language we use also indicates the relationship between ourselves and others – this is the notion of “register”. For example, we generally speak to our boss at work in a different register than the one we use for our children. Similarly, the language we use to address the King of the Universe really ought to have a little different “flavor” than that which we use to address the plumber or others we meet in our everyday life.

Along this line of thinking, Stacy Trasancos has a post on her blog entitle “Liturgy and High Words” – go, read it! It’s very good. She quotes Frank Sheed, who in his book Theology and Sanity (1946),wrote:

That is the way of advance for the mind. Human language is not adequate to utter God, but it is the highest we have, and we should use its highest words. The highest words in human speech are not high enough, but what do you gain by using lower words? Or no words? It is for us to use the highest words we have, recognize that they are not high enough, try to strain upward from them, not to dredge human speech for something lower." (emphasis added)

That said…I will lament that at the Mass I attended yesterday, it was painfully clear that the priest, whose first language is not English, was not overly familiar with the new words he was to pray in the Mass. His stumbling and hesitation distracted from the beauty of the words, but I’m sure he will improve! And I hope the people who hear him will gain an appreciation of the changes in the language we use to worship God.

Mystical Body, Mystical Voice: Successful Workshop in Bend

Here's a report I wrote about our successful "Mystical Body, Mystical Voice" workshop in Bend, Oregon, this past weekend. If only our Diocesan Chronicle would publish it!


What does the opening scene of the movie The Voyage of the Dawntreader have to do with the new translation (3rd edition) of the Roman Missal? A group of parishioners from the Bend area can probably explain it after their participation in a workshop sponsored by the Society of St. Gregory the Great on Friday and Saturday, November 11-12.

The workshop concerned the changes in the Mass that will be evident starting the first Sunday of Advent when the third edition of the Roman Missal is formally and officially put into use. Pastors of many parishes in the Diocese of Baker have begun to use at least some of the revised responses of the people. Changes in the priest’s prayers won’t be heard till November 27.

The USCCB has said:

The entire Church in the United States has been blessed with this opportunity to deepen its understanding of the Sacred Liturgy, and to appreciate its meaning and importance in our lives…Musicians and parishioners alike should soon be learning the various new and revised musical settings of the Order of Mass.

People will be paying more attention to the Mass because of the changes – that’s what gives us the opportunity to deepen our understanding of the liturgy. There’s something to talk about: why have these changes been made?  But if we simply take a utilitarian, mechanical attitude toward it, we’ll just say, “Let’s just learn the new words and get on with it.”

There’s much more to it than that!  And that’s what this workshop is about.

This workshop is based on a program is called Mystical Body, Mystical Voice, which was created by a priest and a layman with extensive education in the liturgy; it’s produced by the Liturgical Institute. Based on sacramental theology and the liturgical rites of the Church, it’s not just a mechanical instruction in what’s changing and how we “do” it; it’s also about understanding the beauty of what the new translation has to offer. It’s about enriching our knowledge of and participation in the Mass. And we’re talking about participation in a deeper sense than simply being a part of the choir, or serving as a lay minister, or usher, etc.

The facilitator for the presentation was Dr. Judith (Jay) Boyd, who also serves as vice-president of the Society of St. Gregory the Great. The workshop included both video segments of dynamic speakers addressing the issues, as well as comments by Dr. Boyd, and discussion amongst the attendees. Participants were reminded of the rich Catholic heritage that lies beneath the surface of the Liturgy, building on 2000 years of Christianity as well as several thousand years more of our roots in Judaism. The Mass is more than it appears on the surface, and participants were led into a renewal of their understanding of the liturgy's spiritual depths and its true meaning.

Another important focus of the workshop in Bend – as well as the one given recently in The Dalles - was the value and beauty of a "sung" Mass. The new edition of the Missal contains more music than previous editions, and the USCCB is encouraging priests and the faithful to reclaim some of the lost traditions of the Church by singing the Mass from start to finish. Participants at the Bend workshop practiced singing the responses, and saw the way the simply chant melodies draw one into the liturgical celebration and move one’s heart and mind toward God.

So, what does The Voyage of the Dawntreader have to do with all of this? It's worth your time to attend a workshop and find out! To schedule one in your parish, contact Stephanie Swee at 541-550-0832, or email her at swee0574@gmail.com.