Reforming the Reform - U.S. BISHOPS & THE NEW LITURGICAL TEXTS

Commonweal ^ | December 2, 2005 | Kevin Ekstrom

[ninenot]

. . . oh, darn, now I'm going to have to go to confession on Saturday . . .

The truth is a complete defense.

[Desdemona]

In my case, it prevents me from being jailed for assault and battery.

I love this forum.

[ninenot]

Ummmnnhhh...read the Spanish text of the Epistle and Gospel sometime. You don't have to be a linguist to discern that their text has MANY different translations than the English.

[ninenot]

Yah, well, for 400 years "under my roof" worked just fine.

The concept is not difficult to understand; I did when I was about 7 years old--"roof" meaning "scalp."

"Protection" or 'custody' gives another interesting shade of meaning. So what?

[Knitting A Conundrum]

One must admit that the text used in English is not of the first caliber for the readings. NAB has faults. The modified NAB that is read is not as good as the NAB.

I agree with Ignatius press and do most of my serious reading in the Old Revised Standard Version.

[ninenot]

And the poor little faithful in the pews haven't educationally advanced since the 15th century

To the extent this is true, it is the catechesis of the Bishops and their priests which is at fault.

[nanetteclaret]

When I say the Fatima prayer before praying the Rosary, I mention the wicked bishops by name (there are 22 on my list so far) when I come to the part about "the conversion of all sinners." I also mention Archbishop Jadot who caused a lot of this mess. It's very important to pray for their conversion.

[ArrogantBustard]

It's very important to pray for their conversion.

It's fun to hurl imaginative invective at them ... and amusing to watch others do so.

Praying for them is vastly more important, though. I'm sure we all remember to pray for them at least as often as we insult them. But insofar as we are all sinners ourselves, it can't hurt to have the occasional reminder.

;'}

[Claud]

I always say it in Latin (Domine, non sum dignus, etc.) because the lame paraphrase

Me too! When I'm at the Novus Ordo, I take a page out of the Latin Mass I usually attend, and say it once in English with the congregation and then twice sotto voce in Latin, with the requisite beating of the breast.

[Kolokotronis]

You do such a good job! You really should consider moving East, Deacon! :)

[Tomassus]

ICEL originally "translated" "sed tantum dic verbo et sanabitur animam meam" as "speak but the word and I shall be healed" rather than "speak but the word and my soul shall be healed."

The precedent of rendering "animam meam" as "I" rather than the literally correct "my soul" was set by those (Bugnini et al.) who changed the Latin wording of the prayers used by the priest before he would receive first the host and then from the chalice.

In the traditional Latin Missal the prayers read, "Corpus (or Sanguinis) Domini Nostri Iesu Christi custodiat animam meam in vitam aeternum. Amen." ("May the Body [or Blood] of Our Lord Jesus Christ preserve my soul to live everlasting. Amen."). The priest also says the same prayer while distributing Holy Communion.

The new Latin Missal "simplifies" them as "Corpus (or Sanguinis) Christi custodiat me in vitam aeternum. Amen." ("May the Body [or Blood] bring me to life everlasting. Amen."). And the prayer for the distribution of Holy Communion to "Corpus Christi" ("The Body of Christ").

A rationale for this change was to "return" to an alleged, original Jewish (and hence early Christian) idea of the oneness of the human person and not an entity with a separate body and soul (a supposed influence of Greek philosophy). It was also convenient for those who denied the existence of the soul and any spiritual matters.