FDLReporter: Revised Catholic Missal getting mixed reviews

Don't worry folks, the vestments are still terrible.

At 86, Genevieve Hoepfner has seen a lot of changes come through the Catholic Church.

The Fond du Lac mother of 14 children numbers among the millions of Catholics who, as of Nov. 27, have had to learn a revised version of the Roman Missal, which contains the prayers for Mass.

To understand the magnitude of the change, this is the first time the familiar liturgy has been revised since the original translation from Latin in 1970. Prior to that is a 1,600-year span back to when the church first translated Mass prayers into the language of the people.[... sigh]

“We have little place cards to follow because some of the wording has changed. We are all learning it together, so I can go along with it,” Hoepfner said.

Others say they’d rather see the church address more serious issues, like the lack of priests to perform Mass.  [Because they can't do both???]


“For so many people today who don’t get to have Mass or the Eucharist because of the shortage of priests, who is talking about these issues?” said Sister Joann Sambs, general superior of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Agnes. [No really, just click the link and tell me what she really means.]


Launched on the first day of Advent, which marks the beginning of the new church year for Catholics worldwide, the revised liturgy is said to offer a more precise rendering of the Latin original, according to an interview with Dean Daniels, coordinator of the Office of Worship for the Archdiocese of Milwaukee, that was published in the Catholic Herald.

For example, the translation of “Et cum spiritu tuo,” is more accurately reflected in the revised wording “And with your spirit,” instead of the familiar “and also with you.”

The Gloria hymn’s opening “Glory to God in the highest, and peace to his people on Earth,” has been narrowed to offer peace only for those who have accepted Jesus as messiah, considered by the church as “people of good will.”

Father Luke Strand of Holy Family Catholic Parish said he’s heard parishioners say the new translation is more elegant and beautiful. He likens the church to a living organism, subject to growth and change.

continue at Fond du Lac Reporter

How very true, women religious in this state oppose the correct translation but all of the parishioners have found it edifying.