Monthly Archives: February 2006

EXCERPT:
Pope Benedict himself wrote some years ago (and we have given this to you a couple times before):

“The fact that in Hebrew the expression “many” would mean the same thing as “all” is not relevant to the question under consideration inasmuch as it is a question of translating, not a Hebrew text here, but a Latin text (from the Roman Liturgy), which is directly related to a Greek text (the New Testament). The institution narratives in the New Testament are by no means simply a translation (still less, a mistaken translation) of Isaiah; rather, they constitute an independent source” (emphasis added – God Is Near Us: The Eucharist, The Heart of Life (Ignatius Press, 2003, pp. 37-8, n. 10). Continue reading →

EXCERPT:
Having gone through this examination and exploration of vocabulary, and having made some associations with Scripture and with other literature, that version above is more or less what I hear in my head now when I read aloud our sonorous Latin. Never let it be said that the new compositions for the Novus Ordo are lacking in depth and dignity. I find this Latin prayer deeply satisfying indeed. It does not leave me wishing for more. Then I read the version we still, alas, hear in our churches on Sunday and I am brutally snapped back into these hard times of ours as if by the cold damp thwack of the twist in a kitchen towel:

ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):…
Continue reading →

EXCERPT:
Try reading this prayer with the mental image of a ship. Its great Captain sets its course upon the sea. So great is the Captain that He can command calm waters and a favorable wind as well. The ship can be seen as the word. In this case I see the ship as the Church in the world, the Church Militant, which is not an unfamiliar image to those familiar with the Barque of Peter. The sea it sails upon is the deep and turbulent world we live in. The Captain is our Lord Jesus Christ, who calmed the stormy waters and commanded Peter to walk to Him upon them. He entrusted His ship to Peter, to steer it in His stead. Once all has been put into proper order, made “ship-shape and Bristol fashion”, our own sense of loyal zeal, our devotion, is the wind that the Captain uses to steer the ship upon the course He sets, carrying us its crew to the port and safe haven. Continue reading →