What Does The Prayer Really Say?
W D T P R S

I thought you might like a few more shots of the ceremony for the swearing of the Swiss Guard. As I sort them out, I will add them from time to time.

The recruits in line.

Here is a view of the departure of the Swiss after the ceremony. Note in the foreground the colors of the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company of Massachusetts from the USA, with Old Glory prominently displayed. And Old Glory was NOT dipped during the playing of the Pontifical Anthem. It is not often that you get to see the flag of the Pontifical Swiss Guard on display with the flag of the USA!

Another view of these fellows who made the trek from the USA to St. Peter’s Square to honor the Swiss Guard.

What Does the Prayer Really Say?  4^th Sunday of Easter

Last week we recommenced our comparison of the first draft of the ICEL translation of ordinary prayers of Holy Mass, the second draft, and our own WDTPRS version which we worked through in fourth year of this series (2003-04).  We have reached the Unde et memores. WDTPRS LITERAL VERSION: Wherefore, O Lord, mindful of the blessed Passion of the same Christ Thy Son, our Lord, and likewise mindful of His resurrection from the nether realm of the dead, but also His glorious ascension into the heavens, we Your servants but also Your holy people, offer up unto Your beautiful majesty from Your own gifts and grants, the sacrificial victim which is pure, the holy victim, the victim stainless, the holy Bread of life everlasting, and the Chalice of eternal salvation. 1^st NEW ICEL DRAFT:  Wherefore, Lord, remembering also the blessed passion, the resurrection from the dead, and the glorious ascension into heaven of Christ, your Son, our Lord, we, your servants and your holy people, offer to your glorious majesty from your own gifts and bounty the pure victim, the holy victim, the spotless victim, the holy Bread of eternal life and the Cup of everlasting salvation. 2^nd NEW ICEL DRAFT (variations emphasized): Therefore, O Lord, as we remember the blessed passion, the resurrection from the dead, and the glorious ascension into heaven of Christ, your Son, our Lord, we, your servants and your holy people, offer to your glorious majesty from your own generous gifts, the pure victim, the holy victim, the spotless victim, the holy Bread of eternal life and the Chalice of everlasting salvation.

Hey look!  It’s Cup v Chalice again!   Last week we reviewed what His Excellency Donald W. Trautman has been saying about the draft translation and Liturgiam authenticam, the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments document establishing norms for liturgical translations.  His Excellency, the Erie bishop in Pennsylvania is chair of the Bishops Committee on Liturgy of the USCCB.  He is the foremost episcopal promoter of inclusive language and opponent of Liturgiam authenticam.  As such, His Excellency is in the position to complicate and delay the efforts underway to produce a new English text for Holy Mass.   This appears to be what he is doing, given the speeches he has been making around the country, as reviewed in these inky pages.

SUPER OBLATA (2002MR):
Concede, quaesumus, Domine,
semper nos per haec mysteria paschalia gratulari,
ut continua nostrae reparationis operatio
perpetuae nobis fiat causa laetitiae.

This prayer was originally in the 1962MR as the Secret of the Saturday after Easter.  The far older Gelasian Sacramentary had this prayer on the Thursday during the Octave of Easter.

 The renowned Lewis & Short Dictionary gives us a definition of gratulor: “to manifest one’s joy, i.e. to wish a person joy, to congratulate; or to rejoice” and thus a mostly late classical meaning, “to give thanks, render thanks, to thank, esp. a deity, = grates, gratias agere.”   This leaves us with a dilemma.  Do we say “grant that we always rejoice” or “grant that we always give thanks”?  The dictionary of liturgical Latin Blaise/Dumas suggests in the first place “réjouir (des fêtes)” and then “render grâces”.   Since we are in the offertory section of the Eucharistic (i.e. “thanksgiving”) Sacrifice, we could underscores the thanking dimension and also the joy due to the Easter season by saying “give joyous thanks.”  Reparo means “to restore, repair, renew” or in merchantile language “to procure by exchange; to purchase, obtain with something.

The very interesting word operatio means primarily “a working, work, labor, operation.”  It also indicates in ancient inscriptions, “a religious performance, service, or solemnity, a bringing of offerings.”  The L&S also says that in Christian authors it is “beneficence, charity”.   The aforementioned Blaise/Dumas shows that operatio concerns mostly divine acts.  It can, for example, be the “effect” of the sacrament of the Eucharist. 

By the English word “continuum” the seasoned Catholics understand “an uninterrupted whole or a series of things without a break”.  Those of us who are of the Star Trek generation know that “continuum” refers to a time/space phenomenon which, though incredibly rare, figures in episodes about every other week.  An imbalance in the time/space continuum will usually destroy the whole galaxy, which would be very bad.  To prevent this bad thing the Captain and crew must “reverse the polarity” of a gizmo with a long name, often the big dish on the front of the ship.  They have only five seconds left before the ship explodes and everyone everywhere dies.   The unflinching Captain tells someone sporting a forehead with ridges or bluish skin to do an amazingly risky thing, which the first officer must passionately question.  The risk works miraculously, probably because there are more episodes left in the season, and the time/space continuum is restored to its proper order.  Everyone throughout the galaxy are safe until the next week.  Now, you would think that after saving the galaxy, the galaxy saviors would get more recognition from saved.  They should all be offered their own luxury resort planets or, if that sounds too much like Mormon afterlife, at least some stock options or a medal or… something.  Maybe a high school named after them.  I don’t get it.  In any event, I digress….

Getting back to the liturgy of the Catholic Church, the Latin adjective continuus, a, um, also applies to time/space phenomena but in a somewhat less galaxy threatening way.  In reference to space, continuus means a “joining, connecting with something, or hanging together, in space or time, uninterrupted, continuous.”  In relation to time, it is “following one after another, successive, continuous” in the sense of unending or incessant.  Something which is temporally continuous with what goes before is “immediate”.  I will opt for continuus as “continual” so as to balance perpetuus, “perpetual”.   When applied to the Sacrifice of Holy Mass, continuus connects us back to the Passion of the Lord while perpetuus draws us forward into the future until the Second Coming.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
We beseech You, O Lord, grant
us always to render joyous thanks by means of these paschal mysteries,
so that the continuous ritual offering of our renewal
may become for us the cause of unending joy.

The bloody Sacrifice of Calvary occurred at a single point in the continuum of both time and physical space, upon a Cross outside the walls of Jerusalem nearly 2000 years ago, according to some on Wednesday afternoon of 5 April 30 (A.D.).   Similarly, the Last Supper occurred, historically, the night before.  Nevertheless, the Sacrifice of the Cross transcends all time and space.  They are “once for all time” events.  Christ Jesus has made it possible for the same realities to be renewed and presented anew to the Father through the constant and offering (operatio continua) of His Church, His own Mystical Person continuing in this earthly realm.  Both the Cross and Supper still taking place upon our altars during Holy Mass, through God’s power, even though they are historically completed and past. 

Holy Mass is both the Last Supper and Calvary continued and renewed.  The first Mass of Christ historically began during the Last Supper and ended on Calvary.  In the upper room Christ transformed the elements of bread and wine into His own Body and Blood in separate acts of consecration as a sacrificial offering to the Father.  He commanded the Twelve to do the same, not just at the moment but also afterward in His memory.  The Lord gave to them and their successors His own power and authority to do so thereafter.  The sacramental separation of His Body and Blood in the upper room preceded their physical separation the next day on Calvary.    The transubstantiation of bread and wine into His Body and Blood in the Last Supper and the Sacrifice of the Cross are thus one continuous, uninterrupted act.   Thus we say that the first Mass began in the upper room in Jerusalem and it finished on Golgotha outside Jerusalem’s walls.  Because Christ gave power to His Apostle’s to do as He was doing at the Last Supper, and in them also to their successors, in each Mass when the elements of bread and wine are transformed, the Sacrifice of Calvary is renewed as well.  It is not necessary during Mass both to consecrate bread and wine and also to nail some victim to a cross.  In the two-fold consecration, the entire Sacrifice, that which took place on the wood of the upper room’s table and the on the wood of the Golgotha’s Cross, are truly represented.   Look at it this way. Christ The Last Supper prepresents the Cross, and thus is continuous with it.  Holy Mass represents the totality of the Sacrifice, Supper and Cross together.

At the ancient celebration of a Passover meal, there were four cups to be drunk; one was consumed at the blessing, one for the beginning of the meal when Ps 113 was sung, one during the meal, and lastly one after the singing of the Hil-el psalms 114-118.  It was the fourth and last cup that Jesus refused to drink at the Last Supper (“I shall not drink again of the fruit of the vine until that day when I drink it new in the kingdom of God” Mark 14:25 – RSV).  Christ finally drank the last “cup” of the Passover liturgical meal while hanging upon the Cross.  He took the wine mixed with myrrh from the sponge on the end of the hyssop wood pole and then said “It is finished” (John 19:30) and died.  The Last Supper was a meatless meal, since the Passover lambs had not yet been slaughtered.  The Passover lambs had to be slaughtered while the priests in the Temple sang through the Hil-el psalms three times.  Given the empty streets of Jerusalem and the silence of the ancient world without machines, it is likely Jesus could hear the Hil-el psalms and the cries of the lambs echoing from out the Temple as He suffered on the Cross.  Jesus Himself was the unblemished Lamb of the anticipated Passover in the upper room as well as the Lamb of the perfect Passover of the New Covenant.   You can see the perfect continuity, the continuous character, of the Last Supper and Calvary.  This is the perfect act of restoration of man’s soul to a state of justification and sanctity.  It is the ultimate “reparation”.  In Holy Mass, God in His mercy is still renewing the act of reparation He began in the upper room and completed on Calvary for our sins.

ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
Lord,
restore us by these Easter mysteries.
May the continuing work of our redeemer
bring us eternal joy.

By His Sacrifice Christ reversed the course (the “polarity”?) of the human race which was hurtling headlong into the destruction and the hellish separation from God that sin deserves.  He saved more than the galaxy.  Now all peoples of all times and places have the opportunity of salvation, even though they have no idea of whence it comes.  And yet Sunday after Sunday so many of those who actually do know Him blithely go on their way without so much as a “Thank you, O Lord, for the unfathomable act of self-emptying in the brutal, painful death by which you saved us from the hell our sins merited.” 

In my opinion, the texts of Holy Mass deserve a beautiful and accurate English translation.  Unreasonable delays do an injustice both those who mandated the translation and the faithful who await it.

What Does the Prayer Really Say?  4th Sunday of Easter

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2003

Update: News: I am grateful to all of you who asked news over the last weeks and months about the Marine Corps Captain and the retired USMC Lt. General’s daughter, in training to be a nurse, who had to postpone their wedding because the young officer was deployed to Iraq.  I have had many people praying for them, him especially, including churches full of school children at Mass.  Yesterday the General told me that Captain M had phoned… from Kuwait.  They are readying their gear for the return to Camp Pendleton.  He should be home in a few weeks.  Wedding bells won’t ring in May, but it will not be long now.   Non nobis, Domine, non nobis, sed nomini tuo da gloriam.

Last week I wrote in reference to the Holy Father’s new encyclical letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia (EdE) that “the Holy See’s website inexplicably did not provide the Latin text, but only the English, French, German, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, and Spanish).” I am happy to report that the Latin text has been added and is now available online.  (Do the webmasters of vatican.va read WDTPRS?)  Last week, when I was making a connection between the use of intueor in the prayer and the Pope’s desire in EdE that we “contemplate” the face of Christ, I did not know what Latin word for “contemplate” was used in the encyclical.  It was contemplor and contueor. 

The Latin text brings up all sorts of new and interesting questions.  For example, regarding the infamous “pro multis/omnibus” controversy (concerning the words “for all” rather than “for many” in the consecration of the Mass) in EdE 2, we read in the English version:  “Then he took the cup of wine and said to them: “Take this, all of you and drink from it: this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all, so that sins may be forgiven” (cf. Mt 14:24; Lk 22:20; 1 Cor 11:25).”  (Emphasis added – sic “Mt 14:24” but it should be either Matthew 26:28 or Mark 14:24)   Sounds just like Mass, right?  Note that the Pope did not cite the Missale Romanum.   Now, that “for all” bothered me a little when I first read it, but I brushed it off as merely being in keeping with the present prevalent English ICEL translation of the Missale Romanum.  Then a long time friend, RB of KS, pointed out via e-mail that the Latin version of EdE 2 reads: “Deinde calicem in manus vini sustulit eisque dixit: "Accipite et bibite omnes: hic calix novum aeternumque testamentum est in sanguine meo, qui pro vobis funditur et pro omnibus in remissionem peccatorum" (cfr Mc 14, 24; Lc 22, 20; 1 Cor 11, 25).”  (Emphasis added – The Latin cites Mark 14:24, so I take it that Matthew is out.  In the haste to get it out in time for Holy Thursday, the editors goofed up the citations – a minor point.)   There is that pesky “pro omnibus”.  This indeed began to bother me.   That is not what the either the Missale Romanum or what I remembered the old Latin Vulgate of Scripture to say. 

Being thus bothered, I turned to the new Latin Vulgate approved by His Holiness in 1986 and published by the Holy See.  I looked up the all the citations to see if anywhere pro omnibus had quietly slipped in unnoticed (by me, at least).  I found uses of pro multis (Matthew 26:28; Mark 14:24) and simply pro vobis (Luke 22:20; 1 Cor 11:24).  Pro omnibus was nowhere in sight in the hallowed pages of Sacred Writ.  Now, before any traditional Catholics freak out completely and accuse the Pope of “changing Scripture” (mark my word some will do exactly that), please note that the citations are in the form of a “confer” abbreviated as “cf.” or (in Latin) “cfr”, which mean that the reader is to “bring together for comparison” the referenced texts.  “Cf.” does not indicate an exact quotation.  What the Pope did in EdE is offer a paraphrase, not an exact quotation.   That said, this still bothers me because, being so close to the exact language of Scripture, his paraphrase will confuse people into thinking that Scripture says “pro omnibus”.  Please note also that the Pope does not cite the Missale Romanum, which without question says “pro multis”… “for many”.  What happened?  I am guessing that some eager liturgist got his fingers into the first part of the encyclical and conformed it to the way Mass is said in some vernacular version or other, probably Italian (“per voi e per tutti” rather than “per molti”).   Someone more cynical will undoubtedly suggest that this is a devious plot on the part of the Vatican’s liturgical mandarins to slither in a justification for vernacular “for all” translations of the Latin “pro multis”.   I sincerely doubt it, but keep your eyes open all the same.  There are critical theological and ecclesial issues at stake.

Once last point: When I quote something, I leave everything in the original form (British spellings, capitalization, etc.).  Sometime I clean up readers’ feedback, but quotations from documents and Scripture I leave as they are – and I send them in for publication.  However, this publication follows a style sheet so that it is consistent from week to week.   This style sheet indicates capitalization of pronouns for our Lord, etc., even when they are not so capitalized in the original texts.  Thus, kindly inform all your numerous friends, neighbors and relatives to whom you are about to give gift generous subscriptions for The Wanderer, since they won’t have seen this explanation.

POST COMMUNIONEM
LATIN (2002 Missale Romanum):
Gregem tuum, Pastor bone, placatus intende,
et oves, quas pretioso Filii tui sanguine redemisti,
in aeternis pascuis collocare digneris.

This prayer was not in the 1962MR but it had antecedents in various ancient sacramentaries.  It would note the alliterations around the labial sounds: p’s and b.  In EdE 62, the very end of the letter, John Paul II quotes St. Thomas Aquinas’ sequence Lauda Sion: “Bone pastor, panis vere…O Good Shepherd, O True Bread”.  This section of the sequence was once a popular indulgenced prayer during the elevation of the Host. 

ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):

Father, eternal shepherd,
watch over the flock redeemed by the blood of Christ
and lead us to the promised land.

Do you suspect that ICEL left some things out back in 1973?   The Lewis & Short Dictionary, ever-faithful and reliable, is our first resource in the search for what this prayer really says.  Intendo, which is used in this imperative form at the beginning of recitation of each of the hours of the Liturgy of the Hours, means many things, including, “to turn one’s attention to, exert one’s self for, to purpose, endeavor, intend.”  Placo is a verb meaning “to reconcile” and also “to quiet, soothe, calm, assuage, appease, pacify”.  In the participle form used as an adjective it is “soothed, appeased, calmed; quiet, gentle, still, calm, peaceful.”  Think of “placated”.  For grex, think of “gregarious”, for it means, “a flock, hard, drove, swarm” in reference to animal and, in a good sense or bad, “a company, society, troop, band, crowd.”   Something “egregious” is an offensive act that separates you “from the herd”.   Colloco signifies “to place together, to arrange, to station, lay, put, place, set, set up, erect, etc., a thing (or person) somewhere”.    In Latin ovis, is always feminine and means “a sheep”.  This is why the plural quas is in feminine form. I think that promoters of inclusive language should complain.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Direct your thought, O good Shepherd, to your flock,
and deign to establish in eternal pastures the sheep
whom you have redeemed by the Precious Blood of your Son.
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I am reminded strongly of the Latin version of John 10: 

I am the good shepherd (pastor bonus). The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep (oves).  He who is a hireling and not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees; and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hireling and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd; I know my own and my own know me, as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep, that are not of this fold (ovile); I must bring them also, and they will heed my voice. So there shall be one flock, one shepherd.” (vv. 11-16 – RSV).

When Pope St. Leo the Great quoted this passage in his homily on Wednesday of Holy Week, 19 May 452 he said “et erit unus grex et unus pastor” (Tract. 63, 6, CCL 138A, 386).   I also am reminded of what the Risen Lord said to Peter on the banks of the Sea of Galilee: “Pasce oves meas…Feed my sheep” (John 21:17).  Speaking of sheep, the Carthaginian-born former slave playwright Terence (c. 190 – c. 159 BC) had his character Thais say to Pythias, “ovem lupo commisisti…you entrusted the sheep to the wolf” (cf. Eunuchus 5, 1 16) and Cicero (106-43 BC) ranted against Marc Anthony, “O praeclarum custodem ovium, ut aiunt, lupum… O outstanding wolf, as they say, guardian of the sheep….” (Orat. Philippica in Antonium 3, 11, 27).  Isn’t it amazing how we can still draw wisdom from the ancients as we watch ecclesiastical dustups today?  But I digress…

Today’s Mass has various “pastoral” images.  Two years ago we saw what the Collect really said for this Sunday: “Omnipotens sempiterne Deus, deduc nos ad societatem caelestium gaudiorum, ut eo perveniat humilitas gregis, quo processit fortitudo pastoris… Almighty and ever-living God, lead us unto the communion of heavenly joys, so that the humility of the flock may reach that place from whence the might of the shepherd came forth.”  Clearly there is a thematic connection between the collect and final prayer today: gregis…pastoris.  Notice the intertwined meanings of “flock, communion, society”.   Both the Collect and Post communion seem to be from similar sources. Neither were in the 1962MR while the Super oblata was.  I may be going out on a limb, but I am guessing they were put together by the same person.

I once described how in the ancient basilicas of Rome and elsewhere beautiful mosaics depict the end times (also conceived to be the present moment for the baptized members of the Church), in which we (or sometimes the apostles themselves) depicted as courtly sheep processing elegantly through a green pasture with flowing water (baptism) toward either the throne of the triumphant Lord or to the door of the heavenly Jerusalem (cf. John 10 wherein Jesus says He is the gatekeeper of the sheepfold, the safe pasture).  In our reception of Holy Communion we have the closest approximation of the climactic moment of our reception into eternal holy communion, into that ultimate sheepfold with God in heaven.

What Does the Prayer Really Say?  Fourth Sunday of Easter

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2002

Last week I offered material from the very good weekly National Catholic Register (NCReg) about the new third typical edition of the Missale Romanum (2002MR).  I shall do the same this week.  In a fourth page article entitled “New Roman Missal Means Mass Changes” (vol. 78 No. 14 April 7-13, 2002) we read a quote of the prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship (CDW), His Eminence Jorge Card. Medina Estévez, speaking of popes through history who revised editions of the Missale Romanum: “Their concern to safeguard the fidelity, the accuracy and the nobility of the liturgical language used is an evident sign of the special importance which the Eucharist holds in the life of the Church.”  It takes little imagination to apply that to the English translations of that same Missal.

In the WDTPRS for the Second Sunday of Easter I opined that I had seen better art on kitchen refrigerators than we find in the new 2002MR.  The abovementioned NCReg article speaks to this point:

The illustrations chosen for the new missal … are adaptations of the acclaimed mosaics in the new Redemptoris Mater Chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the site of the papal spiritual exercises.  The illustrations are not entirely successful at capturing the vivid imagery of the chapel, and have met with mixed reviews, being likens by one longtime Vatican journalist to “bad computer clip-art.”  “The first thing the Holy Father said when he saw the missal was that the illustrations were very modern,” said Cardinal Medina, who insisted that the Pope intended it as a compliment.

 
Yah, right.  I am sure he loved them.  I am reminded of the years I had season tickets to a major metropolitan orchestra in the dark and dismal years when they were being avant garde, playing all sorts of bizarre stuff.  We were treated to various squeaks to the accompaniment of such joys as “prepared pianos”, which had objets such as nails and empty Coke cans lying across the strings. When the persecution ended, people would politely applaud and quip to each other, “My, that was modern, wasn’t it….” The artistic director of the orchestra would insist that that was a compliment.  As someone once said of Wagner’s music, that modern rubbish we heard “wasn’t nearly as bad as it sounded.”  So, now that I know these illustrations are actually adaptations of mosaics in the Pope’s new chapel, all I can say is, “They’re not nearly as bad as they look.”

The NCReg article includes the comment that “with the release of the third edition of the Missal, the new regulations contained in the “General Instruction” – which is part of the Missal – come into effect immediately, even before an official English translation is approved.”  The article continues, “An unofficial translation was released 18 months ago to help priests prepare for the changes,….”  One of the changes offered in the article, seemingly based on that so-called “unofficial translation” is: Priest facing the people.

A clarification that the desirable manner of celebrating Mass is facing the people, as is the common practice today.  The priest is not, however, forbidden from celebrating Mass “facing east,” which involves him having his back to the congregation.

I must say that I am rather disappointed that the otherwise excellent NCReg fell into the trap.  I dealt with this at length last year in WDPTRS in consideration of paragraph 299 of the 2002GIRM.   The people who initially translated the Latin made a complete mess of #299.  The situation was bad enough that the CDW issued an official response to a question posed about the “orientation” of Mass.  The CDW even indicated how to translate the Latin (O tempora…o mores…).  Soon after, the US Bishop’s Conference issued the “Built of Living Stones” in which we find the very same mistake that the CDW had earlier corrected.  Hmmmm….  Perhaps we can review this issue in next week’s WDTPRS.  Now, for this week’s…

SUPER OBLATA:

LATIN (1970 Missale Romanum):
Concede, quaesumus, Domine,
semper nos per haec mysteria paschalia gratulari,
ut continua nostrae reparationis operatio
perpetuae nobis fiat causa laetitiae.

This prayer was originally in the 1962MR as the secret of the Saturday after Easter, Sabbato in albis.  The far older Gelasian Sacramentary had a similar prayer.

This week, rather than give my literal version right away, I think I will present next the version prepared by

ICEL:
Lord,
restore us by these Easter mysteries.
May the continuing work of our redeemer
bring us eternal joy.

Now we must dig into the Latin version and see if ICEL missed anything.  As always, we must start with the vocabulary.  Looking at the lemma form gratulor in the nearly legendary Lewis & Short Latin Dictionary we find the definition “to manifest one’s joy, i.e. to wish a person joy, to congratulate; or to rejoice” and thus a mostly late classical meaning, “to give thanks, render thanks, to thank, esp. a deity, grates, gratias agere.”   This leaves us with a dilemma.  Do we say “grant that we always rejoice” or “grant that we always give thanks.”  I shall take the middle path and say “give joyous thanks.”  Since we are in the offertory section of the Eucharistic (“thanksgiving”) Sacrifice, I will emphasize the thanking dimension but flavor it with the joy due to the Easter season.  As you will recall, that preposition per can mean “through” or “by means of.”  The very interesting word operatio, which appears in the surviving works of neither Cicero nor those of Caesar, is primarily “a working, work, labor, operation.”  It also means, “a religious performance, service, or solemnity, a bringing of offerings.”  By the English word “continuum” the seasoned Catholic among us might understand an uninterrupted whole or a series of things without a break.  However, if we are of the Star Trek generation, in “continuum” we might remember some incredibly rare time/space phenomenon appearing about every other week which threatens to destroy the universe by implosion unless it is stopped.  To save time and space itself the Captain and crew must reverse the polarity of a long-named gizmo (usually the big dish shaped thing on the front of the ship) with only five seconds left before the ship explodes and everyone everywhere dies, taken completely by surprise and having been absolutely ignorant of their imminent peril.   But, because of the gallant sacrifices of the crew, the perilous yet noble plan of the Captain is carried out through the herculean efforts of someone with bluish skin or an oddly shaped forehead and the time/space continuum is restored to its proper order, thus saving all things throughout the whole cosmos.  The ship goes on its way to explore strange new worlds until the next weeks surprise brush with lethal disaster occurs right on schedule. And no one bothers to say even, “Thanks for saving the universe again” or better, “What would we do without you?”  But I digress… The Latin adjective continuus, a, um, according to the L&S, also applies to time/space phenomena.  In reference to space, it means a “joining, connecting with something, or hanging together, in space or time, uninterrupted, continuous.”  In relation to time, it is “following one after another, successive, continuous” in the sense of unending or incessant.    Thus, it means also “immediately” and “speedily, without interval.”  Again, we must make a choice between “continuous, uninterrupted” and “speedily, immediately.”  So far, then, our super oblata could be either “grant to us that we always rejoice… so that the continual working” or else “grant that we give thanks… so that this prompt religious offering” and so forth.  Moreover, we have to determine what sort of ut clause we have here.  Is it a final subjunctive giving us a simple “that” or is it consequential, for a more nuanced “with the result that”?  Put all your choices on slips of paper and start rearranging them.  You get some interesting results and each of them could probably be defended.  You can see that this translation business is not always the easiest thing to do.  Compound that with having to work with a committee, each person having a preference, and you will imagine that preparing an entire book of translations (e.g., a new translation of the very recent 2002MR) might take a long time.  I will opt for continuus as “continual” so as to balance perpetuus, “perpetual”.  When applied to how we as a Church renew the Sacrifice of Calvary in Holy Mass, one can see continuus as stretching back into our history all the way to the Passion of the Lord and perpetuus as stretching forward into the future until the coming of the King. 

The once for all time Sacrifice of the Cross transcends all time and space.  God makes it possible for the very same reality to be renewed and represented to the Father through the constant and faithfully fulfilled religious offering of the Church (operatio continua), which is His own mystical person continuing in this earthly realm. This bloody Sacrifice which occurred at a single point in the continuum of both time and physical space, which took place on the Cross outside the walls of Jerusalem nearly 2000 years ago, is both completed and is still taking place on our altars in all places and at all times.  By this Sacrifice, Christ reversed the course of the human race, hurtling headlong into the darkness of oblivion and the hellish separation from God that sin deserves.  Now all peoples of all times and places have the opportunity of salvation, even though they have no idea of whence it comes.  And yet so many of those who actually know Him will blithely go on their way without so much as a “Thank you, O Lord, for the unfathomable act of self-emptying and brutal, painful death, by which you saved us from the hell our sins merited, and by which you taught us who we really are.”  Many who profess His Holy Name will come to Sunday Mass and receive the very sacrament of our salvation without discerning what it is or what they do.  Some will even take the Lord and head for the door to beat the parking rush. 

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Grant, we beseech you, O Lord,
that we always render joyous thanks by means of these paschal mysteries,
so that the continuous ritual offering of our renewal
may become for us the cause of unending joy.

What Does the Prayer Really Say? Fourth Sunday of Easter

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2001

Before we look at the collect for this Sunday, I thought it a good idea to mention some of the feedback I have received from readers of WDTPRS.  After all, I asked for it.  I am genuinely very pleased to get letters and notes.  The whole point of this weekly offering is to keep the issue of our translations constantly before the eyes of faithful Catholics so that they will be inspired to give positive support to good efforts on the part of our bishops when it is time to go back to the drawing board (may God soon bring that to pass). Some have written e-mail, some snail-mail (you remember… envelopes, stamps…?).  A Latin teacher in Georgia wrote that he is using Mass propers in His classes in the Catholic High where he teaches. JM via e-mail informed me that the printed version of WDTPRS in The Wanderer had a Latin error in the “banner” at the head of the column.  Apparently that banner (which I did not create) quoted the beginning of a Latin Preface.  We had placed there aquum instead of aequum.  That was a bit embarrassing.   Thanks to this attentive reader we were able to fix it.  One priest friend of mine in CA teased me mercilessly about my focus on grammar in some columns. I respond saying that some people like the grammar, thank you very much.  For example, a WS of Delaware wrote via e-mail that he had formal training in Latin in school in ‘49-’51 and he likes the explanations of the grammar. Tease me about grammar, will you?   How were your grades in Latin, hmmm? So there.  TP of MO is one of the folks who have sent me their own translations from the Latin.  Thanks!  That sort of thing is what this project is all about.  And a whole raft of people, such as MS of MA via snail-mail tell me how frustrating the ICEL prayers are for them and how they miss the beautiful Latin.  I hope these good people pray for the bishops and for better translations in the future.  Remarkably, I have not yet received any real hate mail.  I already get plenty because of my work in the Catholic Online Forum, so I don’t need any more.  However, no doubt there are some fuming progressives out there gashing away at the thought of strict adherence to the Latin edition of the Missale Romanum rather than creating independent local “rites” with prayers tailored to individual circumstances.  Lastly, to the perhaps well-intentioned person trying to convert me to real Christianity by occasionally sending me (anti-Catholic) pamphlets, I say, “Amusing as they may be, please save your stamps.  My trash can is full.”  Talk about a waste of time!  These Latin prayers have done their work on me and I am a lost cause.  But keep reading anyway!  I will ask the readers of WDTPRS to pray right now that you will open your heart and come into fullness of membership of Christ’s Mystical Body.

Now to our weekly…

COLLECT:

LATIN (1970 Missale Romanum):
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus,
deduc nos ad societatem caelestium gaudiorum,
ut eo perveniat humilitas gregis,
quo processit fortitudo pastoris.

In our collect we have a very nice eo…quo construction.  Also, the genitives gregis…pastoris used at the ends of phrases help us to tie the last part of the prayer together conceptually as well as make it singable.  We should always consider how these prayers sound spoken and, especially, sung.  They very often are lovely little pieces of poetry.  That dimension can be overlooked if they are merely read silently from off the page.  Translators of the Latin prayers should, in the future, always say these prayers aloud and even sing them while working.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Almighty and ever-living God,
lead us unto the communion of heavenly joys,
so that the humility of the flock may reach that place
from whence the might of the shepherd came forth.

According to that mighty tool that every student of Latin should have close at hand, the Lewis & Short Dictionary (which can be found online in a searchable format, by the way), societas indicates “a fellowship, association, union, community, society”.   It is more than just an gathering or group, but rather is a group united for some common purpose.  This is why I go so far as to translate societas as “communion”: not only are there Eucharistic overtones, but it points very well and with Christian vocabulary to the bonds that exist between members of Christ’s Body.  True to the Roman spirit, humilitas has a rather negative connotation.  It means “lowness” in the sense of being base or abject.  On the other hand, the word fortitudo means “strength” in the mental or spiritual sense, rather than the physical.  Rarely in classical Latin was fortitudo used to indicate mere physical strength.  Thus, it means “firmness, the manliness shown in enduring or undertaking hardship, fortitude, resolution, bravery, courage.”  Procedo means “to come forth” as well as “to advance, proceed.”  In a transferred sense, it comes to mean also things like, “to turn out favorably for, result as a benefit for” someone or something.  In English we have, for example, “the proceeds” for money raised in a benefit.  “Procession” has come to have a theological meaning pointing to the way the Persons of the Trinity relate to each other.

Here we have an image of the Christ as shepherd, proceeding forth in mighty resolve to lead the humble flock to the place of never-ending joys.  This collect reminds me of the mosaics in the apses of ancient basilicas in Rome and Ravenna.  These ancient works are wrought in tiny bits of colored stone and glass are assembled in to beautiful works of great spiritual significance.  In a way, the Body of Christ, the Church, is rather like a mosaic: small members each playing a part to make a larger work, each stone (or tessera) serving to make the others more beautiful, each giving a purpose to the other as if they were members of a societas.  Seen up close the individual stones are not much to look at.  They can be flawed and unremarkable.  But once that are placed together in an order by the hand of the artist, they make something stunning.  In those apse mosaics Christ is sometimes depicted in glory with imperial trappings.  On either side are often arranged apostles and saints as His imperial court, bracketed by images of Bethlehem or the earthly and heavenly Jerusalem in the manner of bookends.  Often in these mosaics there are gathered beneath the feet of the glorious Christ are lines of sheep being lead to a safe green place, where there is flowing water symbolizing the river Jordan and therefore our baptism. 

Our collect reminds us of the great work of the Savior in coming into this world.  He has also promised to return.  The Second Person of the Trinity, the Son,  proceeds from the Father from all eternity. He also “proceeded” into this world in a mighty gesture of self-emptying in order to save us from our sins, teach us who we are, and lead us out of the doom of eternal death in sin to glorious happiness with God in heaven.  He came in humility in His first coming, taking up our humilitas.  In His second coming His aspect will be the perfect manifestation of fortitudo. 

ICEL:
Almighty and ever-living God,
give us new strength
from the courage of Christ our shepherd,
and lead us to join the saints in heaven…

Once again, we find that the ICEL version takes some of the words and concepts from the Latin collect and then composes its own original prayer.  It is not a bad prayer, but it is not really a translation of the Latin, is it?

On Sunday 7 May Fr Paul Pei Junmin (37 yrs old) will be consecrated bishop in the Cathedral of Shenyang (Liaoning, north-east China) as coadjutor to Bp. Jin Peixian, with the approval of the Holy See.

Fr Pei Junmin met with Pope Benedict XVI on 3 August 2005 when a group of priests from China came to Rome. 

Sources say that Bp. Jin Peixian was one of those who had been pressured and threatened regarding participation in the illicit consecrations last week.  However, Jin refused to participate in anything not approved by the Holy See.

ASIA NEWS says that they have "been receiving continuous messages from Chinese priests and bishops, stating their approval for the Vatican stand."   Also, Asia News says, "Anthony Liu Bainian, the PA deputy chairman, remains the only person defending the decision to go ahead with the ordinations of Kunming and Wuhu. There has been no official reaction from the government so far."

More from Asia News about the new Coadjutor of Shangyang: "Fr Pei Junmin, 37 years, entered the seminary when he was 16. He was ordained in 1992 and worked for a year in the parish of the cathedral. Then he was sent by his bishop to Philadelphia in the US to study Sacred Scripture. He was among the first group of Chinese priests sent abroad for studies. So far, he has taught Sacred Scripture and he was dean of studies and vice-rector at the major seminary in Shenyang that has 70 vocations. The diocese of Shenyang has 100,000 faithful."

A subtle game of chess is being played by Beijing and the Holy See.  I remember years ago when I was quite young playing chess with a fellow from China and pretty much cleaning the board with him.  His excuse, or what I thought was an excuse at the time, was that he was more used to playing Chinese chess and was getting confused.  "Right!", quoth I, not believing that there was such a thing as Chinese chess.  Of course I learned later that indeed there is such a thing as Chinese chess or xiàngqí.  In fact, we were talking past each other, but I was the one who was ignorant of that fact at the time. 

Again, a subtle game of chess is being played out.  I cannot help but wonder if the two sides are playing by the same rules (actually, I don’t wonder at all – I am sure they are not) and also whether the Holy See really grasps the reality of playing Chinese chess, or that it is fundamentally different from the diplomatic game they are used to playing. 

Naturally, those involved know that China is "different".  They know the long and rocky history between the Chinese people and the Church, not to mention dialectical materialism. 

Still, if you play xiàngqí­ with Western pieces, or Western chess with Chinese pieces you could get tangled up pretty quickly.  And if you have mutliple boards going at the same time….

In the meantime, the Holy See remains tied to Taiwan. 

Today, the anniversary of the Sack of Rome, the new recruits for the Swiss Guard swear their service to the Pope and his successors. This is also the 5th centennial year of their service. Thus, as you have probably seen from other sites, there was much hooplah.

Here are a couple view of the celebration you might not have seen. All photos the mine. Enjoy!

This is the moment of the swearing. It is pretty big, but I reduced it a bit. It’s all there though, if you want it.

To add extra spice to the ceremony there were there present groups of troops dressed in historic uniforms, to give honor to the Swiss Guard. Here is a rather nice shot in amidst the columns.

Tonight some very nice fireworks were organized. I have a very nice view from my room.