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

Tonight I had a nice stroll. I went over to the P.za Navona and got a cuban cigar and walked around. I found a new Latin inscription of Pope Benedict XIV about the obelisk which was the center of the sundial of Augustus. I chatted with some Carabinieri. I saw cufflinks which were way above my paygrade (which doesn’t take much). But these cufflinks… I tell you…. Please send money? Lots of money.

Anyway, I got back to my place and the moon was setting, so I thought I would share it wichya.

What Does the Prayer Really Say?  Vigil of Ascension Thursday Sunday (7^th Sunday of Easter)

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2006

Today’s WDTPRS offering ought to be about the 7^th Sunday of Easter.  However, in some places the Feast of the Ascension, which falls always on a Thursday, has been transferred to this Sunday.  That would make it “Ascension Thursday Sunday”, I suppose.  In addition, the third edition of the Missale Romanum issued in 2002 now provides us with a Mass for the Vigil of Ascension, which wasn’t in previous editions of the Novus Ordo.  Moreover, the prayers for the new Vigil of Ascension are not the same as those found in the pre-Conciliar Missale for the Vigil.  Also, there are now proper Masses for the days after Ascension, most having alternative collects depending on whether or not in that region Ascension is transferred to Sunday. Since many people do not have access to the prayers for the Vigil of Ascension, let’s look at them this week.  First, here are the antiphons. Ant. ad introitum:  Regna terrae cantata Deo, psallite Domino, qui ascendit super caelum caeli; magnificentia et virtus eius in nubibus, alleluia. (Ps 67:33,35)  Ant. ad communionem: Christus, unam pro peccatis offerens hostiam, in sempiterum sedet in dextera Dei, alleluia.  (Cf. Heb 10:12)

COLLECT:
Deus, cuius Filus hodie in caelos,
Apostolis astantibus, ascendit,
concede nobis, quaesumus,
ut secundum eius promissionem
et ille nobiscum semper in terris
et nos cum eo in caelo vivere mereamur. 

This was modified from a prayer in ancient sacramentaries such as the Liber Sacramentorum when it was used on Ascension Thursday having its Station Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica.  Here is some liturgical education for you.  The eucological formulas (the prayers), for the Ascension found in what is sometimes called the Leonine Sacramentary surviving in one 7^th century manuscript in Verona (the Veronese Sacramentary) are the oldest prayers we have in the Roman liturgy!  The Missale Romanum and those ancient collections consist principally in prayers for Masses which in fancy liturgist talk are called “eucological formulas”.
 
LITERAL VERSION:
O God, whose Son today ascended
into the heavens as the Apostles were standing close by,
grant us, we beseech You,
that, according to His promise,
we may be worthy both that He lives with us on earth,
and that we live with Him in heaven.

When the Second Person took up our human nature into an indestructible bond with His divinity, indestructible, we were thereby destined to sit at God’s right hand, first in Christ and then on our own.  Christ makes us worthy, no one else.  Christ alone.  It’s all His.  And because it’s His, it’s ours.  Gratitude then brings us to the altar, confidently but carefully, where we lay our gifts and our selves down, ready to be raised up on high.  The priest prays:

SUPER OBLATA:
Deus, cuius Unigenitus, Pontifex noster,
semper vivens sedet ad dexteram tuam
ad interpellandum pro nobis,
concede nos adire cum fiducia ad thronum gratiae,
ut misericordiam tuam consequamur. 

There are phrases drawn from St. Paul in this prayer.  In the Apostle’s Letter to the Hebrews we find “Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy (adeamus ergo cum fiducia ad thronum gratiae ut misericordiam consequamur) and find grace to help in time of need” (cf. 4:16).  We also read, “Consequently he is able for all time to save those who draw near (accedentes) to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them (semper vivens ad interpellandum pro eis)” (cf. 7:25). 

The great and always useful Lewis & Short Dictionary helps us with adeo, the basic meaning of which is “to go to or approach a person or thing”.  By extension it means, “to approach one for the purpose of addressing, asking aid, consulting, and the like, to address, apply to, consult”.  There is an old phrase “accede to the throne” which could express well the force of adeo, though “accede” in this sense means enter into an office.  “Approach to” and “accede to”, both require enormous humility.

LITERAL BUT NUANCED METAPHRASE:
O God, whose Only-begotten, our Pontiff,
sits forever living at Your right hand
in order to intercede for us,
grant us to approach with confidence unto the throne of grace,
so that we may obtain Your mercy.

Here we have the image of the Pontiff, literally “bridge builder”, who is the high priestly mediator.  Here we have “approach” and “accede”.  Here we have the confidence of the redeemed and absolute need for mercy.  There are times when the content of the Latin words is so heavily charged that it almost physically hurts me to make a choice between one English possibility and another.  Our prayer today presents us with the image of a Christian soul approaching God’s throne where he will with humble confidence and confident humility beg for and claim mercy and rightful inheritance.  Because of Christ, he is already a member of a royal priesthood.  Because of Christ, our humanity is already sitting at the Father’s right hand, the place of honor.  Because of Christ, we already have our reward, but we do not yet possess it fully.

This is how we should approach and accede unto the Eucharistic Lord at the moment Holy Communion.  Our bowed heads must be humbly raised with pride as befits petitioning kings.  And after the endless king of glory, light from light, the true God from God made man humbly enters our bodies and souls, the priest sings…

POST COMMUNIONEM:
Quae ex altari tuo, Domine, dona percepimus,
accendunt in cordibus nostris caelestis patriae desiderium,
et quo praecursor pro nobis introivit Salvator,
faciant nos, eius vestigia sectantes, contendere.

I don’t think this prayer has a precedent in earlier sacramentaries.   Many prayers use some combination of the words dona and percipio, as do Patristic authors such as St. Pope Gregory I “the Great” (+604), often in reference to the Holy Spirit.   The phrase accendunt… desiderium might have a precedent in some late authors such as Venerable Bede (+735), Ambrosius Autpertus (+784) or Godefridus Admontensis (+1165).  They could be drawing from something I didn’t discover given the time I spent looking.
 
A praecursor is fundamentally, “one who runs before”.  In military language a praecursor is “an advanced guard, vanguard”, or sometimes a “scout”. 

SLAVISHLY LITERAL RENDERING:
The gifts which we have received from Your altar, O Lord,
are now kindling in our hearts an ardent desire for the heavenly fatherland,
and may they cause us, following in His footsteps, to strive for
the place where the Savior entered in as a forerunner.

Picture a great captain leading the charge through the vicissitudes and perils of marches and battles.  What jumps into my mind was a section of a book called The Red Horse by Italian author Eugenio Corti.  This volume of fiction presents the story of young Catholic Italians during Word War II based on some of his own experiences.  He tells the story of the Italian Alpine forces fighting their way out of Russia through envelopment after envelopment during the deadly winter, trying to get home, to their homeland, their fatherland.  All of us have experienced homesickness.  We have known conflict.  We long for a peaceful place where we belong, of light happiness and peace.  St. Augustine of Hippo (+430) described love like a gravitational force which pulls us inexorably toward the place where we belong.   Our real homeland awaits us.  The risen Christ has gone ahead of us as a scout, as a vanguard, as a great victorious captain.

The knowledge of our humanity now enjoying heaven can work wonders for us in the hour of need.  St. Pope Leo I “the Great” (+461), who uttered some of the most beautiful Latin ever spoken in the ancient Constantinian Basilica of St. Peter, gave us a sermon on 1 June 444 (s. 73,4) .  From his lips to our hearts:

“Truly it was a great and indescribable source of rejoicing when, in the sight of the heavenly multitudes, the nature of our human race ascended over the dignity of all heavenly creatures, to pass the angelic orders and to be raised beyond the heights of archangels. In its ascension it did not stop at any other height until this same nature was received at the seat of the eternal Father, to be associated on the throne of the glory of that One to whose nature it was joined in the Son.” 

This can make our faith firm in the face of any challenge.  Again about the Lord’s Ascension Pope Leo says in another sermon of 17 May 445 (s. 74,3):

“This Faith, reinforced by the Ascension of the Lord and strengthened by the gift of the Holy Spirit, has not been terrified by chains, by prison, by exile, by hunger, by fire, by the mangling of wild beasts, nor by sharp suffering from the cruelty of persecutors.  Throughout the world, not only men but also women, not just immature boys but also tender virgins, have struggled on behalf of this Faith even to the shedding of their blood.  This Faith has cast out demons, driven away sicknesses, and raised the dead.”

The great Pontiff Leo spoke those words on the Vatican Hill 1,561 years ago exactly to this very day I am writing.  Leo’s tomb is in the new Basilica upon the Vatican Hill.  As I write I can see it now by turning my head and gazing through the window.  The evening breezes intertwine for me the Latin with scents of jasmine and the rays of the setting sun.

Let us keep on track with the normal course of these columns, however, which this year focus on the so-called “Prayer over the gifts”.  We turn the page of the Missale Romanum to the next day and the Ascension Thursday itself.

SUPER OBLATA (2002 Missale Romanum – Missa in die):
Sacrificium, Domine, pro Filii tui supplices
venerabili nunc ascensione deferimus:
praesta, quaesumus, ut his commerciis sacrosanctis
ad caelestia consurgamus.

This was in the ancient Gelasian Sacramentary.

ICEL:
Lord,
receive our offering
as we celebrate the ascension of Christ your Son.
May his gifts help us rise with him
to the joys of heaven.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
O Lord, we supplicants are bringing the sacrifice
now for the venerable Ascension of your Son:
grant, we beg, that we may rise up unto the heavenly places
by means of these most sacred exchanges.

The fun verb defero is “to bear or bring away a thing from a place; to bear, carry, bring down” and thus also, “to bring, give to one”.  It is used in mercantile contexts (as in “conveying to market”) and it has many legal applications (“to bring” someone before a judge; “deliver” a report about finances).  For comments on the amazing noun commercium please see my recent WDTPRS for the Super Oblata of the 5^th Sunday of Easter.

It is immediately after this prayer that we launch into the Euchrist Prayer beginning with the Preface and Sanctus.  You all know the phrase, “Sursum corda!  Lift up your hearts!”  In 418 St. Augustine (s. 261) declared to his flock:

“The resurrection of the Lord is our hope, the Lord’s ascension our glorification.  ... So if we are to celebrate the Lord’s ascension in the right way, with faith, with devotion, with reverence as godfearing people, we must ascend with him, and lift up our hearts.  In ascending, however, we mustn’t get above ourselves.  Yes, we should lift up our hearts, but to the Lord.  Hearts, you see, lifted up, not to the Lord – that’s pride; while hearts lifted up to the Lord, that’s called taking refuge.  After all, we say to the one who has ascended, Lord, you have become a refuge for us (Ps 90:1).”

What Does the Prayer Really Say? 7th Sunday of Easter & Ascension Thursday Sunday

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2003

I promised to report more about the recently reported “Rescript” obtained from His Holiness by His Eminence Darío Card. Castrillon-Hoyos, Prefect of the Congregation for Clergy and President of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei”, concerning the situation in the Vatican Basilica of St. Peter faced by a priest who wishes to celebrate Mass using the 1962 Missale Romanum. In the past, during the tenure of His (now retired) Eminence Virgilio Card. Noè, Archpriest of the Basilica, the sacristans would basically forbid priests, and not politely, to use that Mass even though the priest had the proper faculty and permission to use it. Some did anyway, and incurred even more impolite treatment. The Pope’s recent “Rescript” requires that priests be permitted to use the so-called “Tridentine” Mass in St. Peter’s. And so, one fine morning I went to the Basilica (where I used to say Mass nearly every day) and I let the sacristan know that I intended to use the older form of Mass. After a momentary pretense of not knowing anything about the older rite, he adjusted his demeanor and said that only priests with the proper document (a “celebret”) issued by the Holy See could do so. I produced mine. It was examined with a little surprise but not at all impolitely. Fully anticipating the answer I in fact received, I requested a 1962 Missale. They didn’t have one. Fine, I’d use my own. Then he said that the Archpriest of the Basilica, His Excellency Archbishop Francesco Marchisano, had restricted use of the 1962 Missale to one of the several chapels in the crypt of the Basilica, the “Hungarian Chapel”, and only there. Fine, I’ll go there. But, quoth he, alas, that chapel was reserved that morning, so sorry. (Altars in the crypt can be reserved ahead of time for individual priests or groups. The reservations are made in a book in the sacristy by phoning or having someone go personally to the Basilica’s sacristy, but only in the early morning from about 7-8:30am. The phone number of the sacristy (from the USA) is: 011-39-06-69883712 – be prepared to speak Italian.) Therefore, I could wait for the chapel to open up… if there was any time left in the schedule for priests’ Masses that morning. Now, that chapel does not have a traditionally oriented altar, but rather a little free-standing squarish affair clearly meant to require the priest to “face the people”. I suppose with rearranging you could use the other side, but they frown on rearranging there. As a matter of fact they of the Basilica are systematically eliminating all the ad orientem altars in the crypt, but I digress. Therefore, here is a handy vade mecum for any priest who wants to say the “old Mass” in St. Peter’s now. First, bring your own Missale (not too hard, just inconvenient). Second, be furnished with a “celebret” issued by the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei” (not many of those). Third, unless you want to take your chances, manage ahead of time to have reserved the Hungarian Chapel for that specific time and day if someone hasn’t beaten you to it (plan in advance). Other than that, according to that “Rescript” given by the Pope to His Eminence Card. Castrillon-Hoyos it is now quite easy to say the older Mass at St. Peter’s Basilica.

I need to add a note about the speculation concerning the “disciplinary” document to be issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments (CDW) responding to the Holy Father’s call for such in his newest encyclical letter Ecclesia de Eucharistia. You will remember that Robert Moynighan of Inside The Vatican stirred up a great deal of guesswork when he published comments of His Eminence Francis Card. Arinze, Prefect of the CDW concerning the content of this document. In Mr. Moynighan’s article there was a report that this document would promote a more widespread use of the 1962MR and even a “universal indult”. Will all this rigmarole for priests and permissions be obsolete soon? I would point out several things. First, the comments about the old Mass were not quotations of Card. Arinze. Second, some people with whom I spoke in Rome recently, and who have seen the document in draft form, have said that there is nothing of this issue to be found in it. Third, this is such a delicate issue that, if there is or was any truth to the substance of the rumor, the “opposition” has now been alerted. In the past I have said that those of the more traditional or conservative stripe in the Church are so busy fighting amongst themselves over their miserable chunks of turf that they could not band together long to organize a cock fight. (And shame on you for that, by the way!) Those of the more liberal bent are fully capable of setting aside minor differences and working together quite well, so long as the result is a greater progressive and usually also deconstructing effect in the Church. So, given the publicity of this issue, I imagine that, if there was anything concerning the older form of Mass projected for the CDW’s document, there will now be terrifyingly fierce pressure to have it removed. Does the phrase “loose lips sink ships” ring a sanctuary bell?

It is time now to dig into the prayer for Ascension Thursday… er um.. Ascension Sunday, ehem, Ascension Thursday Sunday. By the way, the feast of the Ascension now has a Vigil Mass, which it did not have in the 1970/75MR. Here are the prayers for your priests who may desire to use them and do not have the newest Latin Missal: Ant. ad introitum: Regna terrae cantata Deo, psallite Domino, qui ascendit super caelum caeli; magnificentia et virtus eius in nubibus, alleluia. (Ps 67, 33.35) Collect: Deus, cuius Filus hodie in caelos,/ Apostolis astantibus, ascendit,/ concede nobis, quaesumus,/ ut secundum eius promissionem/ et ille nobiscum semper in terris/ et nos cum eo in caelo vivere mereamur. Super oblata: Deus, cuius Unigenitus, Pontifex noster,/ semper vivens sedet ad dexteram tuam/ ad interpellandum pro nobis,/ concede nos adire cum fiducia ad thronum gratiae,/ ut misericordiam tuam consequamur. Ant. ad communionem: Christus, unam pro peccatis offerens hostiam, in sempiterum sedet in dextera Dei, alleluia. (cf. Heb 10, 12) Post communionem: Quae ex altari tuo, Domine, dona percepimus,/ accendunt in cordibus nostris caelestis patriae desiderium,/ et quo praecursor pro nobis introivit Salvator,/ faciant nos, eius vestigia sectantes, contendere.

POST COMMUNIONEM
LATIN (2002 Missale Romanum – Ad Missam in die):
Omnipotens sempiterne Deus,
qui in terra constitutos divina tractare concedis,
praesta, quaesumus,
ut illuc tendat christianae devotionis affectus,
quo tecum est nostra substantia.

This was not in the 1962MR but it was, at least in part, in other ancient books such as the Gelasian and Veronese Sacramentaries.

ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
Father,
in this eucharist
we touch the divine life you give to the world.
Help us to follow Christ with love
to eternal life where he is Lord…

I think we WDTPRS veterans know about our wonderful term devotio. The WDPTRS neophytes, however, need to know that devotio carries with it a meaning of a singular focus on fulfilling the duties of your state in life such that, because you are playing the part which God allotted for you in His eternal plan, He will give you every actual grace you need to carry out His will. The celebrated Lewis & Short Dictionary will provide opportune knowledge about the verb tracto, which means “to draw violently, to drag, tug, haul” and also “to touch, take in hand, handle, manage, wield; to exercise, practise, transact, perform”. Thus this polyvalent word also means, “to treat, use, or conduct one’s self towards a person in any manner” and “to handle, treat, investigate, discuss any thing, mentally, orally, or in writing”. Tendo connotes, “to stretch, stretch out, distend, extend” and by extension it tends to mean, “to direct one’s self or one’s course; to aim, strive, go, travel, march, tend, bend one’s course in any direction”. Affectus is “a state of body, and esp. of mind produced in one by some influence, a state or disposition of mind, affection, mood.” Thus, it is “love, desire, fondness, good-will, compassion, sympathy”. Substantia is going to be tricky, for it carries the weight of philosophical terminology and a long history of fights in the early Church in the context of the Christological controversies (was Christ “God”, that is of the same “substance” as the Father, or of “like” substance, etc.). The philosophical term “substance” also comes up in “transubstantiation” in which bread and wine are changed such that they are no longer the substances bread and wine but are now rather the substances of Christ’s Body or flesh and His Blood even thought the “accidents” or outward sensible characteristics remain the same. Substantia is therefore, as far as the L&S is concerned “that of which a thing consists, the being, essence, contents, material, substance”, though there is a lot more to the word than that in Catholic contexts.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Almighty eternal God,
who allow those established upon earth to treat of divine things,
grant, we beseech,
that the disposition of Christian devotion may bend our course to that place
where our substance is now with you.

In the Incarnation, God the Son, the Second Person, took our humanity, our substantia into an indestructible bond with His divinity, His substantia. In the Resurrection, our substantia rose from death in Christ. In His Ascension, the God Man took our human nature to be seated at the right hand of the Father. Our humanity is at this very moment already seated in bliss with the Father in the Person of the risen Christ. By living in friendship with Him in the state of grace and striving with real single-minded focus (devotio) to bend all that we say, do, think and desire toward that final end of heaven, God will give us the help we need to get there. He already gives us, in anticipation of that great homecoming in heaven (for our humanity is already home in Him), the greatest help of all: spiritual nourishment in the Eucharist. He permits us here in this fading and passing vale of tears to make loving use of unfading and eternal mysteries.

For those of you who may not have the transferred feast of Ascension Thursday Sunday…

POST COMMUNIONEM
LATIN (2002 Missale Romanum 7th Sunday of Easter):
Exaudi nos, Deus, salutaris noster,
ut per haec sacrosancta mysteria
in totius Ecclesiae confidamus corpore faciendum,
quod eius praecessit in capite.

This is new to the 1970MR though it is inspired by a prayer in the Veronese Sacramentary.

ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
God our Savior,
hear us,
and through this holy mystery give up hope
that the glory you have given Christ
will be given to the Church, his body.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Graciously hear us, O God, our salvation,
so that through these most sacred sacramental mysteries,
we may be confident that what has a forehand taken place in His Head
is to be done in the Body of the whole Church.

Clearly this is a reference to the mystery of the Ascension, since this (7th) Sunday is within the nine day period before Pentecost. This was the time of the “original” novena, as it were. The Lord Himself exhorted His disciples to pray and prepare themselves for what was to come: “Wait for the promise of the Father!” (Acts 1:4)

What Does the Prayer Really Say?  Seventh Sunday of Easter/Ascension of the Lord

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2002

In many places where WDTPRS is read, Ascension Thursday is transferred and celebrated on the following Sunday, the Seventh of Easter.  Last year I did both, so I will do the same this year.

SUPER OBLATA: Seventh Sunday of Easter

LATIN (2002 Missale Romanum or 2002MR):
Suscipe, Domine, fidelium preces
cum oblatione hostiarum
ut, per haec piae devotionis officia,
ad caelestem gloriam transeamus.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Accept, O Lord, the prayers of the faithful
with the offering of sacrificial victims
so that through these dutiful services,
we may pass over to heavenly glory.

This prayer was originally the secret for Tuesday in the Octave of Easter in the 1962MR.   

In this case I am rendering hostia as “sacrificial victims” since our Lewis & Short Dictionary¸ never far from reach, informs us that it means “an animal sacrificed, a victim, sacrifice (cf.: victima).”  Officium means “a service” whether of free will or of necessity.  It is also, “ceremonial observance, ceremony, attendance.”   When priests and religious say their prayers of the Liturgy of the Hours (Breviary) each day they are said to be saying their “office”: it is a duty they must perform in service of the universal Church.  Also, the present Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF) used to be called the Holy Office because of its duty and service in guarding the content of faith and its presentation.  If you want to find the building in Rome where the CDF is located just ask for the Piazza del Sant’Uffizio. 

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Accept, O Lord, the prayers of the faithful
with the offering of sacrificial victims
so that through these dutiful services,
we may pass over to heavenly glory.

ICEL:
Lord,
accept the prayers and gifts
we offer in faith and love.
May this eucharist
bring us to your glory.

Yes, that is really what the ICEL Sacramentary says.  I had to double check to make sure I was on the right day.

SUPER OBLATA Ascensionis Domini – ad Missam in die:

There are some innovations in the 2002MR for this feast.  Just as in the 1970MR we find a full page plate of artwork (I use the term loosely).  Then we find in the 2002MR a new Mass for the Vigil of Ascension, which was not in the 1970MR. This is a return to a former usage, as in the 1962MR.  The vigil seems to have prayers of new composition.  Then we find a “Mass in the day” and, to our astonishment, a second alternative collect!   The first collect was alone in the 1970MR and was based on Sermon 73, 4 of St. Leo the Great.  The second collect is an old friend from the 1962MR the ancient collect for Ascension!   The preface in Gregorian chant notation has been integrated into the texts of the Mass itself.  Also, there are now proper Masses for the days after Ascension, most having alternative collects depending on whether or not in that region Ascension is transferred to Sunday.   For the interested, I will put the new prayers for the vigil on the internet at: http://wdtprs.net

LATIN (2002 Missale Romanum):
Sacrificium, Domine, pro Filii tui supplices
venerabili nunc ascensione deferimus:
praesta, quaesumus, ut his commerciis sacrosanctis
ad caelestia consurgamus.

Having had some forerunner in the Gelasian Sacramentary, this prayer seems nevertheless to be of new composition for the 1970MR.  After our experience with the previous super oblata let’s get out of the way the version by…

ICEL:
Lord,
receive our offering
as we celebrate the ascension of Christ your Son.
May his gifts help us rise with him
to the joys of heaven.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
O Lord, we supplicants are bringing the sacrifice
now for the venerable Ascension of your Son:
grant, we beg, that we may rise up unto the heavenly places
by means of these most sacred exchanges.

The fun verb defero is “to bear or bring away a thing from a place; to bear, carry, bring down” and thus also, “to bring, give to one”.  It is used in mercantile contexts (as in “conveying to market”) and it has many legal applications (“to bring” someone before a judge; “deliver” a report about finances).  For comments on the amazing noun commercium please see my recent WDTPRS for the super oblata of the 5^th Sunday of Easter.

I am compelled by recent news to forsake much commentary on the prayers for the sake of looking at two important items.  We read that the Holy Father has directed the creation of a panel to assist the Congregation for Divine Worship (CDW) in ensuring that the texts of the Latin liturgy are translated into English accurately.  I have long thought that our wonderful CDW document of last year Liturgiam authenticam (LA) was aimed in large part at the problematic English language translations.  The panel is called “Vox clara.” The Pope said that Vox clara (VC) must help the development of a new translation of third edition of the Missale Romanum “as quickly as possible.”  In an issued statement VC spoke to the “absolute need for translations… which are precise, theologically faithful, and effectively proclaimable.”  I see ICEL on the ropes.  If this wasn’t enough, the CDW slapped down ICEL’s new proposed translation of the Missale Romanum and which they are still calling the Sacramentary.  The CDW’s biting criticism was very comprehensive.  Many prickly observations and corrections were made in the seven page letter of 16 March signed by the prefect Jorge Card. Medina Estévez.  He wrote that the letter’s observations were “not intended to be exhaustive, even in a generic sense.” Also, the Cardinal stated that ICEL’s proposal shows, “evidently insurmountable divergence as regards fundamental principles of liturgical translation.”   What was wrong with it?  Apparently the new translation used inclusive language which distorted the theological content and served to narrow the meaning of the texts to the immediate ceremony and congregation.  The CDW rebuked the composition of new prayers, the insertion of prayers that do not appear in any form in the Latin editions, saying that variety is not “cultural value capable of serving as a vehicle for authentic inculturation.”  The “mass produced” new prayers are “inferior” to the ancient prayers.  Apparently the new translation actually invited lay ministers to join the bishop at the altar during the Chrism Mass of Holy Thursday, thus blurring the distinction between the ministerial priesthood and the laity.  The Congregation insists again that the Creed or in Latin Credo should begin with “I believe” rather than the present inaccurate “We believe” and, moreover, that people should be saying “and with your spirit” for et cum spiritu tuo instead of the ludicrous “and also with you” which obscures the real theological significance of the response.   ICEL worked on the translation for 11 years and submitted it to the Holy See in 1998.  In the meantime the new edition of the Missale Romanum has been issued.  Rather than simply set the ICEL proposal aside quietly (for it translates the wrong book) the CDW instead determined essentially to rip it to bits.  Consider the timing of all this.  In the USA terrible scandals are demonstrating that something is gravely amiss with the way the faith is being presented and assimilated.  The proper kind of inculturation that the liturgy is supposed to form is obviously not taking place.  (I maintain that the main theological point driven home by LA is a proper understanding of inculturation.)  Then the CDW eviscerates ICEL’s lame-duck while a new panel called Vox clara is formed to govern English translations.  The panel, by the way, is named from the first two words of the hymn for Lauds during Advent.  I find the first two verses to be intriguing, given the present circumstances.

Vox clara ecce intonat,
obscura quaeque increpat:
procul fugentur somnia;
ab aethre Christus promicat.

Mens iam resurgat torpida
quae sorde exstat saucia,
sidus refulget iam novum,
ut tollat omne noxium.

Behold a clear/intelligible/glorious (clara) voice is thundering forth,
and it loudly rebukes whatever is obscure/unintelligible/ignoble:
dreams/silly things (somnia) are being put to flight afar;
Christ is gleaming/springing forth from heaven.
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Now the benumbed mind rises again
which stands over wounded baseness,
now heaven shines forth something new,
that it may do away with every injurious thing.

The new panel for oversight of English translations is “Vox clara.”  Decide for yourselves what that means.

What Does the Prayer Really Say? Ascension/Seventh Sunday of Easter

In some places the Ascension is celebrated on this Sunday rather than the 7th Sunday after Easter. 

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2001

With the publication of Liturgiam authenticam, establishing norms for vernacular translations of liturgical texts, WDTPRS has a rich source for reflection when offering these weekly examinations. For example:

27. Even if expressions should be avoided which hinder comprehension because of their excessively unusual or awkward nature, the liturgical texts should be considered as the voice of the Church at prayer, rather than of only particular congregations or individuals; thus, they should be free of an overly servile adherence to prevailing modes of expression. If indeed, in the liturgical texts, words or expressions are sometimes employed which differ somewhat from usual and everyday speech, it is often enough by virtue of this very fact that the texts become truly memorable and capable of expressing heavenly realities. Indeed, it will be seen that the observance of the principles set forth in this Instruction will contribute to the gradual development, in each vernacular, of a sacred style that will come to be recognized as proper to liturgical language. Thus it may happen that a certain manner of speech which has come to be considered somewhat obsolete in daily usage may continue to be maintained in the liturgical context. In translating biblical passages where seemingly inelegant words or expressions are used, a hasty tendency to sanitize this characteristic is likewise to be avoided. These principles, in fact, should free the Liturgy from the necessity of frequent revisions when modes of expression may have passed out of popular usage.

As you recall, WDTPRS has argued on more than one occasion for the retention of so-called "archaic" forms, those "Thee"s and "Thou"s. If the present English language Sacramentary provides alternative collects that are completely new compositions having nothing to do with the Latin, then why could there not be alternatives in a new Sacramentary? If we can have more modern sounding language, cannot we not also have the option of a more sacral and solemn style? Liturgiam authenticam seems to permit and even urge such a style. As a matter of fact, LA probably is urging the more solemn/sacral/archaic version exclusively without the alternative of a more modern version. We need "a sacred style that will come to be recognized as proper to liturgical language." The word "interesting" does not begin to describe this paragraph! Now to our weekly texts.

As many of you know, the Conference of Bishops of the USA determined that bishops of dioceses could transfer the celebration of Ascension Thursday to Sunday. This is a very strange thing even to consider, at first glance. Ascension has been fixed at the 40th day after Easter from about the end of the 4th c. Gregory of Nyssa spoke of it in 388. Augustine of Hippo calls it Quadragesima Ascensionis. However, consider that it is perhaps a good thing to bring Ascension into greater focus. The mystery of the Ascension is important enough to be declared in the Roman Canon. People should know more about it. In most places the observance of Epiphany was transferred to a Sunday even though it also is a feast day fixed in relation another great feast – Christmas (Epiphany is "Twelfth Night"). Now people have a greater appreciation of the significance of Epiphany. Perhaps that will happen also with Ascension, which is historically an extremely important feast. Because from the time the Lord ascended to the Father to the time the Holy Spirit descended on the Apostles and Mary was a period of nine days, Ascension was also the origin of the custom of making "Novenas": a nine day period of prayer, fasting and almsgiving for an intention. On the other hand, one could also argue effectively that our faith ought to be important enough to people that we can make room in our busy days, even in the middle of the week, to go to Mass on Epiphany and Ascension Thursday. At any rate, that leaves WDTPRS with two collects for today.

COLLECT 7th Sunday:

LATIN (1970 Missale Romanum):
Supplicationibus nostris, Domine, adesto propitius,
ut, sicut humani generis Salvatorem
tecum in tua credimus maiestate,
ita eum usque ad consummationem saeculi manere nobiscum,
sicut ipse promisit, sentiamus.

There is a nice parallelism here in sicut… tecum and ita… nobiscum.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Graciously give attention to our supplications, O Lord,
so that, just as we believe the Savior of human kind
is, in your majesty, with you,
we thus may sense him, just as he promised, to be remaining with us
all the way unto the consummation of the world.

Adsum is the verb that gives us adesto, which is the "future" imperative (because imperative has to be future). Adsum means to "be present" in both the physical and the moral sense. Thus, it means also "to be present with one’s aid or support; to stand by, to assist, aid, help, protect, defend, sustain." And also, "to be present in mind, with attention, interest, sympathy; also, with courage; to give attention to something, to give heed, observe, attend to; also, to be fearless, be of good courage." In the Rite of Ordination, when men are called to receive Holy Orders, their names are pronounced (which is the formal moment of a "calling" – vocatio) and they respond, Adsum! Believe me when I say that that Adsum! candidates for Orders proclaim means all of the above! Maiestas has an interesting entry in the Lewis & Short Dictionary. This word fundamentally means, "greatness, grandeur, dignity, majesty." In conjunction with other words it reveals something more. For example, maiestas means the "sovereignty of the Roman people" in classical Latin. Thus, we have the term for high treason: laedere maiestatem. In English we use the same phrase: "lese majesty" also in the French form "lèse majesté". Consummatio is technically "a casting up or reckoning together, a summing up, a summary view" as well as a "finishing, completing, accomplishing." Think of doing a "summation" or doing your "sums". Or being a "consummate pianist" to indicate a pianist who in his skills and artistry is "complete."

ICEL:
Father,
help us keep in mind that Christ our Savior
lives with you in glory
and promised to remain with us until the end of time.

COLLECT ASCENSION:

LATIN (1970 Missale Romanum):
Fac nos, omnipotens Deus, sanctis exsultare gaudiis,
et pia gratiarum actione laetari,
quia Christi Filii tui ascensio est nostra provectio,
et quo processit gloria capitis,
eo spes vocatur et corporis.

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Cause us, Almighty God, to exult in holy joys
and to be glad in dutiful thanksgiving,
for the ascension of Christ Thy Son is our advancement,
and the hope of the Body is being called to that place
from whence comes forth the glory of the Head.

Actio gratiarum means "thanksgiving, a giving of thanks." To say "thank you" in Latin, you say "Gratias tibi (vobis) ago!"...tibi being singular and vobis being plural. Provectio is a "promotion, advancement."

WDTPRS has explained in the past about the theological significance of the world gloria when referring to God. This is that divine power that will flow to us from Christ and transform us to be more and more as He is. Certainly gloria is related to words like splendor and maiestas.

These collects both point us to a great mystery: in the Person of the Risen Lord, the God/man, our humanity is at this very moment present at the right hand of God the Father. When Christ ascended to the Father, our humanity ascended with Him. We are already there, but still not yet there. We must wait for the world’s consummation and final reckoning to join Them in our final state of endless contemplation of the Triune God. Christ is the Head of the Church. Through and in Him we are the Body, the members, the Church. In that time after the world and everything and everyone has been put in the balance, and everything has been submitted by Christ to the Father so that God may be all in all, Christ the Head and Christ the Body will be, as St. Augustine might put it, Christus Totus: Christ Whole and Entire. The Ascension, celebrated on 40th day after Easter since the 4th century, is a celebration in advance of our own ascension in glory.

ICEL:
God our Father,
make us joyful in the ascension of your Son Jesus Christ.
May we follow him into the new creation,
for his ascension is our glory and our hope.