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

It’s pretty wet here, today. I think November weather has finally arrived. It has been a good run and maybe it’ll clear up.

I think it’ll be a good day to stay in and read some Ambrose and maybe catch up on a couple episodes of Smallville.

What Does the Prayer Really Say?  32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2003

MD of WY writes "The Wanderer is a great help to me—I copy out your translations and use them at Mass so that I can better pray as the Church intended us to pray.  One of these days, I’ll have to compile all three prayers that you’ve translated over the years so that I will have them all together for the appropriate Sunday.  Thanks for such a wonderful column.  God bless you for your tremendous effort to instill in us a desire to pray for accurate translations!!”   Thanks, MD, this means that the purpose of the column is somehow getting through to people.  Also, now that we are coming to the end of the third year of WDTPRS some kind of book is in order.

The now infamous forthcoming document from the Congregation for Divine Worship (CDW) was “leaked” some time ago, as you all know.  That created a bit of a firestorm in the press.  Speculation about the content of the document must have raised the hackles of enough of those fighting the reclamation of the Roman tradition that the only way to kill the document was to first leak it in provisional form and then snipe at it in its leaked provisional form until it was effectively perforated. This is what I predicted would happen.  This week there comes an item from Zenit.org reporting the comments of a member of the English Bishops’ Conference, lately in Rome for its quinquennial ad limina meetings.  According to Zenit, His Excellency Bishop Mark Jabale, chairman of the Department for Christian Life and Worship, said concerning a possible ban on altar girls: "The stories unsettled people and caused an enormous number of letters to bishops.  It was not helpful and, in the end, these things are not going to happen."  So, the leak worked!   Brilliantly done, really.  You can be sure that these same comments will be applicable to everything else in the document too.  

In a Catholic News Service piece we read that the Vatican has approved new statutes for the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL), giving the CDW veto power over ICEL’s staff and translators.  The new document gives the bishops who form the commission more direct  oversight of ICEL’s staff, translators and projects.  The new statutes and the decree approving them were sent to the U.S. bishops on 17 October.  On 23 Oct about 40 presidents of conferences and officials from ICEL met Francis Card. Arinze, prefect of the CDW.

Meanwhile, the left-leaning National Catholic Reporter’s ubiquitous Rome correspondent, the balanced Mr. John L. Allen, Jr., reported that Sidney Australia’s Archbishop and the chairman of the Vox Clara committee, His Eminence Card. Pell stated in a post-consistory interview: “I hope that future translations will be faithful to the principles of Liturgiam Authenticam”, referring to the CDW document that establishes translation norms.  Card. Pell continued, “At the same time, it’s important that they be beautiful.”  Mr. Allen reports: “In that regard, Pell said he hopes that the new translation of the Roman Missal, or the book of prayers for the Mass, will be ready ‘closer to two years from now, rather than three, four or five.’”    On another front, His Eminence Wilfrid Fox Card. Napier of Durban, South Africa said that the Vatican lacks a "sufficient sensitivity to African churches" citing Liturgiam authenticam as an example.   It seems to me that beauty and accuracy are more than sufficiently sensitive.  Before there can be any authentic inculturation, there must be authentic and beautiful texts that convey what the Church believes and aspires to.  Only after these have had their time to prepare the soil, sow the seeds, nourish the growth and bear some fruits can we think about grafts and splices of new plants and cuttings.

POST COMMUNIONEM
LATIN (2002 Missale Romanum):
Gratias tibi, Domine, referimus sacro munere vegetati,
tuam clementiam implorantes,
ut, per infusionem Spiritus tui,
in quibus caelestis virtus introivit,
sinceritatis gratia perseveret.

This was the Postcommunio of the 8th Sunday after Pentecost in the 1962MR:  Gratias tibi referimus, Domine, sacro munere vegetati: tuam misericordiam deprecantes; ut dignos nos eius participatione perficias.  Note that the first part remains mostly intact while the last part of the Novus Ordo’s prayer is expanded and elaborated.  There is some good alliteration on a ‘v’ sound in this prayer together with nice rhythmic clausulae (the syllabic character of the ends of lines): cleméntiam implorántes … grátia persevéret.  These clausulae make the prayer very singable and pleasant to the ear.

Does ICEL use clausulae?  Let us find out.

ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
Lord, we thank you for the nourishment you give us through your holy gift.
Pour out your Spirit upon us
and in the strength of this food from heaven
keep us single-minded in your service.

Glancing back and forth at the Latin and ICEL texts for a moment raises the possibility that the Latin was not entirely given its due.  Therefore, our intense interest in what the prayer really says leads us to reach for the precious resource upon which we have lo these many years learned to trust, namely, the Lewis & Short Dictionary.  Just as it did back in our article for the Post communionem of the 8th Sunday of Ordinary Time the potent L&S says the late Latin verb vegeto means “to arouse, enliven, quicken, animate, invigorate.”  Remember that there are three kinds of living beings with material bodies, i.e., vegetative, animal and human (angels are living beings too, but without bodies).  To be vegetatus means to be “quickened, enlivened”.  The early Christian poet Aurelius Clemens Prudentius (A.D. 348-413) describes God as “quickening” the soul of Adam with this verb and the older Latin Vulgate in Genesis 9:15 has: “I will remember my covenant which is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh (omni anima vivente quae carnem vegetat).”    Lest we vegetate (become mentally inactive like vegetables), however, we move on now to clementia.  

Clementia is “calm, tranquil state of the elements, calmness, mildness, tranquility” as in describing weather or the ocean and is “indulgent, forbearing conduct towards the errors and faults of others, moderation, mildness, humanity, forbearance, benignity, clemency, mercy” in regard to interior dispositions.  Interestingly, we can the adverb clementer and a form of persevere in the Collect for the 16th Sunday of Ordinary Time and clementia with a form of imploro in the Post communion on the 20th Sunday as well as in the Post communion of the 3rd Sunday of Advent.   Certain concepts expressed in specific vocabulary tend to be paired and repeated in liturgical prayers.

What is gratia sinceritatis which looks like “the grace of sincerity”?   First, in rhetorical terminology integritas or sinceritas orationis indicates a “purity of style” of speaking, whereby each world is well suited for your purpose to delight or persuade or instruct.  In the case of prayer, the choice of words, their sounds and their meanings, must be conditioned by the context: humbly, gratefully lifting our deepest aspirations to God the Father.   This might be the motto for the members of ICEL, Vox Clara, and the CDW.  

We must go further with sinceritas, since often liturgical prayer finds its inspiration from the pages of Sacred Writ.  Some form of sinceritas appears in the Vulgate three times, and in Paul to the Corinthians (cf. 1 Cor 5:7; 2 Cor 1:12; 2:17).  In each case Paul is addressing the moral behavior of the Corinthians.  Looking especially at 1 Cor 5:7 (do that now… open your Bible which must be even closer to hand than the ever nearby L&S)  we find some precious clues.   Digging into the Latin Vulgate makes it all clearer: “Let us, therefore, celebrate the festival, not with the old leaven, the leaven of malice and evil (fermento malitiae et nequitiae), but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth (in azymis sinceritatis et veritatis)”  (1 Cor 5:7 – RSV). 

Sinceritatis must make the attentive reader perk up and recall the Old Testament imagery of the unleavened bread eaten by the Jews at the pasch, Passover.  In the cite from 1 Cor 5:7 Paul uses the image of leaven or yeast to contrast the old ways, the old Law, the old covenant, and especially the old moral behavior before conversion to belief in Christ with the new way of doing things.  There is an old leaven and a new leaven.  As you know, yeast “puffs up” dough.   Thus, yeast is often a symbol of sin and pride in Scripture.   But in changing the old imagery around Paul now uses the idea of a new leaven that is not prideful and does not produce sinful behavior.  Before Paul, the Lord Jesus turned the image of yeast around and used it as an image of Himself in terms of the Kingdom of God (cf. Luke 13:20-21).   The old leaven puffs up in pride while the new makes one grow in the life of Christ, especially in sound moral comportment.   Paul again uses yeast with the Galatians (in 5:9 – also followed by a moral exhortation).   

Interestingly, St. Thomas Aquinas in the Summa Theologiae has a question about whether or not the “paschal lamb” is the principle figure or symbol of the sacrament of the Eucharist (cf. IIIª q. 73 a. 6 co.).  He responds with that same quote from Paul “Pascha nostrum immolatus est Christus. Itaque epulemur in azymis sinceritatis et veritatis”.  St. Thomas  offers his answer at length in terms of res et sacramentum which we explored just two weeks ago for the Post communion of the 30th Sunday.  Might this confirm perhaps that the same expert/redactor worked in this group of prayers in preparing the Novus Ordo Missal?   Might he have been steeped in the sacramental theology of the Angelic Doctor?   Today’s prayer is redolent of such a background.   

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Having been enlivened by the sacred gift, we return thanks to you, O Lord,
imploring your forbearance,
so that, through the outpouring of your Spirit,
the grace of sincerity may persevere
in those whom heavenly power has entered into.

It is not a surprise to find the word sinceritatis in a Post communion prayer because it instantly calls to mind the Biblical phrase azymis sinceritatis, referring to the unleavened bread of the Jews and the admonition to live a moral life in keeping with one’s Christian character.  At the time of Holy Communion we partake of what was the unleavened bread of the host, now transformed by the consecration of the priest into the Body and Blood of Christ.     Sinceritas, echoing the words of St. Paul to the Corinthians, will now have a powerful moral content for us.  In today’s prayer the priest begs God the Father through the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the interior quickening of the Real Presence in our souls and bodies pleads on behalf of all present for the grace to avoid immorality and cling to what it beautiful, proper and true (sinceritatis et veritatis) in word and action, both within the anointed walls of the church and without its doors in our daily lives.

What Does the Prayer Really Say?  32nd Sunday of Ordinary Time

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2006

It was on a bitterly cold and frosty morning during the winter of ‘97 that I was awakened by a tugging at my shoulder. It was Holmes. The candle in his hand shone upon his eager, stooping face and told me at a glance that something was amiss.
     “Come, Watson, come!” he cried. “The game is afoot. Not a word! Into your clothes and come!”  (from The Adventure of the Abbey Grange by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The game is indeed afoot, but nothing is amiss!  

Three different well-placed sources I trust in Congregations here in Rome confirmed for me that the Holy Father made the determination that the words “pro multis” in the consecration of the Precious Blood will be properly translated, “for many”, in the upcoming English text now in preparation. I had reason to be optimistic about this quite some time ago, but these confirmations go far beyond previous news.  Please note: This is not by any means over.  Nothing is certain until the authentic decision is made by the Pope and he makes his will known openly.  Nevertheless, I take the news I received as a real benchmark.
A war has been raging in different Congregations about this issue.  They will have an advisory role only and Pope Benedict alone will make the final decision about the translation.  Translations of sacramental forms are reserved to the Roman Pontiff.  We find this in the Holy See’s official instrument of promulgation, Acta Apostolicae Sedis for 28 February 1974 (AAS 66 [1974] 98-99).  This is a circular letter dated 25 October 1973 over the signature of then Secretary of State Jean Card. Villot, countersigned by Archbishop Annibale Bugnini (my translation from the Latin): “The Supreme Pontiff reserves to himself the power of approving directly all translations into vernacular languages of the formulas of sacraments.”  

This text bears repeating in the present context.  Writing as Joseph Ratzinger the Pope confronted the pro multis question.  In this book God Is Near Us: The Eucharist, The Heart of Life (Ignatius Press, 2003) he made three points (pp. 37-8, n. 10): 1) Jesus died to save all and to deny that is not in any way a Christian attitude, 2) God lovingly leaves people free to reject salvation and some do, and 3):

“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).”

Many people do amazing scriptural, theological, and philological fan dances to defend the forcing of pro multis to mean “for all”.  The convoluted musings are heavily footnoted, but Ratzinger’s argument is the only one that finally carries any weight.  In any event, his is now the only opinion that counts.

When I put this news on the WDTPRS blog, a few of the rather more sour stripe observed that there is nothing so special about this, and that this news means little or nothing to people who are interested in the older, “Tridentine” Mass exclusively.  To them I would say, first, that what is good for the whole Church is good for them. Holy Church is not to be reduced to the traditionalist minority, as important as it is in some respects. Clearly the traditionalists are not in the majority in the Church today. Thus, vernacular translations impact them more than they might think. The English language clearly dominates the world today. Since liturgical translations in other languages are undergoing revisions, they will be required to follow suit.

It is necessary to continue with prayers for the Holy Father and with raising thanks to God for this important move on his part. We all know that it ain’t over till it’s over. When I see some instrument of promulgation and the Holy Father’s signature, I will finally relax. Nevertheless I am very happy about this news.

Small signs individually might not mean much.  When they are collected and pondered, they mean more.  Think about it.  The “freeing up” of the so-called “Tridentine” Mass seems to be coming soon.  A new Traditional community was established in Bordeaux the archdiocese of Jean-Pierre Cardinal Ricard, a member of the Pontifical Commission “Ecclesia Dei” and head of the French bishops’ conference. A group of French bishops published a panicky letter protesting that new community and the possibility that the older Mass might gain status.  Liberté! Egalité! Fraternité!  A concrete effort is being made to reconcile the Society of St. Pius X.  The Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments, Francis Cardinal Arinze communicated to the bishops of the United States that lay people may no longer purify sacred vessels.  Predictably, some in the USA reacted with the usual angst and have promised to study the situation.  Meanwhile, today (31 October) the Holy Father accepted the resignation of the Archpriest of the Basilica of St. Peter, Francesco Card. Marchisano, replacing him with Archbishop Angelo Comastri.  Marchisano had restricted use of the older form of Mass to a single chapel in the crypt of the Basilica in spite of the Rescript the Commission’s President, Darío Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos had obtained from John Paul II to let it be celebrated in the Basilica.  Cardinal Castrillon Hoyos stepped down from his post at the Congregation for Clergy, he will remain President of the Commission.  Elsewhere, the aforementioned Cardinal Arinze gave a speech in France on 26 October to a couple hundred liturgists and a score of bishops for the dedication of a liturgical institute in Paris.  He strongly underscored the need for obedience to rubrics and fidelity to the Magisterium.  He said:  

“Thus, certain abuses have as their origin the practice of giving place to spontaneity, or to creativity, or even to a false idea of freedom, or to that error that has a name, ‘horizontalism’, which consists in placing people at the center of the liturgical celebration instead of drawing their attention upwards, that is, toward Christ and His Mysteries. ...  That means that institutes of liturgical studies should place at the disposal of the faithful the necessary means so that they will be able to reject vulgarization, desacralization and secularization.  The horizontalism, which leads people to celebrate themselves instead of celebrating the Mysteries of Christ, has harmful consequences for Catholic faith and the worship, and this is why it absolutely must be avoided.”

Hmmmm… what form of Mass might help in this regard?  Let me see….  Going on, last Sunday (29 October) in St. Peter’s Square during Benedict XVI’s customary noontime Angelus address, the Latin text of the Angelus was displayed on the “maxi-screens” usually used during ceremonies so that people could more easily pray with the Pope in Latin.  In the Basilica of St. Peter the normally scheduled daily Masses are now to be celebrated in Latin.  

Something is afoot.

Continuing with our theme of liturgical translations, you remember the contribution a few weeks ago of Fr. Anonymous from I can’t remember where.  Father was worried after hearing the bitter reactions of the aging hippie set at an annual meeting that some priests, even many, might refuse to implement a new ICEL translation.  I had lunch recently with a fine fellow, Fr. FF, who made the excellent observation that the pews in all the churches entrusted to the nay-saying priests will be tricked out with various missalettes.  Together with all the appalling hymns those missalettes have spread around, they will eventually have to print the newly revised official translation.  If the nay-sayers want missalettes, they will have to use the new translation.  I have long been less than enthusiastic about these recyclable booklets since, despite their utility, they lend the impression that the Word of God is disposable.  I have new respect for them now.  

SUPER OBLATA (2002MR):
Sacrificiis praesentibus, Domine,
quaesumus, intende placatus,
ut quod passionis Filii tui mysterio gerimus,
pio consequamur affectu.

This prayer was the Secret in the 1962MR of the feast of St. Albert the Great (15 November).  

To crack this open, we shall consult our prized Lewis & Short Dictionary.  We saw the complex verb gero, gessi gestum on the 30th Sunday of Ordinary Time where it had a passive form.  Today it is active and means “to sustain the charge of any undertaking or business, to administer, manage, regulate, rule, govern, conduct, carry on, wage, transact, accomplish, perform (cf.: facio, ago).”  It can also mean “to bear, have, entertain, cherish”.  Affectus is an old friend of ours too.  Related to the verb afficio, affectus means “a state of body, and especially of mind produced in one by some influence, a state or disposition of mind, affection, mood: love, desire, fondness, good will, compassion, sympathy.”  

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
We beg You, O Lord, be pleased
to give attention to the present sacrifices,
so that what we are accomplishing in the sacramental mystery
of the Passion of Your Son,
we may attain by dutiful loving desire.

It is interesting to consult translations in popular hand missals of yore to see how prayers were rendered into English.  In the St. Joseph Daily Missal we find: “Look with favor upon these, our sacrifices, we beseech You, O Lord, that what we set forth in this mystery of the Passion of Your Son our Lord may, by the pleading and example of Blessed Albert, produce in us its pious effect.”   There is a construction similar to the last part of today’s prayer in the secret of Wednesday in Holy Week in the 1962MR, where we find: Suscipe, quaesumus, Domine, munus oblatum, et dignanter operare: ut, quod passionis Filii tui Domini nostri mysterio gerimus, piis affectibus consequamur.  The St. Andrew Bible Missal renders this as: “Accept Lord, we pray you, the offering that we make to you.  In your goodness grant to obtain by our zeal what we celebrate in these mysteries of the passion of your Son” whereas the aforementioned St. Joseph’s Missal says: “Receive, O Lord, we beseech You, the gift which we offer, and in Your mercy, grant that we may obtain by loving affection what we celebrate in this mystery of the Passion of Your Son.”  

ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
God of mercy,
in this eucharist we proclaim the death of the Lord.
Accept the gifts we present
and help us follow him with love.

What Does the Prayer Really Say?  32nd Sunday in Ordinary Time

ORIGINALLY PRINTED IN The Wanderer in 2005

In the English version of the official message put out by the Synod of Bishops which met in Rome (October 2-23) to discuss the Eucharist, we read: "7. On the eve of his passion, ‘Jesus took the bread, blessed it, broke it, and gave it to the disciples, saying, "Take, eat, this is my body." Then he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them saying, "Drink of it all of you; for this is my blood, the blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins"’ (Mt 26:25-28).‘"Do this in memory of me"’ (Lk 22:19; 1 Cor 11:24-25)." So, the Synod of Bishops got pro multis right. Of course, they were quoting The Gospel of Matthew.

COLLECT - (2002MR):
Omnipotens et misericors Deus,
universa nobis adversantia propitiatus exclude,
ut, mente et corpore partier expediti,
quae tua sunt liberis mentibus exsequamur.
 
ICEL (1973 translation of the 1970MR):
God of power and mercy,
protect us from all harm.
Give us freedom of spirit
and health in mind and body
to do your work on earth.

When you open your Lewis & Short Dictionary you will find that adversantia is from adverso® “to stand opposite to one, to be against, i.e. to resist or oppose (in his opinions, feelings, intentions, etc.); while resistere and obsistere denote resistance through external action.”   It is constructed with the dative, which explains the nobis.   Adversantia is the neuter plural form of the active participle.  I think the distinction between “internal” and “external” is quite useful in understanding the prayer.  Pariter, an adverb meaning “equally, in like manner” and “at the same time” connects mens and corpus (think of the adage mens sana in corpore sano... “a healthy mind in a healthy body”).  We encounter many difficulties and challenges in life.  There is resistance and adversity, indeed, an adversary.  We are opposed from without, but the greatest challenges and dangers come from within.  We must constantly cope with the unreconstructed effects of original sin together with the diabolical workings of the enemy of the soul, who stirs up passions, memories, and implants wicked thoughts and images.   Very wisely the Church would pray at Compline every night (but now only on Tuesdays) the passage: “Be sober and vigilant: for your adversary (adversarius) the devil is going around like a roaring lion seeking whom he might devour: whom you must resist (resistite), strong in the faith.  But you, O Lord, have mercy on us.”  God truly is a God of mercy, to protect us so from such a dire foe” (1 Peter 5: 8-9).”  Excludo literally means, “to shut out, exclude; to cut off, remove, separate from any thing.”  Therefore it also means, “to drive out, thrust out, hinder, prevent.”  We are praying to God to keep away from us all things that actively hinder and oppose us and, if we stick closely to the distinction made between adverso®, resisto, and obsisto, particularly interior dangers.

How will that come about?  God must be appeased.  He must be favorable towards us.  In the Collect we find the word propitiatus, a perfect passive participle from propitio, “to render favorable, to appease, propitiate.”  (NB: Even though in the dictionary the lemma form of verbs is in the first person singular, the definitions are presented as infinitives.)  Propitiatus is “having been appeased.”  Many forms of propitio appear in our liturgical prayers.  Its use reflects our recognition that as a race and as individuals we have sinned in His sight and offended Him.  Our offense required a Redeemer capable of appeasing the Father.  We offend God as a society or as groups only on the basis of the personal sins of individuals.  We must seek to make amends, but our efforts would be in vain without the merits of Christ’s sacrifice mediated through the Church.

The word expediti, also a perfect passive participle from expedio meaning,“to extricate, disengage, let loose, set free, liberate any thing entangled, involved.”  By extension expedio signifies many other things including, when applied to persons, to be without baggage.  Thus, the noun expeditus, i, m., is “a soldier lightly burdened, a swiftly marching soldier.”  You might have heard of a “St. Expeditus” (feast day 19 April) a patron saint of procrastinators and, oddly enough, computer programmers… for reasons which are perfectly clear.  Expeditus is appropriately depicted as a Roman solider holding aloft a Cross.  The are some amusing suppositions about the origins this “saint’s” cult, but I am sure you now praying to Expeditus that I will stop this digression and swiftly march to my point.  Expediti can also refer to how we have been freed from the chains of sin which would have doomed us to eternal hell.  Going on, exsequor is “to follow, go after, pursue” as well as “to follow up, prosecute, carry out; to perform, execute, accomplish, fulfill” and also “to go through with in speaking, to relate, describe, say, tell.”   Finally, that quae tua sunt is hard.  Literally, it means “things which are yours”.  There isn’t room here to get into why but it refers to things God wills or commands.  Think of it this way, Jesus told His Mother and Joseph, “I must be about my Father’s business” (cf. Luke 2:49).

LITERAL TRANSLATION:
Almighty and merciful God,
having been appeased, keep away from us all things opposing us,
so that, having been unencumbered in mind and body equally,
we may with free minds accomplish the things which you will.

This Collect appears also in the Catechism of the Catholic Church 1742 in the section on “Human Freedom in the Economy of Salvation”:  “Almighty and merciful God, in your goodness take away from us all that is harmful, so that, made ready both in mind and body, we may freely accomplish your will.”

Too rarely these days are our young people instructed about Holy Mother Church distinguished as Militant, Suffering, and Triumphant.  We who are still in this earthly vale belong to the Church Militant.  Having put on our baptismal character we become soldier pilgrims journeying toward the triumph of heaven.  As good Christians who love both our God and our neighbor, along our road we help other members of the Church who are suffering (in Purgatory, the Church Suffering).  When we ourselves are in need, we turn for aid to members of the Church who have obtained what we long for – the bliss of heaven.  They are still members of the Church and they love us and wish us well as intercessors with God.  

Our Collect this week provides us with military language consonant with this three-fold understanding of the Church.  In this prayer we are like lightly burdened foot soldiers (expediti) who are on an urgent mission.  All around us there are enemies around us, lying in wait. There are obstacles without and within (adversantia).   Before going into battle soldiers will often shed some of their heavier gear so that they can move more freely, taking only what will be of immediate need when the clash begins.  They need to be free to expedite (expediti) their orders and accomplish their mission (quae tua sunt).  By their training, grueling, repetitious and extensive, their bodies are strengthened and hardened.  Because of the habits they developed through the sometimes tedious drills they endured, when danger is near their minds are to an extent freed up (liberis mentibus).  They are prepared for the challenges of the mission.  Though they may be afraid, they can act with confidence when their commanders act with sure and true competence.  This is the ideal for the soldier.  But it must be the ideal for every Christian too.  Virtues are habits developed over time by repetition and discipline.  Our Church’s pastors are our officers who will lead us through adversities towards our objective of heaven.   We must diligently learn and then review the content of our Faith, especially in the fundamentals, and with discipline and dedication frequent the sacraments.  This rule of life should after a measure of time become so much a part of us that it is nearly automatic.  It will carry us through even the worst things we might have to face.

Some years ago I had an experience which confirmed for me the value of the old-fashioned methods of catechism: long and hard practice, memorization, and repetition.  I was called to a hospital to assist in a patient’s difficult death.  I gave the man Last Rites and talked with the family as they struggled with the reality of the end of the earthly life of a loved one.  A daughter of the dying man had been estranged from her faith and her family for a long time.  She was beyond her life’s middle years, which clearly had been pretty rough.  She was bitter and cursed life, fate and God for the cruelty of such an end as her father was experiencing.  She shouted at me, “Why did God make us if this is all there is?”  I responded asking, “Why did God make you?”  She became very still and stared at me.  Then she said, “God made me to know Him, to love Him, and to serve Him in this world, and to be happy with Him forever in the next.”  I continued, “What must we do to save our souls?”  On cue she responded with something that she hadn’t perhaps thought of for decades, “To save our souls, we must worship God by faith, hope, and charity. We must believe in Him, hope in Him, and love Him with all our heart.”  “Did your father do that?”, I asked.  “Oh, yes…. oh yes.”  She had obviously been taught very well as a child.   One can imagine that she was at times forced to study and to learn, to repeat over and over what at the time seemed boring and pointless.  She had been drilled at school by the Sisters, whom these days we see mocked and abused in the media by ungrateful cads who benefited from their dedication.  More importantly, she had parents who fulfilled their obligations to see that she learned her faith.  I imagine they had to work hard to make her work hard.  Her father had done his duty to give her what she needed when the battle was joined.  Whatever they all did worked.  In the moment of truth, by the grace of God and the help of her guardian angel, the gift her dying father had given her years before was rediscovered and put to its proper use.  

Can we relate this to the purpose of this series of articles?   Together with helping you to love the Church’s prayers and understand them better, we also want to urge and encourage a sound, accurate and beautiful English translation of Holy Mass and our other liturgies.  The norms for that translation were issued by the Congregation for Divine Worship and Discipline of the Sacraments in a document called Liturgiam authenticam.  In that document we read:
 
48. The texts for the principal celebrations occurring throughout the liturgical year should be offered to the faithful in a translation that is easily committed to memory, so as to render them usable in private prayers as well.

Many people today criticize the old method of education by memorization and repetition.  They say that children just wind up mouthing things they do not understand.  On the other hand, while they might not understand it at the moment, one day they will be ready for it and they will have it because it had been given them.  Countless soldier and sailors, for example, griped (and gripe) about their training.  Many Marines entertain homicidal thoughts about their drill instructor.  But when that Anchor, Globe and Eagle is finally pinned on, not a few Marines return to their DI and shake his hand and thank him for what he gave them.  In later service, when the time comes for that single skill or tool or piece of knowledge to be used in its critical time, it is there.  It gleams with purpose.  Polished and tended, it is tried and true.  We of the Church Militant are pilgrim soldiers and, if we are going to reach our goal of heaven, we need training, sacrifice, and leadership.

You might remember that last week I was out with some good freinds from the USA.  This was the couple whose little girl was intent on our having Chateaubriand but not Dom Perignon.  They were well positioned during last week’s general audience and made a very nice photo of His Holiness the Pope.  This photo captures something of Benedict’s lovely spirit and the congenial nature I always encountered in him years back. 

Over at a German blog called Vigilate et Orate some banners have been created in favor of a correct translation of the Missale Romano.  The new German translation is progressing under the watchful eye of Joachim Card. Meisner and Ecclesia Celebrans (their version of the Vox Clara Committee).