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

There are things called "memes" which I have not figured out yet.  However, I think memes involve my creating a list and then provoking others to respond with their own lists.

Here is a meme.  If I get this wrong, so what….

Imagine you are hosting a weekend at, say The Sabine Farm (some newcomers to the blog might not know that that is my place in the USA), beginning with cocktails on Friday night, continuing with gatherings and activities on Saturday, Sunday Mass, and Sunday events. 

Meals are leisurely and the period equivalent of white tie (as you would have at The Sabine Farm). 

You may invite FIVE pairs of FICTIONAL ENEMIES for the weekend. 

There will be no murders.

Here are my five.

Lex Luthor
Superman

Jean Valjean
Inspector Javert

Athena
Juno

Arthur
Mordred

Sam
Gollum

My mind reels with possibilities, but, here is one list I could make.  Perhaps other bloggers can take up the issue and post their lists.

Weekend with informal activities, formal meals… fictional enemies mixing… like Agatha Christie without the murders.

UPDATE: The image at the top right is from blog participant Vincent (in a comment below).

With a biretta tip to Rorate and commentors on this blog.  o{]:¬)

Card. Bertone confirmed in an interview with Le Figaro, to be published in the Sunday magazine insert, that there is a Motu Proprio which will give every priest in the world the faculty (or remove any debate about the faculty) to celebrate Mass using the so-called "Tridentine" Rite. 

I can’t get here the Sunday insert for Le Figaro, since there is a reduced edition sold in the edicole here. According to sources, the magazine of Le Figaro has this (my translation and emphasis):  

Is a Decree broadening the possibility of celebrating the Latin Mass according to the rite from before Vatican II (the so-called Mass of St. Pius V) still planned?

Cardinal Bertone:  ... the Missal published in 1962 by Pope John XXIII, with its own calendar, ... there is no valid reason not to grant to every priest in the whole world the right to celebrate according to this form. ...  The publication of the Motu Proprio detailing this authorization will take place ("aura lieu"), but it will be the Pope himself who will spell out his reasons and the framework of his decision.  The Sovereign Pontiff will personally give his vision for using the old Missal to the Christian people and in particular to the bishops.

So, several things can be gathered here.

1) It will be the 1962 Missale Romanum, and not another edition, such as the 1965.
2) It appears the calendar may be left unchanged.
3) It will concerned all priests, which means religious and not just diocesan.
4) It will happen, but no timeframe is given.

I note with interest the Cardinal’s statement that the Pope is going to explain this to the bishops in particular.  Given that this is a French publication, and the French bishops were the major opponents to this move, this is like a shot over their bow. 

A great deal is still left for the Pope to explain.  I gather this means the M.P. must be entirely in his hands at this point.  He is a) still revising or b) preparing his explanations.  You can bet he will talk about his reasons for doing this with great clarity.

Many of us thought it might happen this week and that it is unlikely it would be during Holy Week… though I still won’t rule that out categorically. 

His dictis ... at some point soon you might think about heading to the store to get that bottle of Veuve Clicquot, or whatever it is you prefer. 

o{];¬)

You all know about the minor victory for Truth obtained by the correction of an error in the official English version of Sacramentum caritatis.  An error occurring in the English translation at the time of the public release of the document, was corrected on the Vatican website.

This is a good thing.  But it raises other problems.

A participant, "Janet", in another blog entry (the Snoopy Dance entry) wrote the following in a comment (edited):

Will this correction in translation be brought to the attention of bishops in some official way, or was it just quietly changed to the correct wording? My diocese’s retired acting bishop has already written in our diocesan newspaper about the exhortation last week, and pointed out that latin “could be” used in “large international gatherings” for mass. ...  I’m guessing he’s not likely to take a second look at the thing and see the correction unless someone shoves it under his nose and points it out to him, and even then he won’t likely change what he’s already said.

Janet is no doubt correct.  She also puts her finger on a verrrrrrry sore spot.

I have been harping on this stuff like Cassandra for years, but from another point of view.  Consider the following.

Q: When revisions are made to the official version (almost always the Latin), who goes back to revise the vernacular versions?

A: Ummmmm….  nobody?

Welll… people like the Latin translation fanatic who writes for The Wanderer and has a blog.

Documents are not written any more in Latin.  Documents are composed in some modern language, and eventually put into Italian and then all the translators are constrained to work from the Italian. 

This created some pretty absurd situations in the production, for example, of the Catechism of the Catholic Church.  The language of composition of much of the CCC was French.  Then it went into Italian.  Then all the other languages version were made from the Italian: including the Latin, which is the official version. 

In the first versions of the Latin, before much screaming allowed common sense to prevail, quotations from LATIN authors had as a matter of policy been translated into French AND/OR Italian, and then – I am NOT making this up – translated back into Latin.  It would occur to most normal people that when it came to quoting a text of, say, a Spanish writer, when it came to the Spanish edition of the document you would simply lift the original text from the very best critical edition available.  Right?  When it came to preparing the LATIN edition of the text, and the citation was from, say, St. Augustine of Hippo, a normal person would look up Augustine’s Latin and then use that in the Latin edition.  Right?   But…. noooo….  And so there was a war to get that sorted out for the eventual publication of the Latin edition of the CCC.  As far as the vernacular editions go… well… don’t ask me.  The whole thing is a mystery.

This is all because the language of composition is no longer Latin, but Latin (just one translation among many) is eventually the OFFICIAL version. 

For the centuries to come, if Pope write and promulgate something important, with rare exceptions (like Mit brennender Sorge) we will accept that he did it because there is a Latin text in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.

Consider this: When the various language versions of Veritatis splendor were released in October (Latin was one of them, published in L’Osservatore Romano and in booklets), those modern language versions instantly were distributed as the basis for reprinting the document.  Those are the texts everyone cites when thinking about Veritatis splendor.  However, the official Latin version was published in the Acta of December, if my memory serves.  I once compared the text from October and the text from December and started finding lots changes.  I asked myself… who will go back to correct the modern language versions and bring them into harmony with the OFFICIAL text in the Acta?  Nobody, obviously.  And the result is that people might be citing something other than the official text when they cite Veritatis splendor.

Back to Janet’s question, which reveals a whole new situation:

Q: When revisions are made to the vernacular versions, who will go back to correct the vernacular versions.

A:  .... "Shut up", he explained.

Today, I can spread news and opinion by the click of a few buttons.  Information is disseminated nearly instantaneously.  Fewer and fewer people are using paper versions. 

If I can spread news and texts fast, I am nothing compared to what the Holy See can do. 

The Holy See is the guardian of these texts.  We depend on the Holy See for accuracy.

And yet we see changing texts. 

So…. who is guarding the guards?

Do you remember the horrible, I mean unforgivable mess up with the text of the late Holy Father’s Ecclesia de Eucharistia in which there was a change to the words OF HOLY SCRIPTURE so as to make John Paul II appear as if he had made up his mind on the whole "pro multis" question?  If you don’t know this stuff, read this.

I want to know what the Vicar of Christ said, not what some ideologically interested underling thinks the Holy Father ought to have said. 

Capisce?  

We all understand when a mistake is made: errare est humanum.   But we are talking about teachings and laws of the Bishop of Rome, the Vicar of Christ, the Supreme Pontiff.  When it comes to something over the signature of PETER I want the best possible rendering, always understanding the limits of language and translation. 

Folks, I am not nitpicking this translation stuff just for kicks.  This is not amusing.  It is not a matter of joy to find problems. 

We want the Pope’s Magisterium, not the personal magisterium of Msgr. Joe Bagofdonuts who might have a different view of things.

I have written many times in the print version of WDTPRS, that you WDTPRSers make a difference.  The readers of the print version, made an impact on the preparation of the new translation of the Missal by writing the proper letters to the right people and through prayer.

Lately here on the blog I wrote about the bad translations official English version of the Holy Father’s post-Synodal Exhortation Sacramentum caritatis.   Some of you responded well and in a timely manner.  You made a difference.

One of the paragraphs I took special aim at was a par. 62, concerning Latin, which had some pretty bad errors, even when compared to the other vernacular versions.  Among other things I  wrote:

Moreover, the texts they are working with were those released at the time of the presentation of the document, even though the LATIN is itself revised before publication in is final official form in the Acta Apostolicae Sedis.  But no one goes back to revise the vernacular versions in keeping with the changes in the Latin  Lot’s of people are misquoting documents because the vernacular docs themselves were never updated.

Now it seems that the official English version has been revised and corrected, at least in respect to par. 62.

The Latin: exceptis lectionibus, homilia et oratione fidelium, aequum est ut huiusmodi celebrationes fiant lingua Latina.

In Latin, the phrase aequum est means "it is reasonable, proper, right".  It can be rendered as "it is becoming", to use a somewhat archaic turn of phrase.

The OLD official English:  with the exception of the readings, the homily and the prayer of the faithful, such liturgies could be celebrated in Latin.

The NEW official English:  with the exception of the readings, the homily and the prayer of the faithful, it is fitting that such liturgies be celebrated in Latin.

This blog led the public charge in this matter of the accuracy of the translation into English, but I can assure you that the problems were not missed here in Rome.  I had more than one conversation with "interested parties". 

The other language versions are being scrutinized now as well. 

Exivit a sacculo felis.*

Do not, however, rest even for a moment. 

Keep working. 

I have another entry where you may post what you think are problems.

ALERT: An exhortation TO ARMS!!









*Not to be confused with Exivit ab aedibus Elvis.

This is a very cool story:

Boy Spots 3-Year-Old Wristwatch From North Pole

COPENHAGEN, Denmark —
A wristwatch buried in the ice at the North Pole three years ago was found by a boy more than 1,800 miles away after it floated ashore on the Faeroe Islands.

Niels Jakup Mortensen, 11, spotted a black box near his home on Suduroy, the Faeroes’ southernmost island, his mother Anna Jacobsen said. Inside, she said, was a watch that had been buried at the North Pole by Joergen Amundsen, a descendant of Norwegian polar explorer Roald Amundsen.

Jacobsen said the watch discovered by her son earlier this month was still working, and was accompanied by a letter from Joergen Amundsen. "It was so unbelievable," she said. "It had been buried in the North Pole."

Hjalmar Hatun, an oceanographer with the Faeroese Fisheries Laboratory, said the watch likely drifted south with one of the chunks of ice that frequently break away at the North Pole and are carried off by ocean currents.

The Faeroes, an 18-island Danish territory, are located halfway between Scotland and Iceland.

Hatun said the ice breaking off is not related to global warming, as the phenomenon was first observed more than 100 years ago. "So in that sense, the fact that objects from the North Pole can drift south is old news," he said.

This is from an AP story.  It is an excerpt:

HUE, Vietnam (AP)—A high-profile dissident Catholic priest denounced Vietnam’s Communist Party in a startling display of defiance as he went on trial Friday on charges of disseminating materials intended to undermine the country’s government.

Father Thadeus Nguyen Van Ly was led into the Thua Thien Hue Provincial People’s Court in central Vietnam in handcuffs along with four alleged accomplices, but he refused to stand and identify himself before the chief judge, Bui Quoc Hiep.

"Down with the Communist Party of Vietnam!" Ly shouted, in a striking outburst in a country where dissent is harshly punished. A police officer then covered Ly’s mouth as he continued shouting, and removed him to a nearby room where the proceedings were broadcast on a loudspeaker.

Ly, 60, who has been jailed for his pro-democracy activities before, is accused of producing anti-government documents and communicating with anti-communist groups overseas. He could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted in the verdict, expected later Friday.

Read more.

Fulgentius of Ruspe is our guest for this PODCAzT.  In the second reading for the Office of Readings today we have an excerpt Fulgentius’ work anti-Arian work De fide ad Petrum.  Before the reading itself I give a crash course on the divisions of ancient Rhetoric so that we can get more out of this, and other, readings from the Fathers.

Here is the text of Fulgentius’s reading:

From a treatise on faith addressed to Peter by Saint Fulgentius of Ruspe, bishop

The sacrifices of animal victims which our forefathers were commanded to offer to God by the holy Trinity itself, the one God of the old and the new testaments, foreshadowed the most acceptable gift of all. This was the offering which in his compassion the only Son of God would make of himself in his human nature for our sake.

The Apostle teaches that Christ offered himself for us to God as a fragrant offering and sacrifice. He is the true God and the true high priest who for our sake entered once for all into the holy of holies, taking with him not the blood of bulls and goats but his own blood. This was foreshadowed by the high priest of old when each year he took blood and entered the holy of holiest
Christ is therefore the one who in himself alone embodied all that he knew to be necessary to achieve our redemption. He is at once priest and sacrifice, God and temple. He is the priest through whom we have been reconciled, the sacrifice by which we have been reconciled, the temple in which we have been reconciled, the God with whom we have been reconciled. He alone is priest, sacrifice and temple because he is all these things as God in the form of a servant; but he is not alone as God, for he is this with the Father and the Holy Spirit in the form of God.

Hold fast to this and never doubt it: the only-begotten Son, God the Word, becoming man offered himself for us to God as a fragrant offering and sacrifice. In the time of the old testament, patriarchs, prophets and priests sacrificed animals in his honour, and in honour of the Father and the Holy Spirit as well.

Now in the time of the new testament the holy catholic Church throughout the world never ceases to offer the sacrifice of bread and wine, in faith and love, to him and to the Father and the Holy Spirit, with whom he shares one godhead.

Those animal sacrifices foreshadowed the flesh of Christ which he would offer for our sins, though himself without sin, and the blood which he would pour out for the forgiveness of our sins. In this sacrifice there is thanksgiving for, and commemoration of, the flesh of Christ that he offered for us, and the blood that the same God poured out for us. On this Saint Paul says in the Acts of the Apostles: Keep watch over yourselves and over the whole flock, in which the Holy Spirit has appointed you as bishops to rule the Church of God, which he won for himself by his blood.

Those sacrifices of old pointed in sign to what was to be given to us. In this sacrifice we see plainly what has already been given to us. Those sacrifices foretold the death of the Son of God for sinners. In this sacrifice he is proclaimed as already slain for sinners, as the Apostle testifies: Christ died for the wicked at a time when we were still powerless, and when we were enemies we were reconciled with God through the death of his Son.

I found this over at Catholic Church Conservation.

At the estimable Assumption Grotto parish in Detroit, for Easter and for Low Sunday you will be able to enjoy a Solemn Mass with music by Paul Paray. 

Paray’s Mass for the 500th Anniversary of the Death of Joan of Arc will be sung.   You might not know Paray, a modern composer.  Fr. Eduard Perrone, pastor at Assumption Grotto, has done a good deal of research on this musician and has seen to the recording of some of his works.  Father gave me CD’s of Paray’s music some years back and they are very good.

If you are anywhere near Detroit, consider going to participate at these Masses.  I wish I could be there.  As a matter of fact, I wish I were the celebrant!

Kudos and thanks to Fr. Perrone for all he does for Sacred Music in the United States!

Today’s PODCAzT features a reading from St. Augustine of Hippo’s commentary on Ps. 85 (en. ps. 85.1), the second reading from the Office of Readings for Wednesday in the 5th Week of Lent in the Liturgy of the Hours. 
This is a fabulous crowbar for prying open how we all participate at Holy Mass, each in our own roles.

Here is the text of Augustine commentary:

God could give no greater gift to men than to make his Word, through whom he created all things, their head and to join them to him as his members, so that the Word might be both Son of God and son of man, one God with the Father, and one man with all men. The result is that when we speak with God in prayer we do not separate the Son from him, and when the body of the Son prays it does not separate its head from itself: it is the one Saviour of his body, our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, who prays for us and in us and is himself the object of our prayers.
He prays for us as our priest, he prays in us as our head, he is the object of our prayers as our God.
Let us then recognise both our voice in his, and his voice in ours. When something is said, especially in prophecy, about the Lord Jesus Christ that seems to belong to a condition of lowliness unworthy of God, we must not hesitate to ascribe this condition to one who did not hesitate to unite himself with us. Every creature is his servant, for it was through him that every creature came to be.
We contemplate his glory and divinity when we listen to these words: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made. Here we gaze on the divinity of the Son of God, something supremely great and surpassing all the greatness of his creatures. Yet in other parts of Scripture we hear him as one sighing, praying, giving praise and thanks.
We hesitate to attribute these words to him because our minds are slow to come down to his humble level when we have just been contemplating him in his divinity. It is as though we were doing him an injustice in acknowledging in a man the words of one with whom we spoke when we spoke when we prayed to God; we are usually at a loss and try to change the meaning. Yet our minds find nothing in Scripture that does not go back to him, nothing that will allow us to stray from him.
Our thoughts must then be awakened to keep their vigil of faith. We must realise that the one whom we were contemplating a short time before in his nature as God took to himself the nature of a servant; he was made in the likeness of men and found to be a man like others; he humbled himself by being obedient even to accepting death; as he hung on the cross he made the psalmist’s words his own: My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
We pray to him as God, he prays for us as a servant. In the first case he is the Creator, in the second a creature. Himself unchanged, he took to himself our created nature in order to change it, and made us one man with himself, head and body. We pray then to him, through him, in him, and we speak along with him and he along with us.

Everyone… there is a matter of CRITICAL importance to discuss.  

In another entry, participant Henry raised the question:

Do you think just a celebratory sip of fine champagne is ok while reciting a joyful Te Deum?

"JUST A SIP"??? 

This is the edge of the slippery slope into DOOM.

It takes us into a looooong debate known among wiser clergy, which take various forms.  For example,

QUAERITUR:

Is it okay to smoke a cigar while praying the Office?

Most intelligent clergy know that it is definitely NOT okay to smoke cigars while praying the Office.  However, it is okay to pray while smoking. 

See?

So, it is NOT permissible to sip champagne while saying the Te Deum. 

It is, however, alright to say the Te Deum while drinking champagne!

You need to know this for when the Motu Proprio comes out. 

I can hear you whiners out there.  The NAYSAYERS.  "But Father!  But Father!", you are sputtering, "Yoooou can’t tell us what is right or wrong!  Who do you think you are?!?  I want to drink Veuve Clicquot while I pray!  I don’t want to pray when I drink the Widow!"

Okay, you naysayers.  Since we are living in a post-modern, post-Christian world, we should put this moral question to a vote, just as YOU naysayer people do with other moral questions!

I am forcing the debate over the Luminous Mysteries over here.

Two rules:

Be nice

Be reasonable.

Be focused.

Okay… that’s Three rules.   You get my idea.

Violate them, I will turn off comments.

Biretta tip to the Cafeteria for a story in the German daily Die Welt.   Biretta tip  o{]:¬)  Here is the important part of the article in the translation from the Cafeteria:

An accompanying letter to all bishops has already been prepared. The matter has been decided. There will be no "system reboot" like with a crashed computer. Benedict XVI. gives back to the Catholic liturgy its original standard, by which the rite of 1969, which had frequently lost its orientation, can measure itself, new and decisively.

Folks: There is speculation about the date of the release.  Right now the Pope and the new head of the Italian Bishop’s conference are heavily engaging certain moral issues being hotly debated in the public square in Italy.  I am lead to wonder if, given the proximity to Holy Week and the hot debate, he might not wait for a more serene moment to release the Motu Proprio.  On the other hand, the Pope has been accused of not wanting to still thing up too much after the famous Regensburg Address and then he makes strong statement about Europe’s continuing desire to kill itself.

Anything is possible.

 

 

UPDATE: I AM REPOSTING THIS (originally posted 23 March)

Folks, for reasons I would rather not explain at this time, I could use some help with something. 

I am addressing this especially to those of you with some Latin skills.

This is a call to arms.

You will remember that I wrote about the very bad English rendering of a couple paragraphs of the Holy Father’s Exhortation Sacramentum caritatis.  Refresh your memory here, especially about par. 62 on Latin.

Again, those of you whose Latin skills are strong, and who might have a little time, I need some more examples of disconnects between the English translation of the Exhortation and Latin and other modern language versions. 

If you find some things, kindly post them in comments below so that I can review them.  Comments extraneous to this will probably be deleted, so let’s stay focued.

Today’s PODCAzT presents a selection from St. Leo the Great’s sermon on the Passion, no. 8, also known as s. 59, preached on Palm Sunday in 444.  It is a about the marvelous power of the Cross.

I also talk about some of your feedback and what is going on with the hosting situation.