Some people may not know that Holy Church considers many Old Testament figures to be saints.
The liturgical book called the Roman Martyrology contains brief “bios” of saints and blessed celebrated on each day of the year. Some of these even rather obscure figures might not be on the Church’s universal calendar for Holy Mass. However, the Martyrology states that when there is no other feast we could chose to commemorate a figure listed in the same Martyrology.
Today we celebrate the Old Testament prophet Malachi, which in Hebrew means “messenger”.
Perhaps you can work up your own flawless English rendering of the entry in the Martyrologium Romanum.
1. Commemoratio sancti Malachiae, prophetae, qui, post transmigrationem Babylone diem magnum Domini eiusque adventum in templum nuntiavit semperque et ubique mundam oblationem nomini eius offerendam.
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Duly chastened.
So I humbly submit this: The commemoration of Holy Malachi the prophet, who after the transmigration to Babylon didst announce the Great Day of the Lord, His coming unto the Temple, and the pure offering soon to be rendered in all times and places unto His Name.
Given the recent preference for fidelity to Latinisms, I would stick with “transmigration” rather than a perhaps more poetic “carrying away into.” But “in all times and places” seems to me the best rendering of semperque ubique, coming near the poetry and the sense at the same time. And future passive participles tend to defy poetifying, so I would just go with “soon to be rendered” for that offerendam rather than spinning it into its own relative clause, though I guess one could do that.
Yes? No?
Don’t know why I’m even trying, since I’m nowhere near experienced enough to think I can qualify for this. Actually, I was rather thrilled to notice that for once, I knew most of the vocabulary and construction and only had to look up a couple of things. Not bad for having ignored the study of the language for the past year! Ne’ertheless, I’ll give it a shot.
~A commemoration of Saint Malachy, prophet, who, after the transmigration from to Babylon announced the great day of the Lord and His coming into the temple and always and everywhere the clean oblation to be offered to His Name.~
The text for the commemoration of St. Malachi is much richer in the modern Martyrology than in the first edition following Trent (from 1584). Then he was remembered on 14 January, not first but after St. Felix of Nola. St. Malachi only got one short sentence in 1584:
In Iudaea sancti Malachiae prophetae.
Sometimes the new is an improvement!
If someone has not read it, Fr. Louis Merton’s, “St. Malacy” is a beautiful poem for today.
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse/73/5#!/20590741
Fr. Z., thank you for this post. I did a few posts on St. David this month, and some young people were shocked. I suggest that Catholics look at stained glass windows and paintings in their churches…learning tools. So many Old Testament saints are depicted. The medievals learned Church teaching from art. As I have noted in the past, even the warriors of the OT have their feast days as saints.
Father bless!
I am named for the Old Testament prophet, Zechariah son of Berechiah. He is commemorated on February 8th in the Byzantine calendar. Do you know if there is a Roman commemoration or listing in the Martyrology? If so, what is the date for his Roman feast?
In Christ,
Zechariah