Liturgical tweaking: rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic

A few days ago, Corriere della sera had a piece explaining that on 29 November, the 1st Sunday of Advent, the suffering Italians who still bother with the Church will now have to change the way they have prayed the Gloria and – incredibly – the Our Father.

And the priest is now directed to say “fratelli e sorelle”, which to my ear is speciesist and exclusionary.

In the the place of “non ci indurre in tentazione” (lead us not into temptation) the suffering Italians will now have to say, by Conference Fiat, “non abbandonarci alla tentazione” (do not abandon us to temptation).

This is obligatory from next Easter, 4 April 2021.

Some pencil-necked, pointy-headed expert, kind of Italian clerical “Good Idea Fairy“, noticed that the Greek words of the Lord in Matthew 6 could be translated in another way. “Hey!”, quoth the Fairy, let’s make everyone do it that way!”

In Matthew, eisenénkes, from eisféro has been rendered in Italian with the verb “indurre” because of St. Jerome’s Vulgate, which has the verb inducere.

But in 2017, FRANCIS, known to be quite the expert in ancient languages and liturgy, no doubt under the influence of the Fairy, said, “questa è una traduzione non buona”… “this is a translation not good”.

Behold, wisdom.

“I’m the one who falls. He isn’t the one who tosses me into temptation to see how I fall. A father doesn’t do this, he right away helps us to get up. The one who leads us into temptation is Satan, that’s Satan’s trade. … Our sense of the prayer is: What Satan leads me into temptation, you, please, give me a hand, give me your hand”.

Never mind the Pelagian overtone in “give me a hand”.

Suffering Italians will also have to add another thing to the Lord’s prayer. To be “more faithful” to the Greek text, when they say, “forgive us our trespasses” they will then add “as we also forgive those who trespass against us.” Much better, right?

But wait, there’s more.

In the Anglophone world, it seems that a decree is forthcoming for the Novus Ordo which will change the English translation of conclusions of orations. In Latin, we commonly say, “Per Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum Filium tuum, qui tecum vivit et regnat in unitate Spiritus Sancti Deus, per omnia saecula saeculorum. Amen.”, with slight variations. In English we have been saying for that Deus, “one God”… “who lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever”. But now, that “one” is to be dropped. “who lives and reigns in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever” Why? Because in the Latin there is no “unus“.

Friends, this liturgical tweaking is tantamount to rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic.

It is a distraction.

This truly is Liturgy Science Theatre 3000.

Of course if you attend the Traditional Latin Mass, none of this nonsense makes any difference.

About Fr. John Zuhlsdorf

Fr. Z is the guy who runs this blog. o{]:¬)
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9 Comments

  1. Kathleen10 says:

    This is one reason we got out and will never go back. In order to maintain our sanity (however thinly held) in this insane world, we attend the Latin Rite Holy Mass. There are so many good reasons to do this, and what you have mentioned, Fr. Z., is another good reason. It is not for everybody, don’t ask me why. Many Catholics really do prefer the “speed Mass”, and find it joyful Fr. Quickstep can get you “out of there in 30 minutes”. Or people are intimidated by the Latin, imagining that every time you go, other Mass attendees are snickering that you don’t know the Latin, like every Sunday is quiz day and all the attention is focused on you. When the truth is, people are not even noticing you, they are noticing the action on the altar, and lost in contemplation of things holy. Besides, you can sit in the way back and you won’t even be seen. People can be lazy, they don’t want to learn the Latin, it’s too hard, too much, too whatever. It’s not. The Latin is fairly repetitive, and you pick it up. I know almost zero Latin, but I do get most of what is said, because I have a Sunday Missal from 1957 that has Latin on one side and English on the other. Simple.
    If Catholics are tired of the political correctness, the climate change guilt trip, the endless inclusion and diversity, the immigration mantras, the changes, the overall nonsense, come back to timelessness, the fairly unchanging Extraordinary Form. Look up Latin Rite Mass and find one. Even if people can only go once per month because it’s so far, take that opportunity and do it.

  2. tho says:

    The one that always drives me to distraction is when they substituted Love for Charity, Charity covers so many good and endearing actions. While the word Love can mean something wonderful, but it can also be used, and has been used for people committing adultery, fornicating, or copulating under a myriad of circumstances. Or in expressions like I Love chicken gumbo. Also, it could be that I am just a petty complainer. Take your pick.
    I looked up copulating to make sure that I was using it right… it says making Love.

  3. IaninEngland says:

    “Suffering Italians will also have to add … ‘as we also forgive those who trespass against us.'”

    I don’t understand. Don’t we have this phrase in the Pater already? Or is it the “also” that is the problem?

    Sorry, not a criticism; a genuine question.

  4. majuscule says:

    I had decided a while back to recite the Our Father in Latin at the Novus Ordo Mass. However I kept getting confused because everyone else was praying in English.

    Then along came masks. For some reason the mask enables me to hear my own voice better. Now I am getting into the rhythm of the Latin words spoken by me in tandem with the English spoken by others.

    tho I was just now (before reading this thread) trying to clarify the difference (or not) between charity and love as they apply to current happenings in my life. We should all think about this!

  5. jdt2 says:

    Another “suprise”! I wonder how much more white-out is up the sleeve of Jorge Mario Bergoglio, or the..theologians closest to him.

  6. Pingback: Change from “one God” to “God” – corrected to omit “one” – Catholicism and Adventism

  7. SimpleCatholic says:

    I have been told that the change to the endings does NOT apply to the Ordinariate ritual, which says “ever one God”. Consider the Ordinariate liturgy a bridge (perhaps the longest bridge ever constructed) over the gulf between the OF and EF!

  8. SimpleCatholic says:

    I have been told that the change to the endings does NOT apply to the Ordinariate ritual, which says “ever one God”. Consider the Ordinariate liturgy a bridge (perhaps the longest bridge ever constructed) over the gulf between the OF and EF!

  9. Simon_GNR says:

    In the Our Father (what, as someone brought up as an Anglican, I always think of as “The Lord’s Prayer”), I’ve never used the words exactly as printed in the English translation of the Missal. I was brought up to say “Our father which [not “who”] art in heaven”; “In [not “on”] earth as it is in Heaven” and “As we forgive them that [not “those who”] trespass against us” I have continued to do this as a Catholic.

    As for our being led by God into temptation (“and lead us not into temptation”) I simply recall the words in St. Matthews’s Gospel, Chapter 4, verse 1: “Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil.” The Holy Spirit led Jesus into temptation; why might he not lead us also?

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