It's been a strange August so far. This week has been remarkably cool; we've even turned off the A/C at our house. Of course, that's not strange for us--my lovely wife and I are pretty conservative on our energy bills when we can squeak by on a couple windows and a little breeze. It's also been a decently rainy summer. I've been able to skip out on the sprinkler hose in the garden fairly often too--which is good because I'm not a reliable garden-waterer to begin with.

So since it's a strange August, I'll do something strange too: finish what I started and follow up on Monday's post regarding the coming changes to the Catholic Mass. Let it never be said that I don't finish what I started!

So, um where were we?

Oh yes, in the New Order of the Mass (Novus Ordo).

Most Catholics today take part in the Novus Ordo. It's the Mass that most churches offer 364 days of the year (every day except Good Friday-- which is not technically a Mass). People who have some awareness of the old Tridentine Mass differentiate the two noting that in the old Mass, the priest "turns his back on the people" and the whole thing's said in Latin. Conversely, in the Novus Ordo, the priest "faces the people" and speaks in English (or whatever vernacular language is applicable). Good Father Zuhlsdorf, in his blog What Does The Prayer Really Say? often notes that these two distinctions aren't theoretically correct--rather, they're irregular changes from the actual Mass.

In theory, theory and practice are the same thing. In practice, they're not.

But it's an important set-up to this point: the Mass was conceived and written in Latin. The prayers, the directions to the priest, the "liner notes"--all of the rubrics were written in Latin, the language of the Church. Then different conferences of bishops were to make the Latin rubrics compatible for their dioceses. In fact, the Novus Ordo is supposed to be offered in Latin--though provisions are allowed to adapt some of the prayers into the vernacular language for pastoral reasons. I don't know what those pastoral reasons might be, as far as I know, the term was never fully defined. But when the United States bishops returned to the States with their new copies of the Missal, the first thing they did was translate the whole thing into English and tell their priests to face the wrong direction.

Is that an uncharitable over-simplification? Perhaps. Whoops. Hold on tightly, it may get worse.

It appears that in the zeal to translate the Novus Ordo into English that our dear bishops have made some oversimplifications of their own.

You see, imagine two world, Heaven and Earth. Down here on Earth are us lowly humans. We're not perfect. We have our limitations. Sometimes that's a real bummer, you know? Up Heaven is the Almighty Lord. He is perfect. He is limitless. As man, we struggle to come in contact with God--He's beyond our capacity. So when we try, there are two paths: raise man up to God or bring God down to man.

I'm willing to assert that the Novus Ordo Mass in every Catholic church in America is an attempt to lower God to our level; the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops decided to make the Mass "accessible" to dumb dummies like me (and you?). Let me illustrate. Does everyone have their 45-page "White Book" that I linked yesterday? Good. Please turn to page 1.

This is how the Mass begins. You get to church, dip your fingers in the holy water and bless yourself with the sign of the cross when you enter. Find a pew, genuflect towards the altar, file in and kneel down for a prayer before Mass (feel free to use your own). If the choir is trying to get everyone singing On Eagles Wings while you're trying to pray, I suggest shouting a Divine Mercy Chaplet toward the guitarist--but that's just me. Anyway, everyone stands up to begin Mass, the choir switches to singing Gather Us In. Father may stall getting Mass going by welcoming everyone, maybe telling a little joke, encouraging us to greet the people around us in the pews--and you may notice that none of that is in the 45-page "White Book" that you're holding next to this monitor. But gentle reader, you gotta play the cards you're dealt.

When he's good and ready to begin Mass, he'll start out with the sign of the cross and give a simple blessing: "The Lord be with you." This is right out of the Gregorian Mass- where the priest would begin the mass by turning to the people as blessing them "Dominus vobiscum." And for the last 40 years or so, Americans have been answering this blessing by saying "And also with you." But for about 1700 years before that (dating to around 200 A.D., it's older than even Pope St. Gregory the Great), the congregation answered back "et cum spiritu tuo", or and with your spirit.

But when the International Commission on English in the Liturgy originally translated the Novus Ordo into English, they decided to substitute some words.

Aside: of the 5 most common vernacular languages in the Catholic world, English is the only one translated this way. Compare:
French: Et avec votre esprit
German: Und mit deinem Geiste
Italian: E con il tuo spirito
Spanish: Y con tu espiritu
It is a common translation in other languages like Swahili, Lingala, Shona, Acholi, Lango, Alur, Jonam and Chewa (source)--but I am uncertain if the English translation affected these other translations or if they arrived at that conclusion on their own.

So what's the difference?

I may get in over my head here, but here goes: the liturgy is not the work of any individual priest. Rather, it is the work of the Holy Spirit working through the priest. And as such, we bless the Holy Spirit in our response--not Father Timbob directly. Priests are consecrated men, dedicated to the Holy Spirit--the work they do in the church is their opus Dei. So skirting around the Holy Spirit in the Mass is really acknowledging the wrong guy. I mean, I'm sure Father Timbob is a good person and I hope he feels the Lord is with him all the time; but we're talking about the Holy Mass here, so let's focus on our Triune God rather that Father Timbob for a while.

If you're not sold, that's fine. I'm not here to sell you. But the phrase The Lord be with your spirit is also scriptural in origin. It appears notably two places: in the closing lines of Saint Paul's Letter to the Galatians, and his Second Letter to Timothy.

But even more compellingly to me is what bad translations (or deliberately bad translations?) imply about the very nature of the Holy Mass. In a manner of speaking: the words mean something. They are the directions of the Roman Catholic Church to follow for offering the sacrifice of the Mass. And playing fast-and-loose with the translations , while probably not affecting the validity of the Mass, suggests that some renegade bishops in the USCCB or some stiff-necked liturgists in the ICEL or even well-meaning Father Timbob plays a greater role in liturgical history than does the entire Second Vatican Council or the entire Council of Trent or the entire 2000-year history of the Roman Catholic Church or even the Word of God in Holy Scripture itself--and that's just a little farther than the 6:00 PM Sunday Teen Mass should go, dontcha think? It's certainly territory I'm not comfortable walking.

Am I overstating things here? Maybe. But I'm also pretty confident in saying that if the Church comes up with an Order of the Mass, it's every Catholic's duty and right to a good liturgy and a good Mass. That's what I'm getting at here.

There are other changes. Some are going to trip you up for a while.

Take the Creed, for instance (please turn to page 9 in your "White Book"): we're pretty used to Father Timbob wrapping up his sermon with the "Profession of Faith", beginning "We believe in God, the Father, Almighty, maker of Heaven and Earth..." This Creed goes back to the first Council of the Catholic Church--way before Vatican 2, before Martin Luther, before the Crusades, before the dark ages--back to 325 A.D.! This Council of Nicaea was in response (OVERSIMPLIFICATION ALERT!) to Christianity being made the official religion of the Roman Empire--it codified and defined what it mean to be a Christian, the things that Christians believe and set out the basic form that every Christian on God's green Earth can still ascribe to today. It has developed over time as our theology has deepened, but it is still often the only thing that all Christians (regardless of denomination) have in common.

At least we theoretically have it in common. Why do I say theoretically? Because American Catholics might be surprised to find out that the Faith they've been Professing for the last 40 years is not what the rest of the church has been saying for the last 1683 years since that Council of Nicaea. And it certainly isn't the same creed that even the rest of the Catholic world has been saying since the Second Vatican Council.

Let's set them up side-by-side:

LATIN: Credo in unum Deum, Patrem omnipoténtem, factórem cæli et terræ, visibílium ómnium et invisibílium. Et in unum Dóminum Jesum Christum, Fílium Dei unigénitum. Et ex Patre natum ante ómnia sæcula. Deum de Deo, lumen de lúmine, Deum verum de Deo vero. Génitum, non factum, consubstantiálem Patri: per quem ómnia facta sunt. Qui propter nos hómines et propter nostram salútem descéndit de cælis. Et incarnátus est de Spíritu Sancto ex María Vírgine: Et homo factus est. Crucifíxus étiam pro nobis: sub Póntio Piláto passus, et sepúltus est. Et resurréxit tértia die, secúndum Scriptúras. Et ascéndit in cælum: sedet ad déxteram Patris. Et íterum ventúrus est cum glória judicáre vivos et mórtuos: cujus regni non erit finis. Et in Spíritum Sanctum, Dóminum et vivificántem: qui ex Patre, Filióque procédit. Qui cum Patre, et Fílio simul adorátur, et conglorifícatur: qui locútus est per Prophétas. Et unam, sanctam, cathólicam et apostólicam Ecclésiam. Confíteor unum baptísma in remissiónem peccatorum. Et expecto resurrectionem mortuorum. Et vitam + ventúri sæculi. Amen.

LITERAL ENGLISH: I believe in one God, the Father Almighty Maker of heaven and earth, and of all things visible and invisible. and in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only-begotten Son of God. Born of the Father before all ages. God of God, Light of Light, true God of true God. Begotten, not made: consubstantial with the Father; by Whom all things were made. Who for us men, and for our salvation, came down from heaven. And was incarnate by the Holy Ghost of the Virgin Mary: and was made man. He was crucified also for us, suffered under Pontius Pilate, and was buried. And on the third day He rose again according to the Scriptures. And He ascended into heaven, and sitteth at the right hand of the Father. And He shall come again with glory to judge the living and the dead: of Whose kingdom there shall be no end. And in the Holy Ghost, the Lord and Giver of Life: Who proceedeth from the Father and the Son. Who together with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified: Who spoke through the Prophets. And in One, Holy, Catholic and Apostolic Church. I confess one Baptism for the remission of sins. And I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life + of the world to come. Amen.

WHAT WE'RE USED TO SAYING: We believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in being with the Father. Through Him all things were made. For us men and our salvation He came down from heaven: by the power of the Holy Spirit, He was born of the Virgin Mary , and became man. For our sake He was crucified under Pontius Pilate; He suffered, died, and was buried. On the third day He rose again in fulfillment of the scriptures: He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son, He is worshiped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. We believe in one, holy, catholic, and apostolic Church. We acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

WHAT IS COMING: I believe in one God, the Father almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible. And in one Lord Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God, born of the Father before all ages. God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father; through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven, and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate, he suffered death and was buried, and rose again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures. He ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead and his kingdom will have no end. And in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, who with the Father and the Son is adored and glorified, who has spoken through the prophets. And one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church. I confess one baptism for the forgiveness of sins and I look forward to the resurrection of the dead and the life of the world to come. Amen.

In my view, there are two notable changes in this new creed; I/We and consubstantial/one-in-being. There are others differences between the "new" creed and the one we're used to saying, but these are the two that really jump out.

The part that I'm going to stumble on the most is saying "I believe in God" rather than "We believe in God". I'm going to stumble because I'm just really really really used to saying it that way. But it's an important change, because professing this creed is an individualized statement. We profess our beliefs in God and the Church and declare our dedication to Jesus in the Trinity. They're among the last words we say before we enter into the Liturgy of the Eucharist, the part of Mass were the priest formally offers the sacrifice of Jesus in persona Christi. And that profession is not some group-think activity, it's an individual confession of our Christian identity. The Mass is personal to Catholics, it's not some huggy warm-up to the doughnut hour in the basement afterwards.

The other part is the change from "one in being with the Father" to "consubstantial with the Father". Consubstantial is a Latinized version of the Greek word homoousios. Homoousios is made up of όμοιο and ουσία, or same essence. In short, it says that Jesus is "made from" the same God-ness that the Father is "made from"--that they have the same substance and are con-substantial. To a Christian who accepts the Trinity (which is to say, all Christians), this is not a hard statement to make. Of course Jesus was God. That's the whole point! But like the ancient Church defining the Faith for all the world, we similarly define our Faith at Mass. Is Jesus one in being with the Father? Yes! But I've got to admit here, I consider myself a fairly smart guy, and I never really knew what one in being really meant. I'd say it at Mass with all the rest of the folks around me, but it's one of those things I could gloss over and not really think about.

In a strange way, the translators tried to make the term "consubstantial" more accessible to your everyday Catholic. But I'd assert that the opposite happened: they created a term that allowed people to say the words without thinking about them... and I stopped thinking about those words. We stopped accessing them at all.

And that's the essence of the whole problem, isn't it?

In a way, we've stopped lifting ourselves up for God. We've decided that we can try and bring Him down to our level. We take the liturgy of His Church and have taken all the work right out of it--and what's the result? I'll only speak for myself here, but for a long time, I just quit. Church wasn't lifting me up, it wasn't edifying, it wasn't even fun (have you heard Catholics sing?!). But I think I had the wrong idea about Mass, like I was going for a stage show--that sitting in the pews meant I was going to get zapped by some bolt of Grace. And though I won't blame the translators for my malaise, I think it's indicative of my situation. The whole thing is on liturgical salvation autopilot! The congregation is all agreeing that we believe the same things, we're all lining up for Communion hosts and sharing each other's slobber on the wine goblets, even the Priest himself holds up the chalice and says that it's "for you and for all" (that changes too--turn to page 18). Doesn't it sound like the whole happy round spaceship church goes to Heaven together?

Well, let's hope so.

But the point is that this Mass isn't what the Church imagined when Archbishop Bugnini (the man generally credited for writing the Novus Ordo) submitted his New Order of the Mass to Pope Paul VI. Somewhere along the way, we've lost our grip on the real Catholic liturgy. These changes have been submitted from the ICEL to the Vatican--the Vatican has enthusiastically approved them and copies have been/are being sent to every diocese in the English-speaking Catholic world. As of yet, there's no timetable for putting the new translations into effect, but hopefully by this time next year, we can wish that the Lord will be with Father's spirit (I whisper it at Mass already!).

I'm sure that some Catholics might put up resistance to the new translation. Some people are really afraid that the Pope is going to demand that churches switch back to the Tridentine Mass and totally kick the Novus Ordo out the window (some people might think that's a great idea. I know one such person very very well). But that's not what we're dealing with here. Other well-meaning Catholics might say that the words are obscure, the language is clumsy and that people just won't "get it". Those are fair and legitimate concerns! So it's up to us and it up to Father Timbob to catechize Catholics about what their Mass is really saying.

The translation that you'll probably hear in Church on Sunday is a bad one. We all know that now. In fairness, most of the trouble came with good intentions! But let's pray that we get off that road paved with good intentions... I'm afraid of where that road goes.