Liturgical language is sacred, and aspires to deepen our encounter with Christ through what we pray, sing and hear. Understanding the words is important to our active participation in the Eucharist, the “source and summit” of our faith.
One of the goals of the new translation of the Missal was to make clearer the links between the prayers of the Mass and the text of Scripture. Some of the most noticeable changes reflect the words of the Bible more clearly. One of the first changes is at the greeting during the Introductory Rites of the Mass. At the
beginning of Mass the priest celebrant greets the people with the words, “The Lord be with you.” The people will respond, “And with your spirit.” Although this is a “new” response, it is really an ancient one! The first words come from a greeting of Boaz, the great-grandfather of King David: “Boaz…said to the harvesters, ‘The Lord be with you!’ and they replied, ‘The Lord bless you!’” (Ruth 2:4). The people’s response reflect the language of St. Paul. In Galatians, he says, “The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit…” (Gal. 6:18); the Second Letter to Timothy closes with a similar wish: “The Lord be with your
spirit.” (2 Tim. 4:22). The Letter to the Philippians ends with “The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.” (Phil. 4:23). The new language more directly reflects the biblical understanding that, through Baptism, the Spirit of God dwells in us and unites us as one Body in Christ.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) provides an explanation about this change: Perhaps the most common dialogue in the Liturgy of the Roman Rite consists of the greeting Dominus vobiscum and et cum spiritu tuo. Since 1970, this has been translated as: “The Lord be with you.” “And also with you.” As a part of the revised translation of the Roman Missal the translation of the dialogue has been revised to read: “The Lord be with you.” “And with your spirit.” This is a more correct rendering of et cum spirtu tuo, and makes the English rendering more consistent with renderings of other languages. (The Italian: E con il tuo spirito, French: Et avec votre esprit, Spanish: Y con tu espiritu and German: Und mit deinem Geiste). In this response, the people assure the priest of the same divine assistance of God’s spirit and, more specifically, help for the priest to use the charismatic gifts given to him in ordination and in so doing to fulfill his prophetic function in the Church. (Sources: www.usccb.org/romanmissal and www.mysticalbodymysticalvoice.org)
Next weekend (October 15/16) we will be introduced to the changes that we sing in the Gloria. The current version which we pray, either sung or spoken, is a somewhat abbreviated translation of its Latin source. Our next bulletin insert will address these changes.
REMINDER: Fr. Greg Hoppough, CS, will be with us at 7:30 p.m. on Monday evening, October 24th. This promises to be a richly informative presentation given by a gifted speaker and liturgist. Don’t miss this opportunity to ask questions and learn more about the changes that are coming.
Additional information: An article by David Haas (composer of liturgical music) in the June-July 2011 edition of Ministry and Liturgy offers food for thought as we move forward through this time of change.
