Posted November 12, 2009

By Christie L. Chicoine
CS&T Staff Writer

In anticipation of the revised English translation of the Roman Missal first introduced in Latin in 2002, the archdiocesan Office for Worship is conducting a series of workshops for clergy, religious and laity.

A general presentation for women religious of the Archdiocese is scheduled from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 6, at Immaculate Heart of Mary Church in the Andorra section of the city.

It follows four presentations diocesan and religious priests of the Archdiocese attended in October.

A session for permanent deacons is scheduled for February at St. Charles Borromeo in Seminary in Wynnewood, followed by extended presentations for deacons throughout four evenings in May.

A general presentation for the faithful will be held at three parishes in April.

The workshop presenters are Father G. Dennis Gill, director of the Office for Worship, and Msgr. Michael K. Magee, chair of the systematic theology department and an assistant professor of sacred Scripture at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.

Msgr. Magee worked as an official in the Congregation for spanine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in Rome from 1998 to 2007. During that time, the revised texts were being discussed among the Congregation, the English-speaking bishops and the International Commission on English in the Liturgy.

“The more information that is made available and shared about this most significant moment in the life of the Church and its liturgical prayer, the more spiritually enriched and appreciative will be our reception and use of the revised texts,” Father Gill said.

“This is a wonderful opportunity for all of us, through the texts of the sacred liturgy, to once again encounter the greatness of the sacramental mystery the liturgy celebrates,” he added.

The Roman Missal is the entire book of Mass prayers and readings approved by the Holy See for use throughout the Church of the Latin rite.

Before the liturgical reforms of the Second Vatican Council, all were contained in one large volume. Since then, however, in practice the Roman Missal has been spanided into a volume of Mass prayers called the Sacramentary and two or more volumes of readings called, inspanidually or collectively, the Lectionary.

As of 2001, the Roman Missal has been restored as the name for any future editions of the Sacramentary.

As the Latin text of the third edition of the Roman Missal is in its final stage of an approved translation, “it is time to prepare for the reception of this new missal,” Father Gill said. “This is an opportunity to talk about the sacred liturgy, to talk about the changes in the English translation,” he added.

The workshops include the history behind the translation – in particular, why a new translation is necessary at this time; key theological dimensions of the translation and how the translation will help liturgical prayer.

“The faithful translation of the Latin texts will assist us in receiving more authentically the faith that these texts convey,” said Father Gill.

Additional presentations, including those for pastors and their parishioners, will be held next year.

A question-and-answer session is included in the presentations.

“Certainly, it will be a challenge for us to put the new translation of the Missal into use; it’s always difficult to change something that’s an important part of our everyday lives,” said Msgr. Magee.

“Even so,” he added, “the new translation will allow us to see more clearly into the profound richness of the prayers passed down in the tradition of the Latin Church, and we can be thankful for this invitation to look at them perhaps more diligently than we ever have before, so that they begin to nourish our homilies and our personal prayer as never before.”

For more information about the translation, visit the web site www.usccb.org/romanmissal. For more information about the workshops, contact the Office for Worship at 215-587-3537.

CS&T staff writer Christie L. Chicoine may be reached at 215-587-2468 or cchicoin@adphila.org.