What is the Roman Missal?

The Roman Missal takes its name from what we are celebrating -- Mass. It is called the “Roman” Missal because the prayers it contains, those said by the priest alone during Mass, are taken from collections of prayers used over the centuries by the Christians of Rome at Mass. Some are very ancient, dating back to the 5th and 6th centuries. Of course, these prayers first existed in Latin, the language of the ancient Romans. Since the Second Vatican Council, Mass and the other sacraments have been celebrated in the vernacular. However, the original versions of all the liturgical books which bishops, priests, and deacons around the world have been using since the Second Vatican Council exist first of all in Latin. The Latin versions of the books are then translated in the various languages around the world. We hear those Latin prayers spoken in English after a process of translation.

The Mass revised according to the decrees of the Second Vatican Council first appeared in an edition of the Roman Missal published in 1970. Immediately, translators set to work translating that Roman Missal from Latin into English. They were under tremendous pressure to get their work done quickly so that Mass could begin to be celebrated entirely in English. Also, they were very concerned about making the translation as comprehensible as possible since the prayers at Mass until then had not been very comprehensible to most people. What we have been hearing at Mass until now is the result of this process of translation. But even those who worked on the first English version of the Roman Missal in the 1970’s knew that their work would have to be revised in time. After all, it was the very first attempt in the Church’s history to recast its Latin prayers in English. Our brothers and sisters in the Anglican Communion around the world had 400 years of translating Latin prayers into English. But the Roman Catholic Church had only a few decades of experience of expressing its Latin prayers in English.

Why are we changing it now?

In the course of the 1990’s, it became clear that it was time to take a second look at the English translation of Mass. The Catholic Church had 25 years of experience using the English texts. Scholars had had time to look more closely at the original Latin prayers and compare them to the English versions. Ultimately, Pope John Paul II thought that it was time to take a renewed approach to translating Latin prayers into the vernacular languages. In 1997, he issued new rules to guide translators in their work. In that document, he asked them to try their best to translate the Latin prayers more closely, almost word for word, rather than be satisfied with general paraphrases of what the Latin prayers said. This began a long process of evaluation, study, and re-translation. That process involved scholars and bishops from around the world. It was conducted by translators in all the English-speaking countries of the world. The Vatican asked for the advice of English-speaking bishops from around the world. In the end, a new English translation for Mass was approved by the Vatican last year. With a very few minor exceptions, the same English prayers will be used by all the English-speaking countries of the world for the first time since the Second Vatican Council. This is one advantage of the new translation. It will be a greater source of unity among Catholics who speak English around the world.

When will we see the changes?

This new English translation will begin to be used in the parishes of the United States on the First Sunday of Advent of this year, November 26-27. It is important to remember that the way we celebrate Mass will not change. The same structure, the same gestures, the same order of prayers will still be there. The words we use at Mass will be somewhat different. Many parts of Mass, like the Our Father, are completely unchanged. Sometimes, one word will be different, as in the case of the Holy, Holy. The priests will experience the most change, since the prayers they say have been substantially reworked to express more closely what the original Latin prayers were saying. But that will be an opportunity for all of us to discover anew the spiritual riches and depth that come to us from our tradition. It will also be another opportunity to rediscover the treasure we have in the celebration of the Eucharist and to invite others to join us at the Lord’s table.

Click here to read more about the changes.