Don't go crazy! I'm not doing this, just suggesting it to the Holy Father in the most humble and non-egotistical way possible. What about a vernacular EF Mass that still preserves some of our Latin heritage? If I hear from the Holy Father about this, rest assured this blog would come to a conclusion!
It seems to me that the next logical step in Summorum Pontificum is for the Holy Father to allow the Extraordinary Form in the vernacular. I know he wants to preserve the Latin and I think he could if he mandated that in the Extraordinary Form only the Roman Canon be used and prayed in Latin. Perhaps the quiet prayers of the priest could remain in Latin, but I personally would like the option of English.
Again, I go back to the 1965 Roman Missal which allowed all the parts of the people, their spoken and heard responses to be in English and only the quiet unchanging parts of the priest in Latin only. Of course some might object to the simplification of the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar in this missal, psalm 42 is omitted, but it is omitted anyway in Requiem Masses and Passiontide. The Per Ipsum was changed to what we do in the OF now. I think placing the Paten under the corporal cloth until after the Pater Noster was eliminated, thus the ritual of placing the host on the Paten. As well, the Last Gospel was dropped. But these are really minor changes and simplifications what I believe Sacrosanctum Concilium really had in mind in terms of "noble simplicity" and allowing for the vernacular but also maintaining the Latin. I still contend that we could have the EF Mass in the vernacular using all of the changing prayers of the OF Mass today, the OF calendar and the OF lectionary and celebrating the Liturgy of the Word or the Mass of Catechumens in the OF manner, with lay readers, male or female.
Of course the 1962 missal in Latin would still be an option for those who want it. But doing it my way would really present a golden opportunity for more people to be exposed to the riches of the 1962 missal. The vernacular would be in continuity with what almost two generations of Catholics know and have experienced. It would be using the "hermeneutic of continuity" so popular today.There would be post-Vatican II "active participation" and the laity involved in the official ministry of reader. What do you think?
Finally, no one need point out to me that the song, "I Did It My Way" by Frank Sinatra is the theme song of hell.
4 comments:
This is exactly what I've been wondering... why do they need all these commissions to make a translation? I mean, the red book we use during the EF at St. Joseph has a translation that appears to my untrained eye to be pretty accurate. Why change the rubrics just because the language changes?
Father, I think it is a wonderful suggestion for a replacement of the OF Mass, provided the EF Mass was still made available to the faithful. I would go so far as to say that it would be great to see the 1965 MR used for all the Ordinary Time Masses, and the 1962 MR used for all the Special Times of the year. THAT would be the BEST way to insure everyone was exposed to both forms, and also provide them a great point of reference for the Latin. they would hear the almost exact same prayers being said on all the "green" days. Personally I feel that the OF mass, even the revised one that will come in 2011, will still not provide the faithful enough cross reference to help them understand and learn the Latin.
And while we're fixing things, can we PLEASE get some Prie Dieu for Communion? LOL
Ditto to what Marc said!
I sense naivety...There are still too many who wouldn't hear of it. The EF whether in English, Latin or Aramaic--it would be frowned upon by the Assembly Theology/Modernist crowd. The EF speaks with piercing reverence: HOLY, PERPETUAL SACRIFICE.
A Mass projecting that, unfortunately, is despised by those who prefer a primitive meal where we just have fond memories of Christ.
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