Does anyone know what language is spoken in East Timor? I suspect there is more than one. But the Eucharistic Prayer seems to me to be in Portuguese as I can understand some of it with a combination of Spanish, Italian and Latin sounds but with a distinct accent by the celebrant that almost sounds Slavic.
The hymns are of their culture I presume, but the parts of the Mass are exuberantly chanted by all with the traditional Greek Kyrie and Latin Gloria, Sanctus and Agnus Dei. These are quite beautifully sung and remind us of the universality of the Roman Rite when Greek and Latin are used for these parts. I felt at home with these people in East Timor with the Latin Chants, although their other music was foreign to me and a bit jarring from my perspective.
4 comments:
Timor speak their own dialect and Portuguese.
I can’t understand Brazilian Portuguese at all but I could understand Much of the Portuguese at this Mass.
Father you should watch the Mass in Indonesia (from EWTN since the vatican news relay skips the Eucharistic Liturgy). The Mass vernacular was in Latin, including the Preface and Eucharistic Prayer led by the Cardinal Archbishop of Jakarta. All the songs (except the ending Salve Regina) was in Indonesian with the robust participation of the 86 thousand people present.
I am terrible at Portuguese although I can decipher written because it resembles a mashup of French and Spanish. Latin helps a little, too.
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