A Pastoral Letter by Bishop Paul Hinder, OFM Cap.
Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

1. May the Lord give you peace and joy in the Holy Spirit! – In my Lenten pastoral letter entitled “Do this in memory of me” on some aspects of the Holy Eucharist I wrote in paragraph 22: “Another opportunity to deepen again our familiarity with the liturgy of the Holy Eucharist will be the introduction of the new English translation of the Missal on the First Sunday of Advent this year... Most of the ordinary texts of the Holy Mass will have minor or major changes. I have already informed the priests during the last general meeting about the upcoming changes. Hopefully we shall be able to give some help by a period of introduction of the new translation. It will be important that we take the learning of the new texts as an opportunity to rediscover the beauty of the Mass liturgy and to deepen our spiritual knowledge of the texts we pray.”

Some samples and reasons of changes

2. Now the time is drawing near when the changes I announced some months ago will come into effect. The priests as well as many faithful have undergone some training sessions regarding the new translation; therefore I do not need to go into the many details. You will soon experience the changes in the parts of the faithful as well as in the parts spoken by the priest. In the first moments you may happen to stumble over the text when you suddenly have to answer “and with your spirit” instead of “and also with you”. In certain prayers you will see that they have become slightly longer, because the new translation is closer to the original Latin version; for example when we confess to almighty God that we “have greatly sinned ... through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault”. After the Preface you will sing “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts...” and probably ask what “hosts” means. Some may have a similar reaction when we have to pray before the Holy Communion “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

3. Why these and many other changes in the translation of the Mass texts? Roughly 40 years ago after the first edition of the renewed Missal edited by Pope Paul VI following the Vatican Council II, translations were made on the basis of the Latin text in a short span of time and with the criteria of comprehensibility for the faithful. It is understandable that the first official translation in vernacular was not completely perfect. For this reason the bishops of the English speaking areas of the world decided to review the translation utilizing the rules that have been given by the Holy See. The revised translation should be closer to the original Latin and reflect the many biblical references in the liturgical text. The translation in use until now gave preference to closeness to every-day language in order to make it easy to understand but at the cost of many biblical terms.

4. Therefore, if we pray in future “Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God of hosts” instead of “God of power and might” it is precisely to be closer to the text of the prophet Isaiah in chapter 6, verse 3. “Hosts” refers to the heavenly armies of angels which represent God’s action in heaven and on earth. And, when in future we pray before the Holy Communion “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof...” we are reminded of the centurion in Matthew 8:8 who asked Jesus to heal his son who was sick, trusting that the word of the Lord was sufficient to make his child healthy again. You will also become aware that some words of the consecration of the wine into the blood of Christ have changed: “Take this, all of you, and drink from it: for this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the New and Eternal Covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me.” Chalice is closer to the biblical language than cup and expresses better the character of the sacrifice. The text in the New Testament speaks about the blood, “which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins”. Of course, Jesus died for all humankind, however, only the “many” that accept his gift of love in faith will actually experience “the forgiveness of sins”.

Some practical details

5. As I said already in my last pastoral letter, the new translation will be introduced in our Vicariate on the first weekend of Advent. In order to help the faithful and the priests get familiar with the new version, leaflets with the Order of the Mass will be distributed and in many places the overhead projection of the texts will help you learn the new translation that you will soon know by heart.

6. The introduction of the new translation of the Mass texts gives us an excellent opportunity to re-think and re-meditate texts that may have become too much a routine. Therefore, I ask you to slow down the speed of recitation in order that the liturgical action reflects something of the tremendous divine mystery we are celebrating.

7. Step by step the songs will have to be adjusted to the new translation and new melodies will have to be learned by the priests and the faithful. The choirs will play an important role in this regard. We shall try to improve and enlarge the repertoire of hymns and other liturgical songs.

8. I invite the priests and all the faithful to take the opportunity of the new translation as a moment of renewal of our liturgical behaviour: prayerful silence when we enter the church; devout and meaningful genuflection or a deep bow/inclination before the Blessed Sacrament in the tabernacle; wearing a dress appropriate to the sacred exercise. I am happy to see parents with their children at mass and fully understand that they will not always be silent. At the same time I ask the parents to teach their children from early childhood that the church (even the Babies' Room) is not a playground, but an area of prayer and adoration.

9. The changes in the liturgical text may also be an opportunity to renew our whole understanding of the liturgy. The celebration of the sacraments, especially the Holy Eucharist, is not simply one among other pious exercises. Therefore, I wish that we adjust to the rules of the Church and make a clear distinction between the liturgical celebration and devotions. That is why I have told the priests to finish the Mass, take off the chasuble and continue only after a short break if a novena or other devotion follows. Where the Holy Rosary is recited before the Mass, there should always be a clear break between the Rosary and the beginning of the Eucharist. If time is short it might be better to drop one mystery or the litany of our Lady just to permit a breath in the silence of the Lord before starting the liturgy.

10. Offertory processions should observe first of all the original meaning of sharing with the poor and where it is needed to support the life of the priest(s). Therefore, gifts should be chosen in a way that they can be given to the needy, serve the life of the community or contribute to the beauty of the oratory. Except for the vessel with the hosts and the chalice with the wine to be consecrated, nothing must be put on the altar, but placed at its foot or in another appropriate place. As the Bible is the gift from God that constitutes the Liturgy of the Word as the first part of the Mass, it makes no sense to bring a Bible in the offertory procession unless those Bibles are to be distributed among the poor.

11. The new Missal will contain a certain number of recognized Eucharistic Prayers. Although we are in many places struggling with the tight timetable of the many Masses on Fridays and Sundays, I encourage the priests to make more frequent use of the wonderful Eucharistic Prayers the Church has given us, and I ask the faithful to profit from their riches even though the prayers may take a little bit more time.

12. In the liturgy we have many other agents besides the priests: the altar servers, readers, extraordinary Eucharistic ministers, choirs, ushers, without forgetting those who are working in the background like the sacristans, florists, technicians of the sound and projection system. A good collaboration and coordination is required, therefore, I recommend where it does not already exist, to form a Liturgical committee to plan the liturgies ahead of time and to coordinate the efforts of all people involved.

13. Finally, I recommend you to read again my last pastoral letter about some aspects of the Holy Eucharist. The purpose of the new translation with  a devout celebration of the Liturgy is: to meet the Lord, to adore Him, to show him our love, and to be filled with His love in order that we can love others as He did.

May the Lord bless you and keep you! And may the coming Advent be a time where we welcome in new freshness the One who was yesterday, is now and will be forever!

Abu Dhabi, 15th October 2011

+ Paul Hinder OFM Cap.

Apostolic Vicar of Southern Arabia