Paul KeenanDear Editor, In drawing attention to the apparent dissatisfaction among Irish clergy with the present English translation of the Roman Missal, I fear that the ACP and your newspaper are omitting consideration of the preparation for its use before Advent 2011 and the effort necessary on our part needed to understand prayers expressing the richness of our Catholic faith.
I observed the introduction of the new translation from a distance as I moved to Italy in 2011. It seems to me that the preparation in Ireland was only a fraction of the quantity and quality of that in other countries.
It seems to me that the major issue with the new translation is the complexity of the proper prayers for Sundays, feasts and so on: the collect, prayer over the gifts, preface and post Communion. I wonder are we aware of the very simple road map to three of these prayers which is the same for about 98% of them: recollection of God's work, request for an additional help, consequence if God grants our prayer.
Here is the prayer for Corpus Christi in three parts: Recollection: "O God, who in this wonderful sacrament have left us a memorial of your passion"; Request: "Grant us, we pray, so to revere the sacred mysteries of your Body and Blood"; Consequence: "That we may always experience in ourselves the fruits of your redemption".
Were we to keep in mind the simple road map to these prayers and their purpose in the Mass, even marking them off in pencil when preparing for Mass, we would understand the Vatican II Mass prayers more easily and they would be more relevant to our participation in the liturgy. Maybe the people who produce missalettes might mark the prayers like this to help everyone follow more easily.
Yours etc.,
Father Fergus Ryan OP,
Collegio San Clemente,
Rome,
Italy.