Liturgical Renewal and Re-Evangelization (7)

I am writing this 7th part of my article on “Liturgical Renewal and Re-evangelization” in my small room at the MSC General House in Rome. I edited the final version of the 6th part of the series at the airport in Helsinki, Finland yesterday, August 10th.

The seriousness which the Vatican document places on language and its inner capability to translate the Latin texts of the Roman Missal is fundamentally grounded on theology: the human words in the Liturgy are God’s divine words, which, in communication with humanity through prayer, possess a theological content. When God reveals Himself to humanity, worshipful women and men discover the mystery of God and of themselves more profoundly. Therefore, we are dealing here not with ordinary translation of a text of one language to another language. Rather, we are talking of a Church in prayer before God, so that the translation ought to “maintain the tradition of interpretation that is proper to the Latin Liturgy” (Liturgiam authenticam, 24).

Listen to this: (LA, 25) “So that the content of the original texts may be evident and comprehensible even to the faithful who lack any special intellectual formation, the translations should be characterized by a kind of language which is easily understandable, yet which at the same time preserves these texts’ dignity, beauty, and doctrinal precision. By means of words of praise and adoration that foster reverence and gratitude in the face of God’s majesty, his power, his mercy and his transcendent nature, the translations will respond to the hunger and thirst for the living God that is experienced by the people of our own time, while contributing also to the dignity and beauty of the liturgical celebration itself.”

(LA,26) “The liturgical texts’ character as a very powerful instrument for instilling in the lives of the Christian faithful the elements of faith and Christian morality, is to be maintained in the translations with the utmost solicitude. The translation, furthermore, must always be in accord with sound doctrine

Wow, that is terrific! The function of translation itself is to unite God and humanity: God descends to liberate humanity by claiming humanity to Himself; and humanity is elevated by accepting, with joyful, humble and contrite heart, the reality of the presence of God. And its impact on the development of human language is noted, thus: “If indeed, in the liturgical texts, words or expressions are sometimes employed which differ somewhat from usual and everyday speech, it is often enough by virtue of this very fact that the texts become truly memorable and capable of expressing heavenly realities…it will contribute to the gradual development, in each vernacular, of a sacred style that will come to be recognized as proper to liturgical language. Thus it may happen that a certain manner of speech which has come to be considered somewhat obsolete in daily usage may continue to be maintained in the liturgical context.” (LA, 27). – Fr. Ben Alforque, MSC