Liturgical Renewal and Re-Evangelization (13)

People are asking me about my trip, and about the events and people that I encountered. My life in Rome, from the day I arrived in August 10 until my departure for Madrid in September 5, was an inter-play of study and community life. Books I had to read, visits to libraries and bookstores had to be made. Community life meant daily morning prayers integrated into the daily mass, followed by breakfast. We had our noon prayers, together with the “Angelus” and the devotional prayers of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart, then lunch. Supper followed our evening prayer.

On Friday evenings after supper, at 8:00 PM, we had a one-hour community get-together. Popcorn, cooked by our very own General Superior, was served. Drinks were offered according to our tastes: water, soda, beer and other kinds of spirits. I always preferred scotch. Sometimes I took long walks, or swam with the community at the pool at 4:30 PM, or took bus rides in the evening that often enough brought me to the Trevi fountain, to sit down there and be soothed by the immensity of the sculpted figures that are serenaded by the splashing sounds of its falling waters. Then back to study again.

The next notable changes in the translation of the Roman Liturgy in English are in the Penitential Rite. In the Confiteor (Latin for “I confess”), the English 1975 formula: “I have sinned through my own fault” is now translated as “for I have greatly sinned”. The Latin has “nimis” which the 1975 version did not translate. It is rendered “greatly” in English. Then follows the devotional triplet, which was also lost in the 1975 translation: “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault” (Latin: mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa). The Latin “ideo” was rendered “And” in English: “And I ask Blessed Mary ever-Virgin”; now it is closer to the Latin, when it says: “ Therefore I ask Blessed Mary ever-Virgin.” Why these changes?

First off, from the biblical perspective, the translation “for I have greatly sinned” echoes I Chron 21,8: David admitted his having greatly sinned. The triplet “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault” is a beautiful literary devise that shows the intensity of the sense of contrition of the penitent even as he or she admits to the gravity of the sin committed. This comes after the penitent confesses his/her sins to Almighty God and to the community of believers: “to you, brothers and sisters, for I have sinned through my own fault, in my words and in my thoughts, in what I have done, and in what I have failed to do.” Note that the twice repeated phrase “through my fault” is brought to its highest level by the third conclusive formula: “through my most grievous fault.” As a public admission, the whole community remorsefully and humbly submits itself to the unconditional and unmerited forgiving love of God and to the worshiping Christian community, the Mystical Body of Christ! The poetry touches the innermost part of the heart of the individual worshiper and that of the whole community.- Fr. Ben Alforque, MSC