I was in Spain recently and there came across a newly published liturgical book, the 2018 Libro de la Sede or Book of the Chair. This book is edited and published by the Spanish Bishops’ Conference as part of their Third Edition of the Roman Missal (ISBN: 978-8492586981, 1196 pages, €60). It succeeds a similar book that was keyed to the second edition of the Missal and enjoys great popularity among the Spanish clergy (it was in use in every church I visited).
The Roman Missal, 3rd Chapel Edition 4.8 out of 5 stars 92. Only 9 left in stock (more on the way). Pastoral Care of the Sick.
It is a very dignified liturgical book and is quite beautifully produced. More details and pictures of the book, including the efforts to print it in an ecologically responsible way can be found at the website for the Diocese of Santander’s Bookstore. The table of contents is also available on-line.
Number 5 of its introduction explains how it contains “the proper official texts of each of the Mass formulas which the principal celebrant sings or says from the chair: the entrance antiphon, the collect, the prayer after communion, the prayers over the people and the solemn blessing. This book also offers other texts that can be used optionally (ad libitum), such as introductions to the Mass, alternative forms of the penitential rite and the prayer of the faithful; all of them prepared for the liturgical seasons and the main liturgical feasts. In some of these formulas there are brief introductions to the recitation or singing of the Gloria and the Creed.”
While I applaud this book, I must admit that I am somewhat jealous that as an English-speaker nothing similar is available to me. I have written on PrayTell before underlining some inconsistencies in the application of liturgical law ( here and here ) and I feel that what one region or language is allowed in their liturgical books, should be likewise allowed in other regions.
Although there was a Book of the Chair published by Dwyer/Costello/Liturgical Press in the 1980’s permission for other editions or reprints was not forthcoming in the 1990’s or 2,000’s. Finally after the English translation of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal the Congregation for Divine Worship allowed English-speaking bishops to publish a similar book.
But there were restrictions. The English book could not contain anything other than prayers contained in the Roman Missal proper (some details of the editing of the current US book are available here). Additionally the CDW insisted that the English-speaking bishops could not use the name Book of the Chair, but instead give their book the elegant title: Excerpts from the Roman Missal: Book for Use at the Chair. In 2015 a US edition was published and in 2018 a UK edition . The US edition covers the whole year, whereas the UK edition is only for “for Sundays and feast days” (I don’t have access to that particular volume, so I can’t confirm that it doesn’t contain the formulas for the weekdays of the liturgical seasons). The bishops of New Zealand published a Companion to the Missal which came in the same package as the Missal itself in 2012 (although I am not sure if it is any different to the US or UK edition).
It is true that many different resources with prayer of the faithful and different options to help foster a reverent celebration of the Eucharist are available. These are composed and published by independent publishers and it is undoubtedly a benefit to having a variety of such resources available. However, a bishops’ conference should also be able to compose an official edition of a Book of the Chair for their territory with additional resources being optional (ad libitum) as the Spanish edition. I believe that this would be a good example of the “collaboration” between a Bishops’ Conference and the Apostolic See in keeping with Pope Francis’ Audience last February with participants in the Plenary of the CDW:
Overall, however, the transition to the new Spanish Missal is nowhere near as drastic a change as was the transition to the 3rd edition of the English Missal. There are very few changes to the Ordinary of the Mass, and very very little that affects the words spoken by the faithful. The Roman Rite has evolved over the centuries in very diverse contexts and situations, and it has endured to our own day precisely because of its capacity to adapt and be shaped by the distinct cultures where it has been celebrated. Holy Week in the Third Edition of The Roman Missal.
When the change was introduced with the Roman Missal, Third Edition in late 2011, the shift from 'for all' to 'for many' could be misunderstood as some sort of narrowing of the scope of Jesus salvific action. It is important to keep in mind the context of the narrative both in the Gospel and in the liturgical action. MTF is located in suburban Downers Grove, IL, 30 miles southwest of downtown Chicago. Among MTF's most popular books are Daily Roman Missal, Handbook of Prayers, the titles of The Didache Series, Missale Romanum, Book of the Gospels, and the Roman Missal, Third Edition.
In ecclesial communion both the Apostolic See and the Bishops’ Conferences operate in a spirit of cooperation, dialogue and synodality. In fact, the Holy See does not replace the bishops, but works with them to serve, in the richness of the various languages and cultures, the prayerful vocation of the Church in the world. The Motu proprio Magnum principium (3 September 2017) follows in this line; in it, I intended to promote, among other things, the need for “a constant collaboration filled with mutual trust, vigilant and creative, between the Episcopal Conferences and the dicastery of the Apostolic See which performs the task of promoting the sacred liturgy”. The hope is to continue on the path of mutual collaboration, aware of the responsibilities involved in ecclesial communion, in which unity and variety are united. It is a question of harmony.
Roman Missal Third Edition In Spanish Translation
In this sense, I think that a Book of the Chair for weekday Masses would be particularly helpful. Many parishes prepare their Sunday liturgies with a team working on the composition of the Prayer of the Faithful, the selection of suitable songs, etc. But the weekday Masses often fall between the cracks. If a body like a bishops’ conference, was to use its resources to prepare a suitable selection of supplementary material for weekdays and produce a nice volume combining it with the texts of the Missal it could be a very helpful resource for many worshipping communities.
The millions of Spanish-speaking Catholics in the United States will find a few things new and different about Mass by Advent 2018. According to the decree of Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, President of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB), that’s the date that the Misal Romano, Tercera Edicion, the new and newly-approved iteration of the Spanish-language translation of the Third Edition of the Roman Missal (Missale Romanum) will become the required Spanish-language liturgical text for the Mass in Catholic dioceses around the country.
Earlier this year, the USCCB Secretariat for Divine Worship announced that the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments in Rome had confirmed on July 1, 2016 that this edition of the Misal Romano had been approved for use in the United States. The USCCB, in turn, decreed that it could be used beginning this year on Pentecost Sunday, May 20, and was to be the required text by December 2, First Sunday of Advent 2018.
The promulgation of a new missal proper to this country is good news indeed. According to a recent report by the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA) at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., there are approximately 30.4 million Hispanic or Latino people in the U.S.
Imported Goods
Before Misal Romano came along, bishops and priests in the United States relied on imported texts to serve the Spanish-speaking population in U.S. parishes. Father Andrew Menke, Executive Director of the Secretariat for Divine Worship, told Adoremus Bulletin that “For the most part, people [in the U.S.] have obtained Spanish missals from Mexico, but some also use versions from Colombia, Ecuador, or Argentina. Rarely, the edition from Spain might be used.”
The new approved American edition is especially welcomed from a liturgical standpoint as it will provide much-needed consistency in the text and continuity among U.S. dioceses and parishes, Father Menke said.
“We hear stories of priests who serve multiple parishes who find themselves using different Spanish versions of the Missal, even on the same day,” he said, adding that “the new Missal follows the liturgical calendar of this country and includes Spanish translations of the various saints’ days on our Calendar. This will also contribute to the national unity of Spanish-speaking Catholics.”
The new Spanish-language missal offers other improvements, Father Menke says, that priests will notice immediately.
“For one thing, the layout and arrangement of the new U.S. Spanish Missal will be almost perfectly parallel to the English version of the Missal used in this country,” he says. “That ought to be helpful for priests who offer Mass in both languages. Spanish Missals from other countries tend to rearrange a fair amount of the material, with respect to the Latin and English editions.”
Harmony and Variety
The vital link between liturgy and sacred music has also played a part in the new missal, Father Menke says, noting that it includes “the same amount of music as in the English edition, which is a very substantial increase over what’s included in any other Spanish missal. The music is similar to the English melodies, and both the English and Spanish are ultimately based on the chants in the Latin edition. This has potential to not only add a certain solemnity to the music of the Mass, but also promotes a unity between liturgies celebrated in Spanish, English, and Latin.”
Although unity of translation was a top priority for the most recent English translation of the Roman Missal, Father Menke says that the same concern was mitigated in the Spanish translation by factors that speak to the variety found within the Spanish language.
“The Holy See was not insistent on arriving at a single, worldwide Spanish translation of the Missal,” he says. “Most people seem to agree that there are greater regional variations in Spanish than there are in English, and this might be the reason for that decision. Even so, the heart of the Missal—the Order of Mass—has a translation that is common to all Spanish-speaking countries, except for different customs regarding the second person plural form of ‘you.’ So there are differences between the missals of Spain, Mexico, Ecuador, Colombia, and Argentina. Other Spanish-speaking countries adopt one of these forms of the Missal.”
Speaking of Mexico
Because the largest group of Spanish-speaking faithful in the country comes from Mexico, Father Menke says, the U.S. Bishops decided that the new missal should use the Mexican edition as its base text. This decision also makes sense, Father Menke says, because “many other immigrants in the U.S. come from countries that have also adopted the Mexican version of the Missal.”
While the U.S. bishops could have prepared their own Spanish translation of the missal, Father Menke says, it was determined a number of years ago that the effort that would require would not be a prudent use of resources. So even though the bishops took an integral part in the preparation of the English translation of the missal, for the Spanish version they have “simply adopted another Conference’s translation. The only new translations are for things like adaptations and saints’ days of the U.S. English edition. Relatively speaking, that wasn’t a difficult process.”
The adoption of the Mexican text in this manner, Father Menke adds, also means that because the Mexican text was approved after promulgation of the Holy See’s instruction on liturgical translations, Liturgiam Authenticam, the American text also met the requirements of the instruction.
“Whether that means,” he says, “the principles of Liturgiam Authenticam were applied in exactly the same way they were applied in the case of English translation—or the French or Italian or German or any other language—would take a careful linguistic analysis.”
Two points of contention in the English translation, shifting from a paraphrase to a translation of the Domine, non sum dignus, and the retranslation of the pro multis from “for all” to “for many” were not nearly as provocative in the Spanish translation prepared for the new missal, Father Menke says.
Roman Missal Third Edition Download
“From what I’ve been told, these things weren’t as controversial in the Spanish-speaking world as they were for some people in English-speaking countries,” he says. “The Domine, non sum dingus was never paraphrased like the old English version was, and didn’t even change from the 2nd to the 3rd Spanish editions. However, the Spanish version isn’t quite as literal as the new English version—whereas we follow the Latin and say ‘under my roof,’ the Spanish continues to say ‘into my house.’”
The pro multis did change for the new Spanish missal, Father Menke notes, from “for all” to “for many”; however, he adds, “this change has been in effect for quite a few years in Spanish-speaking countries, and I get the impression it didn’t cause a stir when it was implemented.”
¡Viva Liturgia!
While the changes are, relatively speaking, minimal in the new Spanish text, Father Menke says, the very newness of the text serves as an entree for pastors to teach their flock about the liturgy.
“The introduction of the new book could be a great opportunity to present a renewed catechesis on the Mass, or to highlight the saints of the U.S. liturgical calendar,” he says. “The inclusion of the chants could also be an opportunity to introduce a beautiful style of music that has been part of Catholic worship for centuries, but that has been largely ignored for the last fifty years.”
Besides now having a new Misal Romano available for liturgical use, Father Menke says, the Spanish-speaking faithful in this country also have other ritual texts in Spanish translation in their parishes that are officially approved for use in the U.S. The USCCB has already approved Spanish editions of the rites for baptism and marriage, for example, and a Spanish version of the Book of Blessings approved by the U.S. bishops is currently in Rome awaiting approval.
Roman Missal Third Edition Pdf
“There are also plans to try to have a Spanish Lectionary ready in several years,” he says. “But sometimes the bishops decide that there isn’t a need to prepare a Spanish version of every liturgical book. For example, there might not be a large market for some Spanish liturgical books in this country, and that would mean that the per-unit cost would be too high, or that cases of unsold books would sit in a warehouse for years. In that situation, if the bishops of this country haven’t approved a liturgical book in Spanish (or any other language, for that matter), we are free to use one that has been approved by the bishops of another conference.”