Ooh, I was so excited this morning. I was up at the crack of dawn to get to church for Mass this morning.
Our Parish Priest has decided to begin using the New Translation of the Missal at the weekday Masses this week to help ease the transition into using the new translation for everyone this coming Sunday.
Being a Bank Holiday, there were fewer than usual at Mass this morning, probably not many more than a dozen of us.
We were all clasping our new Order of Mass sheets, eager to join in with the new responses on cue.
Our PP has been gradually introducing some of the new texts over the past few weeks so the regular parishioners should already be familiar with some of them. I have been saying some of the basic new responses such as 'and with your spirit' and 'Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof but only say the word and my soul shall be healed' under my breath too to try and get them into my head so that they become automatic.
As several other people have commented, one of the positive side-effects of the new translation is that it makes one much more aware of the words being spoken, both by the celebrant and the congregation. It's interesting how much of the liturgy is so ingrained in our minds that just a few minor alterations, make one's ears prick up and many heads were lifted today when the old, familiar words were replaced with new, and usually, more fitting ones.
Today, our priest used the First Eucharist Prayer which I think is the most beautiful anyway, but it was so very meaningful because every word made a mark today, at least for me.
I must say, I think we acquitted ourselves very well for a first attempt. Hopefully by Friday, we'll all be beginning to feel a little more at home with the new translation and be able to give a bit of a lead to others on Sunday.
Perhaps the real challenge will be to see how we get on with the Gloria and the Creed which of course we don't say during the week.
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