Draft Study Text of the New Roman Missal Now Available

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The draft Study Text of the revised translations of the words of the Mass in English in the new Roman Missal are now available from the USCCB.

It is proposed that it will take effect sometime in the year 2010, but apparently some parishes have begun to use it already.

The purpose of the change, among others, was to bring the English translation closer to the Latin: For example, Et cum spiritu tuo, currently translated as "And also with you" will soon be more accurately translated as "And with your spirit."

Other changes that are pretty dramatic are found in the:

Gloria: "And on earth peace to men of good will" substitutes the word "people."

Creed: For some reason, the words "For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven" are left unchanged.

Consecration: The words "This is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant. It will be shed for you and for all men, so that sins may be forgiven" will now be translated as "For this is the chalice of my blood, the blood of the new and eternal covenant, whch will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins."

Why they did not change the phrase "For us men" in the Creed to just "For us", as do the French ("pour nous") and probably in many other countries, I do not know. In Latin, the word "men" is "homines," meaning more like "mankind" or "humanity." "Vir" is the word for "man" or "a male person."