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From Jeff Wisniewski, director of Music and Liturgy:
On the First Sunday of Advent this year, November 27, 2011, we will begin using a new edition of The Roman Missal at Mass. The Roman Missal will replace the Sacramentary currently in use. The order of Mass (that is, the structure) remains unaffected as do the scripture readings contained in the Lectionary for Mass (last revised in 1998). What will be affected are the prayers, dialogues and acclamations said and sung by the priest and congregation. Most of the changes will affect the priest-celebrant, but some of the words said and sung by the congregation are also affected. These changes will affect all English-speaking, Latin Rite Catholics throughout the world (i.e. Australia, Canada, England and Wales, India, Ireland, New Zealand, Pakistan, the Philippines, Scotland, Southern African, and the United States of America). This means that the texts of the Mass translated into English will now be the same in all of these countries for the first time since the Second Vatican Council permitted the use of the vernacular language.
The amount of relevant information available on this subject is overwhelming to say the least, but it all points to the importance of the Eucharist in our lives. Rather than flooding the bulletin with numerous inserts that address the changes in more detail, we have decided to post the materials here on our website so that you may study them at your leisure as well as to conserve our resources. Beyond these “bulletin inserts” there are numerous websites and books available on the subject for those who desire a more in-depth study. If you want more information, just ask!
What we will offer in our parish is a brief survey of the new translation at the beginning of each Mass starting on September 18 (Catechetical Sunday) and continuing through the Feast of Christ the King (the last Sunday before Advent and the implementation of the new Missal). During this time, we will provide a worship aid in the pews that will contain all of the texts for the congregation affected by the changes with the current and new translations side-by-side for comparison purposes. While we will not begin using the new texts during Mass until Advent, the worship aid will be useful for reference during catechetical lessons and for self-study. The side-by-side comparison chart can also be downloaded from this (or the USCCB) website. In addition there are a number of external links which contain a wealth of additional information, including the official Roman Missal website of the USCCB. Then, beginning in Advent, we will offer a more complete, missalette-style worship aid that contains all of the pertinent texts of the Mass as well as new musical settings of the most commonly sung parts of the Mass. We will not be purchasing new hymnals at this time so that we may focus our efforts on our Commitment to Community Campaign. Much of the service music will become obsolete, but hymn texts remain unaffected. If you have any questions about the new Mass translation, please contact the Parish Office
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