New Roman Missal

I teach the Mass to the RCIA candidates every year and I always like to close the class with the words of the early Christian Roman writer, St. Peter Martyr. Peter Martyr wrote his First Apology around the year 150 AD with the purpose of showing the Roman emperor that the new Christian religion was no threat to the empire. He does so by describing the Sunday Eucharist, our Great Prayer of Thanksgiving, the Mass. The RCIA candidates find that description very familiar because the parts of the Mass that Peter Martyr writes about are all the parts that I’ve covered during their class. He talks about the Liturgy of the Word, the homily, the presentation of the gifts, the Eucharistic prayer, the “Great Amen”, communion, and even the collection. Peter Martyr’s words emphasize the point I try to make to the class that the essentials of how we pray the Mass have not changed for 21 centuries.

However, exactly how we do those essentials can and do change. In the 20th century through the result of the Vatican II Council, our Eucharist changed from saying the words of the Mass in Latin into the vernacular languages of the world. And soon, in probably a little over a year, we will have another change as we begin to use a new English translation of the Mass or Roman Missal. We will find that the prayers we sing and speak and the prayers we hear our presider say, will not always be the words we are used to hearing and saying. It will certainly take some getting used to since most of us have the Mass prayers and responses well memorized.

But even though such change can be difficult, we must always remember that what is essential to our liturgy will never change. As Peter Martyr said 19 centuries ago, we will continue to assemble to celebrate the Eucharist on Sunday because “it is the first day: the day on which God transformed darkness and matter and created the world, and the day on which Jesus Christ our Savior rose from the dead. Just as Jesus Christ our Savior was made flesh through the word of God and took on flesh and blood for our salvation, so too through the word of prayer that comes from him [the presider] the food over which the thanksgiving has been spoken becomes the flesh and blood of the incarnate Jesus, in order to nourish and transform our flesh and blood”. (St. Peter Martyr, First Apology, c. 150).

Patrice Stegbauer

Published in Bulletin: August 8th, 2010