Ten Questions on the Roman Missal,
Third Edition
Materials on this page are from the USCCB.
Copyright © 2010 United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Washington, D.C. Used with permission. All rights reserved.
The Third Edition of the Roman Missal
Preparing For the New Translation of the Mass
On November 27, the First Sunday of Advent, the Roman Missal, Third Edition, the ritual text containing prayers and instructions for the celebration of the Mass, will be implemented in the United States of America.
Following are articles to better prepare us for the new translation of the Missal.
Please click on the title to download or view the document.
Changes in the Parts of the People in the Order of Mass
Compare and prepare for the new responses specified by the Third Edition of the Roman Missal.
Celebrating the Lord's Day
Every Sunday, we gather as the Body of Christ to celebrate the Lord’s Day, the day of Christ’s Resurrection. Know why and how we can keep it as the Lord's Day.
Embracing Change in the Liturgy
For many people, change does not come easy. Change requires us to stop doing things a certain way in order to do something else. Many people
find comfort in familiar routines and known ways of acting. Change interrupts those familiar routines. But change is also an opportunity to stop and reflect on what we are doing and to come to a better understanding of God, who does not change. Know why the change and how to best receive them.
The Eucharistic Prayer
The Eucharistic Prayer or Canon of the Mass is the central prayer of the entire celebration. Most Catholics have been made aware from their earliest days that during the Eucharistic Prayer the bread and wine are transformed into the Body and Blood of Christ. What many Catholics are not aware of, however, is that the Eucharistic Prayer is about more than adoring Christ who becomes present in our midst.
Guide to Unfamiliar Words in the Mass
Some of the words used in the new translation of the Mass may be unfamiliar to some Catholics. This document lists words and their definitions to help increase your understanding of the rich theology that underlies the translation of the Missal.
Hearing the Word of God at Mass
When the Sacred Scriptures are read in the Church, God himself speaks to his people, and Christ, present in his own word, proclaims the Gospel. (GIRM, no. 29). How do we ponder and make our own the truth in the words from the General Instruction of the Roman Missal.
Liturgical Participation
The celebration of Mass is an act of the whole assembly gathered for worship. In the Mass, the Church is joined to the action of Christ. We are joined to this divine action through Baptism. The extent that we are able to participate in this way is how much the work of redemption becomes personally effective for each of us.
Liturgy and Life
At its heart, the Eucharist is a sacrament of communion, bringing us closer to God and to our brothers and sisters in the Body of Christ. If we live the fruits of the Eucharist in our daily lives, we will fill our families and our communities with the life-giving qualities that the Liturgy brings: hospitality, concern for the poor and vulnerable, self-offering, and thanksgiving.
Ministries and Roles at Mass
When the Church comes together in the liturgical assembly to celebrate the Mass, or any other sacrament, her members do not gather simply as a crowd, as an amorphous, undifferentiated group of people. They gather in a variety of ministries and roles. Participation in the liturgy is the right and duty of all the baptized.
Parts of the Mass
The Mass follows a “fundamental structure which has been preserved throughout
the centuries down to our own day” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, no. 1346). Though the Mass is one unified act of worship, it consists of many parts, each with its own purpose and meaning.
Postures and Gestures at Mass
In the celebration of Mass we raise our hearts, minds and voices to God, but we are creatures composed of body as well as spirit and so our prayer is not confined to our minds, hearts and voices, but is expressed by our bodies as well. When our bodies participate in our prayer we pray with our whole person, as the embodied spirits God created us to be, and this engagement of our entire being in prayer helps us to pray with greater attention
Praying with Body, Mind, and Voice
Using our entire being in prayer helps us to pray with greater attentiveness.
During Mass we assume different postures— standing, kneeling, sitting—and we are also invited to make a variety of gestures. These postures and gestures are not merely ceremonial. They have profound meaning and, when done with understanding, can enhance our participation in the Mass.
The Reception of Holy Communion at Mass
The Church understands the Communion Procession, in fact every procession in liturgy, as a sign of the pilgrim Church, the body of those who believe in Christ, on their way to the Heavenly Jerusalem. All our lives we who believe in Christ are moving in time toward that moment when we will be taken by death from this world and enter into the joy of the Lord in the eternal Kingdom he has prepared for us.
Scripture and the Mass
It is clear that Sacred Scripture has a revered and important place in the eucharistic Liturgy. Every Mass includes a Liturgy of the Word. The main
elements of the Liturgy of the Word are biblical readings and the singing of a psalm. The Liturgy of the Word reaches its high point in the proclamation of the Gospel.
The Worshiping Assembly
The celebration of Mass is a corporate act, an act of the whole assembly gathered for worship. The liturgy is designed to bring about in all those who make up the worshiping assembly a participation of the faithful both in body and mind, a participation burning with faithful, hope, and charity.
And With Your Spirit
While there are many and complex elements of the translation yet to be decided by the Bishops, the translation of several phrases in the Order of Mass have been previously decided by the instruction Liturgiam authenticam. Among these are “certain expressions that belong to the heritage of the whole or of a great part of the ancient Church, as well as others that have become part of the general human patrimony…” Therefore, the response Et cum spiritu tuo is “to be respected by a translation that is as literal as possible."1 Commentaries for a popular understanding of these two elements of the Liturgy are provided here and may be reproduced freely with the customary copyright acknowledgement by our readers.
One in being with the Father
In the Niceno-Constantinopolitan Creed, why has "one in being with the Father" been changed to "consubstantial with the Father?" Click here for the answer...
Pro Multis as “For Many”
Of all the changes in the translation of the Roman Missal, the translation of pro multis as “for many” may require the most significant explanation and sensitive pastoral catechesis. In 2006, when the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments announced the change, the Secretariat of Divine Worship (then the Secretariat for the Liturgy) offered Six Questions on the Translation of Pro Multis in the November 2006 Newsletter. We offer these updated questions and answers to assist in offering appropriate rationale for the change. Click here for more information...
