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Views from the Choir Loft

Roman Missal 3.0 — Installment no. 2

Fr. David Friel · February 6, 2012

I began this five-part series a few days ago to convey several “highlights” concerning the new English translation of the Roman Missal, third edition. The second highlight I will offer concerns the beauty of repetition.

We encounter repetitive phraseology at several points in the ordinary of the new translation. For example, in the Roman Canon, we now pray:

“This pure victim, this holy victim, this spotless victim”

And, in the Confiteor, we pray:

“Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault”

And, in the Gloria, we sing:

“We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory”

The most obvious and basic reason for changing to these new texts is because they reflect accurately what the Latin original actually says. But there are better reasons even than that. If we look just at the Gloria text, in a general sense, each of these phrases conveys the same idea of worshipping God. But, if we look closely, these five descriptions of worship actually do hold subtle distinctions. To adore does not mean exactly the same thing as to glorify or to bless, or else these words would not all exist. Together, each of these near-synonyms combine to express the full extent to which it is our Christian duty to glorify to God.

Liturgical prayer, moreover, is enhanced by poetic repetition. This kind of repetition is not dry or banal or purposeless. Instead, it is beautiful, artistic, and poetic. Liturgy is supposed to be beautiful, and God certainly deserves the gift of our artistry & poetry. Just as the sacred liturgy has inspired a multiplicity and abundance of beauty in the various arts (music, painting, architecture, etc.), so it has inspired a wealth and diversity in our phraseology of prayer.

As the Psalmist declares: “All Your creatures shall thank You, O Lord, and Your friends shall repeat their blessing” (Psalm 145:10).

Opinions by blog authors do not necessarily represent the views of Corpus Christi Watershed.

Filed Under: Articles Last Updated: January 1, 2020

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About Fr. David Friel

Ordained in 2011, Father Friel served as Parochial Vicar at Saint Anselm Church in Northeast Philly before earning a doctorate in liturgical theology at The Catholic University of America. He presently serves as Vocation Director for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and teaches liturgy at St. Charles Borromeo Seminary.—(Read full biography).

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Quick Thoughts

    Vespers Booklet (4th Sunday of Lent)
    The organ accompaniment booklet (24 pages) which I created for the 4th Sunday of Lent (“Lætare Sunday”) may now be downloaded, for those who desire such a thing.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Vespers Booklet, 3rd Sunday of Lent
    The organ accompaniment I created for the 3rd Sunday of Lent (“Extraordinary Form”) may now be downloaded, if anyone is interested in this.
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Weeping For Joy! (We Hope!)
    Listening to this Easter Alleluia—an SATB arrangement I made twenty years ago based on the work of Monsignor Jules Van Nuffel—one of our readers left this comment: “I get tears in my eyes each time I sing to this hymn.” I hope this person is weeping for joy!
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Random Quote

It was thought important that the song should actually accompany the distribution of Communion. A Carolingian explanation of the Mass remarks that during the Communion “soft melody should touch the ear [of the faithful] so that hearing this sound they would busy themselves less with distracting thoughts and … their hearts would be moved to humble love for that which they receive.”

— Father Josef Andreas Jungmann

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