ROWING UP, I remember a song with these lyrics: “Tell me lies; tell me sweet little lies.” According to Google, the song was written by a band called FLEETWOOD MAC, founded in 1967. I didn’t realize Apple computers were so popular in the 1960s, but I guess that shows what I know! And I must admit that it’s far better to name a band after a Mac than a PC. In any event, those words came to my mind thinking about the post-conciliar LECTIONARY, which has a sad and sordid history. Apropos of this, our organization has reached the final stages of an agreement with several authors who have written a chronicle about the simony problem that arose in the United States after the Second Vatican Council.1
Little Lies • For the moment, let’s consider just one example. The 1970 LECTIONARY makes the following claim:
Notice they didn’t say “altered” or “modified” or “bowdlerized.”
But look what they printed in 1970, hoping nobody would notice:
Here is what they falsely claimed to be reprinting:
A Sneaky Trick • Do you see how they shamelessly modified the original? Do you see how they completely destroyed the rhyme scheme in a puerile effort to make the language less sacral and more casual? The whole point of a SEQUENCE is to sing it. That’s literally how it developed in the first place. Its poetic rhythm is its raison d’être—but they cared not. And don’t even get me started on how their vandalism destroyed the ‘register’ of the poem.
We’ve had 55 years of this nonsense. Enough! We must have the courage to fix such things.
1 You’ll be hearing tons more about this soon, so please stay tuned. If we don’t confront these problems—honestly and soberly—they’ll never get solved.
