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Views from the Choir Loft

Liturgical Press Has An “Oops” Moment

Jeff Ostrowski · November 5, 2015

148 Composer Paul Inwood OR A NUMBER OF YEARS, Collegeville Liturgical Press has sponsored three blogs: (1) PRAYTELL; (2) ROCK & THEOLOGY; and (3) RAIDS ACROSS COLOR LINES. Their Rock blog was discontinued, but the others are still going strong. On 30 October 2015, PrayTell published an article about formal vs. dynamic equivalence. 1

The author, Paul Inwood, had begun to ponder the concept of translating from one language to another. Inwood quickly discovered what every good translator knows: we must translate ideas not individual words. For example, many languages ask (literally) “how many years have you” whereas we would ask, “How old are you?”  2

For a long time, the “progressive” camp has argued that dynamic equivalence is good and formal equivalence is bad. This silly view must be discarded. All good translations employ a mixture of both. Indeed, Liturgiam Authenticam says: “Any adaptation to the characteristics or the nature of the various vernacular languages is to be sober and discreet.”

Dynamic equivalence is not “liberal.” Formal equivalence is not “conservative.” Fr. Adrian Fortescue and Msgr. Ronald Knox—truly legendary priests—were famous for their use of dynamic equivalence, and occasionally went to great lengths avoiding cognates. (Translations by Knox can seem funky/dated because he sometimes went overboard with dynamic equivalence.)

Collegeville made a huge mistake by publishing this article.  Mr. Inwood was trying to say that dynamic equivalence does not distort the true meaning. Yet, this same Paul Inwood wrote:

Seventh-century theology, spirituality, and culture are very far from where most of the Church is now. The 1973 translation concealed this fact from us. If we had known what the prayers really said, we would not have wanted to pray them any longer. Now we are faced with that question 40 years later, and it is not any easier.

Dr. Peter Jeffery, a Benedictine Oblate of Collegeville, does not like LITURGIAM AUTHENTICAM, and is cited by Inwood. 3 However, I doubt Dr. Jeffery would be willing to question its fruits:

    * *  PDF • COMPARISON CHART A

    * *  PDF • COMPARISON CHART B

There will always be disputes about liturgical translation. One thing, however, is incontrovertible: the “grass roots revolution” against the new translation—something ardently & publicly hoped for by PrayTell over a period of years—did not occur. The fact that so many millions of Catholics in the USA, Canada, Britain, South Africa, Singapore, the Philippines, and so forth accepted this new translation was due in large part to the efforts of Msgr. Andrew Wadsworth, the wise and joyful executive director of ICEL. 4



NOTES FROM THIS ARTICLE:

1   The blog moderator, Fr. Anthony Ruff, is known for blocking most (not all) comments which advocate “conservative” views, and he’s certainly within his rights to ban opposing views. Unfortunately, PrayTell occasionally deletes entire articles—even those with numerous comments—if they are discovered to be inaccurate. For this reason, I provide a screenshot. The Collegeville blogs are listed at the bottom.

2   Mr. Inwood, however, seems not to realize that French is exceptional in this regard—especially regarding technology nomenclature—and may wish to google «Académie française».

3   I personally believe LITURGIAM AUTHENTICAM to be quite beautiful, especially passages such as: “If indeed, in the liturgical texts, words or expressions are sometimes employed which differ somewhat from usual and everyday speech, it is often enough by virtue of this very fact that the texts become truly memorable and capable of expressing heavenly realities.”

4   Needless to say, out of so many millions there will always be a few who complain.

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

Filed Under: Articles Tagged With: Dynamic Equivalence, Formal Equivalence, Liturgiam Authenticam, Liturgical Press Oops Moment, Paul Inwood, Paul Inwood Composer, PrayTell Blog Last Updated: April 27, 2021

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About Jeff Ostrowski

Jeff Ostrowski holds his B.M. in Music Theory from the University of Kansas (2004). He resides with his wife and children in Michigan. —(Read full biography).

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Corpus Christi Watershed

President’s Corner

    Luis Martínez Must Go!
    Sevilla Cathedral (entry dated 13 December 1564): The chapter orders Luis Martínez, a cathedral chaplain, to stay away from the choirbook-stand when the rest of the singers gather around it to sing polyphony—the reason being that “he throws the others out of tune.” [Excerpt from “The Life of Father Francisco Guerrero.”]
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    Urgent! • We Desperately Need Funds!
    A few days ago, the president of Corpus Christi Watershed posted this urgent appeal for funds. Please help us make sure we’re never forced to place our content behind a paywall. We feel it’s crucial that 100% of our content remains free to everyone. We’re a tiny 501(c)3 public charity, entirely dependent upon the generosity of small donors. We have no endowment and no major donors. We run no advertisements and have no savings. We beg you to consider donating $4.00 per month. Thank you!
    —Jeff Ostrowski
    “Booklet of Eucharistic Hymns” (16 pages)
    I was asked to create a booklet for my parish to use during our CORPUS CHRISTI PROCESSION on 22 June 2025. Would you be willing to look over the DRAFT BOOKLET (16 pages) I came up with? I tried to include a variety of hymns: some have a refrain; some are in major, others in minor; some are metered, others are plainsong; some are in Spanish, some are in Latin, but most are in English. Normally, we’d use the Brébeuf Hymnal—but we can’t risk having our congregation carry those heavy books all over the city to various churches.
    —Jeff Ostrowski

Quick Thoughts

    Pope Pius XII Hymnal?
    Have you ever heard of the Pope Pius XII Hymnal? It’s a real book, published in the United States in 1959. Here’s a sample page so you can verify with your own eyes it existed.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    “Hybrid” Chant Notation?
    Over the years, many have tried to ‘simplify’ plainsong notation. The O’Fallon Propers attempted to simplify the notation—but ended up making matters worse. Dr. Karl Weinmann tried to do the same in the time of Pope Saint Pius X by replacing each porrectus. You can examine a specimen from his edition and see whether you agree he complicated matters. In particular, look at what he did with éxsules fílii Hévae.
    —Corpus Christi Watershed
    Antiphons Don’t Match?
    A reader wants to know why the Entrance and Communion antiphons in certain publications deviate from what’s prescribed by the GRADUALE ROMANUM published after Vatican II. Click here to read our answer. The short answer is: the Adalbert Propers were never intended to be sung. They were intended for private Masses only (or Masses without music). The “Graduale Parvum,” published by the John Henry Newman Institute of Liturgical Music in 2023, mostly uses the Adalbert Propers—but sometimes uses the GRADUALE text: e.g. Solemnity of Saints Peter and Paul (29 June).
    —Corpus Christi Watershed

Random Quote

“The following few hints on the selection of voices may be useful: (1) Reject all boys who speak roughly, or sing coarsely; (2) Choose bright, intelligent-looking boys, provided they have a good ear; they will much more readily respond to the choirmaster’s efforts than boys who possess a voice and nothing more; therefore, (3) Reject dull, sulky, or scatter-brained boys, since it is hard to say which of the three has the most demoralizing effect on his more willing companions.”

— Sir Richard Runciman Terry (1912)

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