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Written by Msgr. David Q. Liptak
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Friday, 03 February 2012 12:55 |
Of all the "modifications" in the recently introduced English Missal, the most discussed word among laity and clergy seems to be the reference to the "dewfall" in Eucharistic Prayer II.
The irony of this situation is that "dewfall" is not simply a poetic term inserted by the recent translators. It is, in fact, the very word, correctly translated, for the authentic Latin of Pope Paul VI’s 1969 Missal; namely, rore. (The nominative is ros, used by both Caesar and Vergil.)
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Written by M. Regina Cram
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Friday, 03 February 2012 12:43 |
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 Imagine arriving at the big game of the season. Your granddaughter is a midfielder for the high school soccer team, and she’s being scouted to play in college.
You breathlessly anticipate her entry onto the field. But wait. Instead of wearing the team uniform, your granddaughter runs onto the field wearing . . . a prom dress.
Huh?
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Written by Dr. Donald DeMarco
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Friday, 03 February 2012 12:38 |
 If we can answer one simple question correctly and carry out its logical implications, we can gain an understanding of ethics that is an outline for good behavior, joy and fulfillment for all human beings. The question is this: To whom does the mother’s milk belong?
The natural evidence indicates conclusively that the mother’s milk belongs to the baby she is breastfeeding. From the standpoint of its ingredients, the milk is ideally suited to the child’s biological needs. It provides proper nourishment and strengthens the child’s immune system, protecting him or her from infection and disease. The milk is of no special benefit to the mother. Psychologically, breast feeding fosters a loving bond with the mother and helps give the child both a sense of self as well as a sense of belonging. Nature has made it abundantly clear that mother’s milk is intended for the child and to be provided by the mother.
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Written by J. F. Pisani
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Friday, 03 February 2012 12:34 |
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The fellow on the train was talking on his cell phone so loudly that the rest of us could hear, and it was a pretty unsettling conversation at 6:50 in the morning – a conversation we’ve all had at one time or another about our children or family members or close friends. It was a story about alienation and substance abuse and the inability to forgive, and it had all the elements of a first-rate tragedy.
His son was addicted to prescription drugs, and there was nothing he could do. He had tried intervention, appeals, fatherly advice, bailing him out of jail and sending him to rehab; and, for this aging father, the price had been a high one, financially and emotionally. And yet, all his efforts produced no results.
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Written by George Weigel
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Friday, 03 February 2012 12:30 |
The Hebrew Bible is not for the squeamish. And its harshest maledictions are called down upon those who practiced the abomination of child-sacrifice.
Thus the Psalmist:
"They sacrificed their sons and daughters to the demons/they poured out innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan; and the land was polluted with blood./Thus they became unclean by their acts, and played the harlot in their doings./Then the anger of the LORD was kindled against his people, and he abhorred his heritage./… they were rebellious in their purposes, and were brought low because of their iniquity" (Psalm 106:38-40, 43).
And the prophet Ezekiel, delivering the word of the Lord:
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Written by Msgr. David Q. Liptak
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Friday, 03 February 2012 12:26 |
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Q. So many questions occur to me concerning the new English Mass. Why is it that perfectly usual expressions, even in Latin, have all but disappeared? One example is the Latin phrase, Ite, Missa est, meaning, "Go, the Mass is ended." Why do I sometimes feel that familiar expressions are being taken away, more and more?
A. The familiar Latin phrase, from the close of Mass, Ite, missa est, is ironically, not easy to translate into English. Even though, almost from time immemorial, it has been rendered as, "Go, the Mass is ended," it is, in fact, all but untranslatable. Clearly it is an idiom, about which an enormous amount of commentary has developed. But the commentary itself allows for diverse theories. Its original meaning, evidently referring to the conclusion of the Eucharist, as well as a eucharistically empowering mission, is more readily understood, in my opinion, in the context of the theory that the Latin Missa (English, "Mass") was a code-word for the Eucharistic Sacrifice. However, some scholars of the liturgy are reluctant to affirm even this, arguing that Missa did not signify "Mass" until about the sixth century.
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Written by M. Regina Cram
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Tuesday, 03 January 2012 11:02 |
Part of an occasional series on living with hardship
Raymond Kolbe was born into a devout Catholic family in Poland at the end of the 19th century. His life was profoundly shaped by a childhood vision of the Blessed Mother in which she appeared holding two crowns – one white, the other red. "She asked me if I was willing to accept either of these crowns," he later explained. "The white one meant that I should persevere in purity, and the red that I should become a martyr. I said that I would accept them both." From that moment on, he knew he would be a priest and that he would die for his faith.
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Written by Msgr. David Q. Liptak
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Tuesday, 03 January 2012 10:56 |
Q. Is the tradition referring to Christ’s birth in a "manger" based on the Biblical account?
A. Yes; St. Luke’s Infancy Narrative explicitly states that the newborn Christ Child was wrapped in swaddling clothes and placed in a manger. The Greek word for "manger" used by St. Luke is φάτνη (transliterated, phatne), meaning "manger," "feeding-trough" or "stable." (Lk 2:7). The text reads, "She [Mary] wrapped him in swaddling clothes and laid him in a manger…." (NAB)
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Written by J.F. Pisani
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Tuesday, 03 January 2012 10:50 |
One of the curious characteristics of my spiritual life is that when I’m not judging others – from my family members to my friends, not to mention the occupants of the White House and Congress – I’m judging myself. And my self-judgments are just as harsh, if not harsher.
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Written by Msgr. David Q. Liptak
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Tuesday, 03 January 2012 10:41 |
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The Church in the United States has begun to use the newly translated English Missal (or, technically speaking, the new English Sacramentary, which together with the standard Lectionary, completes the unit known as the Roman Missal). Although inaugurated in America on the First Sunday of Advent, it has been in use for several weeks in at least three other English-speaking nations. By and large, the new translation has been generally well-received. In many respects, it seems, the 2011 version clearly represents an improvement over the 1973 text insofar as liturgical English is concerned.
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