The flow of the Mass is not changing at all It will still take place in 4 parts:

2. The flow of the Mass is not changing at all It will still take place in 4 parts: Introductory Rites Liturgy of the Word Liturgy of the Eucharist Concluding Rites

3. I. INTRODUCTORY RITES: 1) Entrance Chant (or possibly an Antiphon for weekday Mass)

4. 2) Sign of the Cross and greeting Immediately after the Sign of the Cross, the celebrant (priest) extends one of three different liturgical greetings to the people. By far, the most common one used is: “The Lord be with you.” This will remain unchanged with the new translation.

5. However, our new response will be the first change in the Order of Mass. Instead of responding “And also with you”, we will now be saying: “And with your spirit”

6. This new response will also be made at four other times during the Mass when this dialogue of “The Lord be with you…” occurs. The second time will be during the reading of the Gospel. And at the beginning of the Eucharistic prayer. Also, during the Sign of Peace. And finally, at the conclusion of Mass.

7. Why the change? The first reason is: “And with your spirit” is the proper translation of the original Latin text: “Et cum spiritu tuo”..

8. By correctly expressing this dialogue in English, we are actually aligning our translation with that of all the other major language groups, which have long been translating the Latin properly.

9. But even beyond the linguistic reason, the recovery of the word “spirit” also carries scriptural meaning.

10. The two parts of this greeting express a desire that the Lord be present to the spirit of the entire community. Both the greeting and the reply come from the Bible.

11. “The Lord be with you” appears as a greeting or encouragement in Judges 6:12, Ruth 2:4, Chronicles 15:2 and Luke 1:28.

12. In Luke 1:28, the greeting given by the Archangel Gabriel to Mary at the Annunciation: “Hail, favored one! The Lord is with you.”

13. “And with your spirit” is inspired by passages that conclude four of the New Testament epistles: 2 Timothy 4:22, Galatians 6:18, Philippians 4:23 and Philemon 25. The dialogue establishes the interdependence of the priest and the people, as they take up their roles to praise God.

14. 3) Penitential Act: There are 3 options for the Penitential Act. The priest invites the faithful by saying: “Brethren (brothers and sisters), let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.”

15. a) The first option for the Penitential Act, Option A, and the most common one used on Sunday, is called the Confiteor. Confiteor is Latin for “I confess”, and comes from the first line of the prayer.

16. As you are know, it begins with: “I confess to almighty God and to you my brothers and sisters…” There will be a new translation of some of the words in this prayer. (Refer to your handout)

17. Remember, the guiding principle of the new translation is a closer adherence to the original words in Latin.   The new translation for this prayer has us express more grandly the seriousness of our sin and the sincerity of our contrition.

18. Most of this text remains the same as the version we presently use.  However, there are two key modifications.  The first replaces our current wording of “I have sinned through my own fault” with “I have greatly sinned.”  The new text reflects the Latin wording by incorporating the adverb “nimis,” which means “very much.”

19. The second set of changes occurs about halfway through the Confiteor, and is more significant.  The words removed from the first section (“through my own fault”) are being returned to their proper place here, but with the expression’s full content.

20. “Through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault” is a direct translation of the Latin phrase “mea culpa, mea culpa, mea maxima culpa.” As a well-known line from the old Latin Mass, “mea culpa” has even become a familiar part of our secular parlance, by which one admits having made a mistake.

21. Some might wonder, why this seemingly heavier emphasis on sin in the revised English Confiteor?  Looking beyond simple fidelity to the Latin, language that calls to mind our fallen human nature is actually very important in the Sacred Liturgy. 

22. The great Apostle of Christ, St. Paul, spoke of his complete and continual reliance on God’s grace in vivid terms well after his conversion: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners.  Of these I am the foremost” (1 Tim 1:15).

23. It is good to acknowledge our sinfulness at particular times, just as we should do at sacramental Confession.  Unlike Reconciliation, we are not sacramentally absolved of our sins at this point during the Holy Mass. 

24. Nevertheless, it is an appropriate way to “prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries,” as the Priest says at the beginning of the Penitential Act. 

25. We must strive to approach the altar of God with humble dispositions, and should receive the Most Holy Body and Blood of Christ free from grave sin, and in a worthy fashion, as St. Paul exhorts us in 1 Corinthians 11:23-29.

26. During the Confiteor, the faithful should “strike their breast” while saying, “through my fault, through my fault, through my most grievous fault.”  This prescribed “striking” is a symbolic tapping of the chest with a clenched fist over one’s heart, signifying remorse.

27. This is part of the beauty of our Catholic liturgy – sacramental words are complemented by sacramental actions.  This action also recalls the penitent tax collector in Luke, chapter 18, who “beat his breast and prayed, ‘O God, be merciful to me a sinner.’”

28. Towards the end of the Confiteor we ask for the prayers of the rest of the assembly and the Saints, led by the Blessed Virgin Mary, whose sinlessness and humility are the perfect model for our own Christian lives.

29. Then, as before, the priest says: “May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.” You respond: “Amen.”

30. The confiteor prayer still concludes with the “Lord, have mercy” ,“Christ, have mercy”, “Lord, have mercy” or the optional “Kyrie, eleison”“Christie, eleison”“Kyrie, eleison.

31. b) The second option, Option B, is one that is rarely used. (Refer to your handout) The first phrase of the new translation is from Baruch 3:2 and the second comes from Psalm 85:8.

32. Then, as before, the priest says: “May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.” You respond: “Amen.” Then it is followed by the “Lord, have mercy. Christ have mercy. Lord have Mercy.” or “Kyrie, eleison…”

33. c) The third option, Option C, has seven different formulas that may be used. The most common one used is: The priest says: “You were sent to heal the contrite of heart, Lord have mercy.”“You came to call sinners, Christ have mercy.”“You are seated at the right hand of the Father to intercede for us, Lord have mercy”.

34. Just as before, all of these verses are to be followed by the congregation responding: “Lord, have mercy” or “Kyrie, eleison.”

35. The priest concludes with the words: “May almighty God have mercy on us, forgive us our sins, and bring us to everlasting life.” No words have changed for this conclusion to the Penitential Act.

37. 4) Gloria: One of the biggest changes you’ll notice is the words of the Gloria. We will still sing it or recite it on all Sundays of the year except for those during Advent and Lent and the rare occasions when All Souls Day (November 2) falls on a Sunday.

38. Everyone will continue to recite or sing the Gloria, or the people may alternate with the choir, or the choir may sing it alone. The text of the Gloria has changed so much that composers have written new and revised existing musical settings for it. Parishes who sing it, will be learning one or more new revised versions.

39. Since the same text repeats Sunday after Sunday, we will have the opportunity to practice a new setting for many weeks until it feels comfortable. The chart shows you how the text of this hymn has changed: (Refer to your handout)

40. Much of the text of the Gloria comes from Scripture. The first lines are derived from the Angels heralding the glad tidings of Christ’s birth in Luke 2:14: “Glory to God in the highest and peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

41. These opening words “Glory to God in the highest” also correspond to the Latin “Gloria in excelsis Deo”.

42. The revised translation changed “peace to his people on earth” to “on earth peace to people of good will.” Again, the guiding principle for all translations is to let the English express more literally the sentiments of the Latin original.

43. In this case, the previous text describes to whom the people belong (“his” = “God’s”), whereas the new one describes their quality (“of good will”).

44. The new translation of the Gloria is a richer reference to the fact that the Messiah’s coming brings the world a higher order of divine peace that only the incarnate Son of God can bestow.  Those who live in accordance with God’s will and receive His grace shall experience the fullness of this peace.

45. Turning to the second sentence of the new Gloria, we notice something striking – the new translation recovers entire phrases that were left out of the current translation. 

46. Right now, we sing, “we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory.”  However, the Latin text of the hymn offers five successive ways in which we should pay homage to God: “We praise you, we bless you, we adore you, we glorify you, we give you thanks for your great glory.”

47. In a general sense, it is true that these all convey the same idea of worshiping God, however, the liturgical prayer is enhanced by poetic repetition. And these five descriptions of worship have subtle distinctions.  Together, they combine to express the extent to which it is our Christian duty to give “glory to God.” We are in awe in the presence of God and the overwhelming experience of meeting God in prayer.

48. Next change is the words “Only Begotten Son….Son of the Father” represent a slight change from the previous version of: “only Son of the Father”. The new version recovers a key phrase of the Latin text – “Fili Unigenite”. This is a venerable title of Jesus Christ, which speaks of the fact that the Son of God comes forth from the Father, yet is no less an eternal Person of the Divine Trinity.

49. Next, the new text includes two lines (rather than one) that begin with the words “you take away the sins of the world”, thereby reflecting the Latin text. The phrases appear in a different order in the new translation to imitate the order of the words in Latin.

50. By regaining this line and an additional “have mercy on us” in the next line, the new translation features a classic threefold structure of supplication: “have mercy on us… receive our prayer… have mercy on us.”  We also see this sort of structure in the Kyrie and Lamb of God.