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CHANGES IN THE ROMAN MISSAL, PART 10: The 'Gloria' Prayer
[EDITOR’S NOTE: This column is part of an ongoing series written by Father Daniel Merz highlighting many of the historical and theological bases of the upcoming publication of a revised English translation of the Roman Missal. Father Merz is the chairman of the Liturgical Commission for the Diocese of Jefferson City, Mo. — BH]
Last issue, we began to look specifically at new translations of parts of the Mass, starting with the greeting, confiteor and Form B of the penitential rite. We continue with a look at the Gloria.
My comments regarding the new translation of the Gloria are given per the “footnotes” in the “new text” section below:
Gloria
PRESENT TEXT
Glory to God in the highest,
and peace to his people on earth.
Lord God, heavenly King,
almighty God and Father,
we worship you, we give you thanks,
we praise you for your glory.
Lord Jesus Christ,
only Son of the Father,
Lord God, Lamb of God,
you take away the sin of the
world:
have mercy on us;
you are seated at the right hand of the
Father: receive our prayer.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
NEW TEXT
Glory to God in the highest,
and on earth peace to people of good will.1
We praise you, we bless you,
we adore you, we glorify you,
we give you thanks for your great glory,2
Lord God, heavenly King,
O God, almighty Father.
Lord Jesus Christ, Only Begotten Son,3
Lord God, Lamb of God,
Son of the Father,
you take away the sins of the world,
have mercy on us;
you take away the sins of the world,4
receive our prayer;
you are seated at the right hand of the
Father, have mercy on us.
For you alone are the Holy One,
you alone are the Lord,
you alone are the Most High, Jesus Christ,
with the Holy Spirit,
in the glory of God the Father. Amen.
1 — “People of good will” is a well-known phrase, moreover, a closer translation of the Latin original. Plus, theologically, the church
stresses the importance of the will, both human and divine. When a human will is ordered to the divine will, then it is a “good will,” and then, they will experience true peace.
2 — The prayer of the church actually has five verbs here (as in the new translation). The current translation only renders three of them. This was a common practice in the original translation. The Latin was believed to be too florid for contemporary English, and so many of the adjectives were simply dropped, and phrases were often combined or reduced.
3 — This is another example in the current translation of combining terms. The original prayer of the church has, as with the new translation, “Only begotten Son” and later “Son of the Father.” It is important to add the modifier “begotten” because the Father has many children both by creation and by adoption, but only one son who was begotten from before the world began.
4 — The original prayer of the church repeats this line from John the Baptist twice (cf. John 1:29: “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.”). Each time, however, it is followed by a different response: first, “have mercy on us” and then “receive our prayer.” The current translation effectively rewrites part of this prayer in accord with its own peculiar principles.
[NEXT COLUMN: We look at the Nicene Creed.]
(This article was reprinted with permission from The Catholic Missourian, the newspaper of the Diocese of Jefferson City, Mo.)
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