The Bishop of Down and Connor has set out the diocese's plan for the
introduction of the new missal this autumn in a pastoral letter issued
on Sunday.
According to Bishop Noel Treanor, the preparation for the new
translation of the missal will be set out in two stages over the coming
months.
The first stage, from May until September, will undertake a more
general catechesis on the Mass, which he said will help ''us to deepen
our understanding of the Mass and give some 'liturgical pointers' to its
celebration in a way that expresses, nourishes and develops our
faith''.
There will be a monthly flyer available in all churches with some reflections on praying the Mass.
The second stage will run for eight Sundays, beginning September 11, and again a flyer will be provided for each Sunday.
Bishop Treanor said this ''will introduce the major textual changes
in the congregational prayers'' and ''will explain and deepen our
understanding of what the prayers mean''.
Each Sunday at Mass, the
priests will point out these changes and flag up the message of the
flyer.
The two-stage preparations were the suggestion of a committee of lay
people and priests appointed by the bishop to help in the task of
preparing for and implementing the new translations.
Committee
The committee will prepare resources for parishes and schools to
explain many of the new translations and outline which of the prayers of
the Mass will change.
Bishop Treanor said the introduction of the new translation is ''not
just about changing words in the liturgy'' but is ''an attempt to
re-capture the spiritual nature of the liturgy''.
He noted that not
everyone will be happy with these new translations and that
''realistically there may be phrases in the text that sound strange, at
first, to our ears''.
However, he said it is important that they are translated faithfully
and ''the new translations are a more 'faith-full' translation of the
prayers''.