Revised Catholic Mass starts this weekend

Starting on Saturday, English-speaking Catholics will hear new words at Mass, as the Catholic church begins using a revised translation of the Roman Missal, USA Today reported. The revision of the liturgy is the most significant change in 40 years, the Palm Beach Post reported.

The new translation of the prayers and instructions for Mass features language that is closer to the original Latin than the current liturgy, the Washington Post reported. The goal is unifying the more than 1 billion Catholics worldwide with a more literal version of the Roman Missal, according to the Washington Post.

According to the Washington Post:

One example of that shift is in a line familiar to Catholics at the height of the Mass, just before Communion. “Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word and I shall be healed,” Catholics have said for decades. This weekend, those words change to, “Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof, but only say the word and my soul shall be healed.”

Catholics are divided on whether the change is a good one. Monsignor C. Eugene Morris, director of Sacred Liturgy for the Pontifical College Josephinum in Columbus, Ohio, welcomed it, explaining to USA Today, "God merits elegant language, not 'Hey, God, it's me.' " But Bishop Donald Trautman, former chairman of the U.S. bishops' liturgy committee, called the new translation "elitist” and incomprehensible to the average church-goer, USA Today reported.

The new liturgy means Catholics no longer need their old Roman Missals. However, the Palm Beach Post reported, the Catholic Church does not allow them to be simply tossed into the recycling bin. According to the church, missals should be buried in a Catholic cemetery or on the grounds of a Catholic church, or burned and their ashes buried at a Catholic cemetery or church.

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