Priests around the archdiocese have been poring over liturgical scripts and rehearsing speaking parts in anticipation of the Nov. 27 debut of the new Roman Missal, which will usher in the most significant changes to the Mass in more than 40 years.
Don’t be too concerned if you and your children stumble over the words of the Mass beginning Nov. 26-27, the first weekend of Advent. Your presider may stumble a little, too.
This question-and-answer column is the next in a series about the new Roman Missal, which will be used in the United States beginning Nov. 27, the first Sunday of Advent.
We conclude our meditations on the revised Roman Canon by focusing on three sections of the newly translated prayer — the Mystery of Faith, the invocation and memorial of the saints, and that part of the prayer which we call the “final doxology.”
“Take this, all of you, and eat of it, for this is my Body, which will be given up for you. . . . Take this, all of you, and drink from it, for this is the chalice of my Blood, the Blood of the new and eternal covenant, which will be poured out for you and for many for the forgiveness of sins. Do this in memory of me.”
One of the truly great fruits of the Latin rite church is the Roman Canon, a prayer that finds much of its origin in ancient Christian Rome. It’s a beautiful and moving prayer, strange and yet familiar.