The other night I was talking with someone about the new translation and the many things we appreciated about it and how grateful we were for its appearance.
One thing that was mentioned, which I hadn't yet thought of myself, was the restoration of feminine pronouns for the Church. As one example among many that could be adduced, the intercession for the Church in the ever-popular Eucharistic Prayer II used to say, Lord, remember your Church throughout the world; make us grow in love...but now it says, Remember, Lord, your Church, spread throughout the world, and bring her to the fullness of charity...
My friend said that he was very grateful for this change, and that he thought it would have good spiritual effects.
So what do you think? What will the restoration of the femininity of the Church in the new translation do for us and our prayer? Will it help us amid the world's widespread confusions around sex and gender, many of which have crept into the Church?
I think it's lovely, but then again, I am a HUGE fan of how much more poetic the Mass has become with the new translation.
ReplyDeleteThe whole pronoun thing really gets to me. Last night at choir practice we rehearsed the carols we'll sing on Christmas Day. As we must do every year, we ran a "lyric check" to make sure the words in this year's hymnal match last year's sheet music. I can't remember right now which carol it was, but they REALLY destroyed the poetry of the lyrics because they insisted on messing with pronouns.
There's nothing wrong with adding some beautiful language into your day. Leave the utilitarian stuff for Twitter.
I too love the new translation. I also love in the Creed, saying "I believe...", when hundreds say this together we are saying "we" in a sense, but the "I" from each person has more conviction.
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