Last I heard, from the Secretary of ICEL, a preliminary translation has been done, but that's about it. Apparently, they're going to leave it up to the Bishops' Conferences to decide which rituals take precedence and must be released first.
Just wondering what mass you all do for funerals. Our former pastor always wore white and said the Mass of Resurrection, but the new pastor is now wearing purple and saying the Requiem Mass. It's causing a lot of stirring in the parish and I was wondering what the rest of you are doing. Thanks.
There's no such thing as a Mass of Resurrection. That's simply a funeral (or requiem Mass) with an inappropriate title and emphasis.
For the record, my bishop usually uses purple/black, while most priests in the area use white (but some may begin using purple, following the bishop's lead).
Welll, thanks, Ben. That's news to me because our former pastor always referred to the funeral mass as The Mass of Resurrection and wore white. When the new pastor came in and changed the colors to purple and told everyone it was a Requiem, it caused a big stink in the community. Thanks again for the designation for both. This forum is great!
I think if I were a priest assigned to a church who has always referred to the Funeral Mass as Mass of the Resurrection, I would begin calling it Mass for the Dead. Using the word Requiem might cause a reaction that Mass for the Dead won't. Then, once people get used to seeing purple or black vestments and hearing the Requiem propers, in a few years, you can just replace Mass for the Dead with Requiem.
Except that Mass for The Dead is really more apt for the votive Mass from the Commons, which is a general liturgy for the dead, not quite the same thing as funeral Mass for a specific individual (even with an individual intention). I wouldn't do that.
I'm convinced that the greatest problem my parish faces is in lack of catechesis from former pastors who were more interested in "keeping the peace" than in providing proper Catholic liturgy. It's been a rough road since the new pastor came aboard, but I will say I'm thrilled and many people are beginning to come around (although it's been a slow process).
The Missal simply calls them "Masses for the Dead" and "Funeral Mass". "Requiem Mass" was a nickname that came from the first words of the introit (much like Gaudete Sunday, Laetare Sunday and Quasi modo Sunday)...and Mass of the Resurrection someone just made up, I'd venture to guess, to make people feel better. Every Missal in use today, including the Extraordinary Form, refer to these Masses as "Missa pro defunctis" and in the rubrics call them Funeral Masses. We can call them what we want in passing conversation, but I would think we would stick to what the missal calls them when speaking of them formally.
Revisiting this. While the new Missal contains revised translations for the Propers and prayers, it does not include the other ritual chants (song of farewell, etc.). Any further news on updated translations, or do we still go with the old?
I have not seen anything for the specific rites of the funeral except the proper Collects/Prayers over the Offerings/Prayers after Communion and Entrance and Communion antiphons as provided in the Roman Missal for the funeral Mass. My understanding is that if a prayer has a new translation found in the Missal (i.e. the "regular" prayers named above) one is to use those at their respective times; for things such as the final commendation and rite of committal, we're still stuck with old version for the foreseeable future. Right now the emphasis has been on working on the revised translations of the Rite of Marriage, or "Order for Celebrating Matrimony" as it will be called.
An evil thought pops into my head, as they frequently do. I wonder if the new Rite of Marriage will say, "What God has joined together, let not man put asunder - until the annulment." I know, wicked Charles... LOL
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