Latin/French People's Missal Includes Propers
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    On the Fraternity of St. Peter's French website my husband discovered some time ago this state-of-the-art missal for the Usus Antiquior which includes the notation for the Sunday propers, edited by the monks at Barroux. Hopefully this is the wave of the future for Latin/vernacular missals.

    I print handouts for our EF Missa Cantata every Sunday and began including the the Gregorian notation of the Introit, the Alleluia acclamation, and the Communion antiphon about a year ago (along with the Ordinary of the Mass, of course.)

    Even though most of the people can't sing along yet with the propers, (they do sing the Ordinary very well!) I think it's extremely helpful and encouraging for them to see the music. I've had a number of people already tell me that those "square notes" and "squiggles" are beginning to make sense to them, and they can begin to see how the notes go up and down with the melodic line.

    It's like that line from the movie Field of Dreams, "build it, and they will come." I'm convinced of this: "Give the people the music, and someday they will start singing." We make a point of singing the Introit, Alleluia and Communion propers right before Mass so they will be more familiar to the people when they hear them at Mass. We also sing the Communion antiphon with verses, and I've noticed that the people are beginning to sing along, as these are usually very "singable."

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  • kevinfkevinf
    Posts: 1,199
    @JulieColl I have one of these that I got in Paris a year ago. It is absolutely wonderful and I love the translations. But I have a bias: I love the liturgy in the vernacular French. To me, it has always been much better than the English translations. I love the NO in French. But when I go to certain communities in Paris, this book is a godsend.
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  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Kevin, it's great to hear that you have this missal, and I'm going to look up the French OF now that you mention it. I've heard that the Anglican translation of the Missale Romanum is also very nice since it's in Elizabethan English.

    BTW, does this missal have all five of the Sunday propers in it?
  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Oops. I meant to clarify the above. I just realized that the Anglican translation I mentioned is actually Cranmer's translation of the Latin liturgy. I've read it before and it is quite beautiful, although the prayers of the Offertory, etc., were considerably altered, etc.

    However, it's startling to realize that even Cranmer's translation appears far more Catholic than the current Bugnini/ICEL offering. Much to ponder there.
  • ScottKChicago
    Posts: 349
    I just realized that the Anglican translation I mentioned is actually Cranmer's translation of the Latin liturgy. I've read it before and it is quite beautiful, although the prayers of the Offertory, etc., were considerably altered, etc.


    There's also the Miles Coverdale translation of the Roman Canon.
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  • Aristotle EsguerraAristotle Esguerra
    Posts: 1,186
    There is a Latin/English version of this available on (a very large) PDF as well: Mass and Vespers with Gregorian Chant. I do not think that this has been republished by anyone.

    Here's its accompanying discussion thread.
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  • JulieCollJulieColl
    Posts: 2,465
    Thank you so much, Scott K, for the Coverdale translation of the Roman Canon. I didn't know that it's now used by the Anglican Ordinariate but it's no wonder since it is lovely. How about these evocative phrases:

    "order thou our days in thy peace"
    "taking also this goodly chalice into his holy and venerable hands"
    "Vouchsafe to look upon them with a merciful and pleasant countenance;"
    "To us sinners also, thy servants, who hope in the multitude of thy mercies"

    Aristotle, many thanks for the link to the missal with Vespers and the Propers and the associated discussion. What a tremendous resource! It is stunning to think that this came out in 1957, a year before De musica sacra.

    You'd think that with such an excellent document and highly useful resources like this, an authentic reform of the liturgy would have been unstoppable and an enormous success, but, tragically, it was not to be.

    Thankfully, there are people now who are trying to pick up where Pope Pius XII left off and it is profoundly to be hoped that his vision and the ideals of the original liturgical movement may someday be realized.

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