... by Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J., for Homiletic & Pastoral Review:
The Voice of the Church at Prayer: Reflections on Liturgy and Language. By Uwe Michael Lang (Ignatius Press, San Francisco, 2012), 206 pp. PB $18.95.
It is well known that our current Holy Father, Benedict XVI, is
keenly interested in the liturgy, especially in the language of the
liturgy. Because of the hasty English translation of the Mass after
Vatican II, there were many errors and omissions in it, so that the
translation did not adequately convey the full meaning of the original
Latin text of the Mass. In order to remedy that defect, and after many
years of hard work, a new, more accurate translation was made. It has
become mandatory in all 
English-speaking countries, as of the first
Sunday of Advent 2011.
Father Lang’s book presents an analysis of sacred language, as found in Holy Scripture, and in the liturgy of the Church. A helpful and valuable aspect of this book is its analysis of the full meaning of the Latin text of the traditional Mass, as found in the Missal of 1962, and also in the Canon of the Mass for Eucharistic Prayer I, in the Novus Ordo Mass.
The author shows how artistically those prayers were put together, and how full they are of meaning. Almost every word of it reflects some aspect of Holy Scripture.
In the last chapter of the book, Fr. Lang contrasts the liturgical Latin of the Church, and the vernacular translation. Here, he shows clearly why a new translation had to be made to bring the English text more into conformity with the original Latin. He also argues that there should be more Latin used regularly in the worship of the Church. The Fathers at Vatican II never intended that Latin should be totally abandoned in favor of the vernacular.
The readings in the new Lectionary include much more from the Bible than was present in the traditional Latin liturgy. But there is so much in the three-year cycle that the faithful really never become very familiar with it. In the Latin liturgy, the same readings were heard on the same Sunday every year. In time, Catholics became familiar with many key texts in the Bible, especially in the New Testament. I have made this point before in HPR, and I am happy to see that Fr. Lang agrees with me. Thus, he says on p. 148: “The stable order of readings for each Sunday and feast day, which was repeated every year, meant that the faithful became more easily familiar with the biblical passages in the course of time.”
This is an important book, and is recommended for all who wish to acquire a better knowledge of the liturgy of the Church.
Fr. Kenneth Baker, S.J., Editor Emeritus
Tacoma, Washington
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