US Bishops Rewrite Catholic Mass

Language loftier, less prosaic
By Peter Fearon,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 12, 2008 7:10 AM CDT
US Bishops Rewrite Catholic Mass
US Cardinals with Pope Benedict XVI during the Papal Mass at Washington Nationals Park in Washington DC. A new English translation of the Mass has been agreed by US Bishops.    (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)

For the first time in almost five decades, the US Conference of Catholic Bishops has changed the wording of the Catholic Mass for both priests and congregations. The Mass liturgy, often criticiized as being too conversational to be reverent, is being rewritten to sound loftier, reports National Public Radio. 

One example of the change: when a priest blesses bread and wine for Communion he now says: "Let Your Spirit come upon these gifts, to make them holy." In the new liturgy the priest will say: "Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down Your Spirit upon them like the dewfall." The changes won't take affect for a few years.
  (More Catholic Church stories.)

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