Just when you thought that you have been an accomplished church goer, consistently attending the mass every Sunday and on special Catholic holidays, you may find yourself in a bind this time. And if you think you have memorized everything the priest celebrant would say and what is the expected reply to a phrase, chances are some of them you may hear for the first time.
This is what many Catholics have experienced when they turned to an English mass last Sunday. Some were confused and almost everyone knew something was different from the English Liturgy. Even the priests, who knows the mass to heart, have to read some text every now and then just to say the correct words or phrases.
Indeed, some parts of the English Liturgy were changed after 40 years. The text of the most sacred rites of the Roman Catholic has been re-launched on English-speaking countries and communities. This was in accordance to the wish of the Vatican for a more spiritual and traditional tone for the mass. Luckily, pamphlets were given to parishioners to assist them on some shifts in language.
One example for such change is in the Nicene Creed, a key Catholic prayer. The previous version speaks of Jesus as “begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father.” The newer version describes him as “begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father.”
The word “consubstantial” has had some critics ridiculing about the word, but church leaders insisted that the word accurately describes the mystical link within the Trinity of Jesus and the Father.
The last time a major change on the English Liturgy and the church was made was on the 1960s with the abandonment of the centuries-old Latin Mass. And since then, some changes were made also made but were only small and not structural.