There are several forms of the Penitential Act, but they are all introduced with the same text. In the current translation of the Roman Missal, there are three options for the introduction. They are:
1. As we prepare to celebrate the mystery of Christ’s love, let us acknowledge our failures and ask the Lord for pardon and strength.2. Coming together as God’s family, with confidence let us ask the Father’s forgiveness, for he is full of gentleness and compassion.3. My brothers and sisters, to prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries, let us call to mind our sins.
Before we turn to the new translation, let us consult the Latin text:
Fratres, agnoscámus peccáta nostra,ut apti simus ad sacra mystéria celebránda.
What we immediately notice is the lack of three options. In fact, the current Sacramentary not only lists three options, but also directs that the priest “may use these or similar words.” Thus, the door is wide open for an endless series of options.
The Latin directive reads
Deinde sequitur actus pænitentialis ad quem sacerdos fideles invitat, dicens.
The new translation of the Roman Missal translates this directive literally, “Then follows the Penitential Act, to which the priest invites the faithful, saying ...”
Thus, there is but one option in the Latin with no invitation to use “similar words.” The new translation, in its single option, is faithful to the Latin in both text and rubric.
The creation of new options in the current translation is not unique to the Introduction to the Penitential Rite. We saw the same innovation in the “Memorial Acclamation,” namely the one known as “Christ has died ...,” which has no Latin parallel and therefore has been eliminated in the new translation. The same correction has been applied in the case of this introduction. The first two options have no Latin counterparts and have therefore been removed in the new translation. The Latin text corresponds to the third option. With that, let’s drill into the text itself.
The word fratres can be translated as “brothers,” or “brethren.” It is meant to be a gender inclusive address, and therefore is often translated as, “brothers and sisters.”
The next phrase, agnoscámus peccáta nostra, is fairly straightforward. Agnoscamus means “let us realize/claim/acknowledge/discern.” Peccata is a common first-year Christian Latin vocabulary word meaning “sins.” Nostra means “our.” Thus, a literal translation of the phrase is, “Let us acknowledge our sins.”
Moving on to the next phrase, ut apti simus, the word ut means “so that” or “as.” Apti is a participle meaning “suitable,” “ready,” “apt,” or “proper.” Simus is a form of sum, the Latin irregular word for “to be.” Thus, the phrase is best rendered, “So that we may be suitable.”
Finally, the phrase ad sacra mystéria celebránda is relatively simple. Ad means “to.” Mysteria means “mysteries,” and is modified by sacra, meaning “sacred” or “holy.” Celebranda is a participle that is translated as “to celebrate.” The phrase, then, is best rendered, “to celebrate the sacred mysteries.”
Putting this all together, we get, “Brethren, let us acknowledge our sins so that we may be suitable to celebrate the sacred mysteries.” The official new translation is,
“Brethren, let us acknowledge our sins, and so prepare ourselves to celebrate the sacred mysteries.”
The only significant difference between my literal translation and the new translation is the choice of, “prepare ourselves.” The reality is that the Latin uses a subjunctive (simus), which is difficult to work with in English. “Prepare ourselves,” is a fine translation.
I will make only two brief comments regarding the current translation, which is not too far off from being correct. First, it inverts the order of the phrases, which is not tragic, but all things being equal, it is better to stay with the original Latin order. Second, the choice of “call to mind” is not entirely inappropriate, yet “acknowledge” has more of a sense of accepting personal culpability for our sins.
Another great New Translation Monday!
ReplyDeleteMind if I offer some more richness to your excellent account?
You say, "Finally, the phrase 'ad sacra mystéria celebránda' is relatively simple....best rendered, 'to celebrate the sacred mysteries'"
It may be simple to translate if you know your Latin well, but the account of this construction in Latin is anything but simple. The future passive participle (celebranda), called the gerundive, and is a type of verbal adjective. But the English "to celebrate" is an infinitive verb form, not a verbal adjective. So what gives?
Well, the gerund (not the gerundIVE, we'll get to the gerundive in a minute) in Latin is a verbal noun, not an adjective, and in all cases (except the nominative) it is always declined like a neuter *singular* noun of the second declension. And since the preposition "ad" (to, toward) takes the accusative, the form of the gerund that goes with "ad" is the singular accusative "celebrandum" (not the neuter plural adjective celebranda). In translation, the gerund is usually best handled with an "ing" noun in English, and the "ad" often conveys a sense of purpose or end, so this could be translated as "toward celebrating" (i.e., "with an eye toward celebrating" or "for the purpose of celebrating"). In English we very often use infinitives to express purpose, so "ad celebrandum" can be translated simply as "to celebrate" with a sense of purpose.
But in our phrase, it's the neuter plural verbal adjective "celebranda", not the neuter singular verbal noun "celebrandum". Why? Well, originally, in older Latin, this phrase might have been written "ad celebrandum sacra mysteria", or "for the purpose of celebrating the sacred mysteries." The neuter verbal noun celebrandum would be singular and accusative as the object of ad, as explained above, and the noun phrase "sacra mysteria" would be accusative as the object of celebrandum. But because there is such a thing as the verbal adjective (celebrandus, -a, -um) it would sound to the Roman ear like a masculine singular adjective (celebrandum) was modyfing a neuter plural noun phrase (sacra mysteria). So over time, Romans began to replace the incorrect sounding verbal noun (in this case "celebrandum") in constructions like this, with what is very close in form it, the more correct sounding adjectival form (in this case "celebranda" to go with "mysteria").
So finally we have "ad sacra mysteria celebranda", where the "sacra mysteria" ultimately becomes the object of "ad", and "celebranda", while still retaining the nominal meaning of "celebrating", changes its form from "celebrandum" to the more fitting adjective "celebranda" to modify the noun "mysteria".
I know that's a lot of nitty detail, and if you know your Latin well, none of it finally affects the translation. But you can see how a novice Latinist might be confused by the ending of "celebranda". I hope you can see that this apparently "simple" phrase has lots more to offer us than meets the eye!
Dragoo,
ReplyDeleteThat was spectacular. Thank you so much for this addition. I gave brief thought to going into the future passive participle, but decided to leave it aside, mostly for simplicity sake, but admittedly because I didn't think that I was up to the task of explaining the gerund. You, however, did it marvelously, so thank you.
Blessings,
Jake