Missals Recalled

I got a letter from Veritas yesterday, it seems my Missals, and many others, are being recalled for "quality control issues".   I was hoping to have the blessing of the new Missals later this week, but that will have to be put on hold.  They say that the printer hs accepted full responsibility.

The letter says that a representative will be in touch with me "over the next number of weeks" to have my copies collected and replaced.  That means I will be using my Magnificat for a while yet.  CTS produced an interim Missal - I hear from priests in England that it is awkward, but at least they have something.  Apart from the little booklets CTS and Veritas have produced, there is nothing but the cards.  I notice, as have others, when you go into Veritas the cheaper CTS new Mass booklets are hidden away behind the more expensive Veritas ones: please make note of this if you are popping in to buy one.

There are indeed quality control issues.  I was with a priest friend of mine last evening and we were talking about this.  He has gone through his new Missal with a forensic eye and has noted many, many mistakes.  The one that really drove him nuts was that a number of the musical settings of prefaces for feasts/memorias, are spread over two pages in such a way that one has to turn the page mid note, mid word.  He was demonstrating how awkward this was and actually he was right.  Things like this can be dealt with with a little planning.  Perhaps this is one problem Veritas wants to correct.  I hope so.

On the subject of the Missal, William Oddie has a lovely article in the Catholic Herald Online.  I have to share his joy.  I was visiting some sisters on Monday evening and we were discussing the new Missal, we were all enamoured with the restoration of so many quotations and references to Sacred Scripture.  How could the translators back in the 70's have left out these references?  Were these not the people who were telling Catholics at the time to read more Scripture? 

Anyway, the long track continues.  I hear priests  in the Archdiocese of Armagh have been told by the Cardinal they are only allowed to use the people's parts of the new Missal: that which is on the congregation cards.  The rest: Prefaces, Eucharistic Prayers and Proper are not allowed until the First Sunday of Advent.  That's different from the rest of the English-speaking world.  In our diocese we can go ahead and use them with the exception of the Propers, as is the case in the UK.  Ah yes, there is still a long way to go......

UPDATE:   It seems a flurry of letters have been flying out from Veritas.  After inquiries I hear numerous priests have had their Missals recalled.  Brother priests who read my blog, have you had your Missals recalled?  Also, brothers in other English speaking countries - what are your new Missals like?

CTS Missal Gorgeous

Fr Finigan has provided us with a link to a sample page from CTS's version of the corrected translation of the Missal - I have to admit I was salivating - it looks absolutely gorgeous.  Just last week I put our parish order into Veritas for three copies for the three churches in the parish - there is a special discount price if ordered before June.  I hope the Veritas edition will be just as nice otherwise I will regret submitting the order.  From experience Veritas tends not to do great publications, but I hope they rise to the occasion and in the spirit of the new translation, present us with a masterpiece. 

One commenter on the site shares my apprehension, but consoles himself by intimating he will buy the CTS version - I will probably do that myself for my own Missal, but I think our official Missals in diocesan churches will probably have to be the Veritas edition.  I also wonder if the Veritas edition will include the Latin Mass in the back as does the current translation - always good to have the basic Mass texts in the same volume.

A Missal should be a work of art, a book worthy of the Holy Mysteries for which it is used.   Our functional approach to the liturgy has meant we tend to be functional and boring in our liturgical books and use art more inclined to conceptualism than sacred realism.  Given the darkness of the times, the empty place art has deviated to and the rich tradition of faith and culture Pope Benedict has been at pains to revive in the Church, I hope beauty will be restored to our books. 

I know some liturgist somewhere will remind me of the "noble simplicity" of the Roman Rite, but I do not think Bauhaus modernism was what was meant by the ancients when they used this phrase.   As far I am concerned the above illustration is a perfect example of noble simplicity which is supposed to leave room for true beauty rather than cloak religious art and liturgy in gray and uniform ugliness.


UPDATE:  I see the self-styled Association of Catholic Priests has issued a statement following their meeting with the bishops in which they voiced their opposition to the corrected translation.  See Fr Z's (peace be upon him!) commentary on the statement - always very enlightening.  It seems all did not go well at the meeting - perhaps for the first time in their career as clerics they found they could not bully the bishops or frighten them into giving into their demands.  Congratulations to our bishops, when it comes to the implemetation of the corrected translation they have the full support of the orthodox priests of Ireland, and the young priests in particular: we are right behind you, fathers in God! 

The Association's intention to meet in Portlaoise to discuss their response sound ominious, I hope for the sake of unity they will not ferment any more dissent on this issue, we in Ireland have had enough! 

Related to this I hear Bishop John McAreavey of Dromore, who was involved in the translation process, has been giving some excellent workshops on the new Missal, and some of the accompanying explanatory books are quite good, so congratulations to the Bishop and all involved.