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The Roman Missal (or "Missale Romanum") is the universal name for the liturgical book used by the priest to celebrate Mass. In the United States, it is called the Sacramentary.

The liturgies of the Church were significantly revised after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s. This effort was put into motion by the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, a document that became Church law after votes by all the bishops in the world. It was published under the authority of Pope Paul VI in 1963.

The revised Missal was finalized by 1975. However, through the experience of celebrating the liturgy, changes or the awareness of the need for correctives continued to take place.

Subsequent communications provided guidance, for example, on the practices of eucharistic ministers, the prominence and use of the Book of the Gospels and the role of the deacon at liturgy. A new Code of Canon Law with tenets referring to liturgical practice also went into effect.

In the 1990s, the Vatican Office of Divine Liturgy and the Discipline of the Sacraments, bishops and Pope John Paul II began to talk about updating the Missal to include the newer details.

At the same time, the International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) had begun to review the 1975 translation of the Missal from Latin into English. ICEL prepared a revised translation that was submitted to Rome for approval in 1993.

However, by this time, Pope John Paul II was setting the stage to celebrate the Jubilee Year 2000. As part of the preparation, he called for the much-discussed revision of the Roman Missal.

The English translation of this Third Edition of the Roman Missal was received for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops by Cardinal Francis George in August; its implementation will begin the first Sunday of Advent in 2011.

The revised Missal will introduce no changes in the structural format of the Mass, as was done with the Missal put into use immediately following the Second Vatican Council. Hopefully, whatever clarifications were previously made have been implemented over the last eight years.

What people will notice in the new edition of the Missal are the changes in the words of some of the responses of the people and prayers of the priest. These changes are the result of improved linguistic scholarship, which provided a better understanding of ancient texts that are the basis of contemporary prayers.

The changes are also a consequence of greater attention to how the Mass is translated from Latin into English. Recent legislation from Rome has required that English translations adhere more literally to the Latin original than had previously been required.

Also, in many parts of the world where Latin scholarship is less developed - Africa and Asia, for instance - translators often turn to the English editions of liturgical texts to prepare their vernacular edition.

Finally, it's important to remember that the Third Edition of the Roman Missal is a next step in an ongoing reform of the liturgy. As the Church begins to use and understand this new edition of the Roman Missal, we will be aware of differences - but we should also acknowledge how it continues to fulfill the principles set forth in the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy:

• The celebration of the liturgy is Christ-centered and

• requires the ministry of a bishop or his priest;

• the active participation of the people is paramount; and

• the Eucharist is the source and summit of our life together.

The liturgy, like the Church, is an organic entity and, like its Creator, "ever changing, ever new" - for it is the work of the Body of Christ.

(Elizabeth Simcoe directs the diocesan Office of Prayer and Worship and is chancellor for pastoral services.)

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