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Ready to hear your pastor stretch those vocal cords? When parishes start using the new Roman Missal on the First Sunday of Advent in 2011, the celebrant will likely sing more of the Mass. And you'll be saying prayers in a more formal and richer language that should reflect the original Latin.

The first new version of the Mass in 40 years has many concerned. They worry that the transition will disturb and unduly challenge Catholics who have weathered parish closings and mergers, the sex abuse scandal and a continual battering from the outside world.

Others say the missal will be accepted and have many benefits.

"People are not as worried as pastors," said Peter Zagrofos, director of campus ministry and adjunct faculty member of Our Lady of the Lake University in San Antonio, Texas, who spoke recently at a local training session on the new missal.

The event, sponsored by the U.S. bishops and held in Saratoga Springs, gathered most priests and many lay leaders of the Albany Diocese.

Similarly, Msgr. Anthony Sherman, executive director of the U.S. bishops' Secretariat of Divine Worship, told the audience that "even if you do absolutely nothing to prepare, the people will know their parts within two months."

The trainers and others compared the transition to when the Mass began to be celebrated in English after the Second Vatican Council in the 1960s switched from Latin to the vernacular or local language of Catholic churches.

That change, said Msgr. Sherman, was more drastic: "Not only did we have new prayers in a new language, but people didn't know when to sit, stand or turn around."

Indeed, retired diocesan priest Rev. James Lefebvre recalled that the first time he used the English version back then, "halfway through the Mass there was a shout, and four people walked out."

With the new missal, celebrants are encouraged to sing more of the Mass. That complements other changes that should introduce a more deliberative style to the Mass.

Some pastors worried those shifts will lengthen the service and antagonize laypeople, many of whom become impatient after liturgies hit the 45- or 50-minute mark. Others said the changes would still allow for a one-hour Mass that their parishioners were already used to.

On a lighter note, several priests said their inability to carry a tune would drive away the faithful. There is an alternative: The vocally impaired can "recite those parts in a clear, strong voice," said Msgr. Sherman.

He added: "Even if you're Pavarotti, don't inflict that on your people every week."

The 1969 version of the Mass was translated into English in 1974; the next missal versions were issued in 1975 and 1984 respectively. The coming version was completed in 2002, with few changes in the Latin.

This time, the emphasis has been on producing translations into English and other languages that convey the mystery of the Mass and the majesty of God's love.

Critics find some of the new missal stilted and archaic, but people in both camps say the transition will provide a chance to educate parishioners and reengage them in the Mass. Msgr. Sherman suggested that pastors periodically preach on specific textual changes.

For instance, a line that now reads, "And I shall be healed," will be rendered, "And my soul shall be healed." That, Msgr. Sherman explained, is closer to the original Latin and invokes a spiritual healing rather than a generic physical one.

Several participants fretted that another version of the Mass is around the corner. Not so, said the trainer, who predicted the next in 40 years.

However, liturgists and others are considering if the biblical readings contained in the lectionary used at Mass should be based on a better translation of the Bible.

Come next November, most hope that the new Roman Missal will fulfill the Church's oft-stated goal of "full, active and conscious participation of the people."

Pope Benedict XVI has pushed the new version in his hope that, in Msgr. Sherman's words, "life and liturgy are not divorced, but that the Mass informs and shapes life."

(10/28/10) [[In-content Ad]]

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