Monday, October 8, 2007

Exsistit: translation problems

Fr. Z has an entry on the translation problems cropping up in Summorum Pontificum. I have to wonder if this is why we have had local troubles with "numbers" when it comes to providing the TLM in a parish.
Here is the entry:
Summorum Pontificum translation issue: exsistit
Some people have been saying the force of exsistit is that a group of people (leave aside the size) must have already been in a parish for a while.

The problem with this position is that exsistit is present (contemporary) tense and thus refers to right now or the future (because the document will also be read in the future).


Clarification is needed but I don't believe we can trust the USCCB to provide a literal and correct translation. All and all, it is comforting to find new devotees of the TLM in our local region.

Side note: I got teary-eyed yesterday when my youngest son knew the proper responses in Latin. Two years ago, he wouldn't sit through a Novus Ordo Mass without a sticker book or crayons(keep in mind, he is autistic so we did what we had to do). If it weren't for the grace of God and the traditional Mass, he would not have come so far. He gets such a boost when he knows he did a "good job at Mass". I cannot be thankful enough for such a gift.

2 comments:

Val said...

We have a latin mass here that I have never visited because I was afraid my daughter (5 years old) wouldn't sit through it. Your posts and your passion have made me curious enough to try, so thank you for that.

And your vaccine posts are scaring the pants off me (in a good, though-provoking way)- with a new baby on the way this subject has weighed heavily on my mind. Thanks for all that you do, and I hope you are doing well.

a thorn in the pew said...

I felt the same way you did and stayed away for the years I knew it was available. If our new parish priest hadn't been so liberal, we might have never attended. He actually did us a favor ;) The first Sunday the boys were there I could tell they were just different. I now know that we underestimate kids and their ability to sense the supernatural. Since we, as parents, spend so much time trying to entertain them, we can't imagine they would sit quiet through something in a different language that is longer than an hour. I will admit, in the beginning, my youngest son would ask how much longer but now that he has been going for almost a year, he never asks how long, etc. You truly lose track of a sense of time at this Mass. I know my kids do too because I see it in them. When we first started going, we sat toward the back. That helped us follow along and not worry about doing something wrong. I felt so much more at ease with the kids than I ever thought I would.