By Mary Stadnyk | Associate Editor

It’s been nearly seven years since the English translation of the Missale Romanum (Roman Missal) – the ritual text of prayers and instruction for the celebration of Mass – was implemented in the United States.

Now a revised ritual, Misal Roman, tercera edicion, has been prepared for the country’s Spanish-speaking Catholics; it takes mandatory affect Dec. 2, the first Sunday of Advent.

“The publication of the new Misal as the approved version for the United States represents the recognition of the coming age of the Hispanic community and of the use of Spanish as a liturgical language in this country,” said Carmen Fernandez-Aguinaco, multicultural specialist with the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Secretariat for Divine Worship.  

Fernandez-Aguinaco was one of the speakers at a recent workshop in St. Robert Bellarmine Co-Cathedral, Freehold, held to help familiarize priests, deacons and lay leaders with the text revisions and translations. The workshop for Region III – which is composed of the archdioceses and dioceses of New Jersey and Pennsylvania –  was co-sponsored by the USCCB Committee on Divine Worship and the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions. The event drew about 100 participants; it was one of more than 20 being held throughout the country from May to September.

The agenda for the day included a brief history about the third edition of the Roman Missal, an overview of the Spanish translation, dates of implementation, new elements, appendices and the singing of selected chants. Resources to help parishes adapt the new translation were also made available.

“The Misal represents an historical moment for the Hispanic Catholic community,” said Fernandez-Aguinaco, who led a presentation in Spanish; Rita Thiron, executive director of the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions, presented in English. Also on hand was Father Gregory Labus, a member of the Committee of Divine Worship that developed chants for the Misal Romano. He addressed music changes in the Misal.

Fernandez-Aguinaco explained how before the new Spanish translation, the U.S. Hispanic Catholic community relied on the editions of other Spanish-speaking countries including Mexico, Colombia, Spain and Argentina, and in doing so, created a variety of ways in which the Mass was celebrated in dioceses and parishes. With the new translation, there can be unity “not only among Hispanics, but also with our English-speaking brothers and sisters as the order of the Missal and Misal are mirrored,” she said.

Fernandez-Aguinaco noted that in contrast with other Misals that are available in Spanish, the revisions include about 180 chants that have been incorporated to parallel the music that is provided in English.

She also indicated that the revised editions include Masses for all patronal feasts of the various Spanish-speaking countries of the Americas; the prayers and responses of the people are not changed from the second edition except for the Memorial Acclamation, and the prayers, collects and prefaces that are said by the priest now follow a “somewhat more formal translation.” She added that the Misal will not have the “controversies that ensued after the publication of the English Missal since the responses of the people are not affected and since adherence to the Latin original is much easier to achieve from the Spanish vocabulary and syntax.”

She went on to note that there are about 20 million Catholics in the United States who are Hispanic or of Hispanic descent and close to 5,000 parishes in the country with a Hispanic ministry. Fernandez-Aguinaco admitted that while not all of these faithful worship in Spanish, particularly if they have lived in the United States for many generations, she believes “it is safe to say that between 10 million and 15 million will be praying and worshiping with this new Misal.”

Father Labus, who is pastor of St. Joseph Parish, Edinburg, Texas, and also a board member of the Southwest Liturgical Conference, which is part of the FDLC, remarked on the significance of the new Misal in Spanish.

“As far as I know, no other Spanish-speaking episcopal conference has done the work of adapting chants of the third edition of the Roman Missal into Spanish,” he said. “It was a position statement of the Southwest Liturgical Conference a number of years ago that the new Misal in Spanish for the United States includes all the chants as does the English translation.”

In his presentation, Father Labus emphasized how the singing of the liturgy is the normative and that the chants are in the body of the Missal to “make it clear that the preference of the Church is the singing of the liturgy.” It was also stressed, that the voice is “the primary instrument of the liturgy.”