On the First Sunday of Advent this year, a new translation of the Lectionary will be brought into use in England, Wales and Scotland, and the change has been approved by the Holy See. The Lectionary is the book containing the readings from the Bible which are read daily at Mass. Since 1981 we have being using the Jerusalem Bible translation, but from the First Sunday of Advent, which this year falls on 1st December, we will be using the English Standard Version – Catholic Edition (ESV) for the First and Second Reading and the Gospel, and for the Psalms we will be using the Abbey Psalter. The content of the Readings and Psalms will remain the same – it is only the translation that will be changing, but it has also been revised to include new feasts and saints days. This work will bring to completion the process of revising the translations used for the Mass. You may remember a new translation of the Roman Missal came into use in 2011. 

The changes are intended to make the Biblical translations more faithful to the original languages, and the ESV has been judged to be well-suited for proclamation. Remember, we don’t read the readings – we proclaim them! The new Lectionary will also be printed in ‘sense lines’ to make it easier to proclaim and to convey the meaning intended by the prophet, the apostle or Our Lord Himself.

People’s Missals will be available from October this year. The Catholic Truth Society (CTS) are publishing a hardback Sunday missal which will cost £19.95 and also a Daily Missal which will contain both the Sunday and weekday Masses, price still to be announced. No doubt other publishers will do the same. If there is interest in purchasing missals, you will be able to order them through the Repository, but we will continue to have the Sunday Mass sheets, which from Advent will have the revised translation. 

The Ambo edition intended for use on the sanctuary is also being published by the CTS and will be “exquisitely bound in padded leather, and adorned with gold blocking, gilded edges and multiple ribbon markers.” Why such extravagance? Because it is the Word of God, and it is being used in the Sacred Liturgy, and therefore it should be different from other books. Every effort must be made to stress its importance. The book for proclaiming the Gospel has traditionally had covers made of silver or gold or ivory or beautifully decorated leather. The new Lectionary consists of four volumes which will cost the parish a total of £620. I got a reduction by pre-ordering them before the end of June, the full price being £695. Each volume comes with a rigid clothbound slipcase for protection. There are also dedication sheets, so if anyone would like to sponsor a Lectionary and help cover the cost, please let me know or send an email to the parish office, and your name will be inserted inside one of the front covers. 

Fr Paul Gillham, IC