Sep 17, 2004

Communicantes

Missale Romanum 1962

Communicates, et memoriam venerates in primis gloriosae semper Virginis Mariae, Genitricis Dei et Domini nostri Iesu Christi: sed et beati Ioseph, eiusdem Virginis Sponsi, et beatorum Apostolorum ac Martyrum tuorum, Petri et Pauli, Andreae, Iacobi, Ioannis, Thomae, Iacobi, Philippi, Bartholomei, Matthaei, Simonis et Thaddaei, Lini, Cleti, Clementis, Xysti, Cornelii, Cypriani, Laurentii, Chrysogoni, Ioannis et Pauli, Cosmae et Damianis: et omnium Sanctorum tuorum; quorum meritis, precibusque concedas, ut in omnibus protentionis tuae muniamur auxilio. Per eumdem Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.

In the unity of holy fellowship we observe the memory first of the glorious and ever virgin Mary, mother of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ; next that of blessed Joseph, Spouse of the same Virgin, and of Thy blessed apostles and martyrs, Peter and Paul, Andrew, James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon and Thaddeus; of Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian, and of all Thy saints, by whose merits and prayers grant that we may be always fortified by the help of Thy protection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.1

In communion with and honoring the memory, especially of the glorious ever Virgin Mary, Mother of God and our Lord Jesus Christ; as also of Thy blessed Apostles and Martyrs, Peter and Paul, Andrew, James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon and Thaddeus, Linus, Cletus, Clement, Xystus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian, and all Thy Saints; by whose merits and prayers grant that we may in all things be made secure by the aid of Thy protection. Through the same Christ our Lord. Amen.2

Having communion with and venerating the memory, first, of the glorious Mary, ever a virgin, mother of Jesus Christ, our God and our Lord: likewise of Thy blessed apostles and martyrs, Peter and Paul, Andrew, James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Batholomew, Matthew, Simon and Thaddeus; of Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius, Cyprian, Lawrence, Chrysogonus, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian, and of all Thy saints: for the sake of whose merits and prayers do Thou grant that in all things we may be defended by the help of Thy protection. Through the same Christ, our Lord.3

Missale Romanum 1970

Communicantes, et memoriam venerantes, in primis gloriosae semper Virginis Mariae, Genertricis Dei et Domini nostri Iesu Christi: sed et beati Ioseph, eiusdem Virginis Sponsi, et beatorum Apostolorum ac Martyrum tuorum, Petru et Pauli, Andreae, (Iacobi, Ioannis, Thomae, Iacobi, Philippi, Bartholomaei, Matthaei, Simonis et Thaddaei: Lini, Cleti, Clementis, Xysti, Cornelii, Cypriani, Laurentii, Chrysogoni, Ionnis et Pauli, Cosmae et Damiani) et omnium Sanctorum tuorum; quorum meritis precibusque concedas, ut in omnibus protectionis tuae muniamur auxilio. (Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.)

In union with the whole Church we honor Mary, the ever-virgin mother of Jesus Christ our Lord and God. We honor Joseph her husband, the apostles and martyrs Peter and Paul, Andrew, (James, John, Thomas, James, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Simon and Jude; we honor Linus, Cletus, Clement, Sixtus, Cornelius, Cyprian, John and Paul, Cosmas and Damian) and all the saints. May their merits and prayers gain us your constant help and protection. (Through Christ out Lord. Amen.)4

In this case I find the ICEL translation rather a good one, with the exception of the omission of ‘glorious’ (gloriosae) in reference to the Blessed Virgin. Other terms not translated into English but necessarily implied in the passages are those of ‘primis’ and ‘concedas’ (first, grant). That we honor Mary first of all is implied by her place as the first of whom we honor in the list of saints. That God grant us our pleas should be understood from the prayer itself for the merits and prayers of the saints to result in gaining for us the constant help and protection of God. The other differences are that those words enclosed in parenthesis may be omitted at recitation. This shortens or simplifies the list of the saints and removes the doxology (Per Christum Dominum nostrum. Amen.) In the former instance this serves to 'save time' though I can't see any obvious reason as to why the choice for exclusion was made after the name of St. Andrew. In the latter instance (omission of the doxology), I assume this is to remove the sense of format that the preceeding prayers (Te Igitur, Memento Domine, Communicantes) form one prayer instead of being a cohesive unit with all of the following prayers and as such unifying the whole Eucharistic prayer. My opinion is that this is simply stylistic nonsense, a decade of a Rosary is made up of 12 prayers (1 Our Father, 10 Hail Mary's, 1 Glory Be) each prayer is seperated from the others with the conlusion of "Amen," yet the decade consists in a single prayer of contemplation. However, these changes are fully orthodox and in no way affect the efficacy of the prayers.




1 My Sunday Missal, Confraternity of the Precious Blood, Msgr. Joseph F. Stedman, 1962

2 The Holy Sacrifice of the Mass: Dogmatically, Litugically and Ascetically Explained, Rev. Dr. Nicholas Gihr, 1877 1st edition, 1897 6th edition, translated from German ©1902, printed 1924, page 587.

3 The New Roman Missal, Fr. Lassance, 1993 reproduction of the 1945 edition, page 778.

4 St. Joseph's Sunday Missal, 2003.

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