A tradition of change

A missal in Swahili

The Mass has changed many times since year 33

When the third edition of the English-language version of the Roman Missal is implemented on the First Sunday of Advent, it will only be the latest of changes that began in the earliest days of the Church, a CNS story reports.

The changes were called for in Liturgiam Authenticam (The Authentic Liturgy), the document on liturgical translations from the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Sacraments in 2001.

"It's not the changing that's abnormal. It's not changing that's abnormal," said Jesuit Father John Baldovin, professor of historical and liturgical theology at Boston College, who explores the history of the missal and the new English translation in a video series on the National Jesuit News website.

The format for the Mass has evolved over 2,000 years, from Aramaic to Greek to Latin to vernacular language after the Second Vatican Council, in an effort to help worshippers appreciate the mystery that is God.