The prayers at Mass in these days of the Easter Season are almost impossible to
read and understand.
Archaic words, bad syntax, poor sentence structure.
The Opening Prayer, now called Collect, in Sunday's Mass had 60 words in a sentence.
It is shocking but to be expected.
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1 comment:
Michael, I agree that the new translations like the one you have mentioned are rather unwieldy. However, if the person who is going to read them aloud prepares well and intelligently beforehand, he will be able to communicate the meaning quite easily.
The basic meaning of the collect you mentioned is this:
*O God,
*increase the grace you have given us
*so we can understand the Baptism we have received.
The prayer follows the usual structure of a collect which can be described in several ways, such as the following:
1. Address God (Invocation)
2. Recall what he has done for us (Anamnesis)
3. Ask for something (Petition) which is connected with what has just been recalled
4. Consequences of what is asked for
5. The usual conclusion follows (Through Our Lord...)
Here is the prayer again divided into the various sections:
1. INVOCATION WITH ATTRIBUTE: God of everlasting mercy,
2. Anamnesis: who in the very recurrence of the paschal feast kindle the faith of the people you have made your own,
PETITION: increase, we pray, the grace you have bestowed,
RESULT(s):
that all may grasp and rightly understand
1.in what font they have been washed,
2.by whose Spirit they have been reborn,
3.by whose Blood they have been redeemed.
If the priest-celebrant reads the prayer intelligently having prepared it, perhaps having marked the Missal, then the prayer won't be heard by people as a very long jumble of words and ideas. Traditionally, such words were chanted in such a way as to express the meaning of the prayer and for people to easily hear the main thoughts. If you like, I'll analyse other collects for you to help communicate the meaning.
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