Excitement is surging

as the draft of the English translation of the Roman Missal is "leaked" first at Valle Adurni and the usual suspects The New Liturgical Movement> and What do the Prayers Really Say?.

Personally, I'd prefer having a large chunk of the Mass celebrated in Latin. Not only will this eliminate translation problems, it would encourage the celebrant to sing/chant the Mass and give it much dignity. One of my disappointments during the Easter Vigil Mass at the Cathedral last week, is the poor choice of the deacon to dismiss the faithful with a casually dictated "The Mass is ended, go in peace to love and serve the Lord. Alleluia, alleluia," which happens to a bit of a tonque twister, and most of all, a hopeless bore. I was really irked when they chose to go with that rather than the solemn and chanted "Ite missa est, alleluia, alleluia." The English dismissal simply doesn't bear the dignity and joy of a chanted dismissal in Latin. Yep, you read that right, JOY. The double alleluia at the dismissal, reserved only during the Easter season, simply doesn't fit well, musically and in other aspects, in the standard formula "The Mass is ended...", thus the deacon winds up simply saying it, hurriedly in most cases. The solemn form is not unknown in the Cathedral, and I've had my "wow!!! moments" in the past vigils when it was done. It was beautiful, and the emphasis on the long and repeated alleluia in the formula only served to emphasize the significance of the season.