Translating the Mystery of Faith

My next article on the New Translations

Appreciating the New Translations

One of the oddities in the new translation that puzzled me is right after the consecration.  Currently, the priest says, “Let us proclaim the mystery of faith.”  In the new translation, it is shortened to “the mystery of faith.”  We might think nobody says a sentence like that but at Mass we do.  When the lector finishes readings, they say “The Word of the Lord.”  The people respond ‘Thanks be to God.’  When the priest or deacon finishes the gospel, they say “The Gospel of the Lord” and the people respond ‘Praise to You Lord Jesus Christ.”  Those responses are to God’s Word having been proclaimed.  The words “The Mystery of Faith’ follow the consecration when the bread and wine are changed into the Body and Blood, with the Crucifixion and Resurrection, that is the mystery of faith.  We don’t need a complete sentence.  ‘The Mystery of Faith’ says what needs to be said.