18 December 2019
More Questions about German Mistranslations of the Liturgy of the Hours
Newer UPDATE on the question of German versions of the Liturgy of the hours mistranslating the Editiones Typicae ... at the Office of Readings for "Die 12 ianuarii vel sabbato post dominicam Epiphaniae" there is a passage from Faustus Regiensis in which the penultimate and antepenultimate paragraphs are an elegant exposition of Supersessionism: The Torah gives way, Grace takes its place; the Shadow is taken away, Truth demonstrated ... etcetera.
I would be interested to know if the German version includes this sermon by this Saint; and, if so, whether it includes these paragraphs. And whether they are bowdlerised in translation.
Apparently, one of the English versions translates Evangelium as Message. Seems odd to me. I wonder what the date of that translation is.
More interestingly still, a reader tells us that that the German translation talks about us receiving etc, rather than the People of the Promise doing so. NOW ... WHAT is the date of THAT version? And I wonder what the German version does with the prayer for the Conversion of the Jews in the Vespers of Easter Sunday?
I wonder what the other major languages do here.
"The Mater Misericordiae teaches the Church that the forgiveness granted on Golgotha knows no limits. Neither the Torah* with its quibbles, nor the Sophia tou Kosmou* with its distinctions, can hold it back. The Church's forgiveness must be every bit as broad as that offered by Jesus on the Cross and Mary at his feet". (Pope Francis on January 1. My italics.)
Frankly, I do not entirely agree with the Holy Father's rather unkind words about the Jewish Torah. It is, as I understand it, not an obsession with minutiae by which a human hopes to 'earn' Justification (this was the old anti-Judaic and mistaken Lutheran analysis), but an identity marker of those who desire to remain in fidelity to their Covenant with a Merciful God. Moreover, as a Catholic I love the Torah because, for us, our Redeemer is himself Torah Incarnate. But I do most warmly welcome the Pope's evident belief that the Sacrifice on Golgotha has superseded the written decrees which are now nailed to the Cross like the loot nailed to a Roman military tropaeum (Colossians 2: 14) ... and I particularly like his phrase "knows no limits", together with his clear implication that the breadth of the Mercy offered by the Church must not exclude any category, least of all the people of Jewry. One in the eye for Marx and Co! They need as many in their eyes as they can get!
Talking about Cardinal Marx and his English disciples and their impertinent requests that a particular Prayer, composed by Pope Benedict for the Extraordinary Form, should be "reviewed" by a subdepartment in a Roman Dicastery, I wonder ... er ... do you think these bishops fulfill the Divine Office in the post-Conciliar form of the Liturgy of the Hours? ... if so, what did they make of the Prayer for the Conversion of the Jews at Lauds on January 2: "We beseech thee that thy Gospel, O Christ, ... may be received by the People of the Promise"? [Die 2 ianuarii , ad Laudes matutinas, Preces, the second versicle and its Response, beginning in Latin Christe, quem, ab angelis glorificatum ... etc..] Did they cross their fingers behind their backs and diplomatically hiccup as their Chaplains said those words, or, perhaps, did they make the sign to avert the Evil Eye?
I simply cannot help coming to the reluctant conclusion that these bishops are behaving with quite a degree of hypocrisy; perhaps trying again to hurt the already wounded Traddy community; or to stir up trouble against a potential regularisation of the SSPX; or, possibly, just simply to trash the legacy of a Pope Benedict whom they never liked. Otherwise, why have they never asked the CDW to "review" so many such passages in the post-Conciliar Office? Or, if they have, when did they do it? Is their request on record? If there is any sincerity in their request for a "review" of the Extraordinary Form, why do they not strengthen their case by saying "We have already sought a substantial revision of equally objectionable passages in the Liturgy of the Hours and in the selected Biblical pericopae in the Eucharistic Lectionary?"
I have written before about the manifest evidences that the Liturgia Horarum was produced before the currently fashionable heterodox attitude to Judaism was invented in the years around 1980. I add to my previous lists the end of the Patristic Reading on December 31, from S Leo the (very much more) Great (than any modern German or British Cardinal or Bishop): "The birthday of the Lord is the Birthday of Peace: for thus speaks the Apostle: He is our peace, He who made the Two One; since, whether we are Jew or Gentile, through Him we have access in the one Spirit to the Father." (The 'Apostle', of course, whose words are represented in italic, is S Paul in Ephesians*.)
*** the (Jewish) Law, "la legge con il suoi cavilli"; the Wisdom (Zeitgeist) of the World, "la Sapienza di questo mundo"; I intend a post some time on the authorship of Ephesians.
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Protasius, I have found the prayer in an Android app called Catholic Calendar. It says:
Christe, quem, ab angelis glorificatum et a pastoribus annuntiatum, Simeon et Anna confessi sunt et praedicaverunt, te rogamus, ut Evangelium tuum a populo promissionis recipiatur.
The English says: Simeon and Anna proclaimed you as the Saviour; grant that the Jewish people may accept your message so long foretold.
Protasius, I have it in my Universalis translation, in the Prayers and Intercessions for Lauds, January 2:
Simeon and Anna proclaimed you as the Saviour;
grant that the Jewish people may accept your message so long foretold.
In addition, in today's Office of Readings (Epiphany Sunday), this from Pope St Leo the Great:
Let the children of the promise now receive the blessing in the seed of Abraham, the blessing renounced by the children of his flesh.
Father is correct: the post-conciliar Liturgy of the Hours has so far remained strangely immune to the rampant false ecumenism of the current age.
Protasius,
you can find the Latin version e.g. in the LOTH texts provided by almudi.org.
The German version, in its usual style of contorting what the Latin preces want to say, keeps the reference to Simeon and Anna, but asks that "we" may accept the Gospel (gib, dass wir deine Frohe Botschaft annehmen). I feel like there is a joke about the German bishops hidden there.
Well it is certainly there in 'Universalis'.
This weekend is complicated
http://dariasockey.blogspot.com/2016/01/confusing-pre-epiphany-office.html
Universalis has these petitions. the third is the one in question:
"Prayers and intercessions
Let us offer our prayer to Christ, God made man, the new Adam, who has become for us the source of new life.
– Lord, have mercy.
Christ, Sun of Justice, you revealed your glory among us;
may we live through your light with God.
– Lord, have mercy.
Simeon and Anna proclaimed you as the Saviour;
grant that the Jewish people may accept your message so long foretold.
– Lord, have mercy.
At your birth the angels proclaimed glory in heaven and peace on earth;
fill our world with the spirit of your peace.
– Lord, have mercy.
You became the second Adam, renewing all our human ways;
bring hope to those who live under the oppression of sin.
– Lord, have mercy."
The breviary prayer in full (Lauds 2nd Jan) is to be found online here:
http://www.almudi.org/Portals/0/docs/Breviario/fuentes/breviario.asp?tiempo=1
"Christe, quem, ab ángelis glorificátum et a pastóribus annuntiátum, Símeon et Anna conféssi sunt et prædicavérunt, te rogámus, ut Evangélium tuum a pópulo promissiónis recipiátur."
In English here: http://www.universalis.com/20160102/lauds.htm
"...Simeon and Anna proclaimed you as the Saviour; grant that the Jewish people may accept your message so long foretold."
Such prayers are ubiquitous in the Roman and Orthodox traditions. Naturally so, as they are based on a clear reading of the New Testament.
St Peter: "Be it known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that in the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, Whom you crucified, Whom God has raised from the dead, even in this Name does he stand here before you, sound. This is ‘The stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.’ Neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved." (Acts 4: 10-12)
St Paul: "That in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth: And that every tongue should confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father." (Philippians 2: 10-11)
Every knee. Every tongue. Interesting that St Paul makes this obligation explicitly universal, allowing no exemptions or exceptions, almost as if he foresaw that some of the more 'stiff-necked' might try to slide out of the obligations of recognizing and worshipping the Son of God. (He couldn't foresee our own pastors wanting to egg them on, of course.)
"Every knee shall bow" - and waiting for the Last Day to come along before being forced to do so is a diabolically high-risk strategy, as is any pseudo-ecumenical pastoral conniving at such procrastination, such a wilful encouragement to "bury the talents" of an entire people.
The Spanish reads:
Oh Christo, que fuiste glorificado por los ángeles, anunciando a los pastores y proclamado por Simeón y Ana,
-- haz que el pueblo heredero de las promesas reciba tu Evangelio.
The American Liturgy of the Hours reads:
Christ, you were glorified by the angels, announced by the shepherds, confessed and proclaimed by Simeon and Anna,
-- let your Gospel be accepted by the people of the promise.
The German version of this prayer is indeed as follows:
"Christus, von den Engeln besungen, von den Hirten kundgemacht, von Simeon und Anna gepriesen;
- gib, dass wir deine Frohe Botschaft annehmen."
My translation: " O Christ, who was sung of (about) by the angels, made known by the shepherds, praised by Simeon and Anna;
- give, that WE may accept your Good News (Gospel)."
I took this from the German translation of the Divine Office, which was published for all German speaking Dioceses and under the authority of the German Bishops Conference (for old W. Germany), Berlin Bishops Conference (for old E. Germany), Bishop of Metz (for German speaking areas of France), Swiss Bishops Conference, Austrian Bishops Conference, Bishop of Brixen (for German speaking areas of Italy), Bishop of Lüttich (for German speaking Belgium) and the Archbishop of Luxemburg - for Luxemburg.
So, as you can see there is no mention of the Jewish people at all. Of course, one could interpret the word WE to mean all of Human kind? But somehow, knowing the German Bishops I think it was more a case of just wanting to avoid any mention of the Jews at all. They are still a hot topic over here.
Hope this helps? Father Raphael
Thank you, Frater Raphael.
I wonder if you happened to notice the date of this German translation? It is of considerable interest when this corruption first manifested itself in so dramatic a way.
The German translation was approved and first published in 1978. As far as I know, there have been no changes in subsequent editions except updates to the sanctorale.
If you are interested, I can look up what the "study translation" of the LOTH says, which was published 1972 (if memory serves) and which was approved for fulfilling the obligation of saying the office.
By the way, the prayer at vespers of Easter you mention also has no German equivalent. On the other hand, the whole set of preces there has quite different intentions. This is not unusual, the preces on most days are vague paraphrases at best (not objectionable prayers, of course, they just differ from the original).
Father Hunwicke, you asked:
"Apparently, one of the English versions translates Evangelium as Message. Seems odd to me. I wonder what the date of that translation is."
The version in question is the British/Irish/Australian Divine Office, which dates from 1974. It bears the Imprimatur of Archbishop Dermot Ryan of Dublin, dated 18/12/73.
You also asked:
"And I wonder what the German version does with the prayer for the Conversion of the Jews in the Vespers of Easter Sunday?
I wonder what the other major languages do here."
The Divine Office renders this as:
Let Israel recognize in you the Messiah it has longed for; -fill all men with the knowledge of your glory.
The reading from 12 January is intact in the German translation. Everything is translated, and everything correctly as well, as far as I can recognize. The stuff about how "the Torah gives way, Grace takes its place; the Shadow is taken away, Truth demonstrated" is all there.
(As an interesting 'patrimonial' sidenote, as the German LOTH has implemented the 2-year cycle, this reading has to be searched for in cycle I. Cycle II has a text from Newman's "Meditations and Prayers" on that day).
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