Wednesday, February 27, 2008

Ironic Monument Placement...


This plaque is in the Sacristy of St Peter's Basilica.
Due to his interference in Church affairs, Emperor Joseph II was known as the Sacristan-Emperor or the Sacristan of Europe (depending on what language you speak).

On veils and things
Out of curiosity, if any of my readers has an American (Novus Ordo) breviary to hand, I wouldn't mind finding out how the responsorial after the reading from the Book of Exodus in the Office of Readings is translated. The British/Irish/American goes as follows:

Moses put a veil over his face, so that the people of Israel would not see its brightness; all of us, however, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord who is the Spirit, transforms us into his very likeness, in an ever greater degree of glory.
To this very day their minds are covered with the same veil; all of us, however, reflect the glory of the Lord with uncovered faces; and that same glory, coming from the Lord who is the Spirit, transforms us into his very likeness, in an ever greater degree of glory.
Given the recent fuss over certain liturgical prayers, I'm curious as to whether the American translation is significantly different.

For the sake of my blood pressure, please... no discussions in the comment boxes about Judaism, the Pope, changes to the Missal, etc... I'd just like to see the American translation, and I'm too busy to moderate a debate on any touchy issues.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Moses veiled his face to hide it from the people of Israel.--But we reflect the glory of the Lord with unnveiled faces and grow ever more radiant as we are transformed into his likeness by the Lord who is Spirit. To this day that same veil lies over their minds.--But we reflect ...

Kraft said...

For the sake of confirmation, I concur with anonymous.

Zadok the Roman said...

Hmmmm... it's interesting how the American translation avoids the passive voice when talking about the veil. I don't mean to imply a theological significance to that... rather it seems that American prose seems more averse to using the passive voice.

Tom said...

...it seems that American prose seems more averse to using the passive voice.

Absolutely. See e.g. William Strunk's The Elements of Style, a landmark in American writing guides, which includes the explicit rule, "Use the active voice. The active voice is usually more direct and vigorous than the passive."

Can't get much more American than direct and vigorous.

DominiSumus said...

Yes, every writing teacher I have ever had stated emphatically that the passive voice should be avoided.