New Translations of the Ordinary of the Mass released

The USCCB has finally released a "study edition" of new translations of the Ordinary of the Mass which Rome just recently approved. I noticed it is now called the "White Book." In my personal opinion, it does a pretty good job of living up to the purity of it's name.

Order of Mass White Book (pdf format)

I just scanned through the file and am actually pretty satisfied with it. My only initial complaints are:
- the more inclusive "people" and slightly awkward feel at the beginning of the Gloria where it says "Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace to people of good will." I think "and peace on earth to men of good will" would have been better. I only say this because in the Creed they still say "for us men" so let's be consistant, OK?
-I find "and by the Holy Spirit was incarnate" a bit awkward, I would think "and by the Holy Spirit He was made incarnate" or "by the Holy Spirit He became incarnate" is less clunky.
-At the preface, I think the "We lift them up to the Lord" needs to be a bit more immediate past tense like "We have lifted them up to the Lord"
-I'm still a little disappointed at the Consecration where the "pro multis" is translated as "for many" instead of "for the many." However, the fact that it has at least been changed from "all" to "many" is a HUGE improvement. Fr. Z. has talked several times about why the "the many" is a better translation.
I'll have to do a more thorough looking at it later.

As to when this will actually go into effect and be allowed to be used at Mass, I am not sure. I have assumed that it wouldn't be officially promulgated until the entire English Roman Missal had been completed. And who knows when that will be since the bishops rejected the Proper of Seasons prayers last month.

However, I am surprised they are releasing this on the USCCB website and are calling it a page for "learning materials" for the "catechesis and eventual implementation" of the new texts. So maybe it will be sooner than I imagine.

Roman Missal Formation Materials

I honestly am curious as to how they will explain this. If they answer truthfully, they would have to say, "Back in the 1970's, ICEL was hijacked by heterodox bishops, clergy, and 'scholars.' [that should be in quotes as no real Latin scholar would claim those translations - RS] As a ploy to fix this mess, we will claim that we are translating the new 2002 Missale Romanum, even though the its Latin is practically identical to the Latin upon which the earlier 'translations' were based."

Still, the translations from ICEL have improved immensely, so I do have to give them credit. And it is a difficult job as some things do become nit-picky (although some things are crucial). I just hope they change their ridiculous copyright policies, as The New Liturgical Movement has mentioned here and here.

RS