“One” God no more

A few weeks ago Paul Inwood reported on the change of the collect conclusion in England & Wales. The December/January edition of Intercom the Irish Bishop’s semi-official “pastoral and liturgical resource magazine” contains this official notification that Ireland is also dropping the word “one” from the collects in the Missal. However, the missals that are already been printed and are in use, don’t have to be physically altered, but priests are simply invited to omit the word as they pray the Collect.

Revision of the Collect prayer in the Roman Missal

Having considered correspondence from the Congregation for Divine Worship, which was addressed to the Bishops’ Conferences of all English-speaking countries, the Irish Episcopal Conference, at its meeting on 6-7 October 2020, hasdecided to adjust the wording of the Collects (opening prayers) in the Roman Missal. From the First Sunday of Advent,29 November 2020, the word ‘one’ should be omitted from the end of the prayer. Instead of ‘one God, for ever andever’ the prayers will now conclude with the formula ‘God, for ever and ever’.

The word ‘one’ has appeared in the English version of the Roman Missal in both the earlier and the currenttranslations. However, it is not in the Latin original. There is a possibility that this could cause some confusion regardingthe identity of the Son within the Blessed Trinity. It could also be misinterpreted to mean that Jesus Christ is just ‘oneGod’ among others.

In this way, the English translation will mirror the Irish version as well as that of the other main European languages,which do not contain the word ‘one’. This new wording will also be included in future liturgical books that contain thisconclusion.

On a practical level there will be no need to physically erase the word ‘one’, which appears many times in the Missal.The celebrant will simply omit the word from the prayers as he prays them.

Mgr. Joe McGuinness

Fr. Neil Xavier O'Donoghue

Neil Xavier O’Donoghue is originally from Cork, Ireland. He is a presbyter of the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ who has ministered in parishes on both sides of the Atlantic. He has spent many years as an academic mentor to seminarians. Neil currently serves as Programme Director for Liturgical Programmes at the Pontifical University and as Acting Director of the National Centre for Liturgy. Since 2020 he has also served as the Executive Secretary for Liturgy to the Irish Catholic Bishops Conference. He has studied at Seton Hall University (BA, MDiv), the University of Notre Dame (MA), and St Vladimir’s Orthodox Theological Seminary (MTh). He holds a Doctorate in Theology (Ph.D.) from St Patrick’s College, Maynooth and is in the process of completing a second doctorate (D.D) in the Pontifical Facultad de Teología Redemptoris Mater in Callao, Peru. Neil has published a translation of the Confessio of St. Patrick: St. Patrick: His Confession and Other Works (Totowa, NJ, 2009), as well editing the third edition of Fredrick Edward Warren’s The Liturgy and Ritual of the Celtic Church (Piscataway, NJ, 2010). In 2011 the University of Notre Dame Press published The Eucharist in Pre-Norman Ireland an adaptation of his doctoral thesis and in 2017 the Alcuin Club published his Liturgical Orientation: The Position of the President at the Eucharist. His articles have appeared in The Irish Theological Quarterly, New Blackfriars, The Furrow and Antiphon. He writes a monthly article on some aspect of the theology of Pope Francis in the Messenger of St. Anthony and blogs regularly at PrayTell.

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Comments

4 responses to ““One” God no more”

  1. Karl Liam Saur

    Then shalt thou count to none, no more, no less. None shall be the number thou shalt count, and the number of the counting shall be none. One shalt thou not count, neither count thou less than none, excepting that thou then proceed to none. Five remains right out.

    Reply
    1. Paul Fell

      I certainly didn’t expect Monty Python (nod to a famous skit, there)! Given the origin of the story, though, it does match the country.

      Thanks for the morning chuckle. I’m gonna have that in my head for a while.

      Reply
      1. Karl Liam Saur

        The effect might be amplified if performed by Carmelite or Benedictine nuns.

  2. Lynn Thomas

    And yet we say again and again and again that God is one, in three Persons. Methinks this one might be somewhere down there with the number of angels dancing on the head of a pin.

    Reply

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