By Verghese V Joseph –
Bengaluru: The Church in India will begin to officially use the New English Lectionary, prepared according to the Indian Liturgical Calendar, from 5 April 2020, which marks Palm Sunday. The new three-volume English Lectionary incorporates special readings for the Solemnities, Feasts and Memorials of Indian Saints and votive Masses for India.
The new Lectionary for India was released on Tuesday by Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Bombay in the presence of Apostolic Nuncio to India and Nepal Giambattista Diquattro and Archbishop of Goa Filipe Neri Ferrao during the 32 Plenary Assembly of the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) at St John’s National Academy of Health Sciences, Bengaluru.
“This new Lectionary is an invitation for each of us to deepen our understanding of the Word of God and thereby participate in the liturgy actively, fully and consciously lifting ourselves up to the Lord,” said Cardinal Gracias.
He requested the Bishops to give adequate instruction to the faithful regarding the new Lectionary, so that its use will result in a more pro. found understanding and The Bishops are requested to give adequate instruction to the faithful regarding the new Lectionary, so that its use will result in a more profound understanding and appreciation of the Word of God in the Holy Mass as well as in other liturgical celebrations and thus lead to a fruitful nurturing of the faith in all our Churches.
Archbishop Ferrao, who is also president of the CCBI, said, “The publication of the New Lectionary by the CCBI is a landmark in the history of the Church in our country. It is a valuable contribution of the church in India to the Universal Church testifying to our biblical scholarship and liturgical competence.”
The church in India will begin to officially use this Lectionary in the liturgical celebrations from April 5, Palm Sunday.
The New English Lectionary is prepared according to the Indian Liturgical Calendar, incorporating special readings for the Solemnities, Feats and Memorials of Indian Saints and votive Masses for our country.
The English Lectionaries that are currently in use in India will be set aside and replaced with the New Lectionary from Palm Sunday.
During the releasing ceremony, the Lectionary was introduced to the Bishops by Rev. Dr. Ayres Fernandes, the Executive Secretary of the CCBI Commission for Liturgy and Mr. Nigel Fernandes, the CEO of Asian Trading Corporation.
His Grace Most Rev. George Antonysamy, the Archbishop of Madras-Mylapore and Vice President of the CCBI, His Grace Most Rev. Anil Couto the Archbishop of Delhi and Secretary General of the CCBI, His Excellency Most Rev. Peter Paul Saldanha the Bishop of Mangalore and Chairman of the CCBI Commission for Liturgy, and Rev. Dr. Stephen Alathara, Deputy Secretary General of the CCBI, were also present at the time of the release.
Earlier, the CCBI had commissioned the work on an English translation of the Holy Bible consistent with the teaching of the Church and according to the norms laid down in the 2001 Instruction Liturgiam Authenticam.
A team of experienced and prominent Scripture scholars, led by Rev Dr Lucien Legrand MEP worked on the ESV Bible, ensuring compatibility with the Catholic teaching and textual accuracy, The CCBI during its Plenary Assembly in February 2017, approved the English Standard Version Catholic Edition (ESVCE) of the Holy Bible for use in the Liturgy. The ESVCE is considered one of the most accurate English translations of the Holy Bible from the original manuscripts.
Accordingly, the ESVCE of the Bible has been used throughout the new Lectionary, with the exception of the translation of the Psalms, which has been taken from the ‘Abbey Psalms’, approved by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.