Shed for Many: An Accurate Rendering of the Pro Multis in the Formula of Consecration

Abstract

Shed for Many: An Accurate Rendering of the Pro Multis in the Formula of Consecration Manfred Hauke I. The Call for a Faithful Translation of the “Pro Multis” The “eucharistic sacrifice” is, according to the Second Vatican Council, “the source and the culmination of all christian life.” At the center of the most intimate fulfillment of the life of the Church stands the Eucharistic Prayer or canon, with the words of Jesus which effect the consecration: “… by means of the words and actions of Christ, the sacrifice is carried out which Christ himself instituted at the Last Supper , when he offered his Body and Blood under the species of bread The present study originally appeared in German as “Für viele vergossen .” Studie zur sinngetreuen Wiedergabe des pro multis in den Wandlungsworten (Augsburg, 2008); preceded by “‘Für viele vergossen.’ Studie zur sinngetreuen Wiedergabe des pro multis in den Wandlungsworten,” in Forum Katholische Theologie 23.1 (2007) 1-47. It integrates part of my foreword to the work of F. Prosinger, Das Blut des Bundes—vergossen für viele? Zur Übersetzung und Interpretation des “hyper pollôn” in Mk 14,24, Quaestiones non disputatae 12 (Siegburg, 2007) 7-32. For the English version some slight updates have been made. Ed.: The translator of this work prefers to remain anonymous. A table of abbreviations of works cited is provided at the end of this essay. Where I have had access to English editions of the (mostly German) works referenced , I have supplied the relevant bibliographical information. Unless otherwise noted, all translations into English are the translator’s. Lastly, I have modified some of the author’s biblical quotations so as to conform them to the Revised Standard Version (RSV 1966), from which all Scripture citations are drawn. Second Vatican Council, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church Lumen gentium (21 November 1964), in Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils, vol. 2: Trent to Vatican II, ed. and trans. Norman P. Tanner (London and Washington DC: Sheed & Ward and Georgetown University Press, 1990) §11, p. 857. Antiphon 14.2 (2010): 169-229 170 Manfred Hauke and wine, gave them to his Apostles to eat and drink, and left them the command to perpetuate this same mystery.” The central importance of Jesus’ words of institution in the canon is to be accentuated by a precise translation of the liturgical texts. This call was made already in 2001 with the Instruction Liturgicam authenticam ; with it the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments (CDWDS) regulated the use of the vernacular in the publication of the liturgical books of the Roman Rite. In contrast to an earlier practice, which often confounded translation with interpretation , and thereby did not remain free of certain fashionable but dubious tendencies, the Instruction stressed fidelity to the original Latin text. The words of institution, which are indispensable for the consecration, were particularly emphasized: The high point of all liturgical action is the celebration of the Mass, in which the Eucharistic Prayer or Anaphora in turn occupies the pre-eminent place. For this reason, the approved translations of the approved Eucharistic Prayers require the utmost care, especially as regards the sacramental formulae…. Despite this clearly articulated theological standard, it made a sensation when, on 17 October 2006, Cardinal Francis Arinze, thenPrefect of the CDWDS, sent a letter to all presidents of episcopal conferences concerning the precise translation of the expression pro multis in the consecration of the Precious Blood. Just how little Institutio generalis Missalis Romani, editio typica tertia (2002) 79d: “Narratio institutionis et consecratio: verbis et actionibus Christi sacrificium peragitur , quod ipse Christus in Cena novissima instituit, cum suum Corpus et Sanguinem sub speciebus panis et vini obtulit, Apostolisque manducandum et bibendum dedit et iis mandatum reliquit idem mysterium perpetuandi,” trans. International Committee on English in the Liturgy, General Instruction of the Roman Missal (Third Typical Edition) (Washington DC: United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 2003) p. 31. See also CCC 1353, 1375. Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments , Instruction Liturgiam authenticam (28 March 2001) 63, at . On 1 November 1974 the Congregation (then called the Sacred Congregation for Divine Worship) had already expressed itself similarly : “The...