也与你的心灵同在/And with your spirit
Something many Catholics in the US and most of the English-speaking world are experiencing is the revised translation of the Mass in English. With the first week of Advent two weeks ago, we found ourselves reading the responses that were at one time rote. Notable among the changes was the replacement of "And also with you" with a more direct translation of "Et cum spiritu tuo." We now say, "And with your spirit."
When asked if I were ready for "And with your spirit," I could not help but note that we have been saying it already in Chinese all along. In Mandarin we say "也与你的心灵同在." It's pronounced Yě yǔ nǐ de xīnlíng tóng zài. A rough word-to-word of this could be "Also and your heart spirit with in." Putting together 心 (xīn or heart) and 灵 (líng or spirit) means heart, soul, or spirit. For me, I like how it sounds like it specifically means the spirit that dwells in your heart. Instead of a simple "and also with you," we are responding to the priest something much more soulful and intentional. For an even better idea about fuller meanings of this expression, the traditional characters are even more loaded.. 心靈, if you are interested.
Of course, for the next several weeks we will still be in the US and will hopefully get more accustomed to the new words. I was relieved this weekend at Mass in Front Royal, that they, too, are still stumbling over some of the revised responses, like "and with your spirit." We were attending the Latin Novus Ordo Mass in the beautiful St. John the Baptist Parish
Most of the responses were in Latin (hence my calling it the Latin Novus Ordo Mass). However, at the close of Mass, the priest switched to English for "The Lord be with you." Even there, in Front Royal, in a sea of mantillas and hats, I could not hear a single person who did not say "And also with you." The celebrant emphatically repeated himself. We all caught on, responding instead "And with your spirit."
When asked if I were ready for "And with your spirit," I could not help but note that we have been saying it already in Chinese all along. In Mandarin we say "也与你的心灵同在." It's pronounced Yě yǔ nǐ de xīnlíng tóng zài. A rough word-to-word of this could be "Also and your heart spirit with in." Putting together 心 (xīn or heart) and 灵 (líng or spirit) means heart, soul, or spirit. For me, I like how it sounds like it specifically means the spirit that dwells in your heart. Instead of a simple "and also with you," we are responding to the priest something much more soulful and intentional. For an even better idea about fuller meanings of this expression, the traditional characters are even more loaded.. 心靈, if you are interested.
Of course, for the next several weeks we will still be in the US and will hopefully get more accustomed to the new words. I was relieved this weekend at Mass in Front Royal, that they, too, are still stumbling over some of the revised responses, like "and with your spirit." We were attending the Latin Novus Ordo Mass in the beautiful St. John the Baptist Parish
Most of the responses were in Latin (hence my calling it the Latin Novus Ordo Mass). However, at the close of Mass, the priest switched to English for "The Lord be with you." Even there, in Front Royal, in a sea of mantillas and hats, I could not hear a single person who did not say "And also with you." The celebrant emphatically repeated himself. We all caught on, responding instead "And with your spirit."
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