By Patrick Downes
Hawaii Catholic Herald
The word “one” has been dropped from the collect, the short prayer recited at Mass by the priest celebrant immediately before the first reading.
The change corrects the collect’s concluding “doxology,” the words of praise that always end the prayer.
Instead of “… in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever,” the prayer should read “… in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.”
No “one.”
The U.S. bishops’ Committee on Divine Worship noted the change in a single-page announcement Feb. 4.
Bishop Larry Silva called it a “slight but important change,” one deserving of the special memo he sent to Hawaii clergy the same day.
“There is no mention of “one” in the (original) Latin,” the U.S. bishops’ committee said, “and ‘Deus’ in the Latin text refers to Christ.”
The error was brought to the attention of English-speaking bishops last year by the cardinal-prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments.
“The cardinal prefect has pointed out the importance of affirming this Christological truth amid the religious pluralism of today’s world,” the U.S. bishops’ committee said.
The change was put in effect on Ash Wednesday, Feb. 17.
Church officials had known about the error for some time. The extra word had apparently been added in post-Second Vatican Council translations. Other English-speaking bishops’ conferences have already corrected it.
The change should also be made wherever it appears in other publications, such as the “Liturgy of the Hours.”
As to whether priests should go out and buy new Missals that included the correction, the committee said, “No. It should not be difficult for the celebrant simply to omit the word ‘one’ when offering the prayer.”