A critical perspective of liturgical translation in the vernacular

Abstract

Defined by poet Charles P茅guy as 鈥渁n overtaking of depth, an investigation into deeper sources, a return to the source in the literal sense,鈥�2 ressourcement was at the heart of the Second Vatican Council鈥檚 journey into liturgy. Freeing liturgical discourse from the stultifying implications of a 鈥渂aroque theology鈥�3 where processes of metaphysical self-reference had 鈥渧olatized [God] into simulacra,鈥�4 ressourcement promised a coherent foundation upon which the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium (1963) could be built. In order to affect this shift away from purely formal representation, the Liturgical Movement in the twentieth century undertook a reevaluation of Catholic ritual and an exploration of the liturgy鈥檚 radically Christological identity.