'The cold-blooded murder of the English tongue'

Jeremy Irons and Dame Kiri Te Kanawa in a concert version of My Fair Lady.

If one were at a Mass in English last Sunday in the USA or the Philippines one would have raised one's eyebrows on hearing the first line from the Second Reading (Romans 14:7): None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself.

This is from the New American Bible, Revised Edition. The New Testament came out in 1986. The website of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops informs one that, Released on March 9, 2011, the New American Bible, Revised Edition (NABRE) is the culmination of nearly 20 years of work by a group of nearly 100 scholars and theologians, including bishops, revisers and editors. One is tempted to say that Professor Henry Higgins is correct when he says of the English language in the song above, In America they haven’t used it for years.


The NABRE is a partly-neutered revision of the New American Bible. If one had been in a church in the Philippines where they still use the older New American Bible lectionary one would have heard, None of us lives as his own master and none of us dies as his own master, identical with the translation of Monsignor Ronald Knox, except for a comma after the first 'master'.

If one had been at Mass in Australia, England and Wales, Ireland or Scotland, one would have heard, For none of us lives for himself or none of dies for himself (Jerusalem Bible) or None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself (Revised Standard Version). The New Revised Standard Version, which tries to avoid 'non-inclusive' language reads, We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves.


The Douai-Rheims translation and that of the Authorised Versions (King James) are identical except for punctuation: For none of us liveth to himself: and no man dieth to himself. 


One should be careful how one uses 'one' or 'oneself'. One suspects that None of us lives for oneself, and no one dies for oneself would not meet the the approval of Prince Charles, sometimes referred to as 'One', but one who knows a thing or two about the Queen's - and King's - English.

Liturgical postscript to St Casimir: 'Dives and Lazarus' worship and liturgy

Dives and Lazarus, Bonifacio Veronese, 1540s

Today's gospel, that of Dives and Lazarus, was appropriate for the commemoration of St Casimir, a prince noted for his strong sense of justice and love for the poor.

I was struck by the contrast in the English translations of the Collect or Opening Prayer for Thursday of the Second Week of Lent, that of ICEL and that in the breviary produced under the direction of the bishops of Australia, England & Wales, Ireland and Scotland, that I use.

ICEL

God of love,

bring us back to you.

Send your Spirit to make us strong in faith

and active in good works.

Grant this, etc

My Breviary

Lord God,

you love innocence of heart,

and when it is lost you alone can restore it.

Turn then our hearts to you,

and kindle in them the fire of your Spirit,

so that we may be steadfast in faith

and unwearied in good works.

We make this, etc.

I can't find the original Latin but the ICEL translation looks like a 'Lazarus' one in that it seems to be very undernourished English-wise.

St Casimir Church, Cleveland, Ohio, USA

Chapel in Hinsley Hall, Leeds, England, owned by the Catholic Diocese of Leeds

I can't help but notice a 'Dives and Lazarus' contrast here also. Which of these two places of worship is more likely to nourish the worshipper?