Spanish liturgical texts approved for U.S.

By Agostino Bono
Catholic News Service

WASHINGTON, D.C. (CNS) — To meet the needs of the growing number of Spanish-speaking Catholics in the United States, the U.S. bishops unanimously approved Spanish-language liturgical texts that formally incorporate important Latin American rituals in U.S. worship services.
These include a blessing ceremony for the quinceañera, a popular celebration among Hispanics that takes place when a girl is 15, to mark her passage from childhood to adolescence. The blessing can take place within a Mass or as a separate ceremony.
Other Spanish-language liturgical texts approved Nov. 17 were for an infant baptismal rite and for additions to the marriage liturgy that incorporate traditions popular mostly in Mexico, Central America and Puerto Rico. The Nov. 17 votes on the quinceañera and the additions to the marriage liturgy were unanimous, while the baptismal rite passed by a 208-1 vote.
Bishop Ricardo Ramirez of Las Cruces, N.M., in a floor comment, noted that the quinceañera and marriage traditions already are ingrained in Hispanic Catholic communities and approving the texts formalizes long-standing practices.
The additions related to marriage include:
• The exchange of arras, special coins symbolizing the couple’s pledge to be good stewards in the new household.
• The placing of the lazo, a double-looped rope, large rosary or garland, over the bride and groom, symbolizing the unity of the marriage.
• The velación, in which a large veil or shawl is placed completely over the bride and over the shoulders of the groom to symbolize that the bride is the center of the new home the couple is about to establish.
These rituals have been used by Hispanics in U.S. liturgical services, but without standardized texts. Spanish-language texts were often borrowed from Latin American countries, where these rituals are officially incorporated into liturgical services.
Father Juan Sosa said that including these Hispanic traditions in the U.S. liturgy recognizes what is already happening in the Hispanic Catholic community. The priest is a member of the bishops’ subcommittee on Hispanic liturgy, which helped draft the texts.
“The bishops of the United States are filling the virtual needs of people who want to express their traditions that have come down from the centuries,” said Father Sosa, who is also president of the National Hispanic Institute of the Liturgy.
These traditions symbolize important Christian concepts, he added.
“The arras symbolizes an exchanging of equality between the spouses in household stewardship. It is the first offering of the newlywed couple to God,” said Father Sosa.
The lazo and the velación symbolize the “binding together of what God has joined,” he said.
The approved texts are part of a long-term project by the bishops to translate into Spanish all the English-language liturgical books approved for use in the United States.
The project involves bilingual editions of the books, with Spanish on one side of the page and English on the other.
The purpose of bilingual editions is to facilitate their use by English-speaking priests who have a limited command of Spanish, and Spanish-speaking priests who have a limited use of English, Chicago Cardinal Francis E. George said in an explanatory note to the bishops on the liturgical texts. Cardinal George was chairman of the U.S. bishops’ liturgy committee, which is supervising the translations.
Father Sosa said the bilingual books will also make it easier to perform bilingual services in increasingly multicultural U.S. parishes.
The quinceañera texts provide for blessing ceremonies that may be performed during the Mass or as a separate ceremony.
Cardinal George’s explanatory note said Hispanic tradition says that a girl’s 15th birthday should be celebrated by going to church and asking for God’s blessing as she enters a new stage of life.
It provides a special time for the girl’s family and the entire parish “to prayerfully join with youth in making a commitment to God and the church,” the cardinal’s note said.
In the blessing ceremony, the 15-year-old girl makes a commitment to God and Mary to live her life according to Christ’s teachings. The assembly joins her in reciting a renewal of baptismal vows.
The lazo, arras and velación texts include marriage services performed during Mass, outside Mass, and when only one of the couple is Catholic.