Out with the old and in with the new

It's a new liturgical year, and English-speaking Catholics across the globe had their first encounter the new English translation of the Roman Missal yesterday, the first Sunday of Advent. Much like a new calendar year, when people accidentally write in the old year on their checks until February or so, there were a few slip-ups. Let's see a show of hands of people who accidentally said "And also with you" instead of "And with your spirit" at least once? Yep, we thought so.

Judging from news reports, the transition seemed to go fairly smoothly for most Catholics. The Washington Post reported that Catholics in the D.C. area took the changes in stride. “Back in the ’60s we did this, when we went from the Latin Mass,” one Catholic woman told the paper. “You get used to it. It’s really not that profound a change.” See more reaction from Washington faithful:

In Seattle, a former critic of the new translation, St. James Cathedral rector Father Michael Ryan, urged his flock to keep the proper perspective on the changes: "This is still the Mass: We are still celebrating Christ who is in our midst . . . We must not let anything get in the way of that."

While many news reports focused on reactions to the revised Mass, including those in The New York Times and the Louisville Journal Courier, Catholic News Agency had a different take on the transition from the Sacramentary to the Roman Missal, Third Edition. What is the proper way of handling the old liturgical books that will no longer be used?

According to the U.S. bishops' secretariat, the ashes of liturgical books should be collected and “placed in the ground in an appropriate location on church grounds.”

Some Catholics may be surprised to learn that it is appropriate – and even customary – to burn or bury old liturgical books and other religious items.

Catholic tradition offers these means of disposal in order to ensure that objects used in worship are not casually discarded or mistreated, even when they are no longer needed for use or reference.

Read what else should be done with liturgical texts.