Revised psalm texts

[Psalm Project]

Hi Folks,
Does anyone out there have access to the revised psalm texts?
GIA website is turning a blank every time I try to gain access.
It seems ages since the link was posted but it appears to ground to a frustrating halt.
Someone PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE enlighten me as to what is going on...

[Southern Comfort]

The information that we have is that the text came back from Rome to the USA with recognitio, but also with 341 changes to the text that Abbot Gregory and everyone else had assumed was final as recently as November 2008 since they had spent many, many months in negotiations with Rome on it.

It appears that this altered text and its accompanying document have been received by the US Bishops' Conference, but that GIA itself, which is the sole worldwide administrator of the text, have still not themselves received a copy, which does seem quite extraordinary. That being so, they, like the rest of us, are waiting with bated breath, which explains why there is nothing on the GIA website yet. As soon as they have a text, you'll know about it.

It's also worth mentioning that the Bishops of England and Wales, having previously expressed themselves in favour of the text, are no longer completely sure whether they want to use it or not. The reason is that some of the revisions have changed the nature of some psalms, such as Ps 22/23, The Lord is my shepherd, where two longer lines in the middle of the psalm now have extra stresses which makes it very difficult to sing to any known tone, and certainly not to the existing Gelineau tone, which was supposed to be one of the criteria in the revision. (However, the demands of Liturgiam Authenticam — which should have been consigned to perdition as soon as it appeared — may have been responsible for some of these problems.) What no one yet knows is whether the 341 changes have solved those particular problem or even made them worse.

The Bishops wonder if the essential character of the Grail translation has been compromised in the new version. That being so, even though the text, whatever it is, may be approved for the USA, it is not approved for England and Wales since the Conference has not yet applied for recognitio. The same may be true for Ireland. I expect some better informed person will tell us about that. Nothing may happen until we can see what Rome has done to the text we had all been working with for a number of months and have now suspended working with.

We are learning the Christian virtue of patience at the same time as the possibly unchristian sentiment of exasperation....

[Psalm Project]

I received a reply from GIA this morning as follows:

"Unfortunately the Grail is still on hold because we have not gotten the final ok from the Vatican. Please keep an eye on our website for updates or you can sign up there for email alerts."

Frankly, a sorry state of affairs in my opinion!
Did I see somewhere an implementation date of Advent 2011? (or is that for mass settings?) Like as if!!!
I'm not holding my breath!

[Southern Comfort]

The Revised Grail Psalter (apparently known as RGP) was released by GIA yesterday. It comes in two arrangements: psalm order, with pointing and without pointing, and Sunday Lectionary order, with pointing and without pointing. All of these are delivered in both Word and PDF formats.

[Southern Comfort]

I should have mentioned that the Sunday Lectionary order includes the ICEL responses — i.e. not the ones used in the UK and Ireland.

[Nick Baty]

One or two phrases will take some getting used to:

Advent 1A
Jerusalem is built as a city
bonded as one together.

Easter Sunday
Give praise to the Lord, for he is good;
his mercy endures for ever.

Pentecost
How many are your works, O LORD!
The earth is full of your creatures.

[Southern Comfort]

For those with Macs, the electronic files also exist in Mac OS-friendly formats, BTW.

[Nick Baty]

Do we know what will be happening to psalm responses in the UK?
If anything, what's the timescale?
Apologies if I've missed this elsewhere!

[docmattc]

Do we know what will be happening to psalm responses in the UK?
If anything, what's the timescale?
Apologies if I've missed this elsewhere!

I remember hearing at Summer School (possibly from Arthur Roche, I can't remember) that the plan was to have a full 3 year cycle with the new missal before changing to the new lectionary.

[Nick Baty]

That sounds most sensible.
But where is the new lectionary up to?

[Southern Comfort]

I remember hearing at Summer School (possibly from Arthur Roche, I can't remember) that the plan was to have a full 3 year cycle with the new missal before changing to the new lectionary.

Since a whole year of the Lectionary cycle (Year A) will have elapsed before we get the new Missal, the possible plan is actually a full three years of the Lectionary — A, B and C — before changing.

That sounds most sensible.
But where is the new lectionary up to?

A large amount of editorial work needs to be done before it is ready to go, hence the planned delay.