Pope Benedict, it appears, is about do something quite drastic in the liturgical sphere; he is going to alter the traditional Good Friday Solemn Collect for the conversion of the Jewish people as found in the 1962 Roman Missal, the Missal of Pope John XXIII. The prayer is almost the same as that used in the Anglican Missal in the Anglican Rite. The Anglican Missal uses a form of the original prayer slightly altered by Pope Pius XII, which dates back in its modern form to 1570:
'Let us pray likewise for the Jews: that the Lord our God may remove from their hearts the veil of unbelief; and that they may come to the knowledge of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Almighty and everlasting God, who extendest to the unbelieving of the Jews the abundance of thy mercy: graciously hear our prayers for this people whose hearts are blinded; that they may come to know Christ Jesus to be the Light of thy truth, and in him find the way out of the darkness of their misunderstandings. Through Jesus Christ our Lord. R. Amen.'
'qui etiam iudaicam perfidiam': the Anglican Missal Collect continues to use the word perfidiam, which is accurately translated as 'those who do not have the faith' or the 'unbelieving'. Pope John XXIII removed the word 'faithless' or 'unbelieving' in his reform of 1959. The word itself should not be interpreted as meaning sly, dishonest, shifty or untrustworthy - as is commonly and routinely misunderstood. The word merely refers to the lack of Christian Faith or unbelief in the Gospel.
Here is the reformed Latin version as promulgated by Pope John XXIII in 1959:
Oremus et pro Iudaeis: ut Deus et Dominus noster auferat velamen de cordibus eorum; ut et ipsi agnoscant Iesum Christum Dominum Nostrum.
Omnipotens sempiternae Deus, qui Iudaeos etiam a tua misericordia non repellis: exaudi preces nostras, quas pro illius populi obcaecatione deferimus; ut agnita veritatis tuae luce, quae Christus est, a suis tenebris eruantur. Per eundem Dominum.
'Let us pray also for the Jews: that God and our Lord take away the veil from their hearts; that they also may acknowledge Jesus Christ our Lord.
Almighty eternal God, who does not reject even the Jews from Your mercy: graciously hear the prayers which we are conveying for the blindness of that people; so that once the light of Your Truth has been recognized, which is Christ, they may be rescued from their darkness.'
A new version of this text may be published within the next few days, which will be implemented in celebrations of the Traditional Latin Mass in March 2008.
From whence does this collect come? The prayer is still controversial in our ecumenical age, but from where do these phrases and ideas originate? What gives us the authority to pray for the conversion of the Jewish people to our Lord Jesus Christ in the language of our liturgy?
The New Testament.
Seeing then that we have such hope, we use great plainness of speech. And not as Moses, which put a vail over his face, that the children of Israel could not stedfastly look to the end of that which is abolished. But their minds were blinded, for until this day remaineth the same vail untaken away in the reading of the old testament; which vail is done away in Christ. But even unto this day, when Moses is read, the vail is upon their heart. Nevertheless when it shall turn to the Lord, the vail shall be taken away (II Corinthians 3.12-16).
What then? Israel hath not obtained that which he seeketh for; but the election hath obtained it, and the rest were blinded: (According as it is written, God hath given them the spirit of slumber, eyes that they should not see, and ears that they should not hear;) unto this day. And David saith, Let their table be made a snare, and a trap, and a stumbling block, and a recompence unto them: Let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, and bow down their back always. I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. Now if the fall of them be the riches of the world, and the diminishing of them the riches of the Gentiles; how much more their fullness? For I speak to you Gentiles, inasmuch as I am the apostle of the Gentiles, I magnify mine office: If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. For if the casting away of them be the reconciling of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? For if the firstfruit be holy, the lump is also holy: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. And if some of the branches be broken off, and thou, being a wild olive tree, wert graffed in among them, and with them partakest of the root and fatness of the olive tree; Boast not against the branches. But if thou boast, thou bearest not the root, but the root thee. Thou wilt say then, The branches were broken off, that I might be graffed in. Well; because of unbelief they were broken off, and thou standest by faith. Be not highminded, but fear: For if God spared not the natural branches, take heed lest he also spare not thee. Behold therefore the goodness and severity of God: on them which fell, severity; but toward thee, goodness, if thou continue in his goodness: otherwise thou also shalt be cut off. And they also, if they abide not still in unbelief, shall be graffed in: for God is able to graff them in again. For if thou wert cut out of the olive tree which is wild by nature, and wert graffed contrary to nature into a good olive tree: how much more shall these, which be the natural branches, be graffed into their own olive tree? For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob: For this is my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins. As concerning the gospel, they are enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, they are beloved for the fathers' sakes. For the gifts and calling of God are without repentance. For as ye in times past have not believed God, yet have now obtained mercy through their unbelief: Even so have these also now not believed, that through your mercy they also may obtain mercy. For God hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have mercy upon all (Romans 11.7-32).
Consider, compare and contrast the ancient prayer of the Latin Rite with this Good Friday Collect from the 1662 English Prayer Book:
O Merciful God, who hast made all men, and hatest nothing that thou hast made, nor wouldest the death of a sinner, but rather that he should be converted and live; Have mercy upon all Jews, Turks, Infidels, and Hereticks, and take from them all ignorance, hardness of heart, and contempt of thy Word; and so fetch them home, blessed Lord, to thy flock, that they may be saved among the remnant of the true Israelites, and be made one fold under one shepherd, Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, world without end. Amen.
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