(That’s Latin for “Let us Pray” for all you non-Catholics and memory-challenged CatholicsâÂ?¦)

Our pal Jim Martin up at America magazine tells us that the U.S. bishops have posted the Vatican-approved translations for the Catholic Mass. Who cares, you ask? Well, everyone who regularly attends Mass-and especially those who pop in once or twice a year-should care because the words and prayers they’ve recited from memory for 40-odd years are going to change.

From what I can tell, what the bishops have posted is only what the priest prays during Communion, not the congregation’s response (fitting, some might say). But to give you a sense of what’s to come, Catholics will no longer say, “Lord, I am not worth to receive you …” they will now say, “”Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof.”

And instead of the priest praying, “Let your Spirit come upon these gifts, to make them holy”, he will now say, “Make holy, therefore, these gifts, we pray, by sending down your Spirit upon them like the dewfall.”

Perhaps the most obvious change will be the scrapping of the familiar “Christ has died, Christ has risen, Christ will come again” in favor of something that speaks of the congregation as a body gathered together. Something like “When we eat this bread, when we drink this cup, we proclaim your death, O Lord, until you come again in glory.”

It’s worth noting that most parishes won’t implement these changes for several years, but they’re coming. Here’s Jim’s take on what it all means:

“First, almost all priests and parishioners will have to struggle through the new translations for a few months, perhaps even a few years, until they learn them. (This will mean more parishioners loudly flipping through missalettes, and fewer priests knowing the prayers by heart, since most churchgoers can say these prayers by rote, as can their priests and deacons). Most parishioners will find it odd to have to consult a booklet to remember a prayer that they’ve known for forty years. Second, while some may find some of the newer translations jarring-like the “dewfall”-others may cheer what they see as a more reverent tone. Third, for some time, many will reflexively say the old responses, especially with the more familiar phrases like, “And also with you.” Rumors are that some more liberal-leaning parishes may stubbornly stick to the old books, but this will become increasingly difficult, as the old Sacramentaries, the books used by the priests during Mass, wear out.

For a time, it means that the most familiar thing in Catholic life-the Mass-will become, at least in parts, unfamiliar.”