New Missal Translation Passed by USCCB! (Not Without Speedbumps)

US Adaptation of Roman Missal passed. Serratelli calls this historic moment. George quips, "Not yet." Serratelli: Perfection will come when liturgy on Earth gives way to worship of God in Heaven.

November 17, 2009

[Reading the moment by moment replay below may seem drab, but I assure you - it will perhaps be a bit entertaining or at the very least, enlightening. Bishops are indeed human...]

• Deliberation on liturgy begin by addressing Trautman concern about antiphons.
• Trautman asserts that Rome is overstepping rights of the Conference to consider this part of the translation.
• Trautman moves to have graybook from ICEL on antiphons before recognitio be issued.
• Serratelli answers Trautman's charge. Paprocki is addressing the Code of Canon Law.
• Paprocki has taken the meeting into Latin.
• Paprocki says Trautman has raised a legitimate point. George says this question should be discussed later. Trautman says no.
• George urges that the bishops move on to the work before them. Trautman asks to speak again.
• Trautman notes that his motion is still alive. "Not to complicate matters further, but ..."
• Serratelli is introducing Proper of Saints, noting this is bishops' last chance for input.
• Passage of this, as other items, requires 2/3 vote of Latin-member bishops.
• Serratelli notes that a decade-long process is nearing an end.
• Bishop Sklba stands to note good work of Serratelli and committee, but flaws of translation.
• Sklba suggests that welcoming of traditional Anglicans will mean our translation is unfavorably compared to Book of Common Prayer.
• Niederauer notes that everyone can find something to dislike here. Blaire notes that other English-speaking countries have passed this.
• Bishops voting on Proper of Saints.
• 88% percent of bishops approve (195)
• Serratelli presents Roman Missal Supplement.
• There are no amendments to this document.
• Silva notes that saint whose feast is celebrated in Hawaii is eligible to be on national calendar.
• Serratelli and George say this can be considered under US Proper discussion.
• Serratelli presents translation of Commons.
• In arguing inclusion of Hawaiian saint, Silva notes several saints on calendar who lack the "national cultus" his saint presumably lacks.
• Bishop Rosazza notes that English-speaking bishops seem to be held to tighter translation than, say, the French.
• Bishop Trautman re-raises point about Rome stepping in on the antiphons. Serratelli asks that current text be addressed.
• Impromptu amendment on mentioning Native Americans accepted on the spot.
• US Propers goes up for vote. Bishops approve.
• US Adaptation of Roman Missal passed. Serratelli calls this historic moment. George quips, "Not yet."
• Serratelli: Perfection will come when liturgy on Earth gives way to worship of God in Heaven.
• Serratelli speaks on importance of catechesis on translation. Says time of implementation of translation will be determined by recognitio.
• George thanks head of ICEL for his work on the translation.
• George says Trautman issue will still be addressed, as Conference may have right to translate antiphons.
• Says USCCB could sue Congregation in Apostolic Signatura, or USCCB could say they approve Congregation's help with translation.
• Bishops take evening coffee break.
• Trautman makes motion on antiphons.
• Wuerl asks if body can simply approve antiphons based on what they've seen in order to get recognitio.
• Abp. Myers asks if another vote follows recognitio.
• Vigneron asks if Trautman's motion might be remanded to committee. Wants thoughtful review of appropriate people.
• Chaput wants opinion of canonist if bishops can vote to delegate to the Congregation on matter of antiphons.
• Conlon, Bruskewitz, Mahony, Listecki, Sample, others speak up.
• Pilarczyk offers to submit motion that work on antiphons be remanded to Rome.
• Trautman says bishops shouldn't get into habit of walking away from having their rights overstepped.
• Bishops voting on Trautman motion.
• Motion fails.
• Pilarczyk submits motion that antiphons be remanded to Rome. Bishops voting.
• Motion passes overwhelmingly.
• Bishops proceed to doctrine action item. Bishop Lori presents. [Discussing end of life issues - medically assisted hydration and nutrition]

From the USCCB Media Twitter 'tweets':

November 16, 2009

• Bishop Serratelli at the podium for presentation of final five Roman Missal translation items.
• Says plan for translation set deadline for this month. All changes must be sent to Rome at this session to be considered.
• Anticipates Rome's recognition in first half of 2010. Publisher needs 12 months to produce translation in English.
• Presenting Proper of Saints. Bishop Trautman wants to know when he could raise issue on antiphons. George says will find time. [Pondering note: Bishop Trautman has been vocally opposed to the new translation for quite some time. He thinks the people in the pew are not sophisticated enough to understand some of the new words]
  
• Serratelli now introducing ICEL translation of Roman Missal Supplement.
• Serratelli presents ICEL translation of the Commons. More than 150 translation suggestions on this received by ICEL.
• Now presenting the US Propers.
• Committee has modified prayers for July 4 to allow for more inclusive language.
• Prelude for Thanksgiving Day Mass revised to answer concerns of several bishops.
  
• Now presenting US Adaptation to the Roman Missal.

 

Reforming the Reform: Part 3

Cardinal Antonio Cañizares (CNS)

The denial that wasn't. As posted in the National Catholic Register today:

The Congregation for Divine Worship is declining to comment further on reports that the Vatican is considering a “reform of the reform” of the liturgy, but a formal statement on the matter is expected soon.

An official told the Register this morning that “everything is under study and is progressing” but added that he could say no more until Cardinal Antonio Llovera Cañizares, prefect of the congregation, or the Holy See Press Office, issues an official statement.

At the end of August, veteran Vatican watcher Andrea Tornielli reported that cardinals and bishops of the CDW voted almost unanimously at their plenary meeting in March “in favor” of 30 proposals aimed at increasing reverence in the liturgy.

Tornielli said the bishops also reaffirmed the importance of receiving Communion on the tongue rather than the hand, and that Cardinal Canizares was studying the possibility of “recovering” the practice of celebrating Mass with the priest facing east. However, there are conflicting reports over whether these last two proposals were included in the propositions that Tornielli said were delivered to Pope Benedict XVI on April 4.

The complete article HERE.

To follow the sequence of events on Reforming the Reform, see Parts ONE and TWO.

Reforming the Reform Part 2

In my first entry on 'Reforming the Reform', a reader alerted me to a ZENIT article where it was said that the Vatican denied the rumors. I didn't interpret it as a denial and it appears I am not alone.

According to Catholic World News:

Despite denials, leading Vatican journalist insists 'reform of the reform' is under discussion

Now Tornielli has raised the stakes, insisting that his piece was accurate. He too notes that the proposals under discussion would not require changes in the liturgical books-- although they might require new instructions to complement those books. (The Hermeneutic of Continuity blog has provided a helpful English translation of Tornielli's new report.) Moreover, he observes, a matter that is merely a topic for discussion today could become an "institutional proposal" in the future. Tornielli sums things up:

Since I have been a vaticanista, I have committed many errors – and I will commit many in the future: but the article in question, believe me, is not among these.

CLICK HERE for the entire article.

Reforming the Reform - 40 Years in the Making

Is it true? Can it be?

The blog Rorate Caeli reports the following, translating today's article about approved reforms of the Mass of Pope Paul VI, from Il Giornale into English:

ROME The document was delivered to the hands of Benedict XVI in the morning of last April 4 by Spanish Cardinal Antonio Cañizares Llovera, Prefect of the Congregation for Divine Worship. It is the result of a reserved vote, which took place on March 12, in the course of a "plenary" session of the dicastery responsible for the liturgy, and it represents the first concrete step towards that "reform of the reform" often desired by Pope Ratzinger. The Cardinals and Bishops members of the Congregation voted almost unanimously in favor of a greater sacrality of the rite, of the recovery of the sense of eucharistic worship, of the recovery of the Latin language in the celebration, and of the remaking of the introductory parts of the Missal in order to put a stop to abuses, wild experimentations, and inappropriate creativity. They have also declared themselves favorable to reaffirm that the usual way of receiving Communion according to the norms is not on the hand, but in the mouth. There is, it is true, and indult which, on request of the [local] episcopates, allows for the distribution of the host [sic] also on the palm of the hand, but this must remain an extraordinary fact. The "Liturgy Minister" of Pope Ratzinger, Cañizares, is also having studies made on the possibility to recover the orientation towards the Orient of the celebrant, at least at the moment of the eucharistic consecration, as it happened in practice before the reform, when both the faithful and the priest faced towards the Cross and the priest therefore turned his back to the assembly.

Those who know Cardinal Cañizares, nicknamed "the small Ratzinger" before his removal to Rome, know that he is disposed to move forward decisively with the project, beginning in fact from what was established by the Second Vatican Council in the liturgical constitution Sacrosanctum Concilium, which was, in reality, exceeded by the post-Conciliar reform which came into forceat the end of the Sixties. The porporato, interviewed by monthly 30Days in recent months, had declared regarding this: "At times change was for the mere sake of changing from a past perceived as negative and outdated. Sometimes the reform was regarded as a break and not as an organic development of Tradition."

For this reason, the "propositiones" voted by the Cardinals and Bishops at the March plenary foresee a return to the sense of sacredness and to adoration, but also a recovery of the celebrations in Latin in the dioceses, at least in the main solemnities, as well as the publication of bilingual Missals - a request made at his time by Paul VI - with the Latin text first.

The proposals of the Congregation, which Cañizares delivered to the Pope, obtaining his approval, are perfectly in line with the idea often expressed by Joseph Ratzinger when he was still a Cardinal, as it is made clear his unpublished words on the liturgy, revealed in advanced by Il Giornale yesterday, and which will be published in the book Davanti al Protagonista (Cantagalli [publisher]), presented beforehand at a congress in Rimini. With a significant nota bene: for the accomplishment of the "reform of the reform", many years will be necessary. The Pope is convinced that hasty steps, as well as to simply drop directives from above, serve no good, with the risk that they may later remain a dead letter. The style of Ratzinger is that of comparison and, above all, of example. As the fact that, for more than a year, whoever approaches the Pope for Communion, have had to kneel down on the kneeler especially placed by the cerimonieri.

Stay tuned. Widespread outbreak of Orthodoxy pending.

UPDATE: Hat tip to +Ponderings+ reader Lee, who noted that the Vatican has denied the report, I provide the following from ZENIT:

VATICAN CITY, AUG. 24, 2009 (Zenit.org).- The Vatican is denying rumors promulgated by some news organizations that announced forthcoming changes in the liturgy.

Father Ciro Benedettini, deputy director of the Vatican press office, clarified that "for the time being there are no institutional proposals for a modification of the liturgical books used at present," Vatican Radio reported.

National Catholic Register who also picked up on the story reported on August 24th the following:

The Register contacted the Congregation of Divine Worshiop this morning to obtain more information about the report, but the officials present were unaware of the “propositiones.” Most officials of the congregation, including Cardinal Canizares, are away on vacation until mid-September.

____________________________

UPDATE:

Click here for the most recent 'Reforming the Reform' entry.

USCCB Offers New Web Page on Roman Missal Update

From the new web page at USSCB:

New Words: A Deeper Meaning, but the Same Mass

The Missale Romanum (the Roman Missal), the ritual text for the celebration of the Mass, was first promulgated by Pope Paul VI in 1970 as the definitive text of the reformed liturgy of the Second Vatican Council. A second edition followed in 1975.

Pope John Paul II issued a revised version of the Missale Romanum during the Jubilee Year 2000. The English translation of the revised Roman Missal is nearing completion, and the Bishops of the United States will vote on the final sections of the text this November. Among other things, the revised edition of the Missale Romanum contains prayers for the observances of recently canonized saints, additional prefaces for the Eucharistic Prayers, additional Votive Masses and Masses and Prayers for Various Needs and Intentions, and some updated and revised rubrics (instructions) for the celebration of the Mass. The English translation of the Roman Missal will also include updated translations of existing prayers, including some of the well–known responses and acclamations of the people.

This website has been prepared to help you prepare for the transition. As this site continues to be expanded, you will find helpful resources for the faithful, for the clergy, and for parish and diocesan leaders.

May this process of the implementation of the revised Roman Missal be a time of deepening, nurturing, and celebrating our faith through our worship and the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy.

"Liturgical language should border on the poetic. Prose bumps along the ground. Poetry soars to the heavens. And our liturgy is already a sharing of the liturgy in heaven." --Bishop Serratelli

Looking Back at 1962: Pre-Vatican Council

I have a stack of old Catholic periodicals and came across this fascinating issue of VIEW: Catholic Comment on the News which is buzzing with talk of a possible change to using the vernacular in the Mass and speculating about other things which may come from the upcoming Vatican Council. Much of what is discussed continues to be discussed nearly fifty years later. New translation of the Mass, hints at ecumenism, Latin v. English -- it is all there. Following are letters of opinion sent to VIEW: Catholic Comment on the News by individuals representing other Catholic publications:

THE MASS IN ENGLISH: A Digest of Catholic Opinion

The Holy See is being petitioned from many quarters to allow greater use of the vernacular in the Mass. The obvious advantage of such a change would be a better understanding of the Liturgy. the whole idea is strongly opposed by some authorities on practical grounds. But polls show that a majority would welcome the change. The question is sure to receive attention of the coming Vatican Council. What the Council decides will be the Council's best judgment of what is best for the faithful.

I'M FOR ENGLISH

What is the case for the use of the vernacular -- English for us -- in the sacred ceremonies and liturgy of the Church?
I feel that the main point in any discussion of replacing Latin with the common tongue of the country involved is this: God understands any language, but His people do not.
Prayer should be a lifting of the mind and heart to God, not a mechanical recitation. How can prayers said in a foreign language, learned by rote, be meaningful?
Our liturgy is not only the praise of God but out most important time of public worship and instruction. It is, moreover, a corporate action in which the people are to unite with the priest. This being true, the use of Latin in our parish liturgy is a considerable stumbling block. The blunt fact is that the overwhelming majority in the ordinary American parish do not know Latin and never will. Our Catholic family is not an educated elite. It is a vast number that includes millions of people who read very little -- certainly not Latin -- and whose principal contact with religion is the Sunday Mass.
Dare we close off that contact , dry up that instruction, make worship a difficult and remote business of fulfilling an obligation, instead of a vigorous, joyful experience, engaging the mind and heart and eye and ear -- the whole man caught up in the whole Christ, praising and adoring Father?

Rev. Joseph T. Nolan
Information
New York, N.Y.

FROM HEART AND MIND

Certainly the congregation no less than the altar boys can learn to make the responses. They could also learn to respond in Chinese in the same fashion and understand the responses no better. Granted that people can get 'some general notions' about what they say or sing, our prayer-life ought not to be something general or vague, something 'seen under water' as one man puts it. Every bit of it should flow from the heart and mind alike.

John L. Murphy
Homiletic and Pastoral Review
New York, N.Y.

UNITY AT MASS

Why all the pros and cons on changing our Latin Mass to English? Let's face the facts. The Church began to use the Latin language at a time when it was practically the only language spoken. They were a lot more reasonable than we are today. Now what language is spoken throughout America? English. I firmly believe every country should change their Mass to whatever language is spoken throughout that country.
Let's not think of ourselves -- born Catholics or converted Catholics. That is selfish. Let's think of our non-Catholic friends who attend Catholic weddings, funerals, dedications and Sunday Masses. They come away from the Church very confused. How many of us can actually come in contact with every one of these people to explain everything? The Mass can be a lesson or instruction to these non-Catholic friends who cannot come or do not want to come to instructions on Catholic religion.
To you who want to stick to the old Latin language: do you drive a chariot? Ninety-nine percent of you are driving new cars, keeping up with the latest styles, modern appliances.
How much unity do we have in our Church when the leader finishes the Gospel in English and the priest is still saying it in Latin? Often, when using the missal, seven or eight pages of silence pass by. For the ones without a missal, a million and one thoughts can go through a person's mind. Some of the time the priest is at the Lord's Prayer, and I've got a couple more pages to go, or some priests read slower, and I'm waiting for the Lord's Prayer. Is that praying in unity? Why have a leader who is the middle man between us and the priest. Let's only have the priest and us, worshipping God together.

Mrs. C. J. Ellsworth
The Oklahoma Courier
Oklahoma City, Okla.

LATIN NOT UNIVERSAL

Latin is the liturgical language of the Latin Rite of the Universal Church. It is not the liturgical language of the Greek Rite, or the Coptic Rite, or the Rumanian Rite.
There are about a dozen tongues used in the liturgy in the various rites of the Church. In every case, those tongues were selected, in the beginning, because they were the tongues of the people in one area or another.
The liturgy in the Western Church, originally Greek, was translated into Latin because the people spoke Latin. It remained in Latin long after the people had ceased to speak Latin and were speaking other tongues.

Catholic Universe Bulletin
Cleveland, Ohio

DISGRUNTLED?

A reader informs me that he will 'begin to have serious doubts about my intelligence' if I do not agree with an article opposing English in the dialog Mass written by Father R. F. Venti and published in the Northern Ontario Register.
Of course, I do not agree with Father Venti, because I think that more use of native tongues in the liturgy would help to bring millions back to the practice of the Faith, and to give the Faith to other millions.
As to having my intelligence doubted, I haven't the slightest objection to that. I hold it in low esteem myself. But my intelligence is not the point at issue; we are discussing English in the Mass.
I disagree with Father Venti on that; but I disagree much more with what he has to say about those who favor English, and with what he reads into what I have written on the subject.
He says that 'one gets the idea' from my columns that 'all Catholics are disgruntled, dissatisfied and disobedient, and that the Mass in Latin as we recite it in our churches is a batch of confusion.'
Never once have I said or suggested that anybody (much less "all Catholics") are disgruntled or disobedient. I have said that many Catholics would prefer English to Latin; if that is being 'dissatisfied,' then they are dissatisfied.
It is sometimes better to be dissatisfied than complacent. but I reject the terms 'disgruntled' and disobedient.' Nobody is disgruntled; and I assert that to ask for English in the Mass is not disobedience. It is obedience.
Pope John has urged us to ask for what we want. He went out of his way to tell lay people to voice their 'expectations and suggestions' for his coming world council, and 'not to doubt that they will find in us a benevolent hearing.'

Joseph Breig
Hawaii Catholic Herald
Honolulu

SPOOF

I know that a translation of our English Bible into Latin would exhilarate those who want to retain Latin in our Roman Catholic liturgy. Some of my priest friends who are Latinists have informed me that Latin is God's own language and, they are shocked if you suggest that the Apostles might have spoken Greek or Hebrew.
Let me tell you (with tongue securely in cheek) some of the wonderful ramifications that would develop from this project for the Bible in Latin. The daily missal for the laity would no longer be published in English but in Latin. The pamphlets on the rack in the rear of the church would be sold neatly packaged -- each pamphlet with its interliner trot in cellophane wrapper.
Latinists claim that Latin gives an air of mystery to the liturgy, so the Sunday sermon likewise, in Latin, could mystify the congregation. In some of our New York parishes it is said that Latin Americans feel ill at ease during the English sermons. So here we would have Latin sermons made-to-order for the latin Americans.
Buried forever would be the controversy over who first gave the Bible to the people in the vernacular -- the Catholics or Luther. The whole concept of a Bible in the vernacular would be a thing of the past. The Word of God would rest undisturbed by the prying eyes of readers who would dare to try to understand God's message to the world.

Rev. John B. Sheerin, C.S.P.
The Catholic Light
Scranton, Pa.

CONVERSATION PIECE

How would the Mass sound in English? You can find out if you live in the Cincinati area. Father Theodore H. Rolfes, S.J., an assistant at St. Xavier's Church, offers a demonstration of the Mass in English and he's looking for opportunities to bring it before parish societies and other Catholic organizations.
Father Rolfes doesn't present his program as a novelty, though it is novel. His primary interest is to stiumlate interest in the true meaning of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. He is convinced, moreover, that if the Holy See extends permission for use fo the language of the people in the Mass, their understanding will be enlarged considerably. But how will ordinary people form intelligent opinion of the worth of English in the liturgy without hearing it?
As Father Rolfes prepares the chalice and its coverings he outlines their uses. An acolyte, meanwhile, puts on cassock and surplice; on the occasion when I was present the acolyte was Charles Brosey, an A. T. and T. supervisor who resides in the St. Vivian's Parish.
Forth they went together, Father Rolfes and Mr. Brosey. After the priest made the sign of the cross in English he began the prayers at the foot of the 'altar.'
"I will go unto the alter of God."
"To God, who gives joy to my youth."
They spoke the words in loud clear tones, and it was something of a shock to hear them. The wrong notion that the language is essential to the Mass dies hard, even after you know it is wrong.
On through the Mass of the Feast of Corpus Christi they continued. (Father Rolfes should have referred to it as the Feast fo the Body of Christ, it occurred to me later.) All the words of the magnificent prayer, for example, came through in the beauty of their sense as well as of their sound -- O God, who has left us a memorial of Thy Passion...
Sure, you can read them in your Missal, but it is curious, isn't it, that we read when we're supposed to be listening? Why would the Church order the priest to say the prayer in an audible voice if no one were expected to listen to him?

Jim Shea
Catholic Telegraph-Register
Cincinnati, Ohio

PARTICIPATION

But one feels that it ought to be recognized now, after four centuries, that the 'rigor mortis' is at least beginning to pass off. A reform of rubrics in the light of subsequent liturgical research is urgently needed. For, as they are, they constitute of the major problems of the practical liturgist who is working to restore active participation of the people. These rubrics were made in the days of the deepest liturgical decadence when there were no participation of the people whatever. And as their purpose was to keep the Mass as it then was, they tend to keep it such that the people cannot participate actively. Any suggestion that the people should now do something is likely to run up against some rubrics.
Until Rome carries through a reform of the rubrics, we have to resort to all sorts of partial expedients which are liturgically unsatisfactory, such as making somebody read the epistle and the gospel in English while the priest reads them in Latin. These expedients are not 'the real thing'; they are efficacious activities in the nave which merely run parallel with the inefficacious activities in the sanctuary -- they are not integrated into the liturgy itself. It is not one thing which is going on, but two.
However, there is hope. the new Holy Saturday rubrics, for instance, do give us 'the real thing' in the congregational candle-lighting and in the vernacular renewal of the baptismal vows. We need many more such reforms. In time, please God, we shall have them. But until we do have them, we have to admit that there is plenty of excuse for the people behaving as 'silent and detached spectators.'

Clifford Howell, S.J.
Worship
Collegeville, Minn.

___________________________

Your comments and opinions are always appreciated at +Ponderings+, Dear Reader. I found it very helpful to read the views prior to the violent pendulum swing that came after the Vatican Council. I'll be pondering it for a while.

New Translation of Roman Missal News: Music

I promised to keep you updated on developments with the progression of the upcoming new English translation of the Roman Missal, so here you go:

ICEL’s work in preparing chant settings of the English translation has been guided by several principles:

• To preserve and recover the tradition of unaccompanied singing in the Roman Rite, since the liturgy “is given a more noble form when . . . celebrated solemnly in song” (Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy Sacrosanctum Concilium, 1963 [hereafter SC] 113);
• To facilitate “full and active participation by all the people,” which is “the aim to be considered before all else” (SC 14);
• To take full account of the accentuation of the English language, since “the nature and laws of each language must be respected” in the adaptation of traditional melodies (Sacred Congregation for Rites, Instruction on Music in the Liturgy Musicam Sacram, 1967, 54);
• To retain vernacular chants now in use where possible, since “there must be no innovations unless the good of the Church genuinely and certainly requires them” (SC 23).

A sample of the updated chants are as follows, some with a very familiar melody:

HERE IS A LINK to ICEL where you will find the nitty gritty on the changes being made in the realm of music for the Mass.

For all +Ponderings+ on the English Translation of the Ordo Missae, click HERE.

Revised Translation of the Ordo Missae

The Revised English translation of the Roman Missal is estimated to be finished by the USCCB in November of 2010. See this September 2008 'Ponderings' entry for my opinion on the matter as well as a comment/question and follow-up which may be of interest to you. The USCCB Committee on Divine Worship has listed 10 Questions on the Revised Translation of the Ordo Missae from the Missale Romanum, editio typica tertia.

You will find the changes in the Missal for the Priest here and the changes for the laity here (both links open .pdf files which you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view). As you will see from both texts, there are quite a bit of changes in the Gloria and the Nicene Creed which will be the most challenging to learn.

If you are planning to buy a new Missal and it costs a great deal of money, consider going with a cheaper version for the next year or two. I subscribe to Magnificat so I should be in super shape until I learn the new prayers. As always, your comments are appreciated. +Catholic Ponderings+ will post any updates as they become available.

CLICK HERE FOR ALL ENTRIES ON THE REVISION

Entire Bible Covered in Three Years?

One of the very common statements I hear over and over again by Catholics is that if you attend every daily Mass plus the Sunday Mass, you will have heard for all intents and purposes, the entire Bible. It is true that the current Lectionary for Mass covers much more Scripture than the Lectionary prior to Vatican II. Let me provide you with some background and statistics comparing pre and post-Vatican II:

• In the Missal Romanum, each Catholic Mass included only two biblical readings, which were normally referred to as "The Epistle" (since the first reading was almost always taken from one of the New Testament letters) and "The Gospel." Readings from the Old Testament were never used on Sundays, but only at the Easter Vigil, the Vigil of Pentecost, the feast of Epiphany and its octave, during Holy Week, and on some weekdays (esp. Ember days, weekdays of Lent, the feasts of some saints, and some votive Masses).

• The bishops assembled at Vatican II declared, "The treasures of the Bible are to be opened up more lavishly so that a richer fare may be provided for the faithful at the table of God's word. In this way the more significant part of the Sacred Scriptures will be read to the people over a fixed number of years" (Sacrosanctum Concilium, #51). The current Lectionary for Mass does indeed offer a "richer fare" of biblical readings during the Eucharistic liturgy than was available before Vatican II. However, since many parts of the Bible (esp. the Old Testament) are still not included in the Lectionary, one must go beyond the readings used at Mass to cover the entire Bible.
• The current Lectionary uses only 13.5% of the Old Testament over the course of Sundays and weekdays, NOT including the Psalms.
• The current Lectionary uses a more impressive 71.5% of the New Testament including Sundays and weekdays. Still a long way from 100%.
  

Another important thing to understand about the Catholic Liturgy, as with most other churches who have liturgical worship, is that we use 'Pericopes' in the Mass. I have encountered many non-Catholic Christians who are unfamiliar with this and because of this there is a great deal of misunderstanding. The definition of pericope is:

n. pl. pe·ric·o·pes or pe·ric·o·pae

An extract or selection from a book, especially a reading from a Scripture that forms part of a church service.

---

[Late Latin, from Greek, a cutting around, section, from perikoptein, to cut around : peri-, peri- + koptein, to cut.]


And from the USCCB: What's the difference between a Bible and a Lectionary?

A Lectionary is composed of the readings and the responsorial psalm assigned for each Mass of the year (Sundays, weekdays, and special occasions). The readings are divided by the day or the theme (baptism, marriage, vocations, etc.) rather than according to the books of the Bible. Introductions and conclusions have been added to each reading. Not all of the Bible is included in the Lectionary.

Individual readings in the Lectionary are called pericopes, from a Greek word meaning a "section" or "cutting." Because the Mass readings are only portions of a book or chapter, introductory phrases, called incipits, are often added to begin the Lectionary reading, for example, "In those days," "Jesus said to his disciples," etc.

Is the Bible really covered over the course of three years? Nope, not even close. Yet the other 'good news' is that many different Catholic editions of the Bible are available and excellent Catholic Bible study materials are popping up all over. I'll list some that come to mind, and will point you to my favorite editions of the Bible here and here. ;)

Ignatius Catholic Bible Study

The Great Adventure: A Journey Through the Bible (very popular at our parish!)

Salvation History: Online Bible Study led by Scott Hahn

Ignorance of Scripture is Ignorance of Christ --St. Jerome

Which Bible is the best one? It has been said thousands of times: THE ONE YOU READ! (P.S. Just be sure it isn't missing books ;) )

What are you waiting for?

FYI: Where Did the Bible Come From? A moment of apologetics from St. Michael's Media: