By Florida Catholic staff - Florida Catholic
WASHINGTON, D.C. | Beginning this Ash Wednesday, the faithful may detect a change as the priest concludes a prayer. Instead of saying “in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever,” he will say, “in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, for ever and ever.”
The change was approved by the U.S. bishops in response to a May 2020 letter from the Congregation for Divine Worship to the English-speaking bishops regarding the concluding doxology of the Collects in the Roman Missal (which also appear in other liturgical books).
The Congregation pointed out that the “one God” translation is incorrect because there is no mention of “one” in the Latin, and “Deus” in the Latin text refers to Christ. The correct translation is already reflected in the Missal in other languages as well as English translations of the Missal used prior to the Second Vatican Council.
ICEL, the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, pointed out the discrepancy while working on the translation of the Missal currently in use, but was told to retain the use of “one God.” The change has now been made and approved by the Congregation, not just for the U.S. bishops but also for the bishops of England and Wales, Ireland, and Canada.