In 1999, Blessed Pope John Paul II wrote a letter to artists. In this letter, John Paul used this quote from Dostoyevsky’s The Idiot: “Beauty will save the world”.
As I continue on this earthly pilgrimage, I believe that claim more and more every day. Because I truly believe this, Beauty is another reason that I am super excited for the 3rd Edition of the Roman Missal.
Before we get into examples of the beauty of the new translations, we should probably explore more closely what exactly Beauty is. Okay, let’s be honest, Beauty is not a concept that can easily be defined - although I do hope to explore this topic for my Master’s Thesis. However, I would like to posit that beauty is an encounter, in some genuine way, with the Divine. As Pope Benedict recently said, it “opens the door to the infinite”.
In this sense, we cannot speak about Beauty without speaking about Truth. In 2002, then Cardinal Ratzinger had this to say about Beauty:
Whoever believes in God, in the God who manifested himself, precisely in the altered appearance of Christ crucified as love to the end, knows that beauty is truth and truth beauty.
This is what beauty is. Beauty is an encounter with Truth Himself, this is why I believe Beauty will save the world, and this is exactly why I’m excited about the beauty in the new translations.
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