New Divine Office texts for new saints.
            QUESTION from Lee on May 22, 2004

While it is true that the newest saints have been noted in US ordos and calendars, such as the ones available on the US Bishops' website...and while it is true that one is always allowed to use the Commons when one does not have access to the propers of a given saint...the fact remains that the newest saints have not yet had their Office texts translated into English. The last Office supplement was published for the US in 1992. No saint added since then (about 20 in all) had had their Office made available in English translation. One could explore the US Bishops' web site for eternity, and not find the texts, because they are not there. It is regrettable, but true. All of them exist in the official Latin edition of the Divine Office. The other texts found in the Latin, but not in the English, principally involve the antiphons for the Benedictus and Magnificat. In the Latin edition, there is a 3-year cycle of these to reflect the day's gospel. In the English, for example, there is only 1 cycle of antiphons, so often the antiphon has nothing to do with the day's gospel at Mass. The Latin corrects this anomaly. On the issue of S. Jane de Chantal. Universally her day was 12 December, but in the US it was moved to 18 August because of BVM Guadeloupe. Because BVM Guadeloupe is celebrated so widely in the world, Rome officially moved S. Jane to 12 August in 2001 for the universal church. A similar situation has seen S. Camillus move from 14 to 18 July, to make room for Bl. Kateri in the US.