The Translation of the Revised Roman Missal - Diocese of Paterson

The Orations of the Roman Rite
32. Such characteristics are often seen in the language of the Roman Rite, but especially
in the orations “which exhibit a capacity to transcend the limits of their original
situations so as to become the prayers of Christians in any time or place place” . In the
orations of the Roman Rite, and principally in the collects, can be seen a pattern
recognizable from pagan antiquity (without denying some biblical parallels):
the address to God;
a relative clause of description, joined to the address;
a petition
a fuller description of the petition or an expression of its motivation, motivation
a devout closure, expressing hope of divine action.
Each element is meant to flow from the previous one, so that most orations are
comprised of a single Latin sentence whose syntax allows each part clear expression,
but carefully subordinates all of its elements to a reliance upon God. These ancient
orations are often complex, p but with a unity ywhich derives from the thought g of the
speaker. In these and other ways, the Roman tendency to use “extended subordination”
is clearly evident to the translator of liturgical texts.
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