The Grail Psalms refers to various editions of an English translation of the

Book of Psalms The Book of Psalms ( , ; ; ; ; , in Islam also called Zabur, ), also known as the Psalter, is the first book of the third section of the Tanakh (Hebrew Bible) called ('Writings'), and a book of the Old Testament. The book is an anthology of ...

, first published completely as ''The Psalms: A New Translation'' in 1963 by the Ladies of the Grail. The translation was modeled on the French '' La Bible de Jérusalem'', according to the school of Fr. Joseph Gelineau: a simple vernacular, arranged in sprung rhythm to be suitable for liturgical song and chant (see: Gelineau psalmody). All official

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

English translations of the

Liturgy of the Hours The Liturgy of the Hours (), Divine Office (), or ''Opus Dei'' ("Work of God") are a set of Catholic prayers comprising the canonical hours, often also referred to as the breviary, of the Latin Church. The Liturgy of the Hours forms the official ...

use the Grail Psalms.

History

The Grail Psalms were already popular before the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the or , was the 21st and most recent ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. The council met each autumn from 1962 to 1965 in St. Peter's Basilica in Vatican City for session ...

revised the liturgies of the

Roman rite The Roman Rite () is the most common ritual family for performing the ecclesiastical services of the Latin Church, the largest of the ''sui iuris'' particular churches that comprise the Catholic Church. The Roman Rite governs Rite (Christianity) ...

. Because the Council called for more liturgical use of the

vernacular Vernacular is the ordinary, informal, spoken language, spoken form of language, particularly when perceptual dialectology, perceived as having lower social status or less Prestige (sociolinguistics), prestige than standard language, which is mor ...

instead of

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

, and also for more singing and chanting (as opposed to the silent Low Mass and privately recited Divine Office, which were the predominantly celebrated forms of the Roman rite before the Council), the Grail Psalms were utilised as the official liturgical Psalter by most of the English-speaking world. The Grail Psalms were utilized by the

International Commission on English in the Liturgy The International Commission on English in the Liturgy (ICEL) is a commission set up by a number of episcopal conferences of English-speaking countries for the purpose of providing English translations of the liturgical books of the Roman Rite, ...

in their translation of ''The Liturgy of the Hours'' in 1973. They were also utilized, with some minor alterations, in a parallel translation of the Liturgy of the Hours titled ''The Divine Office'' in 1974. As these are the only two officially recognized

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

translations of the

canonical hours In the practice of Christianity, canonical hours mark the divisions of the day in terms of Fixed prayer times#Christianity, fixed times of prayer at regular intervals. A book of hours, chiefly a breviary, normally contains a version of, or sel ...

in English, the Grail became the ''de facto'' liturgical Psalter. Some

Episcopal Conference An episcopal conference, often also called a bishops’ conference or conference of bishops, is an official assembly of the bishops of the Catholic Church in a given territory. Episcopal conferences have long existed as informal entities. The fir ...

s, such as that of

England and Wales England and Wales () is one of the Law of the United Kingdom#Legal jurisdictions, three legal jurisdictions of the United Kingdom. It covers the constituent countries England and Wales and was formed by the Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542. Th ...

, also adopted the Grail for the Responsorial Psalms in the

Lectionary A lectionary () is a book or listing that contains a collection of scripture readings appointed for Christianity, Christian or Judaism, Jewish worship on a given day or occasion. There are sub-types such as a "gospel lectionary" or evangeliary, ...

for Mass. The Ruthenian Catholic Church adopted the Grail Psalms for chanting in 2007. A separate edition of the Grail Psalms, revised with

inclusive language Inclusive language is a language style that seeks to avoid expressions that its proponents perceive as expressing or implying ideas that are sexist, racist, or otherwise biased, prejudiced, or insulting to particular group(s) of people; and i ...

, was produced in 1986. It was expressly forbidden for liturgical use. The 1994 ICEL Psalter issued for study and comment was another alternative to the Grail Psalms, but never approved for liturgical use. The Imprimatur to this text was later revoked. In 2001,

Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II (born Karol Józef Wojtyła; 18 May 19202 April 2005) was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 16 October 1978 until Death and funeral of Pope John Paul II, his death in 2005. In his you ...

promulgated Promulgation is the formal proclamation or the declaration that a new statutory or administrative law is enacted after its final approval. In some jurisdictions, this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect. After a new law i ...

the encyclical '' Liturgiam authenticam'', which called for a more literal translation of liturgical texts. This led to an interest in updating the Grail. In 2008, Conception Abbey completed a wide-scale revision in accordance with this instruction, published under the title ''The Revised Grail Psalms''. This version is used in the edition of ''The Liturgy of the Hours'' published by Paulines Publications Africa, now promulgated for use in every Bishops' Conference of Africa. In 2010, the

Holy See The Holy See (, ; ), also called the See of Rome, the Petrine See or the Apostolic See, is the central governing body of the Catholic Church and Vatican City. It encompasses the office of the pope as the Bishops in the Catholic Church, bishop ...

granted of ''The Revised Grail Psalms'' with certain modifications; this modified edition is the one in force for several Bishops' Conferences including the

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) is the episcopal conference of the Catholic Church in the United States. Founded in 2001 after the merger of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops (NCCB) and United States Catholic C ...

. In the General Assembly of the USCCB of November 2014, the U.S. Bishops voted to adopt a further revision of the ''Revised Grail Psalms''. In 2019 the USCCB acquired the rights to the Revised Grail from the monks of Conception Abbey, and released a new revision titled ''Abbey Psalms and Canticles'', which "will gradually be incorporated into the Church’s official liturgical books."

Example comparison between the Grail (1963) and Revised Grail (2010)

From Psalm 63 (62):2–9.

Notes

References

External links

The Grail SocietyOnline Liturgy of the Hours using the 1963 Grail PsalmsConception Abbey''The Revised Grail Psalms'' online, GIA Publications
{{Subject bar , portal1= Bible , portal2= Catholicism Bible translations into English Psalters 1963 non-fiction books