Just after writing my last post I came across this ‘Translator’s note’ at the beginning of a 1954 edition of ‘Introduction to the Devout Life’ by St François de Sales. Fr Michael Day, an Oratorian, writes:
The present translation into simple, straightforward, contemporary English is an attempt to make this work of living devotion more widely accessible. A translation into seventeenth-century English, or in an archaic style, would give it an air of unreality; too literal a translation would be no true translation and do no service to the original: on the other hand a certain freedom in translation might be mistaken for a paraphrase. The translator is concerned primarily with the thought of the original writer and with the problem of expressing that thought as clearly as possible; not only the words and phrases, but the very thought itself must be expressed in valid terminology; he is dealing with words as signs, and must use valid signs, signs which are valid here and now; he must abandon signs which were once valid but are so no longer. In the following work every effort has been made to use such valid terminology in a faithful and clear translation of an original which is indeed “a treasure of devotion”.
About Scott Anderson
Formerly an Anglican priest (ordained 1975) received into the Catholic Church in February 2012, and ordained to the Diaconate on 27th July 2013. I took early retirement, and divide my time between London and northern France. I am deeply committed to the Ordinariate as a gift of the Holy Spirit in the search for unity. Like many Ordinariate members I feel a personal gratitude to Pope Emeritus Benedict, together with loyalty to our Holy Father, Pope Francis. My blog tries to make a small contribution to the growth of the Ordinariate by asking questions (and proposing some answers) about the 'Anglican Patrimony'.
I have always been fascinated by the whole issue of growth and decline, and therefore concerned for appropriate means of evangelisation in western Europe. I believe that the Holy Spirit is constantly renewing the People of God and that we must be open to him.
On Saturday 19th October 2013, I was ordained to the Priesthood at Most Precious Blood, Borough, by the Most Revd Peter Smith, Archbishop of Southwark, for the service of the Ordinariate of our Lady of Walsingham. I continued to serve the Ordinariate group and Parish at Most Precious Blood until the end of 2014. Subsequently, I helped in the care of the Ordinariate Groups at Hemel Hempstead and Croydon, and in the Archdiocese of Southwark, until the beginning of September 2015. With the agreement of my Ordinary, , the Bishop of Amiens appointed me Administrator of the Parish of Notre Dame des Etangs (Pont Remy) in Picardie, France.
After nine years as parish priest, with wonderful and supportive parishioners, I decided that the time had come to retire and return to the UK. A nasty accident four years ago and contracting COVID has left me physically rather feeble! I shall be ever grateful for the years in France, a wonderful ending to the years of parish ministry. So here I am back in the UK, taking a long rest, setting up home, coping with all the new Safeguarding procedures - and wondering what next.
Ordinariate Pilgrim 