16th Sunday after Pentecost

In the extraordinary form of the Mass, we use the "old calendar", and today is the 16th Sunday after Pentecost. In the ordinary form (the Novus Ordo), the "new calendar" is used, and this is the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time. The readings differ for the two forms, as do the prayers.

On his blog, What Does the Prayer Really Say, Fr. John Zuhlsdorf regularly examines the translation of the prayers of the Sunday Mass, especially the collect (or "opening prayer" as it is often referred to in the ordinary form). Today, Fr. Z examines the collect of the 1962 Mass.

The following is from Fr. Z's blog; go there to read the full article, which includes details about the history of the prayer, the Latin words used and their extended meanings, and more.

COLLECT (1962MR):

Tua nos, quaesumus, Domine, gratia
semper et praeveniat et sequatur,
ac bonis operibus iugiter praestet esse intentos.

LITERAL WDTPRS TRANSLATION:

We beg, O Lord, that Your grace
may always both go before us and follow after,
and hence continuously grant us to be intent on good works.

On the 28th Sunday of Ordinary Time you who frequent parishes where only English is used will hear the following lame-duck version for the LAST TIME next week.  It is a nice little prayer for use on a grade school playground.
 :
OBSOLETE ICEL (1973)

Lord,
our help and guide,
make your love the foundation of our lives.
May our love for you express itself
in our eagerness to do good for others.

Yes… I did a double-take too.

NEW CORRECTED ICEL (2011):
May your grace, O Lord, we pray,
at all times go before us and follow after
and make us always determined
to carry out good works.