APEX - As they raise their voices to the wooden rafters during this morning's Mass, replacing old songs and familiar prayers with new ones, the choir and congregation of Saint Andrew the Apostle Catholic Church will, for the first time, be on the same page as every other parishioner in every other Catholic church in the English-speaking world.

Today, the First Sunday in Advent, all Catholic churches that conduct their Masses in English will switch to the Roman Missal, Third Edition. It's a new translation of the original Latin Mass that tweaks the wording of some of the prayers and responses spoken or sung by the congregation and choir and alters nearly all of those led by the priest. By order of the Vatican, the 217,000 Catholics in Eastern North Carolina will use the same words in worship from now on as those in London or Auckland or Toronto.

Though the changes have been more than a decade in the making and English-speaking churches around the world have known for months they would take effect this fall, religious leaders say it can be difficult for people to adapt, especially to alterations in something as comforting as ritual prayer.

"I have this great dream that on November 27 everybody will say the words and it will be just perfect," said Gerard Hall, director of divine worship for the Catholic Diocese of Raleigh. "But we're not perfect. We're creatures of habit, and we are going to want to say the old words."

Hall helped lead 68 workshops throughout the diocese, which includes the half of North Carolina from Alamance County to the coast, working with music ministries, youth leaders, liturgical ministers, Catholic school staffs and congregation members from children to adults. Depending on the audience, the sessions lasted from two hours to two days and generally focused on two questions: What's changing and why?

For people in the congregation, what's changing fits onto a pew card a little larger than a sheet of notebook paper. These church-service cheat sheets have been tucked into the racks that hold hymn books and Bibles at many of the 100 or so churches in the diocese. Parishioners can use them to follow along with each part of the Mass from the greeting to the concluding rites.

The official explanation for the changes is similarly succinct.

"The main reason is to provide a more accurate translation from the original Latin so the church in the United States and England is praying more consistently with the church throughout the world," said Monsignor Jeffrey Ingham of St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church in Southern Pines. "There is also this idea the language is meant in some way to restore a greater sense of the sacred to the presentation of the Mass."

Periodic changes

The Roman Missal - or Missale Romanum, the book containing the prayers, readings and chants used during Mass - was first assembled in the 1200s from several books that contained the individual parts. The missal, first written in Latin, eventually spread from the churches in Rome to those throughout Europe, though different editors and printers made variations to the texts. The church itself ordered other changes throughout the centuries.

Additional changes were ordered by the Second Vatican Council, held between 1962 and 1965, but those didn't result in a new missal until the late 1960s. The Latin version of that eventually was translated into 14 English versions, including the one published in 1983 for use in the United States.

More changes were ordered by Pope John Paul II in 2000. Those include prayers for newly canonized saints, new Masses, prayers for particular needs and some updated instructions for the celebration of Mass.

The new, universal English translation was done by an international commission within the church and approved by the Vatican. The new language is supposed to better preserve the "style" of the original: the way a speaker addresses, praises and pleads to God, and the use of rhetorical devices including rhythm and the concreteness of images.

For example, at the opening and closing of Mass, when the priest says, "The Lord be with you," the congregation has long answered, "And also with you."

Starting today, parishioners will say instead, "And with your spirit."

What the church has referred to as a restoration of the poetry of the Mass, critics have called a heavy-handed move by Vatican officials to demonstrate their power. Readers have vented on the websites of The Washington Post, the National Catholic Reporter and U.S. Catholic, saying the church adopted more arcane language at a time when it needs to become more accessible, and that the desires of English-speaking parishioners had been set aside.

New text, new music

Within the Raleigh Diocese, Hall said, he has heard very little complaint about the new translation, beyond the inconvenience of having to learn it.

Some say they like it.

"A new translation can be a very good thing because it wakes us up," said Ingham, because it's human nature to let the mind wander when reciting something from memory for the thousandth time.

Like every parish, Saint Andrew the Apostle in Apex had a choice when it came to the parts of the Mass that are chanted or sung. It could learn to fit the new words with the old music, or get new music.

Educators say music is one of the easiest way to learn any new material - think of the ABCs song - but learning new words to an old tune can be tricky for adults.

"We decided, 'New text, let's do new music,' " said Cheryl Koller, music director for the church. Just off U.S. 64 near what is now a cluster of auto dealerships, Saint Andrew started 28 years ago when Apex was a mission location with 80 people attending one Mass a week. Now the church has about 3,000 families and holds fives Masses a week.

Almost as soon as the Vatican announced plans for the new English translation, composers and publishers put out new music. Koller said she had dozens of packages of music for Mass from which to choose.

She got the music last spring, and the choir spent part of the summer learning it. In September, they began teaching the congregation. At the beginning of November, the church switched completely to the new music.

"We did it gradually, in baby steps," Koller said. "Any time you change, there's always a little resistance. But we've had a very good response. Our congregation are good singers. They enjoy singing, and have enjoyed learning it. And they're participating."

Koller said she will miss some of the familiar music she sang for 30 or 40 years, but also sees something refreshing in the new music and the other changes to the service.

"This is an awesome chance for us to really focus ourselves on the prayers that we're saying and to really listen with our minds and our hearts," she said. "We do a lot of things in life automatically, and sometimes that can happen on Sunday mornings, too. This is a good opportunity for many of us to renew our faith."

Koller hasn't yet put the old music in the recycling bin, thinking some of her choir members might like copies as keepsakes.

Ann Graf, who sings soprano in the Saint Andrew choir, doesn't want one. The old music served beautifully, she said, but it's time to move on.

"We like variety," Graf said of her fellow choir members. "And anyway, it's not like we have a choice."