Roman collects are Roman, not American, and yet they are destined to become prayers expressed in contemporary culture and English idiom. No translator can render a Latin text into contemporary English that has exactly the same meaning, form, nuance, tone and feeling of the original. The translator will always be faced with making choices between legitimate word alternatives. The translator will always be involved in interpreting and adapting to a new grammatical structure and lexicon. This is an important question that raises significant issues.
Liturgical translations have also another requirement.
They must be effective when proclaimed aloud. Some texts must be suited for singing. All liturgical texts are meant to be prayers coming from the heart. ICEL has faced no easy task in presenting to the English-speaking world accurate, dignified and intelligible liturgical texts suitable for public proclamation and singing. When the vernacular was permitted for use in the Roman church's liturgy more than 35 years ago, there was little experience or expertise available in Catholic circles for dealing with the vernacular as a liturgical language.