Difference Between GIRM & RUBRICS?

[Genesius]

I am a fairly new Catholic and I have heard of these two resources. I know that GIRM stands for the General Instruction of the Roman Mass or something like that, and it has to do with things in the mass.

I have also heard of the ‘Rubrics’, and from what I can gather it is similar. What is the difference in the two?

Furthermore, how would Canon Law fit into the life of the Church? Would that also address issues concerning the mass, or would it concern other issues such as those related to marriage, anulments, etc.?

Thank you for your answers in advance.

Godbless.

 

[Linda_Marie]

The GIRM tells us how to conduct Mass in the various circumstances, Sunday Mass in Ordinary Time, in Lent, in Advent, Funeral Masses, Nuptial Masses, Feast Days, Holy Thursday, Palm Sunday, Easter Vigil, etc.

In addition to the GIRM is the Roman Missal. The Missal has the readings and the prayers to be used for the various Masses. In this book, there are short instructions written in red letters. These are the rubrics. They would be things like (bow your head), or (kneel) or some similar instructions for the priest.

The new English translation of the GIRM approved for use in Australia can be found here.

Canon law binds the Church. It can be found here if you are interested in reading it. This is the Table of Contents so you will be able to see for yourself what it covers.

Hope this helps.

 

[FrDavid96]

I am a fairly new Catholic and I have heard of these two resources. I know that GIRM stands for the General Instruction of the Roman Mass or something like that, and it has to do with things in the mass.

I have also heard of the ‘Rubrics’, and from what I can gather it is similar. What is the difference in the two?

Furthermore, how would Canon Law fit into the life of the Church? Would that also address issues concerning the mass, or would it concern other issues such as those related to marriage, anulments, etc.?

Thank you for your answers in advance.

Godbless.

Rubrics is simply a general word to refer to the directions the Church provides for what is done at Mass or any other service. It comes from the fact that these are written in red letters so that the priest can easily notice the difference between what is “said” and what is “done;” it’s a latin word that was (and is) used to mean “the red ink.”

The rubrics are printed in the Sacramentary (the official book of the Mass–the big red book you see the priest reading from), but they are also found in the GIRM (but I’ve never seen a printing that uses red ink since there’s realy no purpose for it here).

The GIRM is the set of instructions for what is done at Mass, while the Sacramentary contains the actual words used at every Mass throughout the year, as well as brief rubrics to “remind” the priest what the GIRM says in more detail.

Canon law is the entire code of laws for the Catholic Church. It provides a basic outline of the sacraments (including some very important aspects of them) but for the most part, it doesn’t deal with the specific words or actions of the Mass or any other Sacrament. Those matters are dealt with in the liturgical laws. Each Sacrament has it’s own book of words and ritual approved by the Church.

The laws dealing with marriage, including annulments, where people can get married, etc. are in canon law, but the actual ritual for celebrating the marriage is in the “Rite of Marriage.”

 

[Genesius]

The GIRM tells us how to conduct Mass in the various circumstances, Sunday Mass in Ordinary Time, in Lent, in Advent, Funeral Masses, Nuptial Masses, Feast Days, Holy Thursday, Palm Sunday, Easter Vigil, etc.

In addition to the GIRM is the Roman Missal. The Missal has the readings and the prayers to be used for the various Masses. In this book, there are short instructions written in red letters. These are the rubrics. They would be things like (bow your head), or (kneel) or some similar instructions for the priest.

The new English translation of the GIRM approved for use in Australia can be found here.

Canon law binds the Church. It can be found here if you are interested in reading it. This is the Table of Contents so you will be able to see for yourself what it covers.

Hope this helps.

Thank you, Linda Marie. I found the links to be very helpful and I saved the canon law link to my aol toolbar.

 

[Genesius]

Rubrics is simply a general word to refer to the directions the Church provides for what is done at Mass or any other service. It comes from the fact that these are written in red letters so that the priest can easily notice the difference between what is “said” and what is “done;” it’s a latin word that was (and is) used to mean “the red ink.”

The rubrics are printed in the Sacramentary (the official book of the Mass–the big red book you see the priest reading from), but they are also found in the GIRM (but I’ve never seen a printing that uses red ink since there’s realy no purpose for it here).

The GIRM is the set of instructions for what is done at Mass, while the Sacramentary contains the actual words used at every Mass throughout the year, as well as brief rubrics to “remind” the priest what the GIRM says in more detail.

Canon law is the entire code of laws for the Catholic Church. It provides a basic outline of the sacraments (including some very important aspects of them) but for the most part, it doesn’t deal with the specific words or actions of the Mass or any other Sacrament. Those matters are dealt with in the liturgical laws. Each Sacrament has it’s own book of words and ritual approved by the Church.

The laws dealing with marriage, including annulments, where people can get married, etc. are in canon law, but the actual ritual for celebrating the marriage is in the “Rite of Marriage.”

Thank you for your very thorough answer, Fr. David.