Hand Missal for Sacramentary?

[phj5001]

Is a priest allowed to use a hand Missal (Daily Roman Missal, St. Joseph Weekday Missal) in place of a full-size altar missal when celebrating the mass away from a church (i.e. on a hike with youth like St. John Bosco) provided he has all the furnishings and vestments needed otherwise?

 

[Maximilian75]

I cant see why not…
@Frdavid96
@Don_Ruggero
@(name removed by moderator)
@buc_fan33
(name removed by moderator)ut?

 

[FrDavid96]

Is a priest allowed to use a hand Missal (Daily Roman Missal, St. Joseph Weekday Missal) in place of a full-size altar missal when celebrating the mass away from a church (i.e. on a hike with youth like St. John Bosco) provided he has all the furnishings and vestments needed otherwise?

It’s not technically “allowed.” Meaning that there’s no specific rule that says “this can be done.”

Instead, it’s a matter of necessity. By longstanding custom, when priests travel, we’re permitted a certain license to make some minor substitutions (like a portable altar).

The rubrics do say that the Missal is a required item for Mass, but that is not to be taken so strictly as to mean that a smaller or portable Missal cannot be used while traveling. The law does not bind in cases of necessity. The requirement to have a Missal is far outweighed (sometimes literally, such as when hiking) by the necessity of being able to bring everything along.

 

[FrDavid96]

By the way, even the Vatican prints a travel Missal.

 

[Don_Ruggero]

Is a priest allowed to use a hand Missal (Daily Roman Missal, St. Joseph Weekday Missal) in place of a full-size altar missal when celebrating the mass away from a church (i.e. on a hike with youth like St. John Bosco) provided he has all the furnishings and vestments needed otherwise?

The hand missal is precisely what I use in my portable Mass kit.

 

[Maximilian75]

Is there any real distinction between the two Missals? Are altar Missals blessed in any special way?

 

[FrDavid96]

Is there any real distinction between the two Missals? Are altar Missls blessed in any special way?

No. Not really.

Part of the value is ascetics. The Missal, like everything else at Mass, should be dignified. There’s something very lacking in (for example) a small paperback book intended to be tossed into the trash after a few weeks.

Part of the distinction is size. A travel missal might not have all the special prayers (like the Easter Vigil, perhaps). They have their purpose.

 

[Augustinian]

I cant see why not…

Maybe its harder for the priest to read, while doing the other liturgical action? Its been my understanding since I was a kid, that the priests are required to read the appropriate prayers during a mass- they aren’t allowed to recite them from memory.

 

[phj5001]

Would the Priest be also permitted to forgo the chasuble and celebrate in a alb and stole?

 

[phil19034]

Would the Priest be also permitted to forgo the chasuble and celebrate in a alb and stole?

I’m not a priest, but I’m 99.5% positive the answer is yes; as I have been to Mass several times celebrated outside a Church and often see the priest only in alb & stole. And if memory serves me correctly, I THINK I may have been to one where the priest was only wearing a stole. But my memory might be betraying me, as I was only 14 or 15 at the time.

 

[FrDavid96]

Would the Priest be also permitted to forgo the chasuble and celebrate in a alb and stole?

Grey area.

We’re actually not supposed to do that, not even when traveling or for a Mass outdoors or in a school or any other place outside of a church.

The bishop can dispense from the requirement, though. Some do that when they issue a pagella of faculties to a priest. (a letter outlining what he can or cannot do).

The priest can also use the principle (as above) that the law doesn’t bind in an impossible situation. So if a priest is going on a 2 week backpacking trip, he might legitimately say that it’s an impossible situation. Same for a situation like a high-security prison (although that one is more likely to have an explicit dispensation from the bishop).

The idea of “traveling” all by itself doesn’t mean he can disregard the vestments. If we have the opportunity to celebrate Mass in a church, then a chasuble will be available. That would be true even if it’s a foreign country and I do need to bring my own missal. Using a travel missal is permitted, but omitting the chasuble is not.

So this depends on the circumstances. We should wear full vestments, and we’re obligated to do everything reasonably possible to make that happen; but still not if it creates an undue burden.