Having your own missal: a 35-year tradition?

[valient_Lucy]

Everyone should read The Stripping of the Altars, which is a book about the Catholic religion in England before the Reformation, and the changes made after it. In the Middle Ages, people went to Mass to adore the Blessed Sacrament. The high point of the Mass for the layman was the elevation of the Host at the Mass. In fact, it was a commonly held belief that anyone who saw the Host would not die that day.

One of the funniest aspects of this devotion was the fact that the priests were careful to stagger the start time of Masses at the various altars around larger churches. (In larger churches, there would be side altars so that a number of priests could say Mass at the same time.) The priests were careful to stagger the elevation of the Host, because frequently, upon hearing the Sanctus bells signaling the impending consecration, the laity would stampede around the church, so that they could witness multiple elevations in one day. What can I say? Mass in the Middle Ages was a lot more fun.

Some of the wealthier people in those days did have books, but they used them in the same manner they would have used holy medals, statues, paintings, relics, etc. The lay people also focused on the power of blessed objects to ward off evil and cure diseases. (Apparently, it was believed that drinking holy water would cure hemerrhoids.) The lay people did know about their faith; if you read the Medieval Miracle Plays that were performed by the guilds every Corpus Christi, you realize the people actually learned a lot about their faith. But they didn’t learn it through books, and they also had a different perspective about various aspects of the faith. So, would they have understood the prayers at the Mass? No, probably not to a great extent. Did that bother them? Probably not.

As a writer said, “When I fly, I don’t need to know everything the pilot is doing to know that he’s keeping us in the air and getting us to our destination.”

 

[TrueLight]

Everyone should read The Stripping of the Altars, which is a book about the Catholic religion in England before the Reformation, and the changes made after it. In the Middle Ages, people went to Mass to adore the Blessed Sacrament. The high point of the Mass for the layman was the elevation of the Host at the Mass. In fact, it was a commonly held belief that anyone who saw the Host would not die that day.

One of the funniest aspects of this devotion was the fact that the priests were careful to stagger the start time of Masses at the various altars around larger churches. (In larger churches, there would be side altars so that a number of priests could say Mass at the same time.) The priests were careful to stagger the elevation of the Host, because frequently, upon hearing the Sanctus bells signaling the impending consecration, the laity would stampede around the church, so that they could witness multiple elevations in one day. What can I say? Mass in the Middle Ages was a lot more fun.

Some of the wealthier people in those days did have books, but they used them in the same manner they would have used holy medals, statues, paintings, relics, etc. The lay people also focused on the power of blessed objects to ward off evil and cure diseases. (Apparently, it was believed that drinking holy water would cure hemerrhoids.) The lay people did know about their faith; if you read the Medieval Miracle Plays that were performed by the guilds every Corpus Christi, you realize the people actually learned a lot about their faith. But they didn’t learn it through books, and they also had a different perspective about various aspects of the faith. So, would they have understood the prayers at the Mass? No, probably not to a great extent. Did that bother them? Probably not.

Very good post.

Do we need to understand every word that is being said? No.

What we need to understand is the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass and that Jesus said we should do this in remembrance of this. We should understand the reverence we should have for the real presence and that while “we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”

About the Catholic faith in general
We should understand what is a mortal sin and what is not and strive to not commit mortal sins. We should understand that we need to confess all mortal sins so as not to put our souls in danger.

We should understand that not attending mass is a grave sin.

We should know the ten commandments so that we do not sin gravely against our Lord.

We should understand that the soul is immortal and that Jesus will return to judge the living and the dead. We should understand that there is a Heaven, Purgatory and Hell.

Everything else is butter.

I am sure there are a lot of Saints in heaven who were uneducated when they were on earth, yet they had the faith of little children and now they understand it all.

 

[valient_Lucy]

I am sure there are a lot of Saints in heaven who were uneducated when they were on earth, yet they had the faith of little children and now they understand it all.

I’m glad you mentioned the saints. St. Joan of Arc never read a Missal in her life; she never read anything in her life. She was illiterate. She wasn’t alone. Virtually all the saints in the Middle Ages, canonized or uncanonized, were illiterate.

 

[ProVobis]

I’m glad you mentioned the saints. St. Joan of Arc never read a Missal in her life; she never read anything in her life. She was illiterate. She wasn’t alone. Virtually all the saints in the Middle Ages, canonized or uncanonized, were illiterate.

So that brings us back to the original question: Does ignorance guarantee salvation?

 

[valient_Lucy]

So that brings us back to the original question: Does ignorance guarantee salvation?

No, ignorance does not guarantee salvation. And knowledge doesn’t guarantee salvation either.

However, being illiterate is not the same thing as being ignorant. Read the Miracle Plays that were performed in the High Middle Ages. The people knew their faith; they just didn’t learn it at Mass, and they didn’t learn it from the Missals. So what?

 

[Carolus_Martell]

Well St Joan, besides being a believer was inspired by the Holy Spirit…that pretty much trumps everything.

I’m just throwing it out for discussion that missals became more popular as literacy rates increased within the formerly agrarian population. Before the days of radio, TV even newspapers to have a child sent to school that could read was a special blessing for the entire family.

If you can accept that we could extrapolate that stat and reasonably conclude that God fearing people would also want to worship God on a** daily ** basis. Thus then the family missal was purchased and read aloud, like some of us might make do with a ‘spiritual communion’ when unable to attend mass.

Folks that love God just want to know more than they’re exposed to on Sunday. To think that we as Catholics all read the same readings all over the world is quite an achievement, imo anyway.

 

[valient_Lucy]

Well St Joan, besides being a believer was inspired by the Holy Spirit…that pretty much trumps everything.

I’m just throwing it out for discussion that missals became more popular as literacy rates increased within the formerly agrarian population. Before the days of radio, TV even newspapers to have a child sent to school that could read was a special blessing for the entire family.

If you can accept that we could extrapolate that stat and reasonably conclude that God fearing people would also want to worship God on a** daily ** basis. Thus then the family missal was purchased and read aloud, like some of us might make do with a ‘spiritual communion’ when unable to attend mass.

Folks that love God just want to know more than they’re exposed to on Sunday. To think that we as Catholics all read the same readings all over the world is quite an achievement, imo anyway.

Excellent post. If you think about it, having a Missal hundreds of years ago was kind of like having EWTN. Not everyone in the world has EWTN; not everyone has cable. I don’t. Many Catholics in the world don’t have a TV. That doesn’t mean they don’t learn their faith or worship God. They just don’t have EWTN.

 

[valient_Lucy]

It’s just a shame that they couldn’t possibly unite themselves to the priest’s prayers 100%, because they had no idea what he was saying particularly. Only priests had access to the missals, so unless you stood at the front and had really good ears, how were you supposed to know which point he was at, say, in the Canon? **He might have been praying for the Pope/Bishop, and you’d be praying for the dead. **

So what?

 

[ProVobis]

However, being illiterate is not the same thing as being ignorant.

Fair enough. But then you’re putting one’s total knowledge coming from word of mouth, which itself could be ignorant, no? I’m not saying it was, I don’t even know the saint, but am just voicing the possibility. Actually I don’t know what the purpose of bringing up an opinion (or accusation) that someone is illiterate serves. Obviously before the printing press there weren’t as many things to read back in those days so the illiterate may have had no choice except to listen to word of mouth. Not reading something is not the same thing as having nothing to read. Just saying. I won’t pursue the matter further as I actually agree with much of what you say.

 

[ProVobis]

Excellent post. If you think about it, having a Missal hundreds of years ago was kind of like having EWTN. Not everyone in the world has EWTN; not everyone has cable. I don’t. Many Catholics in the world don’t have a TV. That doesn’t mean they don’t learn their faith or worship God. They just don’t have EWTN.

Don’t need cable for EWTN, although your point is taken.

ewtn.com/newMediaPlayer/mediaplayer300.htm

 

[valient_Lucy]

Don’t need cable for EWTN, although your point is taken.

ewtn.com/newMediaPlayer/mediaplayer300.htm

Not everyone has access to the internet, or a computer. We do in the West, but there are plenty of Catholics in countries like Haiti or in Africa who do not have the money for such luxuries.

 

[valient_Lucy]

Fair enough. But then you’re putting one’s total knowledge coming from word of mouth, which itself could be ignorant, no?

It could be ignorant, but there’s no guarantee that something written in a book or in a newspaper is correct. We’ve all seen things written in the newspaper or in books about the faith that are inaccurate. I’ve seen a historical book (about the role of the queen in Chess) that spent an entire chapter talking about the role of Mariolatry in the Catholic Church.

 

[Corki]

So what?

As long as the priest and the lay people were joining their prayers together, it didn’t matter if they were in “synch”.

 

[Paxvobis]

I am a big fan of missals and following along with the prayers of the priest but if I may say so, one does not need a missal to offer up the sacrifice of the Mass in union with the priest. I usually finish the Canon much earlier than the priest and this permits me to focus on Christ crucified and to offer him up for an intention. This time of private prayer is one of my favorite points in the Mass.

Therefore, while I think it’s unfortunate that the laity weren’t able to follow along with the priest, I think it’s unfair to say that the people were just sitting in the Church oblivious for an hour a week. They were praying just as we pray, just not with the same words.

 

[Phemie]

I am a big fan of missals and following along with the prayers of the priest but if I may say so, one does not need a missal to offer up the sacrifice of the Mass in union with the priest. I usually finish the Canon much earlier than the priest and this permits me to focus on Christ crucified and to offer him up for an intention. This time of private prayer is one of my favorite points in the Mass.

Therefore, while I think it’s unfortunate that the laity weren’t able to follow along with the priest, I think it’s unfair to say that the people were just sitting in the Church oblivious for an hour a week. They were praying just as we pray, just not with the same words.

The only annoying part of the new translation to me is having to have a missal to be able to give the proper responses. It goes totally against the way I do things at Mass.

I suppose if I attended an EF Mass I’d want a Missal – I know I did when I was a kid but I think that was because having one of those zipped up books was a ‘grown up’ thing. Since I attend the OF and pretty much have the prayers memorized, I recite them in my head as the priest is saying them. It will probably take me a while to be able to do that with the upcoming changes, but I’ll still be listening to what the celebrant says and responding to that rather than praying my own prayers.

 

[ProVobis]

As long as the priest and the lay people were joining their prayers together, it didn’t matter if they were in “synch”.

Good point. Some people are quick, some are slow. They may form cadences in unison, but do they think in unison?

Rhetorical question.

 

[MarkThompson]

Regarding the ability of average folks in this time period to speak and understand Latin, I thought this item from the 1901 volume of the American Ecclesiastical Review was of interest. The Review ran, in each issue, a section answering questions submitted by priests concerning any number of rubrical, historical, ecclesiastical topics and other miscellanea. They’re actually quite fascinating to read. In this issue it was asked whether the Leonine Prayers were to be said in Latin or in the vernacular. The answer was given:
Resp. The rubric that accompanied the decree of the Sovereign Pontiff with regard to the saying of the prayers after every low Mass, stated that the prayers were to be recited alternatim cum populo, that is, the congregation is to respond and take part in the prayers. Since the faithful outside the Latin countries would as a rule be unable to answer the Salve Regina, and the Ave Maria, in Latin, the obvious sense of the rubric is that these prayers are to be said in the vulgar tongue. Such is actually the interpretation of the Roman periodical, Ephemerides Liturgicae, which replies to the question : “Qua lingua, h. e., utrum Latina aut vernacula (preces praedictae sunt recitandae)?” "In what language, that is, whether in Latin or the vernacular (the aforesaid prayers are to be recited)?] as follows, “Lingua vernacula alternatim cum populo adstante.” “In the vernacular alternatim with the people standing present.”]
The general faithful were unable to say the second half of a Hail Mary in Latin? Ouch.

 

[roadsend]

Regarding the ability of average folks in this time period to speak and understand Latin, I thought this item from the 1901 volume of the American Ecclesiastical Review was of interest. The Review ran, in each issue, a section answering questions submitted by priests concerning any number of rubrical, historical, ecclesiastical topics and other miscellanea. They’re actually quite fascinating to read. In this issue it was asked whether the Leonine Prayers were to be said in Latin or in the vernacular. The answer was given:
Resp. The rubric that accompanied the decree of the Sovereign Pontiff with regard to the saying of the prayers after every low Mass, stated that the prayers were to be recited alternatim cum populo, that is, the congregation is to respond and take part in the prayers. Since the faithful outside the Latin countries would as a rule be unable to answer the Salve Regina, and the Ave Maria, in Latin, the obvious sense of the rubric is that these prayers are to be said in the vulgar tongue. Such is actually the interpretation of the Roman periodical, Ephemerides Liturgicae, which replies to the question : “Qua lingua, h. e., utrum Latina aut vernacula (preces praedictae sunt recitandae)?” "In what language, that is, whether in Latin or the vernacular (the aforesaid prayers are to be recited)?] as follows, “Lingua vernacula alternatim cum populo adstante.” “In the vernacular alternatim with the people standing present.”]
The general faithful were unable to say the second half of a Hail Mary in Latin? Ouch.

…and how many of the faithful can say the Salve Regina nowadays, even in English, much less the prayers for the intercession of the saints and the prayer to the Holy Angel, Michael?
Heck, at my father-in-law’s wake a number of years ago, the “pastoral associate” with an advanced degree in Theology from a prominent Jesuit university didn’t even know how to say the Rosary.

 

[Phemie]

The general faithful were unable to say the second half of a Hail Mary in Latin? Ouch.

I don’t see why the “ouch”. When would the average person have said the Hail Mary? Right, at home while saying the Rosary or other prayers. In Latin? I doubt it.

I learned my prayers in the early to mid 50s. Every night before bed we knelt and said the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, the Creed, the Confiteor, Acts of Hope, Love & Contrition and we listed the 10 Commandments and the Precepts of the Church (even at an age when we hadn’t a clue what the Commandments and Precepts meant since they were recited in flowery French that children really didn’t understand). Never was there a suggestion that we should learn any of those in Latin.

 

[malphono]

I don’t see why the “ouch”. When would the average person have said the Hail Mary? Right, at home while saying the Rosary or other prayers. In Latin? I doubt it.

I learned my prayers in the early to mid 50s. Every night before bed we knelt and said the Lord’s Prayer, the Hail Mary, the Glory Be, the Creed, the Confiteor, Acts of Hope, Love & Contrition and we listed the 10 Commandments and the Precepts of the Church (even at an age when we hadn’t a clue what the Commandments and Precepts meant since they were recited in flowery French that children really didn’t understand). Never was there a suggestion that we should learn any of those in Latin.

Not that this means much of anything, but I had French-Canadian nuns in grammar school, and we were required to learn both the Pater Noster and the Ave Maria in Latin in, I think, 3rd grade. (The French versions came later … probably 4th grade with Mère Marie du St-Sacrement, but she’s another story for another time. ) Those who didn’t already know them in English, had to learn them in 1st grade.