How do you use your Roman Missal?

[twosweetgirls]

I ask because I got one for Christmas, and am just thrilled to pieces!! I’ve seen many people at Mass with theirs, following along and such.

But there’s so much in it that it’s just slightly confusing (though in a very good way). How do you use your Roman Missal?

(hope I put this in the right forum )

 

[Tedster]

It might be helpful if you tell us the publisher and version you have. There are differences in page numbers etc. Is yours a 1962 Roman Missal?

 

[Aineiora]

We have the “Daily Roman Missal” that we gave to our daughter – which she re-gifted to us when she entered Carmel as a postulant last spring. We bring it to Mass since our parish only has the abbreviated (just hymns and the notations of the proper readings) “Breaking Bread” in the pews. Before Mass and even on weekdays that I don’t attend Mass, I try to go through the readings of each day and the really helpful paragraph (usually from the CCC) that precedes the daily readings. It really helps us to follow the rhythm of the Liturgical seasons of the church and there are some great prayers in there as well. We also keep a picture of our beautiful little one and the holy cards that she had stashed in there. I also found on a few readings and prayers, she had underlined some of the passages that must have had some significance to her. My DH and I have found that our prayer life and our experience at Mass have been richly blessed by bringing and using the Missal at Mass and we’ve gone back home to get it on the rare occasions that we have forgotten to bring it. Enjoy!

 

[twosweetgirls]

^ sigh to think of entering Carmel. . .

Tedster, my Missal is the new 1962 Roman Missal, with every single thing translated in Latin, in a column next to the English print. Publisher is Baronius Press Limited, 2007. Does that help?

 

[James0235]

^ sigh to think of entering Carmel. . .

Tedster, my Missal is the new 1962 Roman Missal, with every single thing translated in Latin, in a column next to the English print. Publisher is Baronius Press Limited, 2007. Does that help?

Your Missal is for use in the Tridentine Mass. If you attend the Novus Ordo Mass it won’t do you much good during Mass. Although it has some good material for private prayer.

James

 

[baltobetsy]

If you would like to learn how to use your Missal at the Tridentine Latin Mass, however, I would suggest that you have your thread moved to or ask your question again in the “Traditional Catholicism” Forum. They will be happy to help you and they know what they’re doing.

Betsy

 

[alessandro]

Your Missal is for the Tridentine Mass (i.e., the Extraordinary Form of the Mass).

Here’s what I recommend to get the most out of it:

Spend a few Saturdays going through the educational reading at the beginning. There’s a lot in there. Read through the preparatory prayers and prayers of thanksgiving for after Mass. Also study the explanatory notes that accompany the order of the Mass – that is, what is going on when the priest does such-n-such, or what is the significance of certain words or procedures. This is particularly helpful for Latin Masses, at which you may not hear all the words when the priest is speaking softly.

Familiarize yourself with the Missal’s layout. You don’t want to be fumbling through it during Mass. Also, get used to marking your pages. Which color ribbon you use doesn’t really matter, but figure out a system for yourself. (Personally, I mark the order of the Mass with the red ribbon and the specific readings for that day with the purple ribbon.)

Each Missal has a liturgical calendar at the beginning. It is helpful to familiarize yourself with that so you can figure out where you are in the cycle of liturgical readings. A table of moveable feasts is also provided. If this is difficult for you, you could use a regular wall or desk calendar. Most parishes make available typical calendars that accompany the cycle for the Novus Ordo Masses (i.e., the Ordinary Form of the Mass). For the Tridentine calendar, you can order a calendar from Halo-Works.com. (This is the calendar that would work in conjunction with use of the 1962 Missal for Latin Masses, i.e., the Extraordinary Form of the Mass.)

Perhaps most importantly, many people find it helpful to study the readings for each day prior to Mass. You might choose just to read through them once, or to study them using a study Bible. (The Douay-Rheims Bible works best in concert with the 1962 Missal, although any study Bible will work.) Many Catholics choose to use them as sources for lectio divina and contemplative prayer. In this fashion, you may glean more from the readings when you hear them again at Mass.

 

[twosweetgirls]

Um, dumb question. . . my parish does her Masses in English. When you say Tridentine, does that mean in the traditional Latin? And is “Novus Ordo” what my Masses are, in English? And if my parish Masses are indeed “Novus Ordo”, then what Missal should I have instead of the one I was given?

(gads, pardon all my questions. . . )

 

[James0235]

Um, dumb question. . . my parish does her Masses in English. When you say Tridentine, does that mean in the traditional Latin? And is “Novus Ordo” what my Masses are, in English? And if my parish Masses are indeed “Novus Ordo”, then what Missal should I have instead of the one I was given?

(gads, pardon all my questions. . . )

Yes, if your Masses are in English then it is the Novus Ordo Mass. “Novus Ordo” is Latin for New Order. It is the new Mass introduced under Pope Paul VI following Vatican II.

Tridentine Masses are the same thing as the Traditional Latin Mass. These must be done in Latin whereas the Novus Ordo can be done it Latin or most any other language.

The best Missal I am aware of for the Novus Ordo Mass is this one. Comes in leather or hard cover. You could probably find it cheaper online somewhere.

The Missal you have now is a good one. But the prayers for Mass and the readings are not the same as the Mass you attend.

James

 

[twosweetgirls]

The Missal you have now is a good one. But the prayers for Mass and the readings are not the same as the Mass you attend.

James

Oh, I didn’t know that; I thought all the readings for every Mass were the same, regardless of country or language? That is, the same Mass (with the same readings, etc.) all around the world?

Please have patience, I’m still a newbie Catholic (second year anniversary this coming Easter Vigil!).

 

[alessandro]

Um, dumb question. . . my parish does her Masses in English. When you say Tridentine, does that mean in the traditional Latin? And is “Novus Ordo” what my Masses are, in English? And if my parish Masses are indeed “Novus Ordo”, then what Missal should I have instead of the one I was given?

The “regular” Masses that are celebrated in English are according to the Novus Ordo missal of 1970. That would be something like this one: *Daily Roman Missal.

*I don’t recommend buying a Novus Ordo missal for two reasons. First, you can get much more out of a prayer book that includes the NO order of the Mass in it. For example, Handbook of Prayers, which is quite excellent. Second, there is soon to be a new translation of the NO Missal in English (because the present one is quite “broken” and unfaithful to the Latin).

Don’t throw away your 1962 Missal just yet! It is far better than any Novus Ordo Missal. Read through it. And maybe go to a Latin Mass one of these days. Pope Benedict XVI’s recent motu proprio allowed for its liberal celebration, so there’s bound to be one around you now.

 

[James0235]

Oh, I didn’t know that; I thought all the readings for every Mass were the same, regardless of country or language? That is, the same Mass (with the same readings, etc.) all around the world?

Please have patience, I’m still a newbie Catholic (second year anniversary this coming Easter Vigil!).

Most Catholic Churches offer the Novus Ordo Mass. Pope Benedict has called it the Ordinary Form of the Roman Rite. And all parishes that offer this Mass - whether in Latin, English, Spanish, etc. - use the same readings for the most part. Occasionally there are options given as to the readings used. But, this occurs more at Daily Mass then at Sunday Mass.

In addition some parishes use the Tridentine Mass either exclusively or in addition to the Novus Ordo Mass. Pope Benedict has called this the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite. Rather than the 3 yr cycle of Sunday Readings that the Novus Ordo uses it uses a 1 yr cycle of readings.

This cycle of readings is ancient. It has been used for centuries. In itself it does not cover as much of the Bible as the Novus Ordo Mass. But, in the Tridentine Mass more of the prayers of the Mass itself come directly from scripture.

Here is the Lectionary (the cycle of Readings) for the Novus Ordo Mass.

And here is the Lectionary for the Tridentine Mass.

In addition to all of this there are the Eastern Catholic Churches. They are Catholic but not Roman Catholic. They use there own cycles of Readings.

And some Religious Orders and a few dioceses have their own Rites of Mass with their own readings as well.

But, overwhelmingly the Catholic Church uses the Novus Ordo Mass.

James

 

[James0235]

The “regular” Masses that are celebrated in English are according to the Novus Ordo missal of 1970. That would be something like this one: Daily Roman Missal.

I don’t recommend buying a Novus Ordo missal for two reasons. First, you can get much more out of a prayer book that includes the NO order of the Mass in it. For example, Handbook of Prayers, which is quite excellent. Second, there is soon to be a new translation of the NO Missal in English (because the present one is quite “broken” and unfaithful to the Latin).

The Handbook of Prayers is good. But, it only contains the supplementary material from the Daily Roman Missal along with the Ordinary of Mass. It does not contain the Propers of the Mass like the Daily Roman Missal does.

Good point about the new translation. Although who knows what “soon” means.

Overall, the Daily Roman Missal is excellent though. I will be picking up a new one whenever they finally release the new translation.

James

 

[Tedster]

Tedster, my Missal is the new 1962 Roman Missal, with every single thing translated in Latin, in a column next to the English print. Publisher is Baronius Press Limited, 2007. Does that help?

That is the same as mine, but as you have already found out, it is for the EF (extraordinary form).

If you’re still wondering, here is how it is used:

The Ordinary of the Mass begins on page 898. As you read through the next 74 pages or so, you will see that there are 9 variable parts. These are found in the front part of the missal for that particular day. For example, we are at December 26, which is found on page 201. The **Introit, Collect, Epistle (Lesson), Gradual, Gospel, Offertory, Secret, Communnion, and Postcommunion **parts are listed is succession. This is the basic outline for the missal’s use.

But as James0235 stated, there is almost every prayer you would need in your missal, so the book is fabulous as a prayer resource too!

 

[twosweetgirls]

^Okay, another question: what is the “Gradual” and “Secret”?

 

[James0235]

^Okay, another question: what is the “Gradual” and “Secret”?

Part of the Propers (changing parts) of the Mass as distinguished from the Ordinary (unchanging parts) of the Mass.

In the Novus Ordo the Propers are typically called the Entrance Antiphon (usually replaced by an opening hymn), the Opening Prayer, the various Readings, the Prayer over the Gifts, the Communion verse (also usually replaced by a hymn) and the Prayer after Communion.

In the Tridentine Mass they are usually called the Introit, the Collect, the various Readings, the Gradual, the Secret, the Communion, and the Postcommunion.

I may be forgetting a few.

James

 

[James0235]

The Gradual was effectively the same as the Responsorial Psalm in the Novus Ordo.

It is usually (but not always) shorter and not typically sung by the congregation. But, it occupies the same place in the Tridentine Mass as the Responsorial Psalm in the Novus Ordo.

James

 

[alessandro]

^Okay, another question: what is the “Gradual” and “Secret”?

I’ll just add to James’ response by providing these two links to the Catholic Encyclopedia:

• Gradual
• Secret

 

[KathleenElsie]

I use the 1962 St. Johns Missal for the extraordinary form. My St. Josephs is 1959 and has some slight differences in it when compared with the 1962.

When we attend the ordinary form we use the Vatican II Missal (we mostly use them for the readings.)

 

[James0235]

I use the 1962 St. Johns Missal for the extraordinary form. My St. Josephs is 1959 and has some slight differences in it when compared with the 1962.

When we attend the ordinary form we use the Vatican II Missal (we mostly use them for the readings.)

I prefer the 1962 Angeles Press Missal for the Extraordinary form. Prior to that I used the 1945 St. Andrews (reprinted by Bonaventure Press).

It has gotten to the point that I feel naked if I attend Mass without a Missal.

When I attend the Ordinary Form I prefer to use the Daily Roman Missal. But, I can see the advantage of using the Vatican II Missal. It is so compact. I have been thinking of throwing it in my glove compartment for those times I am able to make it to Mass throughout the week and forget my Daily Roman Missal (that happens a lot).

James