Missal Ribbons

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I got a Baronius Press Missal a little while ago and was just wondering if anybody knew of some good ways to keep the edges of the missal ribbons from fraying.
 
If they are of the typical sort, a bit of clear nail polish does well (though at the expense of leaving a little hardened tip).

tee
 
There’s a product you can buy in a fabric store called Fray-Check. As far as I remember, it does not harden the fabric as nail polish does.

Betsy
 
We never worried about ribbons fraying way back when. Both my “little” St. Joseph’s Missal received in 1958 when I made my First Communion and my “big” St. Josephs’ Missal recieved in 1963 when I was Confirmed - the ribbons are frayed. If we didn’t have ribbons, we used holy cards.

Sheesh! C’mon y’all!
 
brotherhrolf said:
We never worried about ribbons fraying way back when. Both my “little” St. Joseph’s Missal received in 1958 when I made my First Communion and my “big” St. Josephs’ Missal recieved in 1963 when I was Confirmed - the ribbons are frayed. If we didn’t have ribbons, we used holy cards.

Sheesh! C’mon y’all!
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I always wondered about ribbons too, but was 'frayed to ask 😃
 
I_Believe said:
I always wondered about ribbons too, but was 'frayed to ask 😃
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😃 😛 They never fray more than a 1/4" or so. My Christian Prayer book (aka LOTH) has been in use for over 20 years and the ribbons are frayed a 1/4".

BTW, if your missals were edged in gold leaf, the gold leaf will wear off with use or get discolored from your fingers. Missals edged in red fade.

I’d be happy to see a well-used and worn missal or LOTH. It shows signs that it was used.
 
brotherhrolf said:
😃 😛 They never fray more than a 1/4" or so. My Christian Prayer book (aka LOTH) has been in use for over 20 years and the ribbons are frayed a 1/4".
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😃 😛 Mine too. One ribbon snapped off* :eek: , but the new shortened end hasn’t frayed much. I only used the clear nail polish on one of the ribbons of my Liturgia Horarum, which seems a particularly loose weave. (That’s one out of about 15 ribbons)

(* I think I weakened it catching it in a backpack zipper, and it was downhill from there)
brotherhrolf said:
BTW, if your missals were edged in gold leaf, the gold leaf will wear off with use or get discolored from your fingers. Missals edged in red fade.
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They speckle if you leave them on the window sill during a rain. Good times…

tee
 
brotherhrolf said:
I’d be happy to see a well-used and worn missal or LOTH. It shows signs that it was used.
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I like this statement.👍 My missal has smudgings from the ink and I just didn’t like that. It is only a 1 1/2 years old, but used daily. Thanks…😃
 
Fray Check is good. When applying use a plastic card to spread off the excess so that the ribbon doesnt become too hard. It’s also a good idea to spread out the Baronius ribbons abit before applying. The length along which one applies also depends on how one uses the ribbon. 1/2 to 2/3 is usually more than enough. This method also prevents fraying when the ribbon marker gets stuck in missal cover zips.
 
Otherwise fold a ribbon in half lengthwise and clip a chevron with the point towards the body of the Missal.

Holy cards are good too,

Never been able to guard against the holy water at eh Asperges Mei…I have water marks on the pages…but a Missal should look worn dont you think:shrug:
 
I know what you mean.My LOTH books and ribbon markers are water-spotted from being carried back and forth to work in an open tote bag.I haven’t noticed much fraying,even though I’ve had my set for 17 years and use them daily.
 
I tie a small knot about 0.5" from the end of each ribbon.

A new ribbon set from Catholic Book Publishing is about US$4.
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I am just contending with this “problem” myself!

Only the other night, I decided to tie a very small knot at the end of each ribbon. Just loop the ribbon over and through, right near the very end.

I have also seen people with holy medals tied into the knot, so each ribbon has a medal on the end.
 
I’ve picked up many missals at the St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop. Unfortunatly most are in mint or near mint condition. Not even a name in the front. I prefer to find well used, but intact missals, as it shows the original owner used them to pray and follow the Mass.

I’ve both purchased ribbon replacements, and made my own. You can buy ribbons in liturgical colors, lay then on strapping, or mailing tape, Fold the tape over itself, (on top of the ribbons) and cut them to length. Slip the folded over tape down the back of the spine, and there you have it.

I learned to crochet for only one reason. I had an old Altar Missal that I picked up on a visit in France. The original ribbons were long gone, but some good Nun or woman (probably) had crocheted a sort of sock over a two inch dowel, and attached large ribbons to it. The sock end hangs off the top of the Missal, and the ribbons are held in place.
 
When my ribbons get ratty or frayed, I just make a new set. I have spools of ribbon in all sorts of colors, and a large piece of vinyl fabric that I use to make the piece that the ribbons are attached to, and is put down the spine of the book (I’ve made these for other people, as well). I got frustrated with the five ribbons that came with my Christian Prayer book, so I made a set of 8 – much better! 🙂
 
I made ribbons for my Choral Praise. I used a strip of plastic needlepoint “canvas”, cut to the length and width of the spine. I attached ribbons evenly spaced across the top edge and stuck the whole thing between the pages and the spine. I tied the tiny knot at the edge and I like how the ribbons frayed a little below that. I made them all pink because that was the color ribbon I had in the right size, but I was thinking I’d make them for the whole choir using a different color for each part of the Mass, like white for the processional, yellow for the offertory, orange for communion and red for recessional, so it would be a light to dark progression from beginning to end. I seem to recall we used the colors in a specific way, but not how, and it might have just been an idea the nuns at our school had.

It’s nice to read a thread where nobody gets mad at anyone else.
 
Since I can’t use my St. Joseph Missal, I just transferred all my holy cards to my Christian Prayer book. My ribbons are not too frayed but that which sticks out of the book is more faded. I like the “used” look.
 
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