Missals for the Laity

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My understanding is that they came around in the early 20th century as a response to Pope Pius X’s called for “active participation in the most holy mysteries and in the public and solemn prayer of the Church.”

In the preceding centuries Catholics had prayer books. These had prayers not found in the missal, but written to aid the faithful in uniting their intentions to the priest’s.
 
Rich_C said:
My understanding is that they came around in the early 20th century as a response to Pope Pius X’s called for “active participation in the most holy mysteries and in the public and solemn prayer of the Church.”

In the preceding centuries Catholics had prayer books. These had prayers not found in the missal, but written to aid the faithful in uniting their intentions to the priest’s.
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Some Missals still have such prayers. I have a missal that has shorter, less complex prayers to read and meditate upon at the various parts of the Mass.

Nothing is as wonderful as the texts of the Mass themselves, but they are quite complex and so there’s a beauty to the other method as well.

As an aside, I also started sometimes praying the rosary at (low) Mass, and loved it.
 
Rich_C said:
My understanding is that they came around in the early 20th century as a response to Pope Pius X’s called for “active participation in the most holy mysteries and in the public and solemn prayer of the Church.”

In the preceding centuries Catholics had prayer books. These had prayers not found in the missal, but written to aid the faithful in uniting their intentions to the priest’s.
Click to expand...
That’s exactly right. Even before the printing press made it available to the masses, the laity brought prayer books if they could read and afford them. Many people had very retentive memories and advanced attention spans (lost today), so they were never just sitting at Mass not doing anything and watching the priest.
 
JustaServant said:
That’s exactly right. Even before the printing press made it available to the masses, the laity brought prayer books if they could read and afford them. Many people had **very retentive memories and advanced attention spans **(lost today), so they were never just sitting at Mass not doing anything and watching the priest.
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It is pretty amazing. There was a time in England when families with children would say Our Lady’s Matins (of the LOBVM) from memory while getting dressed in the morning.
 
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