Need some help understanding the Missal

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I was recently asked to create a Sacristan program for girls at our Roman Catholic Church. The person who asked me knows I had very little understanding of what all that entails but explained that I will have to learn it in order to create a solid program. I serve on a Board of Directors with him and I had shown interest in creating a program which allows girls to become more active at this church so I suppose that was why he invited me to develop it. Most of it is rolling along smoothly with the help of many supportive people. However, part of our morning job setting up the sanctuary for Mass includes setting the page markers in the missal that the celebrating priest uses. A couple of the local friars have attempted to help me with this before Mass but I’ve never had enough time and training with it to understand what Proper prayers are and which to use when, what is a preface and when to use it, etc. I’ve asked for help at our local Marian Catechist bookstore and they’ve ordered several helpful books about care of sacred linens and vessels, care of candles, and rules about using and caring for flowers in the sanctuary but they haven’t found a book yet that delves deeply into the Missal prayers. With the help of the local Friars I’ve gotten familiar with liturgical vocabulary and I’m pretty adapt at setting up and taking down the credence table for Mass. But I still don’t understand the different parts of the Missal.

I understand that priests can choose in the morning if they are going to do a votive mass or other type of mass and that will change the prayers they use in the Mass. But our dear rector and the Friars are so incredibly busy I would very much like to set up as much before Mass as possible for them.

Does anyone have any suggestions for books or sources that can help me understand how the Missal is used in Mass?

Thank you so much for all your help. Our group has just started meeting and training and so far we have a 10 ladies involved! Praise be to God!
 
gator(name removed by moderator) said:
But our dear rector and the Friars are so incredibly busy I would very much like to set up as much before Mass as possible for them.
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Well, I would think that you might first ask them, “do you want the sacristan to set up the ribbons in the missal for you before Mass?” If the answer is “no, that’s ok – I have to check them anyway, so I can set them if need be”, then you’re all set.
Does anyone have any suggestions for books or sources that can help me understand how the Missal is used in Mass?
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Again, you could ask them for ten minutes of their time some day, and ask how they like them to be set up…

Anyway, do you have (or have access to) an ordo booklet? That might be what you’re looking for…
 
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TheLittleLady said:
The Celebrant will decide if he will use the readings of the day or any optional readings for that day.
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True, but that doesn’t necessarily affect the setup of the ribbons in the missal. It might (if the celebrant decides to celebrate a Mass of the saint of the day, rather than the day itself), but not necessarily.

At its heart, there are two (maybe three) ribbons to set up: the preface and the prayers of the Mass (the collect, prayer over the offerings, and the prayer after communion).
 
Our Sacristians have learned which priest will always do the Saint of the Day, which stick with the Readings of the Day, but that does take some getting to know each priest.
 
gator(name removed by moderator) said:
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Does anyone have any suggestions for books or sources that can help me understand how the Missal is used in Mass?
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As others have already said, the starting place is a reliable Ordo. Whether that’s on paper or online is a matter of preference. But you will need an Ordo.

The Ordo will tell you what Mass is required that day, or what Masses are optional. For example, V1, V2 or V3 will indicate whether a votive Mass can be chosen simply as a preference, or whether a votive is dis-allowed.

It’s also unavoidable that if you’re going to setup things like the ribbons (and the vestment color) you’re going to need to know the preferences of the individual priest(s). There’s no way around this, other than to not-do the setup at all.

Some priests will just follow the season (like 26 week of Ordinal time). Some like to do votive Masses. Some don’t. Some like to do Masses for the Dead (requiems), indicated by R1, R2, or R3. Some don’t. For example, in November, all my daily Masses are requiems, whenever permitted. Anyone setting things up for me would need to know that.

On optional memorials, some priests will use the Collect of the saint, but then switch to the Sunday text for the rest of the Mass. Others will do the Collect of the saint, then continue with the “common” text for the rest of that Mass. For example, the Collect for St. Martyr, then the “common of a martyr” for the rest of the Mass.

My point is (again) that you really do need to know what the priests prefer. There’s no harm in asking.

And given the many options available, don’t be offended if the priest says “I’ll set the ribbons myself.” It might actually be easier on him/them to just set the ribbons than it is to articulate their preferences.

In the meantime, get an ordo. If you prefer, even get an ordo app for your phone.

Also, in the opening pages of the Missal, there’s a document called “General Instruction for the Calendar” which explains how priests can choose the Mass of the day. You don’t have to memorize it (surely not), but do get familiar with it.
 
I am a sacristan and I have told the parish priest to set up the Missal himself. He changes enough before Mass that I need to address like the readings for the day 3 minutes before the Mass is starting and if we are singing Kyrie, Sanctus etc and what tunes. My parish priest is very optimistic when it comes to time and thankfully the cantor can find new hymns that suit the readings and celebrations for the day to sing in a couple of minutes. I just put the Missal on the altar and open it on the first “Mass page”. Knowing the day before what kind of Mass he is planning on celebrating is a luxury. He is very good in other priest duties but planning ahead is unfortunately not one of them.

Today one of the ladies came into the sacristy and asked what we do. I told her about 25 % and it was a lot more than she expected.
 
First let me say to all the posters so far- thank you! I’m checking out the links you posted and ordered that Sacristan book posted here. I think it will help tremendously.

After reading your responses, and speaking to a priest who sat next to me at a luncheon today, it’s clear that every priest sets up the Missal differently for his masses. I suspect the best thing to do, is ask the 2 priests who say masses at our church, what they prefer. And then they can show me how to set up the Missal for them if they want me to. In the meantime, I continue to read, gain knowledge and experience deferentially.

Thank you to everyone!
 
Priests can be particular about how they like their missal (not to mention where)! As others have said, each priest will have his own particular preferences. As a starting point however, set one ribbon on the page for the current Sunday of the year - under “Proper of Time” in the front part of the missal - and one on the current saint - under “Proper of Saints” towards the back of the missal - and a third in amongst the various prefaces available. You will need to keep moving the first to to keep them up to date. These are the most frequently used texts - placement of ribbons for anything beyond that is up to the individual priest but having ribbons in these sections at least makes life a little bit easier thanks to fewer turns to find the right page!
 
I think the best book for learning about the Roman Missal is the Roman Missal itself. The version used Australia it is published by Catholic Truth Society. It comes in three sizes: Altar Edition, Chapel Edition and Study Edition. By participating in Mass with the Study Edition I have become more familiar with the contents. If this is not affordable then perhaps a edited version like a Daily Mass book or Sunday Mass book would be the next best thing. For a group of ten perhaps it would be worth looking at the hymn books you have and what they contain on the structure of the Mass.

Some other books that may help in terms of explaining things are:

Liturgical Literacy by Dennis C. Smolarski SJ (like a dictionary of liturgical terms). So it would help with understanding terms like stole, sequence, surplice and stoup.

“Ceremonies of the Modern Roman Rite” and “Ceremonies of the Liturgical Year” by Peter Elliott (who is now a bishop).

Catholic Mass for Dummies.
 
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