"The English Missal"

[Ghoti]

I saw a missal in a used bookstore, it said “The English Missal” on the spine. It appears to be printed in England, I think early 20th century. I can’t remember if it said “Anglican” or “Anglican use” inside, but I believe the word “Anglican” was in there. OTOH, there were prayers and intentions for some Popes, such as, IIRC, a Mass for St Pius X.

Now this may seem like a stupid question*, but is this a Catholic tome? (as in communion with Rome under the Pope, not “English Catholic” (read: CofE)), or a CofE book that was in anticipation of a confluence of the Thames and Tiber?

Tks.

(*sometimes, in the Army, you’d get the answer, "There are no stupid questions; only stupid people who ask them. )

 

[AJV]

I saw a missal in a used bookstore, it said “The English Missal” on the spine. It appears to be printed in England, I think early 20th century. I can’t remember if it said “Anglican” or “Anglican use” inside, but I believe the word “Anglican” was in there. OTOH, there were prayers and intentions for some Popes, such as, IIRC, a Mass for St Pius X.

Now this may seem like a stupid question*, but is this a Catholic tome? (as in communion with Rome under the Pope, not “English Catholic” (read: CofE)), or a CofE book that was in anticipation of a confluence of the Thames and Tiber?

Tks.

(*sometimes, in the Army, you’d get the answer, "There are no stupid questions; only stupid people who ask them. )

The English Missal was/is not an official book of the CofE but was created by a section of the CofE, whom you might be familiar with, the Anglo-Catholics. This particular section of Anglo-Catholics were those who looked to (then) contemporary Rome for guidance on practically everything including liturgy and ritual. Some of them are often called “Anglo-Papalists” because of their complete adherence.

The English Missal is basically the Roman Missal in English with Book of Common Prayer texts for Sundays and *part of the Ordinary given as alternatives. It even provides the option to use Latin from the Offertory onward in the Ordinary. My copy, which was the last (1958), has even coordinated the Anglican regions with the Catholic dioceses to establish the Proper Calendar of Saints for England, Scotland, etc.

*but not everywhere - for example, the Good Friday service is wholly Roman

I had posted a very *brief * and general overview of the different types of liturgical books among Anglicans earlier. If it would be helpful, then it is here.

 

[WhollyRoamin]

It’s also important to note that there is also a form of the Roman Catholic Mass that is called “Anglican Use”, that is basically Anglican church service which is licit and valid for Roman Catholics.

It’s not very common, but it exists. Sounds like what you’ve got here.

 

[malphono]

Thanks, AJV, that’s very interesting.

Many years ago I knew an Episcopal priest who was hog-tied to the English Missal. He would absolutely not celebrate using either the Anglican Missal or the BCP. Only the English Missal was good enough for him. I’ve never seen a copy of the book myself, but I seem to recall that he said the entire Canon was printed in both Latin and English. Perhaps my memory is faulty on that issue.

In later years (but still some 20 years ago now) I knew another Episcopal priest who, for his daily Mass, would only use the Missale Romanum (1962 and before, and only in Latin). For Sundays he was stuck with the BCP (from what I understood it was due to a combination of parish politics and a low-Church bishop) but would only use what I think is called Rite I.

 

[Chatter163]

The first edition of the Missale Anglicanum appeared in 1912, and that contained a somewhat subdued translation from the Missale Romanum; the Latin Canon did not appear until the 1920s, along with the prayers for the Pope and some of the other feasts from the Latin rite. The book went through six editions through 1958, A companion piece is the English Ritual, translated from its Roman counterpart.