This weekend, as it was slow and I was in the mood to do a project, I decided to add tabs to my 1962 Roman Missal (Baronius Press) to easily reference all the major prayers in the Latin Mass. I took some Avery 5160 labels, built labels in MS Word with the names for the tabs and highlighted the cells, printed them out, cut them to fit, and then “laminated” the tabs with some clear Scotch tape. Here’s a picture of how the project turned out. As you can see, I’ve also done a few other hacks, like highlight the responses said during an EF High Mass, and put little notes where to stand, sit, and kneel (like you can find in the red missalette). I’ve also taken my missal to a Christian book store and had them emboss my name on the front in gold leaf.
I realized, after thinking about things for a bit, that all of this hacking of my missal was a carryover habit from my LDS days. My
quad always had my name embossed on it. And ever since my Seminary days in high school, I had a habit of highlighting and coloring and writing things all over my scriptures in an attempt to be the best Scripture Chaser around. For those Catholics who might be reading this thread - seriously, most LDS bookstores have a
whole department dedicated to making sure you can turn your scriptures into a colorful,
sticker-full reading rainbow. I do miss those
thumb indexes on my scriptures though - I thought about trying to figure out how to do those, but gave up and went with the tabs instead.
I also keep a very detailed Prayer Journal in a Moleskine weekly calendar that I have, as well as a standard journal that is both spiritual and “here’s what’s going on in my life” in nature. That’s a very Mormon habit. When I told my priest about my prayer journal he said, “You won’t keep that up for very long.” Um, I’ve got journals going back to when I was 12 in my closet. I’m all about the journaling. I also rarely drink Coke. I’ll drink Dr. Pepper or tea, but for some reason “Coke” was always such a no-no for me growing up that even as a Catholic adult, I feel a bit guilty. I remember one of the first time I was talking to my priest and he asked if I wanted a cup of coffee and going, “Um … no, don’t drink coffee.” Even though I’ve been Catholic since 2006, I still find that sometimes these old Mormon habits die hard.
Do any of you ex-Mos out there have any odd habits that have carried over from your Mormon days? And have any of you done some customizing to your missal or bible to either personalize it, or to make it more user-friendly?
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-685zekUlRhY/Tu9u7RNXgUI/AAAAAAAAAEY/uxJc8B6Yt7I/s669/IMG_1341.jpg
I even had to glue the binding once already. I actually have to refrain from starting on a new one though, its tempting I admit.
) Another, my confirmation Bible, hasn’t lost its cover yet, but thanks to the poor lamination and my need to pick at anything that’s loose, it’s got a few gashes in the paper cover.
I was so excited that I finally knew a hymn, and then I still blew it.
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