Missal

[kern]

I am considering purchasing a missal. Is this a worthwhile thing to own, or is a Bible sufficient? Is there one "official" missal to buy, or are there several editions like the Bible (presumably having the same stuff in them, just presented or organized differently)

Also, when do the daily and sunday readings change? Is a new set decided on every year?

-Chris

 

[Fr. Rob]

Originally posted by kern
I am considering purchasing a missal. Is this a worthwhile thing to own, or is a Bible sufficient? Is there one "official" missal to buy, or are there several editions like the Bible (presumably having the same stuff in them, just presented or organized differently)

Also, when do the daily and sunday readings change? Is a new set decided on every year?

-Chris

Chris,

A hand Missal is a very good investment, and makes for an excellent preparation for the Celebration of the Eucharist. For the modern Roman Rite, I highly suggest the "Daily Roman Missal" and "The Vatican II Sunday Missal" both published by the Daughters of Saint Paul.

The Daily Mass readings are scheduled on a two year cycle, the Sunday Mass readings are on a three year cycle. These missals will idenify what you need. They are avaliable in a very nice brownish leather-type cover, gilt pages, and ribbon markers.

If you are in the Anglican Catholic tradition, a copy of The Book of Common Prayer (from before 1979!) is an excellent investment. All the Eucharistic readings for every Sunday and Solemnity are included. There is also a list of two lessons for morning and two lessons for evening prayer to be used daily, which will get you through the bible in a year.

If you are an Old Catholic using the pre V-2 Missal, or a member of SSPX, etc..., I highly recommend Father Lasance's "The New Roman Missal" which is avaliable in reprint form. If you cannot find that, Catholic Book Publishing Co. put out a very nice Saint Joseph Daily Missal before V2. CBPC's post V2 editions, however, leave a LOT to be desired, IMHO.

And finally, if you decide later to branch off into the Daily Office (Divine Office, Breviary, etc...) then either CBPC's edition of the 4 volume Roman Office (The Liturgy of the Hours) or the much superior Collins (UK/Ireland) 3 volume set is an excellent buy. Both are always avaliable on E-Bay. While it's not Roman, the modern Episcopal Daily Office is an excellent resource, and is MUCH simpler to pray than the Roman Office for those who are not of the clerical variety. You can get a black leather two-volume set (for the two year cycle) for 100 greenbacks through Church Publishing Inc.

Hope this has helped!

Father Rob Lyons

 

[Wolseley]

They're a good thing to have; not only do they have the official reading for the day (saving you from having to hunt it up in your Bible), but they have intro notes, prayers, devotions, the Order of Mass, etc. You have the choice of two different publishers; Daughters of St. Paul or Catholic Book Publishing Company.

The Daughters of St. Paul publish the Vatican II Daily Missal and the Vatican II Sunday Missal; Catholic Book Publishing Co. puts out the St. Joseph Daily Missal and the St. Joseph Sunday Missal.

Whichever format you like the best will probably end up being the ones you buy.

As far as I know, there are no missals available which have both Sunday and daily readings. You'll have to buy both. (Holy days are included in the Sunday Missal.)

I myself have the St. Jospeh Sunday Missal, and the Vatican II Weekday Missal, for different reasons. I like the intro notes in the St. Joe Sunday Missal, and the Vatican II Missal has a plethora of prayers and devotions in the back. Having one copy of each is having the best of both worlds.

Both types have a liturgical calendar in the front, which will keep you up to date with the readings for each day; Sunday Masses run on a three-year cycle, labelled A, B, and C; daily Masses run on a two-year cycle, labelled Year I and Year II. IMHO, the table in the St. Joe Missal is much easier to read than the one in the Vatican II Missal, but maybe that's just me.

I suppose I'm going to have to break down and buy some new ones myself; they're usually good for about 25 years, but both of mine have expired now---my St. Joe Sunday Missal is the 1986 update of the 1974 edition, and it only goes up to 2002, so after this year, it's obsolete; and my Vatican II Daily is the 1975 edition, which expired in 1999. (Because it's so old, it has a lot of devotional readings based on writings from Pope Paul VI, which was many a moon ago.)

What I'd do is go to your local Catholic bookstore and get both types side-by-side, and examine the readings for a specific day at the same time in both to see which one you like the best.

Good luck!

 

[SSPX]

ebay is a good place to go to buy missals, especially pre Vatican II missals, but they have some novus ordo missals as well. The selection is pretty good and you can usually get them at a pretty good price.

Joe

 

[Hoonbaba]

Uhm..what's a missal?? =)

-Jason

 

[VOW]

To Jason:

The Catholic service is organized in a specific way. The missal is sort of like a "program" which tells you exactly what the priest will be doing next, and what is expected of you. With the missal, you can follow along, and not miss anything, very handy! A comprehensive missal, like the ones described above, even shows the Scriptural readings for that particular day. On Sundays, there will typically be something from the Old Testament, a Psalm, something from the New Testament, and then a Gospel reading. All the readings will tie together with a common theme. On weekdays, there is typically just a OT reading (or maybe something from the NT), a Psalm, and a Gospel reading.

All of the prayers by the priest, especially those done in the Consecration portion of the Mass, are in the missal. This is WONDERFUL, for not only the new folks (like you!), but it is a Godsend to the hearing-impaired, like me. Without the missal and the printed readings, going to Mass is like watching TV with the sound turned off....I don't get much at ALL from the whole shebang.

Most Churches subscribe to a "missalette," which is a smaller, almost magazine-sized book that covers a portion of the liturgical year. One of the hospitality ministers might pass these out to people as they enter the Church, or they may be found in the pews.

If you only ask, you can probably find at least a half dozen people who would be most happy to give you a missalette, and help you follow along.


Peace be with you,
~VOW

 

[kern]

OK, I ordered a paperback "Vatican II Sunday Missal" from amazon.com. I assume it uses the NAB so I could follow along at church, but it didn't specify on the page.

I was considering buying the fancy leather bound one, but I decided to go with the cheaper for now -- if I end up using it a lot then I may replace it with something better in the future.

How long are the calendar cycles good? I assume you don't need to buy a new one every three years.

-Chris

 

[Fr. Rob]

Chris,

The Roman Catholic and Common Lectionary cycles are three years long, and "perpetually repeat".

The only way you need to get a new Missal would be if the actual readings in the Lectionary changed. If that happens, trust me, your local Catholic newspaper (Sunday Visitor or other Diocesan publication) will be right on the story to let you know.

Also, since you are on the net, you can check out EWTN.COM and VATICAN.VA to keep up to date on the most recent changes in the Latin Rite of the Roman Communion.

Father Rob
Anglican Catholic

 

[Wolseley]

Usually the liturgical calenders in the front of a new missal run for about 25 years; my old battered daily missal ran from 1975 to 1999. However, it depends on whether you're getting the latest update or not. If you're getting one that has just come out with the latest revisions, you should be good to go until mid-century, at least.