Wednesday, September 12, 2012

I love my...

...new Missal. Its useful prayers in preparation for Mass, and before and after Communion, its beautifully laid-out Latin and English for all the feasts and  Sundays of the year, its  ribbon markers and gold-embossed front, its quotations from Pope Benedict and Blessed John Paul  as inspirational teachings week by week. I love its  solid feel and its beautiful binding, its pleasing use of enchanting illuminated Medieval images.  I love its practicality - it's got the Stations of the Cross, and the Mysteries of the Rosary, and the rite of Benediction, and it's all  in a solid, usable size.

I got it from our parish bookshop, which ordered a good number from here, and I think all parishes should do the same. Banish those ghastly messy "missalettes"...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

You are quite right, of course. However, my Glenstal Sunday missal (with such prayers as you describe, also extra readings from the Fathers as well as the Sunday lectionary) was a treasured gift, and, although it's falling apart now, I haven't yet brought myself to "field a substitute". I take to Mass Volume One of the three-volume lectionary (formerly used as a reference book at home, so is in better case than the Missal) given by the same person. Our parish "missalettes" (on laminated cards)are still in a respectable condition. When they begin to fail, I hope that I shall face up to the idea of a new Sunday Missal

Malcolm said...

I feel that missalettes detract from the reverence. However if the congregation do not know the correct responses, that detracts from the reverence even more. The problem's particularly acute if the Mass is in Latin.