Mass, Missal, and Mission--Blog to help Marianists prepare for the new translation of the Missal.
The simple answer: The Roman Missal names the BOOK containing all the PRAYERS needed for the priest and people to celebrate the Eucharist, i.e., the Mass. To call it the ROMAN MISSAL indicates that this book belongs to the LATIN (or ROMAN) RITE of the Catholic Church. In the Catholic Church there are a variety of RITES, sometimes referred to as CHURCHES.
A more complicated issue lies in the fact that the Catholic Church exists around the world (catholic, universal). In addition to those Churches (ecclesial realities) that are West of Rome, there are those that are EAST of Rome. Sometimes these churches are referred to as ORIENTAL Churches. The designation ORIENTAL is confusing to some people, because in modern speech ORIENTAL refers to the FAR EAST (like China and Japan). Within Catholic documents, Oriental points to all those Churches with roots in the Mediterranean basin and East of that.
In the West, there are three extant Rites: the Latin or Roman (largest of them all), The Ambrosian (usage within the Archdiocese of Milan), and the Mozarabic (usage within a limited area of Spain). In the East, there are many other RITES. Depending on how you group them, you can count as many as 20.
Catholics use the word RITE in two senses: 1) the various “ceremonies” celebrated in the liturgy. For example, baptism has a rite (ritual) to be followed in order to properly celebrate the Sacrament of Baptism. Further, there are rites for the conferral of blessings and for a variety of other occasions as may be found the BOOK OF BLESSINGS or the PONTIFICAL (a book used for rites reserved to the Bishop). 2) The other use of the word RITE refers to a branch within the Catholic Church that has its own complete set of rites (as explained in this same paragraphh at # 1) and has been in use for many (usually more than a thousand) years. As mentioned, one Western rite is the Ambrosian Rite. They too have a Missal: The Ambrosian Missal. The structure of their Missal is very similar to our Roman Missal. However, if you examine it closely you will see that their Liturgical Year (calendar) is similar but different. If you look up a Feast day that we hold in common, you will see that the prayers are different. Even the ORDER OF MASS has differences from the ways we celebrate Mass according to the ROMAN RITE. The Ambrosian Rite has some different eucharistic prayers than the ROMAN RITE. Most striking is the fact that the Ambrosian Missal has well more than double the number of PREFACES for the Eucharistic Prayer; some based on themes; some rooted in particular feast days
Remember, the church spread “out to all the world” in an age where they had no printed bible or catechism or ritual books. These were the days before printing press, before the internet, before radio and TV. So as the Gospel spread and Christian communities developed, the “basics” existed in different but similar forms. Each church also developed their own texts and customs across the centuries. If you are interested in the great Catholic heritage of the East I would recommend….
Now that we have a context and perspective, let’s go back to the basics about the Roman Missal, in its new typical edition and translation.
In the long history of the Church there have been many forms and editions of the Roman Missal. You may have noticed that this current book is being referred to as the third Typical Edition. This means that the first typical edition of this Missal was the one put out following upon the Directives from the Second Vatican Council. There were many changes in that Missal because of the revision of the Church year and the introduction of a three-year cycle Sunday Lectionary; and a two year cycle weekday Lectionary, thus fulfilling the desire that the scriptures be opened more lavishly to God's holy people.
While many, many prayers from the long Western Tradition were retained or adapted to the new ways of naming liturgical days; there were also some new compositions. The biggest surprise to many was the fact that we went from only one Eucharistic prayer for the previous 400 years to four prayers. Furthermore, at the time of the Second Typical Edition that number jumped higher with the introduction of the Eucharistic Prayers for Masses with Children and the two Eucharistic Prayers for Reconciliation.
The Latin edition of the Roman Missal is called the TYPICAL EDITION because all other languages are to translate from this authentic Missal as accurately and beautifully as they can. The second EDITIO TYPICA was promulgated March 27, 1975. This is the book that we have been using these last thirty some years. The second edition took advantage of the usage of time; some texts were corrected, others added or moved. While very competent scholars were charged with translating this immensely large book; they were also under a time crunch. The Catholic faithful across the English speaking world had begun to taste the joy of celebrating the sacred mysteries in their own language and they wanted to deepen that experience. Now, with the Third Editio Typica we have reached a new level of maturity and found that it was time to examine some of the translating methods; it now falls to us to put our best efforts into celebrating the Sacred Mysteries together.
There have been many editions of the Roman Missal to this point in time, and there will be further emendations and translations in the future. Our task is to put our best efforts into the praying of the text and the singing of the many parts of the Mass. Many beautiful new settings have already been published and we can be certain that there will be many that we will enjoy singing, will unite us with our singing neighbor, and will lift us all up more closely to the Lord, if only we can be open to the changes.
Finally, keep in mind that all liturgical books, since Vatican II (including the Roman Missal, Third typical edition), consists in two main divisions:
For the Mass, the first section is called "The General Instruction of the Roman Missal" [aka GIRM] and the rest of the book, The Missal proper, containing the vast amount of pages needed to print the prayers and rubrics for the celebration of the Mass for every possible occasion.
Reading the GIRM and following its instruction is an essential step to an authentic, knowledgeable, fruitful as well as valid and licit celebration of the Mass.
Finally, keep in mind that all liturgical books, since Vatican II (including the Roman Missal, Third typical edition), consists in two main divisions:
- (1.) The General Instruction which gives both (a) the theological insruction on the meaning and shape of the Sacrament or Ritual at hand, and (b) a detailed explanation of the ritual actions for the celebration.
- (2.) The prayers and other texts that compose the Rite at hand
For the Mass, the first section is called "The General Instruction of the Roman Missal" [aka GIRM] and the rest of the book, The Missal proper, containing the vast amount of pages needed to print the prayers and rubrics for the celebration of the Mass for every possible occasion.
Reading the GIRM and following its instruction is an essential step to an authentic, knowledgeable, fruitful as well as valid and licit celebration of the Mass.
Some helps to SINGING THE MASS, instead of singing AT Mass.
If you wish to submit further topics: Jerry.Chinchar@gmail.com
