Customer Reviews

Missal: The Order of Mass in English

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book belongs in every Catholic household and is an excellent tool or companion to your yearly or monthly missal. It is a reference book that follows the mass as mass should be exectuted. Many parishes I have visited in the US seem to be straying from the traditional mass and this serves as the gold standard document to remind and teach the perfect mass. It is ideal for RCIA candidates, returning Catholics, and a teaching tool for CCD. It is relatively small and 'paperback'. It does not give explanation for how and why mass became what it is or the changes that were implemented throughout church history. Think of it as an outline of mass. If you want to learn the 'why' of mass go to 'The Incredible Catholic Mass' by Fr. Martin von Cochem.

Easy-to-follow guide to the mass, including instructions on the postures & responses of the congregation.

This pocket-sized missal contains four versions of the ordinary of the Mass all in English, but because responses are not highlighted by bold type it's difficult to find them. You might think you could go over it at home before attending Mass, but that doesn't work because the missal contains four versions of the Ordinary, each with it's own set of responses which, however slightly, do vary.
It would be a lot more useful if some of the less popular versions were removed entirely and all of the responses were in bold type. Another improvement would be better labeling of "Celebrant" and "Response"

I was a little worried about this book at first. When buying it, I noticed that it was put together by a conservative author. Nothing against conservatism (I would call myself a conservative). But there are some conservative Catholics that seem to be so hung up on going back to the "way it used to be" that their texts on liturgical rites end up being harrangues about "the way it is now" instead of true teaching materials or materials for reflection or prayer.
I was also a little worried when I opened the book, after it arried at my house. A little card fell out advertising a book that was a diatribe against things like lay Eucharistic Ministers and holding hands at the Lord's Prayer.
But, when I actually began to read the book I found that it was a clear, concise, easy to use book on the order of the mass.
I will use this with my adult education classes at church. Very nice.

This is the Order of Mass approved for use in the United States by the Holy See. There is no opinion here, no "conservative" or "liberal"--which are false labels anyway, because you either obey your Church's laws or you don't. After all, both the Catechism of the Catholic Church (2089) and the Code of Canon Law (751) define that "Schism is the refusal of submission to the Supreme Pontiff or of communion with the members of the Church subject to him." As canon law also stipulates, it belongs to the Holy See to establish the liturgical books, "therefore, no other person, not even if he is a priest, may on his own add, remove, or change anything in the liturgy" (Sacrosanctum concilium 22 §3). The Catechism of the Catholic Church repeats the principle that "no sacramental rite may be modified or manipulated at the will of the minister or the community" (1125). And this, as far as I can find, is the only publication of the official Order of Mass produced with the official approval of the ICEL, the Holy See's deputed agency for liturgical books in English. The new revisions, by the way, will not take effect for several years. Get this while you can.

The publication quality is very poor. It looks like someone self-published this on their own pc, and the finished product was not professional looking at all. I've seen books that were stapled together better than this. There were no footnotes, bibliography, publisher info, etc. Nothing. Not good as a teaching tool, and not good enough to put on your bookshelf either.