I was quite chuffed this morning; as I was walking out of the door the postman came and delivered my new 1962 Roman Missal. I had been using my grandfathers missal which he gave to me shortly before he died, but it was getting worn and I didn't want to damage it any further.
I was also surprised to learn that this missal was published as a result of the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum, also in conjunction with the FSSP... In many ways this makes it quite a special edition.
One thing I love about the 1962 missal is how the images help you pray... I'm not one for being picky about art but in my Sunday Missal for the ordinary form some of the images which frankly could have been sketched by a 3 year old put me off.
These images though add a theological dimension to prayer which not only seeks to show you the living tradition of the Church (as we see here when the Holy Father is shown proclaiming the Doctrine of the Immaculate Conception), but which also seek to convey the beauty of the truth which is being proclaimed, not an abstract image, but something firm, something beautiful, something sacred.
I'm not one to wet myself about missals and so on, but I do appreciate beauty when I see it. I thought I'd share this with you and if you haven't got one get one!
The point of this post though is to share with you a reflection on the mass that I hadn't seen before. My Grandfathers missal was given to him on his first communion so that one was over 80-85 years old. It's truly beautiful and I think gives us food for thought when we go to mass either ordinary or extraordinary...
" The Holy Mass is a prayer itself, even the highest prayer that exists. It is the Sacrifice, dedicated by our Redeemer at the Cross, and repeated every day at the Altar. If you wish to hear Mass as it should be heard, you must follow with the eye, heart and mouth all that happens at the Altar. Further, you must pray with the Priest the holy words said by him in the Name of Christ and which Christ says by him. You have to associate you heart with the holy feelings which are contained in these words and in this manner you ought to follow all that happens at the Altar. When acting this way you have prayed Holy Mass."
His Holiness, Pope St. Pius X
8 comments:
*smiles* It is a wonderful Missal. I agree what you say about helping one pray.
Even when I seldomly went to "Latin Masses", the Missal was well-thumbed!
That looks great! where did you find it and how much did it cost?
Well it was from Amazon, I just typed in Roman Missal and it came up. It's not the one with writing on the front, it's got IHS sorted of stamped into the leather.
It's the Baronius Press edition of the 1962 Daily Missal. Well worth it!
It wasn't published as a result of the Motu Proprio, but it does include it.
Anonymous is right; the Missal was published before the motu proprio. Though, there was a special edition afterwards with the text in it.
Just to clarify, the leaflet attached inside said 'Published to celebrate the Motu Proprio Summorum Pontificum' so I presumed it was as a result the special edition was published. Who knows.
It'll be so if the text of the motu proprio is inside! :)
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