A Roman Missal and two books of rites

This coming Friday begins a formation weekend for us, and this month our study will be on the Sacred Liturgy of the Church, and I've been waiting on this weekend for a long time because I truly love the liturgy, whether it is the Mass or the Liturgy of the Hours, I love liturgical worship with a passion, and I love the new translation of the Roman Missal, so you can imagine how thrilled that I was when we all got shiny new copies of the Missal last month to read the General Instruction On the Roman Missal and prepare for this month of instruction.

 We also received copies of the rites for Holy Communion Outside of Mass and the Rite of Baptism for Children, and we were assigned in advance to read the general instructions at the beginning of those rites books, in addition to the Catechism of the Catholic Church's sections on liturgy as well as some other readings given to us in a large and bulky binder that contains instruction and information that we'll need in the months and years ahead. I had been very pleased to have the Rite of Baptism for Children and the Rites of Holy Communion Outside of Mass, so you can imagine my surprise when, after reading the instructions in each rite book, only to find that the formulas and responses were in accordance with the old Missal which is no longer in effect. I asked my spiritual director about this, and he said that in the case of Communion Outside Mass, the rite book I have could still be useful, especially if I learn some of the "new responses" by heart. He pointed out that when visiting a nursing home or convalescent home for example, there are many people in those places who only truly know the liturgical rites as they were before the Liturgical Year 2012, and that it isn't unusual to find people who will respond with the so-called "old responses" by instinct in many cases. In those cases where people are aware of the new Missal, they may already know the new responses.


I hoped I would get years worth of use out of the liturgical texts, especially out of the baptism and Holy Communion books since those functions are especially important to the liturgical life of a deacon. I hope I still don't have to replace the latter two for many years-and I hope that if the Lord allows me to be ordained that my Roman Missal will be very well-worn indeed when I finally have to replace it. Pray for me this weekend and for my other Brother Aspirants, not only do we always need it, but I know that as you pray for me, I am also praying for you.