425 Missale Romanum
Missal
/ Liturgical Books
Missale Romanum
The Missale Romanum or Roman Missal is a book
used by the celebrant of a Roman Catholic Mass. In
contrast to the Sacramentary, an earlier type of Ro-
man Mass book which only included the prayers
used by the priest (Metzger), a Missale or “Plenary
Missal” typically integrates the readings from the
lectionary Epistolarium and Evangeliarium, and
proper chant texts from the Graduale or Antiphona-
rium Missae, with the orations and Canon of the
Mass. Sacramentaries and missals coexisted in the
middle ages and individual manuscripts present a
wide variety of features (Huglo/Hiley; Irving: 26–
36). By the mid-13th century, the plenary Missal
had become the dominant Mass book in the Latin
West, although different regions and religious or-
ders maintained considerable variation in the order
and phrasing of the prayers, chants, and readings
(Horváth/Földváry).
The specific title Missale Romanum designates a
particular liturgical tradition that developed in the
milieu of the Roman Curia in the late 12th and early
13th centuries (van Dijk/Walker), in contrast to Mis-
sals of other regions or religious orders such as the
Missale Ratisponensis of Regensburg or the Missale Or-
dinis Praedicatorum of the Dominican friars of the Or-
der of Preachers. The 13th-century Missale Romanum
was adopted by the newly founded Order of Friars
Minor (Franciscans), who spread the particular li-
turgical customs, prayers, chant texts and readings
used in the Roman curia throughout Europe and
beyond (Przeczewski). With the advent of printing,
many editions of the Missale Romanum appeared; im-
portant early editions include Milan, 1474, and
Rome, 1476, which was of the first books with mu-
sical notation printed with moveable type (Bern-
stein).
Although the Council of Trent (1545–63) of-
fered detailed commentary on the Eucharist and
criticisms of liturgical abuses, the Council gave lim-
ited attention to the question of the reform of litur-
gical books (Geldhof). At the close of the council,
the Pope was commissioned to publish new editions
of the Missal and Breviary (Tanner: 797). In 1570,
Pius V promulgated a new edition of the Missale
Romanum, prefaced with the papal bull Quo primum
which made the new Missal obligatory except for
those dioceses and religious orders whose proper
rite had been celebrated for at least 200 years (Ditch-
field).
In most of its details, the 1570 Missale Romanum
was a light revision of earlier editions, specifically
designed to complement the calendar and other de-
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426
tails of the Breviarium Romanum published in 1568
and including several rubrical guides for the cele-
bration of Mass. The texts for the Mass begin with
the “Ordinarium Missarum de Tempore” (Sodi/
Triacca: 57–292) providing the Introit (usually
drawn from the Psalms), one or more collects, an
epistle (usually a letter of Paul), the Gradual and
Alleluia (usually from the Psalms), the Gospel (usu-
ally from Matthew, Luke, or John), the Offertory
(usually from the Psalms), the Secret prayer (recited
silently), the Communio (usually from the Psalms but
sometimes from the Gospel of the day), and the
Postcommunion prayer. Mass formularies are pro-
vided for each Sunday from Advent until the begin-
ning of Lent with a few weekdays, followed by daily
sets of prayers and readings for each day of Lent
until the Easter Vigil. Between the Masses for the
Vigil and Easter Day, the Missale Romanum provides
the Ordinarium Missae (293–352), the mostly invaria-
ble prayers used on each day of the year. These be-
gin with the Iudica me (Ps 42), followed by the Confit-
eor (confession of sins), the blessing of incense (used
at solemn masses), the Kyrie, the Gloria (used only
on feast days), the prayers before the Gospel, the
Credo, “offertory” prayers over the bread and wine,
the Preface (in multiple versions for different feasts
with musical notation), the Roman Canon Missae,
the Pater Noster (Our Father), prayers before and af-
ter the reception of communion, and dismissal
prayers (Ite missa est or Benedicamus domino). Next,
the Masses of the Temporal continue, beginning
with Easter Sunday and continuing with formula-
ries for the Sundays after Easter, Ascension, Pente-
cost, Trinity, Corpus Christi, and the Sundays after
Pentecost (353–444). This is followed by the “Pro-
prium Missarum de Sanctis” (445–568), providing
material parallel to that of the “Temporale” but for
the saints celebrated from the feast of Andrew (30
November) to the feast of Catherine of Alexandria
(25 November). Next, the “Commune Sanctorum”
(569–609) provides prayers and readings for differ-
ent categories of saints, providing material refer-
enced in the Sanctorale for saints without distinc-
tive texts. The “Missa Votiva” (611–48) provide
formularies in honor of various saints or mysteries
of the faith (e.g., De Angelis, De Sancta Maria) or for
special intentions (e.g., “Mass for the taking away
of the Schism” [Smith 2015a]). The volume con-
cludes with Masses for the Dead (649–59) and bless-
ings for Holy Water, bread, candles, and other ob-
jects (660–65).
In 1604, a new edition was promulgated by Cle-
ment VIII with significant textual adaptations, fol-
lowed in 1634 by an edition by Urban VIII. In subse-
quent centuries, new editions were promulgated
regularly to add newly canonized saints and under-
take other minor changes (Jounel; Hoping: 287–95).
427 Missing Years of Jesus
In 1962, John XXIII promulgated what turned out
to be the last edition of the post-Tridentine form of
the Missale Romanum.
The Second Vatican Council (1962–65) issued
detailed instructions for liturgical reform in the
1963 constitution Sacrosanctum concilium. Under the
direction of Annibale Bugnini from 1964–75, the
Consilium ad exsequendam Constitutionem de Sacra Litur-
gia (Council for the Implementation of the Constitu-
tion on the Sacred Liturgy) produced a wholesale
revision of the Roman Missal that was promulgated
by Paul VI (Bugnini; Chiron). In contrast to the “ple-
nary Missal” format of the post-Tridentine Missale
Romanum, the 1970 Missale Romanum only included
the prayers recited by the priest, placing the Mass
readings in a separate set of lectionary volumes (see
the 1969 Ordo lectionum Missae and the 1970–72 Lec-
tionarium). The revised Missal introduced substan-
tial changes into the selection of prayers, adding an-
cient as well as newly composed or “cantonized”
prayers (Coppieters ’t Wallant) and shifting the
theological or spiritual emphasis of certain prayers
and liturgical seasons (Pristas; Regan). With respect
to the scriptural antiphons, the Introit and Commu-
nion texts were substantially changed, the offertory
antiphon was omitted from the Missal, the Gradual
was replaced by the Responsorial Psalm in the Lec-
tionary, and the Alleluia verses were replaced by
texts usually drawn from the Gospel of the day. De-
spite the radical changes to the antiphons in the
missal and lectionary, the 1973 Ordo Cantus Missae
and 1979 Graduale Romanum substantially retained
the traditional chant repertoire, adapting the order
to the revised calendar of the 1970 Missal. Despite
the changes in content, the overall layout of the
1970 Missal is similar to that of the 1570 Missal,
although the Ordo Missae is placed between the Tem-
porale and Sanctorale (rather than between the Easter
Vigil and Easter Day), the Sundays after Epiphany
and after Pentecost are replaced by Sundays “of the
Year” (per annum, sometimes translated “Ordinary
Time”), and a large number of prefaces and addi-
tional Eucharistic prayers are provided.
New editions of the Missale Romanum with rela-
tively minor changes appeared in 1971 and 1975,
and vernacular editions of the Missal appeared in
many languages. In 2002, a more substantial revi-
sion was promulgated by John Paul II, which ex-
panded the selection of saints and votive Masses and
made various rubrical changes. In 2008, a revision
appeared with the addition of a Vigil Mass for Pen-
tecost and various typographical corrections.
The liturgical changes of the post-Vatican II
Missal received a mixed reception among both
Catholics and non-Catholics, with some expressing
enthusiasm, some indifference, and some antago-
nistic on theological or cultural grounds. In 2007,
Benedict XVI declared that the pre-Vatican II and
post-Vatican II versions of the Missale Romanum
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© Walter de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston, 2021
428
could both be used by Catholic priests, attempting
an irenic settlement of the post-conciliar debates
about the reform of the Missal (Johnston; Smith
2015b).
Bibliography. Primary: ■ Lippe, R. (ed.), Missale romanum
Mediolani (1474) (Henry Bradshaw Society 17; London 1899).
■ Missale Romanum ex decreto Sacrosancti Oecumenici Concilii Vati-
cani II instauratum auctoritate Pauli PP. VI promulgatum. Editio
typica (Vatican City 1970).Przeczewski, Marek (ed.), Missale
Franciscanum Regulae Codicis VI. G. 38. Bibliothecae Nationalis
Neapolinensis (Monumenta Studia Instrumenta Liturgica 31;
Vatican City 2003). ■ Sodi, M./A. M. Triacca (eds.), Missale
Romanum: Editio Princeps (1570) (Monumenta Liturgica Con-
cilii Tridentini 2; Vatican City 1998). ■ Sodi, M./A. Toniolo
(eds.), Missale Romanum: ex decreto SS. Concilii Tridentini Restitu-
tum Summorum Pontificum cura recognitum: Editio typica 1962
(Monumenta Liturgica Piana 1; Vatican City 2007).
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the Beginning of Music Printing in Fifteenth-Century
Rome,” in Music and Culture in the Middle Ages and Beyond (ed.
B. Brand/D. J. Rothenberg; Cambridge 2016) 207–22.
■ Chiron, Y., Annibale Bugnini (Brooklyn, N.Y. 2018). ■ Cop-
pieters ’t Wallant, B., “Missale Romanum 1970–1975,” in
Corpus Orationum: Tomus XIII: Subsidia Liturgica (Corpus Chris-
tianorum Series Latina 160L; Turnhout 2003) 157–236.
■ Ditchfield, S., “Giving Tridentine Worship Back Its His-
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Swanson; SCH 35; Woodbridge 1999) 199–226. ■ Geldhof,
J., “Did the Council of Trent Produce a Liturgical Reform?
The Case of the Roman Missal,” QuLi 93 (2012) 171–95.
■ Hoping, H., Mein Leib für euch gegeben (Freiburg i.Br. 22015).
■ Horváth B./M. I. Földváry, “Beyond the Gradual: An
Analysis of the Recited Layers of Mass Propers and the Im-
pact of Regensburg on the Early Hungarian Liturgy,” Studia
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sal,” Grove Music Online (www.oxfordmusiconline.com).
■ Irving, A. J. M., “On the Counting of Mass Books,” ALW
57 (2015) 24–48. ■ Johnston, W. H., Care for the Church and
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nary Form of the Roman Rite (Collegeville, Minn. 2013).
■ Jounel, P., “L’évolution du Missel Romain de Pie IX à Jean
XXIII (1846–1962),” Notitiae 14 (1978) 246–58. ■ Metzger
M., Les Sacramentaires (Typologie des sources du moyen âge
occidental 70; Turnhout 1994). ■ Pristas, L., Collects of the
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■ Regan, P., Advent to Pentecost: Comparing the Seasons in the
Ordinary and Extraordinary Forms of the Roman Rite (College-
ville, Minn. 2012). ■ Smith, I., “The Formularies ‘Pro Uni-
tate Christianorum’ in the 2002 Missale Romanum,” StLi 45
(2015a) 1–15. ■ Smith, I., “Liturgical Irenicism and the
Unity of the Church,” New Blackfriars 96 (2015b) 3–11.
■ Tanner, N. P. (ed.), Decrees of the Ecumenical Councils (Wash-
ington, D.C. 1990). ■ Van Dijk, S. J. P./J. H. Walker, The
Origins of the Modern Roman Liturgy (Westminster, Md. 1960).
■ Vogel, C., Medieval Liturgy (trans. W. Storey/N. Rasmussen;
Portland, Oreg. 1986).
Innocent Smith
Missing Years of Jesus
/ Jesus, Lost Years of