By John Fencik

The First Sunday of Advent is almost here and with it the implementation of the new Roman Missal. It will provide us— priest and people—with changes in liturgical language. In September, these changes were discussed at superb workshops attended by many of our people and presented by our Diocesan Liturgy Commission under the direction of Father Ed Hislop.

What exactly is the Roman Missal? In the early Church, there was no missal, no book with required or proscribed prayers or gestures (rubrics). Early Christians gathered for a meal of fellowship, later replaced with a Liturgy of the Word, and offered a prayer of thanksgiving (eucharistia) to the Father for what had been fulfilled through the Lord Jesus and his paschal mystery. Within that prayer, gifts of bread and wine, blessed by the words of institution at the Last Supper, became the Lord’s real presence and by this ritual act they “proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes” (1 Cor 11.26). Thus the earliest prayers were “improvised” by the bishop— perhaps even a required charism or ability for a presider.

As the Church grew in number and geographically, there was a move toward greater consistency and authenticity in the liturgical prayers. Soon, small compilations of prayers surfaced. The first larger books (sacramentaries) came from Pope St. Leo the Great (440-461) and one ascribed to Pope Gelasius (492-496). The Dark Ages, marked by the barbarian invasions, and the early Middle Ages brought about a shift in the celebration of the liturgy, from a communal celebration to a more private “work” of the priest—a reflection of the “survival” of Western civilization through the English and Irish monasteries. This shift also was affected greatly by the rise of feudalism, which contributed to feelings of unworthiness, on the laity’s part, to receive communion and thus adding to the private devotion of the priest. As a result, we see the first “missals,” containing everything for the priest to celebrate Mass—even without a congregation. These missals were localized to particular dioceses or monasteries. The first printed missals came in about 1474.

Due to the 16th century Protestant Reformation and the Catholic response in the Council of Trent (1545- 1563), Pope St. Pius V created a new missal (1570) that would become the standard missal mandated for use throughout the universal Church until 1969. In many ways, he was the first modern liturgical “reformer.” His missal brought a uniform celebration of the Mass as a sign of the unity of the Catholic Church during those tumultuous cultural, political and religious times. Subsequent popes made additions to his missal, including the Holy Week changes by Pope Pius XII in the 1950s.

The Second Vatican Council (1962-65) issued the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy in 1963. This was the culmination of decades of the liturgical movement that began at Benedictine monasteries in 19th century Europe and came to the United States in the early 20th century. This movement received a great boost from the liturgical reforms of Pope St. Pius X (1903-14), who sought a more active participation of the laity in the Mass, especially in singing. Thus, in 1969 (reformulated in 1975), Pope Paul VI issued the first significant change in the missal since 1570, creating a Sacramentary and a Lectionary. In 2002, Blessed John Paul II issued a third edition in Latin, which has now been translated into English for our use.

One of the complaints about the 1969 missal was that the English version was not a very accurate translation of the official Latin. Of special note was the loss of the poetic beauty of the Latin language, and wording that may not have reflected the intent or meaning of the Latin words. The new Roman Missal seeks to remedy that issue. One of the key features of the new wording is a return to a more biblical and traditional foundation. In other words, we are entering into the Word of God in a deeper way that puts us at the very foundation of our prayers. Thanks to the excellent preparation in our diocese for many months, the transition should be very smooth and help us to participate more devoutly and actively in the sacrificial gift of the Eucharist—the very heart of our faith.


John Fencik is the director of Catholic Faith Formation Services for the Diocese of Helena. He may be reached at jfencik@diocesehelena.org.


Published in The Montana Catholic Online, Volume 27, No. 11, November 18, 2011.