LCMissal-150x150While most of us don’t follow along in a missal or missallette, some of us like to. Others bring their own personal Missals (which is great!). In years past we’ve had disposable missallettes, but once the new translation of the Missal was promulgated our parish could invest in a permanent missal for our pews (upgrading from the less ecological options we have needed during an earlier period of flux). Our pew missal is called the Lumen Christi Missal (from the Latin which means light of Christ). While these handsomely hardbound books could work for our own personal missal, they are designed to remain in the pews for years and years of use. It is not a hymnal (we’re keeping our excellent hymnals) but it will complement the hymnal. For Sundays throughout the three-year cycle it will include the readings and the propers (introit, responsorial psalm, offertory and communion) pointed for singing, and for weekdays and feasts it will include the propers for each Mass (introit, responsorial psalm and communion). It also works to give us musical settings for our responsorial psalms that are more suitable to the liturgy (in contrast to many of the disposable options which often set these Biblical texts to pop song melodies). Besides being a permanent and economical source of the readings in our pews, our service music options will be expanded with this truly pastoral resource (giving us more Mass settings in English, as well as music for various rites we do throughout the year), and the devotional section of this pew missal alone makes it valuable to us (including Stations of the Cross). This Missal is a liturgical resource for the 21st century, and we plan to use it for years. Through it our parishioners learn to better appreciate and participate in the Mass. Click on the link below to learn more.