Why You Should Get a Missal

What is a missal?

A missal is a liturgical book used at Mass and contains all the prayers, antiphons, readings, and instructions that the priest and congregation follow.

There are different forms:

• Altar Missal (or Roman Missal): kept on the altar, it provides the priest with all the words and instructions he needs to celebrate the Mass.
• People’s Missal: a smaller version designed for the laity, usually containing the Order of Mass, the readings and antiphons, instructions on how to participate in the Mass, as well as prayers to help the faithful participate more fully. All missals displayed on this page are People’s Missals.

What’s the benefit of having a missal?

It isn’t essential to have a missal with you at Mass, and some parishes provide paper missalettes which contain the readings and prayers of the Mass. However, there are some important reasons why having a missal could be of great benefit to you, both at Mass and outside of it:

• Having a missal helps you to follow along with the readings. If you don’t read the readings while they are being proclaimed, you may find that you forget them afterwards or that you become distracted. The readings are the Word of God proclaimed for all to hear, so it’s very important to pay attention to them as this is how God speaks to us.
• If you’re unfamiliar with the Mass, or if you can’t remember certain prayers by heart like the Gloria or the Creed, a Missal helps you to know what you’re supposed to say and do.
• Stay focused and reverent with the help of a Missal; it will prevent you from becoming distracted, help you keep track of where you are in the Mass, and remind you of the importance of what’s happening.
• A missal can also be very helpful spiritually outside of Mass. In addition to praying the Sunday Mass readings can pray with the Mass readings of the day, even on weekdays when you might not go to Mass (if your missal is a Weekday or Daily Missal), or on Sundays when you are unable to get to Mass for important reasons such as illness.
• Even if you’re a lifelong Catholic, a missal can reinvigorate your experience of the Mass. Seeing the responses in print and understanding the structure of the Mass ensures that going to Mass is an act of devotion rather than a habit.