THEI 162169 ASTOR, LENOX AND TILDEN FOUNDAY ONG 1800 The Roman Missal translated into English fo the use of the Laity, and now revised, and ar ranged by a Clergyman of the Diocese, is hereby duly approved of, and recommended by me to the faithful. FREDERICK JAMES, Bishop of Philadelphia. Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1861, by EUGENE CUMMISKEY, In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. THE use of the Roman Missal in their vernacular language seems scarcely to be appreciated by the laity. The Catholic mind, so habituated to the Great Sacrifice of the New Law, feels, in the presence of the Atoning Victim, as if words or vocal prayers were needless, and union of mind and heart sufficient. There is much of truth and solid piety in this thought: and yet it will be found, that the approved language of the Church will not unfrequently excite and sustain that piety. The great benefit, if not the principal end of the Liturgy, appears to be the daily application of the Great Sacrifice, in thanksgiving to God for his varied blessings, and in seeking his protection in the many difficulties to which we are so frequently exposed. The beautiful selection from the Sacred Scripture with which the Missal is so filled, cannot fail to enlighten the attentive mind; whilst the appropriate Collects and other prayers which the (iii) Church has added, must console and strengthen In the edition now published, many Masses ap- To understand the end and beauty of the Catho- FEAST OF THE IMMACULATE CONCEPTION, 1860. INTRODUC1.ON. the Scriptural parts which in the Original Latin as! taken from the Vulgate, have, in this Edition been faithfully compared with, and made literally conformable to the received and approved Version of the Holy Scrip tures, as revised and edited by the Right Rev. and Ven Dr. Richard Challoner, of learned and pious memory. THE Prayers and portions of Holy Scripture, of which the MAS3, or Liturgy of the Catholic Church, is composed, are in part unalterably the same, and partly dif ferent every day: those that are fixed and invariable, are contained in what is called the ORDINARY OF THE MASS, from pages xv. to xlviii. inclusively; and the change able or proper parts, (viz. the INTROITS, COLLECTS, EPISTLES and LESSONS, GRADUALS and TRACTS, GOSPELS, OFFERTORIES, SECRETS, COMMUNIONS and PostCOMMUNIONS) form the subsequent contents of the book. But as the PREFACES are not so frequently subject to change, they follow each other in regular succession in the Ordinary. The Ecclesiastical Year, with respect to the Sundays and Moveable Feasts, commences with the FIRST SUNDAY of ADVENT, and closes on the LAST SUNDAY after PENTECOST; and with regard to the Festivals of the Saints, from the Feast of St. ANDREW, the 30th of November, to the Eve of the same Festival the year following, inclusively. In order therefore to find out the PROPER MASS of the day, look for that day of the month in the Calendar, opposite to which may be seen a reference to the page wherein it is contained; and if a Double should fall on a Sunday, then the Mass of the Double is said instead of the Mass of the Sunday, except it be a Sunday of the FIRST CLASS, viz. the first Sunday of ADVENT OF LENT, PASSION, PALM, EASTER, WHIT, and TRINITY SUNDAYS: and the Sundays of the SECOND CLASS, which cannot be superseded, except by Doubles of the FIRST CLASS, are the ii. iii. and iv. of ADVENT, SEPTUAGESIMA, SEXAGESIMA, and QUINQUAGESIMA, as also the ii. iii. and 'V. of LENT It mus' however be remarked that the (v) Gospels for Sundays thus superseded by Doubles are never omitted, but always recited (instead of St. JOHN'S GOSPEL) at the END OF MASS; and also that a Cominemoration of the Sunday, by its proper COLLECT, SECRET, and POSTCOMMUNION, is always made immediately after the Collect, &c. of the Festival. But as it sometimes happens that a Double is transferred to a future vacant day, on account of the Octave of some festival of higher rank intervening, then the dif ficulty of finding out such transferred festival, may be easily removed by consulting the Laity's Directory, published as a guide to the morning, as well as the evening service of the church. As references are frequently made to the Common of Saints, commencing at p. 459, to the Proper of Saints, beginning with p. 521, and continuing in regular progression to the end of the Ecclesiastical Year; the reader will find the Masses thus referred to, designated by numerical letters, from No. I. to XXI. inclusively: Be it therefore observed, that on whatever day of the month these numerical references appear in the Calendar, or General Index, it denotes that the Mass thereof (having no proper parts assigned to it) is taken entirely from the Common Mass referred to: but should any exceptions occur, they are stated in a parenthesis. Commemorations are made by the addition of a COLLECT, SECRET and POSTCOMMUNION, to those that are proper to the feast of the day. When therefore the word COLLECT, with an &c. annexed thereto, appears in the Rubrics, the &c. denotes that its proper Secret and Postcommunion are also comprehended. ABBREVIATIONS EXPLAINED. ap. Apostle, m. Martyr, mm. Martyrs, P. Pope, abp. Archbishop, bp. Bishop, pr. Priest, c. Confessor, Doctor, ab. Abbot, v. Virgin, w Widow, B. Blessed, d. Double, sd. Semidouble, d I. cl. Double of the first class, d. II. cl. Double of the second class. gr. d. Greater Double. The Holy-days of obligation are in CAPITALS, and the days of particular devotion in Italics. |