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A lot of changes came about in the church last year due to the COVID pandemic. Holy water disappeared from the fonts near all the doors. Confessions were only heard outdoors or mask-to-mask at a social distance. I’m still not sure that my actual confession was heard, as I am also not quite sure I heard anything the priest told me with absolute certainty. Singing was verboten. The shared wine cup was naturally gone, and ropes, ties, and bungee cords made sure that we kept a social distance from the pews in front and behind us. And if that wasn’t enough of a reminder, tape on the floor reminded us to keep six feet away from each other.

But perhaps the most jarring change was the removal of the missalettes and hymnals. Without those Mass guides, it became pretty clear that most of us couldn’t recite the Creed from memory or say the Gloria without singing it! The psalm responses were recited at first, and then eventually sang by a masked cantor. But frankly, without the words in front of me, and with articulation being muted, it was difficult to know what the response of the day actually was.

You can read the rest here: https://www.catholicmom.com/articles/my-roman-missal-and-the-pandemic

There are a few things I didn’t include in that post. I have used a digital version of the missal on my android phone and also on my Kindle. That’s fine. I can even read them a little clearer because of the light, but it’s still a little clunky to find the Eucharistic prayers. However, I still find value in having the old-fashioned, bound book right in my hands and I think there is value to being able to flip back and forth through the pages.

So for that reason, I’m going to write a series of posts on using the Missal. Be sure to check back for those.

But another reason for carrying the actual missal is, it’s always available to you! The church can’t take it away because of potential contagion. You don’t need wi-fi or data. So maybe that’s why I feel so protective of it. Having the missalettes taken away felt like a loss. It was one more loss on top of all the others we experienced last year, but to have the guides to mass taken away just felt … wrong. It felt wrong. So that won’t be me again. Ever. Picture me as Scarlet O’Hara – With God as My Witness, I’ll never go without the missal again!

If you’re feeling similarly you can get your copy of the Daily Roman Missal here.

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