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How did the Roman Missal originate?

In the early Christian Church, many of the prayers that were said at Eucharist were memorized and handed down by word of mouth. Eventually the prayers were collected and written down in books known as sacramentaries (book of sacraments). Scripture readings were recorded in other books and the Psalms were written in a book called the Psalter. Throughout the ages, as these manuscripts were passed down, modifications and additions were made. Eventually, all the chants, prayers, instructions and scriptures were organized into one book. It was written in Latin and as the texts contained in it continued to evolve over the next five centuries it became quite large. After the Second Vatican Council, the Mass was translated into many different languages (the vernacular).

The Gospel of the Lord
A Walk through the New Mass

Just as the readers no longer say ‘This is the Word of the Lord’ at the end of the other Mass readings, so the priest or deacon no longer says ‘This is the Gospel of the Lord’ at the end of the Gospel; he proclaims simply ‘The Gospel of the Lord’.

These final words echo many places in both Old and New Testaments, for example 1 Samuel 15:10; 1 Kings 16:7; 17:2; Psalm 33:4; Isaiah 28:14; Acts 8:25; 13:44; 1 Peter 1:25, and many more. And, as with the other Mass readings, the Gospel is not to be identified with the printed text, but with the text proclaimed. Again God is present to us in its proclamation.

Based on notes by Msgr Bruce Harbert on the DVD ‘Become One Body, One Spirit, in Christ’.
©2010, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation. All rights reserved.

 

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