Missal

An altar book that provides all the textual materials needed for celebration of the Holy Eucharist. It includes liturgical texts and directions, readings, additional prayers, hymns, and musical notations. This single volume is used by the celebrant who presides at the eucharist. Use of the missal dates from the tenth century. The Roman Missal was used by mendicant friars and officials of the Roman Curia who traveled through Europe. The Roman Missal came to be used or imitated in many places. In 1570 Pope Pius V published a revised edition of the Roman Missal that reflected the directives of the Council of Trent. This edition of the Roman Missal was required for all dioceses, churches, and religious communities that did not have a missal of their own which they had used for at least 200 years. Use of a missal has never been required in the Anglican liturgical tradition. The 1549 Prayer Book provided liturgical texts and prayers for the eucharist, including introits, collects, epistles and gospels for the church year. It also included the contents of the breviary, the missal, priests' manuals, and a revised form of the English litany of 1544 which had replaced the book of litanies and processions. The Ordinal (ordination rites) continued to be printed separately until the 1662 Prayer Book. Although there is no official missal in the Episcopal Church, an Altar Book with eucharistic texts, prayers, and music from the BCP and The Hymnal 1982 is published by Church Publishing Incorporated. Anglo-catholic missals, such as the American Missal that was first published in 1931, included a variety of additional materials and devotions that were not in the BCP. See Missal Mass.