Missal (Lat. Missale plenarium, or simply Plena- rium) is the name given to an office-book of the Roman Catholic Church, containing the liturgy, i. e. all of the
MISSAL
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MISSI DOMIXICI
Jitiirgy required for the celebration of the Mass (q. v.) or 3Iissa,viz.the fixed Ordinary (q.v.), and Canon (q.v.), with the changeable Introits, Collects, Epistles, Gospels, etc. In the early Western Church it was called sacra- vienlarium, but it tlien contained only parts of what is now comprehended in the Missal. Some copies, as re- quired in every parish by the bishops, contained the Gospels, the sacramcntary, prayers, prefaces, benedic- tions, and the canon, the lectionary, a book of epistles, and the antiphoii, or, in a word, all that was to be sung by the priest at the altar, and by the ministers in the anibon. These books were called Plenars (q. v.), i. e. complete or full ; but usually their contents were dis-
within and without the Easter period, for the days of the confessors, the virgins, and of those who did not die in the virginal state. The Appendix is v»Ty comprehen- sive : it gives the annual mass, different votival masses, and the masses for the deceased, several benedictions, and, lastly, the masses for such feasts or commemorations as are celel)rated in certain places with papal a]iproba- tioii, and called therefore " Missie ex indulto apostolico." In the Anglican Church, previous to the lleformation, the missals used varied very greatly ; and even after the compilation of the IJoman Missal, the English missals known as " Sarum Use," " Hereford Use," " Lincoln Use," Bangor Use," etc., continued to be general. Near the
tributed into separate volumes — the Gradual, Collectar, i end of the lOth century, hov.-ever, the Jesuits succeeded Benedictional, llymnar, etc. The complete Missal was \ in forcing the Koman Missal into the Romish churches
requisite when priests, from the 9th century, began to say low ma.sses, and especially for country clergy; as laymen, by the Capitulars of 789, were forbidilen to siiig the lessons and alleluia, and the priests were re- quired to sing the Sanctus with the people before the canon was commenced. The earliest Frank, Gothic, or
of England. The old missals, before the invention of the art of printing, were generally written in the roost sump- tuous manner, ornamented with beautiful initials, and most si)lendidly bound. A kiiul of large Gothic letters (monachal writing), for the writing of the missals, came into use in tlie loth centurv. After the invention of the
Galilean missals, of the Gth century, contained only the j art of printing, patterns were cut after these letters, portion of the liturgy recited by a bishop or priest— that | and used for the printing of missals ; hence the name
is, the canon, prayers, and prefaces. At a later date, those of small churches comprised the Introit, CJradual, Alleluia, Tract, Offertory, Sanctus, and Communion, where, although there were a deacon and subdeacoii, the smallness of the choir required the celebrant and his two assistants to chant together.
The Missal was probably compiled near the close of the 5th century, was amplitied by Gelasius I, and corrected by pope Gregory I. But, although the IMissal was con- tained in the Gregorian rite, it appeared in such varied forms in different churches, and frequently with so many improper additions, that the wish for an emendation be- came general, and, having been expressed at the Council of Basle, and in 1536 at a synod at Cologne, it was suc- cessfully urged at the Coimcil of Trent. During the early part of the council no agreement coidd be effected. In the eighteenth session a commission was appointed, which, however, could not bring to an end the work intrusted to it; whereupon the council, in the twenty-fifth ses- sion, resolved upon recommending to the pope the re- form of the Breviary, IMissal, and Kituals. As the ques- tion was not to create a new liturgy, but to purify the existing one, to restore it to its original simplicity, etc., the work was recommended to be done in Home. It was commenced under Pius lY, and completed under Pius V. The only members of the commission whose names are known are cardinal Bernardino Scossi and Tomaso Gol- duelli, bishop of Asaph. Perhaps a great share in the execution of the work may be ascribed to cardinal Sir- let and to the learned Giulio Poggi. The new Missal appeared in 1.570; it was followed by two revisions un- der Clement VIII (buU of July 7, lOO-l) and Urban YIII (bull of Sept. 2, 1634). It is composed of an introduc- tion, three parts, and an appendix. The introduction gives the calendar, the general rubrics, a summary of the rite, and instructions about possible deficiencies. The three parts are: l."Proprium missarum de tem- pore," with the formularies for the successive solemni- ties of the year. It treats of all the Smidays, from the first Sunday of Advent to the last after Pentecost. The whole ecclesiastical year pivots around the three capital feast-days: Christmas, Easter, and Pentecost — Easter being tlie centre. Between the Saturday before Easter and Easter Sunday the Ordo ^lissal is inserted. 2. "Proprium missarum de Sanctis" contains the formula- ries for the celebration of the mass on particidar feasts of saints, etc. This jiart of the 3Iiss.nl is arranged after the niinuhs and days of the civil year. 3. " (,'onimune sanctorum" is a kind of complement of the preceding for such saint-days as have no particular mass-formular in proprium. Tlie division is founded on the character of tlie saint, and on the order of rank as given by the litany of All Saints. There are mass-formularies for the vigil of an apostle-da}-, for the days of the martyrs.