Roman Missal: Meaning (information, definition, explanation, facts)

Roman Missal is the book containing all the fixed and changeable prayers and readings for the conduct of Roman Catholic Masses. Before the high Middle Ages priests had to have many books assembled for the Mass - Sacramentaries with the collected prayers; books containing the Gospels, whether arranged in excerpted form organized for public reading or regular Gospel books; and Psalters or collections of the Psalms. The priests of the Franciscan Order who regularly travelled or were posted in preaching assignments all over Europe developed a small-format single volume (or multiple volume set divided by the seasons of the Church year) so that they would never be without all the necessary resources. This practice advanced the habit of standardization of the Roman Rite by breaking down some local customs; the Franciscans chose the Calendar of Saints as celebrated in the city of Rome rather than adapting their celebrations to the calendar of each diocese in which they operated.

In 1570, having concluded the revision entrusted to the Pope by the Council of Trent, Pope Pius V promulgated a version of the Roman Missal which was to become mandatory for almost all of the Roman Catholic Church of Latin Rite. This authoritative edition, nowadays not infrequently termed the "Tridentine Mass" owing to the date of its codification, underwent minor changes by later Popes, but in its essentials remained in active use up to the Second Vatican Council, which asked for a revision. In view of that request, Pope Paul VI promulgated in 1969 a new and revised edition of the Roman Missal, often called the Novus Ordo Missae, and termed "the new Roman Missal" in its decree of promulgation. [1] A new edition with minor changes followed in 1975 and a third edition was published in 2002, after approval by John Paul II in 2000. Like their 1570 predecessor, these latest editions have an authoritative Latin edition, although the Mass is typically celebrated in vernacular languages, for which end official translations have been made into many languages with the approval of local Conferences of Bishops. Such approvals require confirmation by the Holy See.

• General Instruction of the Roman Missal - as of June 2003, including Adaptations for the Dioceses of the United States of America.
• Promulgation of the Roman Missal Revised by Decree, 1969.