Various resources will help U.S. church become familiar with new missal Print E-mail
By Catholic News Service   
Tuesday, 24 August 2010
Priests, parish groups and individual Catholics wanting to become more familiar with the Roman Missal set to go into use in the United States Nov. 27, 2011, will be able to choose from a wealth of resources.

The U.S. bishops’ Secretariat of Divine Worship, the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions, and some bishops and liturgists are rolling out a wide variety of audio, visual and print materials designed to ease the transition from second to the third “typical edition” of the Roman Missal.

Because the change has been anticipated for many years, most of the resources were already available or will be soon after the Aug. 20 announcement of the U.S. implementation date on the first Sunday of Advent in 2011.

The main resource offered by the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops for parishes is the Parish Guide for the Implementation of the Roman Missal, Third Edition.

The parish guide “is meant to be a roadmap” leading pastors and other parish leaders from the Aug. 20 announcement to the implementation date, said Father Richard Hilgartner, associate director of the USCCB divine worship secretariat.

“The key time for catechesis in the parishes will be next September, October and November,” he said. But by next spring, parishioners should be seeing frequent bulletin announcements and should have been offered various educational opportunities related to the new missal, he added.

The Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions is offering for sale prepackaged parish workshop kits or manuals, brochures highlighting various aspects of the new missal and study guides for different groups. In the works are audio guides to help priests learn the new prayers for Mass.