Hand Missal History Project

I'm not good with memes but these made me laugh

I'll take them, particularly because they were some of the only engagement the article got today haha

Some memes from a friend, in response to my article

😂

Announcing a new research feature by Nico Fassino and the Hand Missal History Project https://handmissalhistory.com/dialog/

Due to the length of the piece, and the many different topics discussed, I will be sharing excerpts and photos in several threads spread across a few days.

That's all for today!

In the meantime, check it out and let me know what you think

🔗 handmissalhistory.com/dialog/

Excerpt from the article "Is the Parish School Undertaking Too Much?" in the Ecclesiastical Review, 1916.

First, I survey the origins & development of these vernacular methods for active participation in the Mass.

Next I explore what contemporary figures thought about them.

Lastly, I reflect on what lessons these methods (their successes & failures) can teach us today.

Cover of “The Children’s Mass and Benediction Service” by Rev. C. Maher (Dublin: James Duffy, 1886).

I have identified at least three distinct genres of these vernacular methods, and I explore each in detail:

1⃣ the Children’s Mass

2⃣ the Children’s ‘Dialog’ Mass

3⃣ the English Dialog Mass

Pages from “Hosanna: Catholic Hymn Book with an Appendix of Prayers and Devotions" by Rev. Ludwig Bonvin, SJ, (St. Louis: Herder, 1928).

Each one of these English Mass methods was granted imprimatur & continued to be approved through multiple editions over decades

They were recommended by respected theologians and catechists, and were openly discussed and approved of by clerical, education, and choral journals

Example pages from the vernacular Mass method by Rev. John Moffatt, SJ as printed in “Pray the Mass” (New York: Benziger Brothers, 1927). Photo courtesy of the author.

What do I mean by “vernacular recitation of the Mass texts”?
The congregation would read aloud - in unison and in English - the liturgical texts while the Mass was underway.

They would often even recite some of the priest's parts!

(👇this was first published in 1927!)

Collage of hand missals and prayer books which contained vernacular methods of participating in the Mass. Photo via the author.

This new research reveals that vernacular recitation of the Mass texts far predates the post-conciliar reforms.

It was also pretty popular!

I have found at least 69 book titles containing these vernacular Mass methods, published in a combined total of at least 329 editions between 1861 and 1961!

“Roman Catholic religious ceremony, possibly a first Communion event held at Glen Osmond, South Australia; girls wearing white veiling kneel to pray with a large crowd of onlookers.” Photo via the State Library of South Australia, public domain.

The Australian Catholic Hymn Book, 5th ed. (Sydney: Louise Gille & Co., sd [1890s?]). Photo courtesy of the State Library of New South Wales, public domain.

This article is based on extensive original research – analyzing a vast number of hand missals & prayer books published throughout the Anglophone world for more than a century

This gives us new unparalleled insight into what was **actually happening** in the pews during these years

Example pages of the Paulist vernacular Mass method as printed in “Hymns and Prayers for Catholic Children: With a Sodality Office and Prayers and Exercises for the Children’s Mass” (New York: The Catholic Publication Society, 1870). Photo courtesy of University of Notre Dame Library.

This is a heavily illustrated & expanded version of an article which I published in the Society for Catholic Liturgy's Antiphon Journal earlier this spring

It features 31 photos of extraordinary hand missals and prayer books, many of which are now very scarce

(this one is from 1870 btw 👀)

Teaching the Mass with Song & ‘Dialog’ Assessing the use of the vernacular at Mass, 1861-1961.

Check it out and let me know what you think!

🔗 handmissalhistory.com/dialog/

Announcing a new research feature by Nico Fassino and the Hand Missal History Project: https://handmissalhistory.com/dialog/

I’m back with a new research project!

It's a study of vernacular congregational participation at Mass between 1861 and 1961.

Everything you think you know about liturgy before the Second Vatican Council is probably wrong 🧵⤵️

So, I'm not going to lie, I kinda forgot that I had made this account

Things have been crazy with family life, health issues, and the day job... but I am going to try to post more, maybe

Give me a second, and I'll share a thread I just posted on the other place, introducing some new research

My presentation will explore a number of important (but now forgotten) hand missals and prayer books published between 1861-1961, looking at questions like:

How did the laity understand and participate in the liturgy during these years? What can we learn (and avoid) from these methods today? Etc

The program for the 2023 Society for Catholic Liturgy conference has just been released - check it out!

Can't believe it's just two weeks away.

I'm excited to present my paper alongside Dr. Carmina Chapp on Friday afternoon.

I hope to see you there!

tinyurl.com/SCL-2023

The Catholic Transcript, April 15, 1926, page 4

In 1926 when the Vatican attempted to slow down the adoption of Gothic vestments, this kind of ultramontane deference was absent.

In America, some diocesan newspapers commented wryly on how absurd the thing sounded

For some reason it is deeply funny (but also sad) to me to imagine the extremely ultramontane atmosphere of those days.

Imaging seriously worrying that you may need to measure your chasuble down to the inch (!) to make sure you are Fully Vatican Approved And Licit

Obviously this rumor was fake, but the fact that Baines thought it plausible enough to ask the Vatican about is telling.

Bernard Ward, The sequel to Catholic emancipation: the story of the English Catholics continued down to the re-establishment of their hierarchy in 1850 (London: Longman, Greens & Co, 1914), page 14.

As part of his letters, Baines talks about the info he was trying to get out of Rome to see if it was ok.

He talks about a rumor he heard regarding the exact specifications that Rome had approved: a width of 3ft 6in.

Illustration of the original interior of the Cathedral of St. Chad in Birmingham, designed by Pugin. In Robert Kirkup Dent, "Old and New Birmingham: A History of the Town and Its People" (Birmingham: Houghton and Hammond, 1880), page 458.

Nicholas Patrick Stephen Wiseman, 1802 - 1865. Cardinal-Archbishop of Westminster, artist unknown. Source: https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/105320/nicholas-patrick-stephen-wiseman-1802-1865-cardinal-archbishop-westminster

At the opening of the new Pugin-designed St. Chad's Cathedral in Birmingham in 1841, the plan was for Cardinal Wiseman and the clergy used Gothic vestments.

Baines was deeply concerned about this and wrote letters to try and get it sorted out.

One such was Bishop Augustine Baines, Vicar Apostolic of the Western District of England.

He once refused to assist at the opening of a new church when he showed up and found the priests in Gothic vestments

Gothic-style vestments illustrated by Augustus Welby Pugin in his "Glossary of Ecclesiastical Ornament and Costume" (London: Henry G. Bohn, 1844)

TLDR by the 1840s, Pugin had been so successful in reviving the Gothic style that is was fairly common in England.

A few of the more conservative and ultramontane bishops had reservations about it, worried that it was Against The Rules in Rome

I did this whole thread on the modern history of Gothic vestments over at the other site

.... man

I don't think I have the energy to repost it here

Maybe I'll just share some editorial commentary that I didn't include

uh what

National Catholic wire news feed, May 22, 1923.

You love to see it

Many people are saying

&c

Ok, that's a wrap for now. Let me know what you think!

(trying to get better about posting some research here - thanks for being patient)