Daily Roman Missal

Rating:
Summary: Poor quality printing and binding
Review: After being frustrated by hard-to-use missals, I find using the Daily Roman Missal a wonderful experience. As I understand it, a new edition is now available from the publisher that is even easier to use that this particular edition because all readings for a particular day are printed in one place without the need to follow a cross reference to another page. In whatever edition you use, the value of this missal is that it contains all readings for all days in one volume, as opposed to multi-volume missals with one volume for Sundays and another for weekdays. Even better, the missal includes some Latin texts for each day that are sometimes clearly superior to their English translations for those who can make out the Latin. This missal is traditional and devotional in the best sense. The high quality should not be surprising since the editor is associated with Opus Dei (Midwest Theological Forum). As other reviews on this site indicate, the older 4th ed. from 1998 uses the translations of the Jerusalem Bible which do not match those used in the readings at an actual Mass, which use the New American Bible. But for home use the older edition is quite satisfactory. For those seeking an edition to match the Scriptures read at Mass, it is better to purchase the newer version that uses the Revised New American Bible translation. (Note: the newer version is not the one displayed on this site.)

Rating:
Summary: An excellent missal
Review: For me as a computer scientist and a protestant, this book is an absolutely fascinating cultural document.

One one hand, it demonstrates the predictability of Roman Catholic mass - it allows you to predict a good amount of what is going to be said in mass on any particular day in *any* English-speaking Roman Catholic church (Which is not necessarily a bad thing: it's nice to have something predicatable in an ever-changing world).

On the other hand, this book shows the organic growth of Catholic faith over the centuries, with hundreds of saints, gestures, and prayers finding their rightful place in the complex structure of this missal.

To the believer, this book is a spiritual anchor, to the unbeliever, it can still serve as a rich trove of insight into one of the dominant forces that shaped Western culture. I doubt that it will convert anybody to the Catholic faith (certainly didn't work for me), but it can edify anybody giving it some minutes of study.

Rating:
Summary: Poor quality printing and binding
Review: My copy arrived. Its first page was p. 19. Several sections of the book were out of order; it was basically a mess. Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln.... :)

Rating:
Summary: Perfect for preparing for Mass
Review: The Daily Roman Missal published by Our Sunday Visitor has proved in my two years of use to be an essential help to preparing for Holy Mass. Most missals I have seen are either Sunday Missals or Weekday Missals. The Daily Roman Missal not only has all the readings for weekdays (years I and II) and Sundays, (A,B,C), but also has the whole order of the Mass in both Latin and English. Also included is the Proper of the Saints, prayers for before and after Mass, exerpts from the General Instruction, daily entrance, gospel, and communion antiphons in Latin and English, and many other features.

The only drawback to this particular Missal is that the readings are not the same translation as the lectionary here in the United States, but rather are drawn from the RSV-Catholic Edition. However, it is worth noting that this is the translation the rest of the English-speaking world uses.

Overall, I have found this Missal to be of excellent quality. The drawback of not being able to follow the readings during Mass is easily overcome by its other attributes.

Rating:
Summary: Perfect for preparing for Mass
Review: The Daily Roman Missal published by Our Sunday Visitor has proved in my two years of use to be an essential help to preparing for Holy Mass. Most missals I have seen are either Sunday Missals or Weekday Missals. The Daily Roman Missal not only has all the readings for weekdays (years I and II) and Sundays, (A,B,C), but also has the whole order of the Mass in both Latin and English. Also included is the Proper of the Saints, prayers for before and after Mass, exerpts from the General Instruction, daily entrance, gospel, and communion antiphons in Latin and English, and many other features.

The only drawback to this particular Missal is that the readings are not the same translation as the lectionary here in the United States, but rather are drawn from the RSV-Catholic Edition. However, it is worth noting that this is the translation the rest of the English-speaking world uses.

Overall, I have found this Missal to be of excellent quality. The drawback of not being able to follow the readings during Mass is easily overcome by its other attributes.

Rating:
Summary: Great Missal
Review: This is a beautiful Missal, and as it's the only daily one for the non-Latin Roman Rite I highly recommend it. The problem is in the Biblical Selcetions. The Translation is not the one that is used at Mass. NAB is used and this has a different version, so reading along is virtually impossible. It a shame too becaue this really deserves 6 out of 5 stars!

Rating:
Summary: Great But....
Review: This is a beautiful Missal, and as it's the only daily one for the non-Latin Roman Rite I highly recommend it. The problem is in the Biblical Selcetions. The Translation is not the one that is used at Mass. NAB is used and this has a different version, so reading along is virtually impossible. It a shame too becaue this really deserves 6 out of 5 stars!