''The English Missal'' is a translation of the

Roman Missal The Roman Missal ( la, Missale Romanum) is the title of several missals used in the celebration of the Roman Rite. Along with other liturgical books of the Roman Rite, the Roman Missal contains the texts and rubrics for the celebration of the m ...

used by some

Anglo-Catholic Anglo-Catholicism comprises beliefs and practices that emphasise the Catholic heritage and identity of the various Anglican churches. The term was coined in the early 19th century, although movements emphasising the Catholic nature of Anglican ...

parish churches. After its publication by W. Knott & Son Limited in 1912, ''The English Missal'' was rapidly endorsed by the growing

Ritualist Ritualism, in the history of Christianity, refers to an emphasis on the rituals and liturgical ceremonies of the church. Specifically, the Christian ritual of Holy Communion. In the Anglican church in the 19th century, the role of ritual became ...

movement of Anglo-Catholic clergy, who viewed the liturgies of the ''

Book of Common Prayer The ''Book of Common Prayer'' (BCP) is the name given to a number of related prayer books used in the Anglican Communion and by other Christian churches historically related to Anglicanism. The original book, published in 1549 in the reign ...

'' as insufficient expressions of fully Catholic worship. The translation of the Roman Missal from

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

into the stylized Elizabethan

Early Modern English Early Modern English or Early New English (sometimes abbreviated EModE, EMnE, or ENE) is the stage of the English language from the beginning of the Tudor period to the English Interregnum and Restoration, or from the transition from Middle E ...

of the ''Book of Common Prayer'' allowed clergy to preserve the use of the vernacular language while adopting the Roman Catholic texts and liturgical rubrics. The only difference in content from the Roman Missal of the time is ''The English Missal'' inclusion of certain texts from the ''Book of Common Prayer'', including optional prayers from the ordinary of the Prayer Book's Communion Service and the lessons for Sundays and major

feast day The calendar of saints is the traditional Christian method of organizing a liturgical year by associating each day with one or more saints and referring to the day as the feast day or feast of said saint. The word "feast" in this context d ...

s from the Prayer Book's lectionary, which was itself taken from the earlier

Sarum Use The Use of Sarum (or Use of Salisbury, also known as the Sarum Rite) is the Latin liturgical rite developed at Salisbury Cathedral and used from the late eleventh century until the English Reformation. It is largely identical to the Roman rite, ...

Mass of pre-Reformation England. After the

Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 The Public Worship Regulation Act 1874 (37 & 38 Vict c 85) was an Act of Parliament of the United Kingdom, introduced as a Private Member's Bill by Archbishop of Canterbury Archibald Campbell Tait, to limit what he perceived as the growing ritual ...

threatened imprisonment for priests using ritualist liturgical practices, a custom arose of the celebrant saying the

Roman Canon The Canon of the Mass ( la, Canon Missæ), also known as the Canon of the Roman Mass and in the Mass of Paul VI as the Roman Canon or Eucharistic Prayer I, is the oldest anaphora used in the Roman Rite of Mass. The name ''Canon Missæ'' was used in ...

in Latin to himself silently (i.e., ''sotto voce'', in a soft voice) in addition to saying the official texts of the Book of Common Prayer aloud. While enforcement of the Public Worship Regulation Act ended in 1906, the custom persisted, due in part to the fact that in the pre-Vatican II Roman Rite the Canon of the Mass was always said silently. For this reason, the Latin text of the

Canon of the Mass The Canon of the Mass ( la, Canon Missæ), also known as the Canon of the Roman Mass and in the Mass of Paul VI as the Roman Canon or Eucharistic Prayer I, is the oldest anaphora used in the Roman Rite of Mass. The name ''Canon Missæ'' was used in ...

was included in ''The English Missal'' in addition to the English translation. ''The English Missal'' went through five editions. The first four were based on the Roman Missal of

Pius V Pope Pius V ( it, Pio V; 17 January 1504 – 1 May 1572), born Antonio Ghislieri (from 1518 called Michele Ghislieri, O.P.), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 8 January 1566 to his death in May 1572. He is v ...

as revised until the time of

Pope Pius X Pope Pius X ( it, Pio X; born Giuseppe Melchiorre Sarto; 2 June 1835 – 20 August 1914) was head of the Catholic Church from 4 August 1903 to his death in August 1914. Pius X is known for vigorously opposing modernist interpretations of C ...

. The last edition includes the revised Roman Catholic Holy Week of 1958. One American edition includes material that conforms to the American 1928 Book of Common Prayer.

Influence and legacy

The Swahili liturgy approved for use in the

Anglican Diocese of Zanzibar The Anglican Church of Tanzania (ACT) is a province of the Anglican Communion based in Dodoma. It consists of 28 dioceses (27 on the Tanzanian mainland, and 1 on Zanzibar) headed by their respective bishops. It seceded from the Province of East A ...

permitted the usage of the ''English Missals

prefaces ''Prefaces'' () is a book by Søren Kierkegaard published under the pseudonym Nicolaus Notabene. The meaning of the pseudonym used for ''Prefaces'', Nicholaus Notabene, was best summed up in his work '' Writing Sampler'', where Kierkegaard said tw ...

, these being taken from the 1662 prayer book and the Roman Missal. In the aftermath of the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

and the subsequent authorization of new typical editions of the Roman Missal with official translations in English, the use of ''The English Missal'' has greatly declined. Especially in England, the English version of the Roman Missal is widely used in Anglo-Catholic parishes. However, the use of ''The English Missal'' continues in a small number of liturgically traditional Anglican parish churches in England and the United States. In 2021, ''The English Missal'' was adopted by the Oxford English Missal Society, which has since organized Masses according to the missal at

Pusey House Pusey House is an Anglican religious institution located on St Giles', Oxford, United Kingdom, immediately to the south of Pusey Street. It is firmly rooted in the Anglo-Catholic Prayer Book tradition of the Church of England, and was founded ...

and elsewhere in the

Oxford Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...

area.

Current use

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

Episcopal Church (United States) The Episcopal Church, based in the United States with additional dioceses elsewhere, is a member church of the worldwide Anglican Communion. It is a mainline Protestant denomination and is divided into nine provinces. The presiding bishop o ...

References

External links