Missals

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A book containing the texts for the celebration of the Mass in the Roman Catholic Church
2. A liturgical book used by priests that includes prayers and instructions for conducting the Mass
3. A collection of prayers and songs organized for use during religious services, particularly in the Catholic tradition

Etymology: "Missals" is the plural of "missal", and the singular is the one with the history. It comes from Old French "messel", meaning "book of the Mass", and the name points straight at its purpose: the book holds the set texts and instructions for celebrating the Mass, the central rite of the Catholic liturgy. Before it was a bound volume, the material was spread across several separate books that a priest had to juggle at the altar, so gathering it into one book was a practical convenience as much as a symbolic one. The Old French word is itself built on the Latin "missa", the Church term for the Mass, from which the Mass takes its name. The Latin word is tied to the dismissal at the end of the service, "ite, missa est", often rendered as "go, it is the dismissal", so the book is named after the rite's closing words rather than its opening ones.