"Pew Lectionary"?
  • Cantate
    Posts: 33
    So our parish is breaking the OCP habit (Deo Gratias!) and will be purchasing a new, quality hymnal in Advent. However, the hymnal we are looking at most likely getting (St. Michael Hymnal) does not have the Sunday readings. This is not a huge deal to me, but the pastor really, really wants to make them available. He's a great pastor and a holy priest and I'm more than willing to cede to him on this.

    My question is whether or not anyone knows of a permanent, hardbound (for lack of a better term) "pew lectionary" that has a readings for Sundays? I know of seasonal books such as "Celebrating the Eucharist" or "Today's Missal"...but we're really trying to be more careful with our resources and be good stewards of the environment as well.

    Side note: I'm not really looking to debate the benefits of having the readings available to the congregation. That's been settled for now. I'm just seeking out a resource.
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,605
    A very workable solution is letting parishioners subscribe to Magnificat...that way the people that must have the readings get them.

    37% percent off at Aquinas and More...

    http://www.aquinasandmore.com/category/1526/fuseaction/store.BrowseCategory/productsperpage/20/layout/grid/currentpage/1
  • David Sullivan
    Posts: 355
    My parish uses a non-hardbound solution--"Liturgy of the Word" from WLP. It sits alongside the hymnals. It has music for the responsorial psalm refrains, which we don't use, so that's a drawback. Our music director composes his own version.
    "Liturgy of the Word" uses the typical disposable missal format, but has a full year's readings. They get pretty beat up after a year, but at least the parish isn't buying the same old hymns four or five times a year.
  • rich_enough
    Posts: 1,033
    I don't know what kind of cost limitations you might have, but how about just purchasing a bunch of Sunday Missals, like the one from the Daughters of St. Paul? Perhaps it has has more than you need (all of the prayers and prefaces in addition to the readings) but I don't see how that could hurt. I used to attend a parish that had a large print edition in the pews in addition to their hymnal.

    Sam Schmitt
  • chonakchonak
    Posts: 9,160
    Catholic Book Publishing puts out an annual Sunday Missal for under $2/copy.
  • M. Jackson Osborn
    Posts: 8,368
    Worship III (soon to become Worship IV I've heard) has the lectionary readings and psalms with ignorable music. It has many drawbacks, but, I think, remains the best of what is available in this country. St Michael's is good but has some surprising lapses into rather maudlin items. Oh, pray for the peace of Jerusalem and for a Catholic version of The Hymnal 1940 or The English Hymnal. We could call it The American Catholic Hymnal and it would be so good that the Anglo-Catholics would want to use it. A benchmark, indeed!

    Actual answer sought here: what is the rationale for using materials that must be bought all over again year in and year out? How is the waste of money and of natural resourses reconciled with wise use of God's bounty and treasure?
  • rich_enough
    Posts: 1,033
    M. Jackson Osborn:

    You'll be happy to know that the new edition of the St. Michael Hymnal will not be including a good amount of the "maudlin" material (including songs by Haugen, Haas, Joncas, and the St. Louis Jesuits). New material includes Richard Rice's "Mass of the Sacred Heart" and the ICEL setting of the mass ordinary - as well as six Gregorian mass ordinaries. It does not include the text of the Sunday readings, however.

    More details here.

    Sam Schmitt
  • Dan F.Dan F.
    Posts: 205
    While my answer is a bit tongue-in-cheek, might you try The Holy Bible? I was raised Methodist before coming into full communion with the Catholic Church. Growing up, we had pew Bibles and printed both the scripture verses (Mk 3:14-20) and page numbers in the worhip bulletin. Yes, I know that Catholic parishes don't do this, and yes it takes a moment to flip the pages, but I've always thought it strange how decontextualized the readings are at mass. First of all, there's a LOT of scripture read at mass that flies by. And second, it's always "A reading from the Letter of St. Paul to the Collossians" with no chapter or verse.

    Anyway, when I see the request for a "pew lectionary," I think "Bible."
  • GavinGavin
    Posts: 2,799
    Excellent suggestion, Dan! The readings can be in the parish bulletin. And it will improve the miserable state of Catholic biblical literacy.
  • Mike R
    Posts: 106
    Great idea! If only the Lectionary matched a Bible that one could actually purchase...
  • JahazaJahaza
    Posts: 468
    There is a little difficulty with just using a Bible in that the lectionary pericopes are edited.

    They add, for instance introductions to the Gospels. "In diebus illis", etc.

    Also, the readings are often not contigious:

    Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011 the first reading is Heb 9:2-3, 11-14

    Or a few days later: Heb 9:15, 24-28

    If your parish uses the "shorter versions" of the readings, those are a complete mess in terms of omitting verses and halves of verses.

    It wouldn't be bad for people to learn these ways in which the readings are edited, but it will make it harder for people to just pick up the book and use it at Mass when, e.g. they can't hear the reader well.

    Mike R. makes a good point too, that the Bible translation will not match the lectionary translation.
  • noel jones, aagonoel jones, aago
    Posts: 6,605
    The responsorial psalms alone would require post it notes to track the jumping verses.

    The church has never had an interest in Catholics reading the bible on their own, and this is further proof of that.
  • Joseph Michael
    Posts: 254
    I am impressed and excited by the mass settings in the new St Michael Hymnal. How nice to view and hear the samples. All are very singable and dignified. Little St Michael's publishing is slaying the big time publishers!

    As for using a Bible in the pews: If I am not mistaken, the "lectionary" we use currently is not actually a "Bible". It is a rewrite of a rewrite of a rewrite ETC... of the NAB.
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