I purchased 50 copies of the Campion Missal/Hymnal for our weekly EF Mass, and put them in the pews Easter Sunday (without any prior announcement to the congregation). Our priest mentioned this to the congregation during announcements, and invited people to consider making a contribution to help cover the cost (along with a brief explanation of what is contained in them).

Much to my surprise, I had a large number of parishioners come to me after Mass thanking me for purchasing the hymnals, most of them with large bills or checks in hand asking if they could help contribute. One particularly generous gentleman mentioned he was going to give me more the next time he saw me. This past Sunday after Mass, he came up to me and handed me a large envelope of cash and told me "here's the rest." In total, he gave enough to cover all 50 Missals. At this point, I have received 1.5 times the amount I spent on the 50 Missals - and this is without any type of presentation or "sell job". I guess I will have to order more! (Side note: God truly is generous... my wife and I had prayerfully considered this purchase, assuming that we would be donating most or all of the cost - now I have the opposite problem :-) )

I must say, although I have always been excited about this project, I was not sure what the reaction was going to be within our community. Our priest was enthusiastic, but a bit reserved on how he thought they would be received by the PIP (Are they too big and heavy? Will parishioners even bother to look at them, since many bring their own personal missals?). I received so many compliments about the books from people who I'd never spoken with, even though I have been the cantor for this Mass for about 2 years.

Many thanks to Jeff and CC Watershed for undertaking this project; this effort is certainly a blessing to all EF Mass-goers everywhere!