Changes to the Roman Missal

When Pope Saint Pius V promulgated the revised Missale Romanum in the Apostolic Constitution Quo Primum in 1570, he famously wrote that it applied “henceforth, now, and forever, throughout all the provinces of the Christian world”. Yet, just a year later the Pope himself issued the first changes to the Missal, inserting the feast of Our Lady of Victory, to celebrate the victory of Lepanto on October 7, 1571.

It is a great truth of Church history that the Missal changes all the time, developing slowly and organically over centuries, and sometimes getting a jump-start in many changes at once: from the change from Greek to Latin in the 2nd century, to the liturgical reform of Pope Gregory the Great at the turn of the 7th century, to the changes prompted by fusion with the Gallican Rite in the Middle Ages, to the reforms of 1570, 1604, 1634, 1884, 1920, 1955, and 1962, to the major reform of 1970, to the versions and revisions of 1971¹, 1975², 2002³, and 2008⁴, to the present day.

Last week Pope Francis promulgated some additional changes, adding memorials of a number of saints to the calendar. In addition, the USCCB announced a small change in the translation of the collect prayers of the Mass. It’s worth enumerating the changes to the Third Edition of the English-language version of the Roman Missal since its publication in 2011.

Addition of Saint Joseph to Eucharistic Prayers II, III, and IV (2013)

Calendar Changes (2014 – 2021)

The best way to summarize these is by listing them, with links to the to the Mass and Office texts in English, where they exist. Pope Francis has added more memorials and feasts than any Pope since the promulgation of the current Missal.

• January 23 – Optional Memorial of Saint Marianne Cope (USA only)
• February 27 – Optional Memorial of Saint Gregory of Narek
• Third Sunday in Ordinary – Sunday of the Word of God (decree)
• May 10 – Optional Memorial of Saint John of Avila
• May 29 – Optional Memorial of Saint Paul VI
• Monday after Pentecost – Memorial of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of the Church
• July 22 – Feast of Saint Mary Magdalene (elevated from Memorial) (Preface)
• July 29 – Memorial of Saints Martha, Mary and Lazarus
• September 17 – Optional Memorial of Saint Hildegard of Bingen
• October 5 – Optional Memorial of Saint Faustina Kowalska
• October 5 – Optional Memorial of Blessed Francis Xavier Seelos (USA only)
• October 11 – Optional Memorial of Saint John XXIII
• October 22 – Optional Memorial of Saint John Paul II
• December 10 – Optional Memorial of Our Lady of Loreto

The typical Latin versions may be found at the website of the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, if needed.

Change to the Translation of Collect Prayers (2021)

1. Correction some embarrassing misprints.
2. Second Typical Edition.
3. Third Typical Edition.
4. Emended reprint of the third edition, correcting misprints and some other mistakes, as well as making small changes to the rubrics and adding three alternatives to the standard dismissal at the end of Mass. Given the scope of the changes, why this wasn’t considered a Fourth Typical Edition, I’ve no idea.