Last night I ordered an old copy of the Missale Romanum, the Altar Missal for use with the Tridentine Rite Mass. No, I'm not swimming the Tiber--I've already done that and washed back up in the Thames. My fascination with Altar Missals began this summer whilst perusing the bookshops in Walsingham. It was in a smallish, but fantastic theological bookshop, where I came across a magnificent copy of the "Altar Missal," which was published in the late 1800s by the Society of Saint John the Evangelist. Complete with old leather tabs and gilded pages, the missal includes the Sarum Rite, the South African Rite, and parts of the Roman Canon. You should have seen how I traveled with it back to the States from England!
Now, I've added a few more altar missals to my collection: the 1928 Altar Services (The BCP), the 1979 Altar Book (current edition), and the Anglican Service Book Altar Missal (which I believe has since gone out of print).
So now, I'm adding one of the famous Benzinger Brothers edition, Pre-Vatican II Altar Missal to my collection. The etching above is one of the many illustrations to be found within the Missal. I cannot wait.......I'm a liturgy geek.
