Coronavirus has put the kibosh on missalettes that churches once put in their pews. With all the new restrictions, gone are those handy aides to help parishioners follow the order of the Mass and catch every word of the readings. Even with the limited attendance in churches, the simple missalettes are no more.

But there is a worthy alternative. People can subscribe to receive a monthly missalette with even more information or purchase a personal Roman Missal that has, in most ever case, everything for the year under one cover.

Are these missals and missalettes getting more popular now that those cheap missalettes have been removed from the pews because of coronavirus? What advantage do they have, whether for Sunday Mass goers or daily Mass goers? Have providers like Magnificat and Midwest Theological Forum and others seen a noticeable increase in sales of the daily Roman Missal so people can still follow the Mass and the readings and even get many bonus benefits? Here’s what they say.

 

Magnificat

“There’s been a phenomenal response ever since the time they stopped people coming to church in person,” said John Sacco, manager of marketing and communications for Magnificat. “We knew there was going to be an issue with the shared missalettes. We immediately started creating services where people could follow the readings of the day and started making our content free for a while.” After that complimentary time the special offers for Magnificat in English, Spanish, plus Magnifikid for youngsters too.

Sacco said there is a high level of subscription now. He calls it “a wonderful thing” because “beyond the readings, the people are getting a catechesis with the articles and the daily lives of the saints.” People can also join “a lot of your personal prayer life with the liturgical rhythm of the Church and then immerse yourself with the ongoing faith formation with every monthly issue.”

He describes it as “a gentle catechesis. The articles are very informative and a lot of people who aren’t completely catechized find information well beyond the basic daily liturgy.” There are insights into what the readings have to say to us, plus a daily meditation on the gospel. He notes these are not personal reflections but “reflections from the father, doctors and learned men and women of the Church.” The aim is to show the universality of the Church.

Sacco explains the meditations are really strong and encouraging as a teaching tool and all in line with the magisterium of the Church. Uniquely, a saint is highlighted every day as part of a thematic collection of saints that changes each month. For example, November’s saints are those with late vocations; October’s saints were all artists. Sacco said, “People really enjoy that it focuses on the lives of the saints from a different perspective and gives people hope” seeing how those saints lived their lives in a way that brought them in to a deeper union with Christ, showing how we can too.

People also subscribe exclusively on the digital side, he said, explaining, “Our digital side is going through the roof” especially with the trial offers.

There is even Magnifikid, a colorful Sunday missalette for children that contains the entire Mass, color-coded so they know when to respond, plus crafts and games. It acts as a great way “for children to prepare for Sunday Mass then follow and participate more fully.” It encourages children to want to use it in church and also reaches parents through children’s enthusiasm.

The Advent Companion in print or digitally normally sells over 300,000 copies with its daily personal meditation on the Gospel reading of the day through Advent, and more.

 

MTF’s Daily Roman Missal

Another major choice the faithful are turning to are daily and Sunday missals in book form, such as the Daily Roman Missal from Midwest Theological Forum.

Thousands upon thousands have been sold through the years and today “people keep on buying,” said Father James Socias, vice president of Midwest Theological Forum. More people are getting the missal.

He explained that with such a missal as this, “you understand better the meaning of the words and the prayers and reflect on them. If you want to know the saint of the day and the whole year in the liturgy, you have the Daily Roman Missal or some other, and you can see the saints of the day. You can participate a little more. You know the saints and the liturgy better. That is the greatest motivation for a Catholic, not just to survive during COVID but to be an active person.”

Father Socias said with the missal, a father can read one of the readings the evening before the Mass and he can teach his children both about the Mass and how the saint of the day is “important for them in their life.”

He finds it essential that the missal concentrates on “the Mass [that] is the center of our whole spiritual life.” Because of the coronavirus, all families still might not go to Mass as a family on Sunday or every day. But using the missal helps them better understand the Mass.” Naturally, it’s a major help if they have to view the Mass via livestreaming.

Midwest Theological Forum’s Daily Roman Missal comes in English and Spanish in various editions. The latest edition has English and Latin texts side-by-side, including the four Eucharistic Prayers, the A-B-C cycle for Sundays and the two-year cycle for weekdays for all Masses throughout the liturgical year. At the fingertips is the liturgical calendar of dates through 2031 and scores of pages of prayers and devotions.

 

St. Joseph Daily and Sunday Missals

“We definitely have seen an uptick in sales and a higher demand for the daily missal and Sunday missals as soon as the shutdowns went into place,” Mendy Mickan, merchandise manager of The Catholic Company, told the Register about their St. Joseph Sunday and Daily Missals. They also carry the St. Paul Missal.

She said the people writing in to their website indicated there was a desperate need of these missals as a way to fill that void. “Having the material to follow along with the livestream Mass” was exceptionally essential to them. Of the choices, the daily Roman Missal with ribbons is proving most popular. It’s an edition with Latin translation of the Novus Ordo for the Mass parts. The devotional prayers for before and after Mass have been expanded with new translations more literal and faithful to the Latin originals.

The uptick in requests came “about the time the shutdown went into place,” Mickan said. “I can see the shift in demand of that product in particular.” Then there’s the St. Joseph Sunday Missal. But all the missals are really good performers…whether for daily Mass or Sunday Mass.” One of the choices brings the Sunday Masses and daily Masses in a three-volume set. Each choice, she explains, “foster your relationship with Our Lord on a deeper level.” They foster “that daily relationship with Our Lord” for people wanting to stay connected and “not walking away if you feel pulled away in these times.” There are even a basic Mass books for little children and toddlers.

The missals help those unable to catch all the words, too, since Mickan points out one woman wrote in to say she couldn’t hear well. But with the missal, she can get every word. “The missal gives them the words and they can follow along.” Same for some missalettes.

Since the Catholic Company carries many categories of religious goods, she has also noticed two other areas growing at the same time. She sees “a higher demand for reading materials. And people are creating their home altars, having those little devotional corners in their homes. This time is an opportunity for people to see how to reintroduce these things in their homes.”

 

Living With Christ

Certainly the absolute number-one priority last March was to help the churches work through this crazy transition caused by the pandemic, Joseph Sinasac, publishing director of Living with Christ, explains. This is a monthly missalette which has not only the readings and Mass prayers for each day, plus the order of the Mass, but a bit about the saint of the day and a brief personal reflection on the theme. It was the same goal shared by Magnificat and others.

Sinasac said Living with Christ provided a number of free downloadable PDFs on their website while people were stuck in their homes. Then they helped churches to encourage parishioners to get their own monthly copy.

“We’re trying to find ways to help parishes right find ways to support their own parishioners and encourage them in their participation of the Eucharist,” he said. Living with Christ is one of those daily resources.

“I can say that subscriptions are holding nicely and actually going up a bit,” Sinasac said. In addition, there is also an annual Sunday missal, which has slipped down a bit, and the Living with Christ Sunday missal for young Catholics. “We actually created a little family pack that combines the Sunday missal with our Sunday missal for young Catholics, an illustrated version for children our website. The family pack includes the Sunday Missal, Youth Missal and Liturgical Calendar. That’s got some pickup as well.” People can see all options at LivingWithChrist.us.

Sinasac explained the value of people having this resource in their home. “It helps parishioners keep connected with their parish and follow along with livestream Mass.” While the audio in some livestreaming might not be great, “a printed resource helps them become more involved with the Eucharist” until the day when we can all come back together again.