Faith

Multiple texts have been published since the Roman Missal of 2012.

Father Robert M.
O'Grady

A few weeks ago, at a gathering of priests, the issue of new liturgical books came up. Inspired, it seems, by the recent release of the Order of Christian Initiation of Adults (OCIA), which replaced the long-used Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults with its familiar initialism RCIA. Many had not heard about this revision, and therefore, about the new book.
Jumping in as a fool does when angels fear, I mentioned that there were some others that had been recently revised, among them Baptism for Children (2020), Matrimony (2016), and Penance (2023). There were varied responses: some nods, signaling they knew; others clearly surprised; and some others, the quizzical "What?"
Since I had stirred the pot, I decided to keep going, naming a few others already released, then "Oh, by the way next year . . ." and "Stay alert in two years" . . . Filling in the blanks for them.
This in turn inspired the idea for the next several articles.
As hinted last week, we will see the names and dates of the books that have been revised since the Roman Missal roll out in 2012. I mention the Roman Missal because its reform required the revision of other books as they frequently share prayers.

Other texts had been in use for decades, and they really needed revision. Some texts had had additional new versions published by the Holy See, and those Latin versions needed to be translated, arranged, and published as the official versions for the dioceses of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.
Multiple texts have been published since the Roman Missal of 2012. We'll look, first, at those in order of their release. Then, we'll report about some books we can expect in the coming months. And finally, those that will appear in a couple or a few years.
The new books replace the old books in their entirety. So, if the sacristy has old versions, those are best confined to recycling or some other removal -- the permanent kind. Priests might keep older versions in their personal library, but these treasures may tempt them to use them, especially if they might bring them when they visit another parish for a baptism, a wedding, or a funeral.
It is important to become acquainted with the new book. Make sure you read the introductory material; it is not optional to a proper understanding of the theology of the liturgical celebration. Read through it, paying attention to its table of contents and note the many options it contains. For example, communal celebration is the clear preference by the Order of Baptism of a Child's layout. On the other hand, in the Order for Celebrating Matrimony, the individual celebration is the preference.
Most of the revisions now have new titles for each book. Usually you will see "Order of . . ." Older books often had "Rite of . . ." The distinction is significant. Each "Order" contains a set of "rites," and sometimes supplementary material, such as options for readings, psalms, responses, universal prayer or general intercessions, etc. A quick glance at the table of contents of each Order will help you see the difference in the book's titles and contents.
The first revision following the Roman Missal of 2012 was for the celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation. The book's title is The Order of Confirmation.
Most likely, a parish or a priest would not have this book in its collection or library. However, it is not a bad idea to keep a new version in the sacristy, should it be needed. This sacrament is usually celebrated by a bishop or by a presbyter, whom a bishop appoints either for a particular confirmation, for those in a region, or for an entire diocese. He will usually have this book with him. It is not unheard of that he might arrive without it, maybe having left it at the last parish where he celebrated, or having forgotten it altogether. The same applies to the chrism required for this sacrament. Each parish should have chrism for the celebration of baptisms of children, for confirmations at the Easter Vigil, or in an individual emergency.
The celebrating bishop or priest will usually send along some kind of directions for the preparations for the parish to observe for the celebration.
Other preparatory steps, gathering the certificates from the parish of baptism, selection and designation of a sponsor for each confirmand, and a rehearsal are the duty of the pastor. Following the celebration, the pastor is to ensure the recording of the celebration in the confirmation register of the parish. Most of the data he needs for this is collected when the candidates register for preparation. He also must inform the parish of the baptism or confirmation of an individual; he is also to make a note of the confirmation in the register of baptisms, even if both sacraments are celebrated in the same parish.

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