Archbishop Henry J. Mansell's letter about the Roman Missal for the First Sunday of Advent 2010.

Visit United States Conference of Catholic Bishops for more resources related to the third edition of the Roman Missal.

Sister Mary Kathleen Ronan, R.S.M., liturgical consultant for the Archdiocese of Hartford, writes a monthly series for "The Catholic Transcript":

• United States getting ready for revised missal
• Roman Missal revision: aiming for unity
• Preparing the English Missal: What it took, Part 1
• Preparing the English Missal: What it took, Part 2
• Preparing the English Missal: A step forward
• An invitation to engage personally in the celebration
• Roman Missal translation: What's in a word?
• Liturgiam Authenticam: Inspired by the conciliar reform of the sacred liturgy

Archbishop Henry J. Mansell devotes his January 2011 column in The Catholic Transcript to the third edition of the Roman Missal.

Executive Editor Msgr. David Q. Liptak devotes columns in The Catholic Transcript to an issue related to the third edition of the Roman Missal:

• New English Missal 
• 'New Mass' nears
• 'New Mass' issue

Articles from The Catholic Transcript about music for the third edition of the Roman Missal:

• First music workshop offered for new Roman Missal 
• Music contest announced

The following brief points on the Roman Missal have been prepared for insertion into parish bulletins by Sister Mary Kathleen Ronan, R.S.M., liturgical consultant for the Archdiocese of Hartford:

• Bulletin Insert No. 1

Introduction

On Nov. 27, 2011, a new English translation of the Roman Missal will be used to celebrate Mass throughout the United States. At the beginning, our attention to some changes in the words of the prayers will offer us all an opportunity to raise the bar of our conscious participation in the Mass. The language of this translation is guaranteed to promote understanding of the action of Christ and the Church in the liturgy and to reduce the risk of worshipping on “automatic pilot.” Check our Parish Bulletin in the months ahead to learn more about our preparations for the new Missal.

• Bulletin Insert No. 2

Did the U.S.A. need a new Missal?

It all began in 2002 when a new Roman Missal, third edition, was published in Latin for the Roman Rite. This Latin missal was given to all of us and is called the editio typica, meaning that it is the original or source document for all Roman Missals, whatever the language. Once a new edition of the Latin Missal has been published, the bishops must direct the translation of the Missal into their own language. The 2011 English Roman Missal, that will replace the missal now in use, is our translation of the 2002 third edition of theMissale Romanum.

• Bulletin Insert No. 3

Did we need a new Latin Missal?

The third edition of the Latin Missal was prepared in order to update the Roman Missal of 1975. Our current Missal, called the Sacramentary, is an English translation of that 1975 Missal. In the course of more than 25 years, a sizeable amount of material earmarked for insertion into the next missal had accumulated. The 2002 Roman Missal contains modifications including new Prefaces, new Vigil Masses, Masses for new saints e.g. St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio), St. Teresa Benedicta (Edith Stein) and a new placement of some prayers for the convenience of the priest.

• Bulletin Insert No. 4

Staying in sync with the whole Church

We have seen that the 2002 Latin Missal was published to bring up to date the 1975 Latin Missal. Once we had this 2002 third edition of the Latin missal, our English missal had to be revised to stay in step with the modifications in the Latin third edition. The English-speaking bishops decided to work together to prepare an English translation of the missal that could be used by English-speaking Roman Catholics in more than 30 nations. Up until now, there has been no single common English text. In April of 2010 this ‘universal edition’ of the missal in English was approved by Rome.

• Bulletin Insert No. 5

New English missal to be used for Mass in more than 30 nations

Roman Rite, English-speaking Catholics of the USA and of more than 30 other countries around the world, soon will use the same English words at the liturgy of the Mass. For some of us, English is our mother tongue. For others, English is a common language for communication among people who speak various dialects. To appreciate the widespread influence of the English missal translation, we need only consider that of all world languages, English ranks third in usage after Chinese and Spanish. Soon, with one voice, this vast group of Roman Catholics who pray in English will celebrate the Liturgy with the same liturgical texts.

• Bulletin Insert No. 6

From the first English translation to the third edition in English

When it was decided at Vatican II that the Latin Roman Missal could be translated into the language of the people, the bishops of 11 English-speaking countries formed the International Commission on English in the Liturgy, called ICEL, to translate the missal into English. They began in 1969 with the Order of the Mass, the parts that never change, such as the Confiteor, Gloria, Credo and completed the work in seven months. By comparison, the English translation of the Order of Mass from the Latin third edition that we will begin to use in Advent took six years to complete.