Divine Worship

In Brief

Divine Worship is "the liturgical form approved by the Holy See for use in the Ordinariate". It gives the Mass, and some of the sacraments, in books that keep elements of the Anglican liturgical patrimony within the Catholic Church. Its public celebration is restricted to the Personal Ordinariates, which also use the Roman books.^1,2 Its Missal, Divine Worship: The Missal, was approved in May 2015 and came into use on the First Sunday of Advent that year.² It grew from the Pastoral Provision of 1980. Under it, former Episcopalians in the United States formed Catholic parishes that could keep "certain elements of the Anglican liturgy".³

Where to Experience It

Three Personal Ordinariates celebrate it: Our Lady of Walsingham in Great Britain, the Chair of Saint Peter in the United States and Canada, and Our Lady of the Southern Cross in Australia.^6,7,8,9,10 The Interactive Missal follows its Order of Mass.

Your First Visit

Any Catholic may attend Mass in an Ordinariate parish and, under the usual conditions, receive Communion.^2,11 Catholic ministers give Communion lawfully to Catholics alone, save in the cases the law sets out.¹⁶ The language is what the Ordinariate and the American bishops' liturgy office call "Prayer Book English". The people answer "And with thy spirit". Before Communion the priest and all who will receive say together the Prayer of Humble Access, "We do not presume to come to this thy Table".^2,11,17 The confession of sin comes after the Creed and the intercessions, not at the start of Mass.^2,11 The rubrics have the people kneel for it, again after the Peace, and for the thanksgiving after Communion.¹⁷

The Shape of the Liturgy

The outline is the Roman Mass, and the General Instruction of the Roman Missal is printed in full at the front of the book as its norm.^2,11 The Introductory Rites include "several traditional Anglican elements": the Collect for Purity and the Summary of the Law, with the Ten Commandments in the Summary's place on occasion, especially in Lent.^2,11 The Roman Canon is the normative Eucharistic Prayer. An alternative, which corresponds to Eucharistic Prayer II of the Roman Missal, serves weekdays, Masses with children and other Masses where pastoral needs suggest it.¹¹ The Offertory has two forms. The first is drawn from the Anglican Missal tradition. The choice follows the shape of the celebration, and "is not meant to provide variety from Sunday to Sunday".^11,13 The prayers at the foot of the altar and the Last Gospel remain as options.¹¹

The order of Mass in Divine Worship: The Missal (2015)

1. Prayers of preparation
   I will go unto the altar of God
   Optional. The priest and ministers may say the Prayers of Preparation in the sacristy, or the Prayers at the Foot of the Altar at the lowest steps of the altar.^11,17
2. Introit
   The Introit is sung or said
   The priest and ministers go to the altar and reverence it. The chant texts of the Mass are printed for each celebration.^11,13,17
3. Collect for Purity
   Almighty God, unto whom all hearts be open
   One of the traditional Anglican elements at the start of Mass. The Summary of the Law may follow, or on occasion, especially in Lent, the Ten Commandments in its place.^2,11,17
4. Kyrie and Gloria
   Lord, have mercy upon us · Glory be to God on high
   The Kyrie and the Gloria, then the greeting and the Collect of the day.^11,17
5. Readings and Gospel
   Glory be to thee, O Lord
   The readings of the current Roman Lectionary, in the Revised Standard Version, Second Catholic Edition; the Gradual or the responsorial psalm; the Gospel.^2,11,17
6. Homily and Creed
   I believe in one God
   The homily, then the Nicene Creed.^11,17
7. Prayers of the People
   Let us pray for the whole state of Christ's Church
   The Prayers of the People, the people kneeling or standing according to custom.^11,17
8. Penitential Rite
   Ye that do truly and earnestly repent you of your sins
   The confession of sin and the priest's prayer for forgiveness come here, after the Liturgy of the Word, not at the beginning of Mass. The Ordinariate notes that the prayer "lacks the efficacy of the Sacrament of Penance and is not a general absolution". The Comfortable Words may follow.^2,11,17
9. Offertory
   Receive, O holy Father · Blessed art thou, O Lord, God of all creation
   One of two forms: the first drawn from the Anglican Missal tradition, the second that of the current Roman Missal. The choice follows the shape of the celebration, not variety from Sunday to Sunday.^11,13,17
10. Eucharistic Prayer
    Therefore, most merciful Father, we humbly pray thee
    The Roman Canon is the normative Eucharistic Prayer. An alternative, which corresponds to Eucharistic Prayer II of the Roman Missal, is provided for weekdays, Masses with children and other Masses where pastoral needs suggest it.^2,11,17
11. Lord's Prayer and Peace
    As our Saviour Christ hath commanded and taught us
    The Peace keeps its Roman place, after the Lord's Prayer, and not the place before the Offertory common in Anglican worship.^13,17
12. Fraction and Agnus Dei
    Christ our Passover is sacrificed for us
    The anthem at the breaking of the Host, from the Anglican tradition, then the Agnus Dei.^11,17
13. Prayer of Humble Access
    We do not presume to come to this thy Table
    Said by the priest and all who will receive, just after the Agnus Dei.^2,11,17
14. Communion
    Lord, I am not worthy that thou shouldest come under my roof
    The invitation and Communion, with the Communion antiphon or a hymn.^11,17
15. Thanksgiving and postcommunion
    Almighty and everliving God, we most heartily thank thee
    A prayer of thanksgiving from the Anglican tradition, said by priest and people, then the Postcommunion prayer.^11,17
16. Blessing and dismissal
    The peace of God, which passeth all understanding
    The blessing and dismissal. Where it is the custom, the Last Gospel may follow as a concluding devotion.^11,17

What makes it distinctive

• Prayer Book English, with "thee" and "thou", in the prayers and the people's answers.^2,17
• The Roman Canon as the normative Eucharistic Prayer.¹¹
• The Penitential Rite after the Prayers of the People, and the Prayer of Humble Access before Communion.^2,11
• No Ordinary Time: the Sundays after Epiphany, the three Sundays before Lent, and the Sundays after Trinity.¹¹
• Ember and Rogation Days kept, with the Advent Ember Days in the first week of Advent.^11,13
• The General Instruction of the Roman Missal printed in full at the front of the book, as its norm.^2,11

History

The Pastoral Provision

Episcopal clergy and laity in the United States had asked to be received into the Catholic Church, and had waited. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith decided on 18 June 1980, and John Paul II approved on 20 June, that a statute or "pastoral provision" should give them a "common identity". They were received as individuals, even in a group. Married Episcopal priests could be ordained, each case examined, though not as bishops, and future candidates were to be celibate. The group "may retain certain elements of the Anglican liturgy", reserved to former Anglicans.³ Their ordination is absolute, not conditional, on the basis of Leo XIII's bull Apostolicae curae of 1896, which judged Anglican orders invalid.^18,19 In 1981 the Congregation named Bishop Bernard Law its ecclesiastical Delegate.²⁰

The first parish of the Provision was Our Lady of the Atonement in San Antonio, erected by Archbishop Patrick Flores with effect from 15 August 1983. It began with eighteen former Episcopalians, children included.^21,22 Its founding pastor, Fr Christopher Phillips, had been an Episcopal priest in Rhode Island. A small group of Episcopalians invited him to San Antonio, where he moved with his family in January 1982, and he was ordained a Catholic priest in August 1983.²³ Archbishop Flores dedicated its altar and blessed its church in 1987, and the parish opened its school, the Atonement Academy, in 1994.²¹ Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston was erected in 1984, and St Mary the Virgin in Arlington, Texas, in 1994.^24,25

The Book of Divine Worship

On 13 February 1987, by special mandate of John Paul II, the Congregation for Divine Worship approved the Book of Divine Worship, prepared under Cardinal Law as Delegate, "for interim use only within the Pastoral Provision".²⁶ The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith added that the book "in no way constitutes a special Rite". It was for the Provision's parishes alone.²⁷ Drawn from the Episcopal Church's Prayer Books of 1928 and 1979 and from the 1973 English translation of the Roman Missal, it was published in 2003.²⁸

The Ordinariates and their books

In Anglicanorum coetibus (2009) Benedict XVI provided for Personal Ordinariates. Each may celebrate "according to the liturgical books proper to the Anglican tradition, which have been approved by the Holy See", so as to keep traditions the constitution calls "a treasure to be shared".¹⁵ Walsingham was erected in 2011. The Chair of Saint Peter and the Southern Cross followed in 2012.^6,8,9 An interdicasterial commission, Anglicanae Traditiones, formed in 2011, prepared the books.²⁹ The Holy See, wrote Steven Lopes, the commission's secretary, "expressly desired to avoid the designations 'Anglican use' or 'Anglo-Catholic'", the first being "an ambiguous term for Catholic worship". The name Divine Worship was given to all the books.¹³ Occasional Services came first, in 2014, and The Missal in 2015.² The Missal draws first on the Book of Divine Worship, then on the Prayer Books of England, the United States, Scotland, South Africa and Canada. Next come The English Missal and The Anglican Missal, which Anglicans prepared for "high Anglican" services. Where these fell short, the commission turned to Common Worship (2000) or the Roman Missal.^2,13

Into the Ordinariate

On 21 March 2017 Our Lady of the Atonement and its school were transferred to the Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter. The Ordinariate announced: "At the direction of the Holy See, all parishes of the Pastoral Provision are to be incorporated into the Ordinariate."²² St Mary the Virgin had joined in 2015, and Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston has been the Ordinariate's principal church since 2012.^8,25 In 2019 revised norms gave Divine Worship an article of its own.^1,30 The Pastoral Provision continues, preparing former Episcopal priests, and others of the Episcopalian heritage, for the Catholic priesthood.³¹

Milestones

1. 1980The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith decides (18 June) and John Paul II approves (20 June) a Pastoral Provision for Episcopalians seeking full communion in the United States³
2. 1983Our Lady of the Atonement, San Antonio, the first parish of the Provision (15 August)^21,22
3. 1987The Book of Divine Worship approved "for interim use only within the Pastoral Provision" (13 February)²⁶
4. 2003The Book of Divine Worship published²⁸
5. 2009Benedict XVI's Anglicanorum coetibus provides for Personal Ordinariates (4 November)¹⁵
6. 2011The Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham erected (15 January)⁶
7. 2012The Ordinariates of the Chair of Saint Peter (1 January) and of Our Lady of the Southern Cross (15 June) erected^8,9
8. 2014Divine Worship: Occasional Services, the first book of the series²
9. 2015Divine Worship: The Missal approved in May; in use from the First Sunday of Advent^2,13
10. 2017Our Lady of the Atonement transferred to the Ordinariate (21 March); the Ordinariate announces that, at the Holy See's direction, all Pastoral Provision parishes are to be incorporated²²
11. 2019Revised norms give Divine Worship its own article and restrict its public celebration to the Ordinariates^1,30

Texts & Books

One book serves the Mass, one the Office, one the occasional services, and one the readings. All were prepared by the commission Anglicanae Traditiones and approved by the Holy See.^13,29

Theology & Spirit

What is kept is not the whole of Anglican worship. The norms of 2019 say that Divine Worship "gives expression to and preserves for Catholic worship the worthy Anglican liturgical patrimony, understood as that which has nourished the Catholic faith throughout the history of the Anglican tradition and prompted aspirations towards ecclesial unity".¹ The commission's co-chairman, Archbishop Augustine Di Noia, put it as gardening: "the Holy See's prudent grafting of proven Anglican shoots on the rooted, living trunk of the Roman Rite". Such texts, he wrote, "return" to the Church "purified and transformed in Catholic communion".²⁹ What the faithful of the Ordinariates pray with, the constitution calls "a treasure to be shared".¹⁵

Sacred Arts

The chants of the Mass are printed for each celebration, as the Anglican musical tradition has them, with the psalm texts in Coverdale's translation. A hymn may be sung with or in place of the Introit, Offertory and Communion.^11,13 In printing them all, the commission "did not intend to enter into the debate on the place of the minor propers in the Roman Rite".¹³ It kept the older English, but "arcane expressions were modified, and alternatives found for words whose meaning has shifted notably over time".¹³

Family & Relations

Divine Worship belongs to the Roman Rite. From the Missal of Paul VI it takes the General Instruction and the Lectionary.² The Roman Canon is its normative prayer, and the older form of the Offertory, an option, is drawn from the Anglican Missal tradition.^11,13 How far those older elements are the Roman Mass of 1570 in English is argued. The American bishops' liturgy office calls The English Missal and The Anglican Missal "essentially translations of the traditional Roman Missal". Lopes places the priest's preparatory prayers and the Last Gospel among elements "found in the 1549 BCP", and calls the view that this tradition simply translates the Mass of St Pius V "rather misplaced", since the first Prayer Book came before the Missal of 1570.^2,13 From the Prayer Book tradition come the Collect for Purity, the Comfortable Words and the Prayer of Humble Access.^2,13

Compare with

• Novus Ordo: the Missal whose General Instruction and Lectionary Divine Worship uses²
• Vetus Ordo: the received Roman Missal; the first form of the Offertory in Divine Worship is drawn from the Anglican Missal tradition¹³

The Rite Today

Bishop Steven Lopes, of the Chair of Saint Peter, counted "nearly 40 parishes and parochial communities" there in February 2026.⁵ Walsingham has had a bishop as its Ordinary since 2024, David Waller.⁷ Since May 2026 Bishop Lopes has also served as Apostolic Administrator of the Southern Cross, which has no Ordinary.³³ In March 2026 the bishops of the three Ordinariates met the Holy Father, and then the Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, where one of the three took part by a representative.³⁴ Asked there to describe the patrimony as they live it, they named "Evangelization Through Beauty" and a "liturgical, almost monastic rhythm drawn from the English spiritual tradition", with the communal praying of the Divine Office at its heart.³⁵

Public celebration is restricted to the Ordinariates. A priest of an Ordinariate may use it elsewhere without a congregation, or publicly with the permission of the church's rector or pastor. In pastoral necessity, or when no priest of an Ordinariate is available, any diocesan priest, or any priest of an institute of consecrated life or society of apostolic life, may celebrate it for members of the Ordinariate who ask. Any such priest may concelebrate.¹

As of 16 September 2026.

Disputed Questions

Go Deeper

The Missal's commission explained its sources and choices in the journal Antiphon in 2015. The Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter published questions and answers on the Missal as it came into use.^11,13

On Domus Dei

• The Roman RiteThe rite from the fourth century and the lineage of its Missals
• Novus OrdoThe Missal of Paul VI, whose General Instruction and Lectionary Divine Worship uses

Official resources

• Anglicanorum coetibus (2009)
• Complementary Norms (2019)
• The Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter
• The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham
• The Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross
• The Pastoral Provision (USCCB)

Recommended reading

• Lopes, Steven J., “A Missal for the Ordinariates: The Work of the Anglicanae Traditiones Interdicasterial Commission”, Antiphon, 2015, 19.2, pp. 116-131.The secretary of the commission that prepared the Missal on its sources and choices Read online
• Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, Introducing Divine Worship: The Missal. Frequently Asked Questions, 2015.The Ordinariate's own questions and answers on the Missal, issued as it came into use Read online
• USCCB Committee on Divine Worship, “Holy See Confirms Divine Worship: The Missal for Ordinariates”, Committee on Divine Worship Newsletter, October 2015, 2015, pp. 37-39.The American bishops' liturgy office on the Missal's contents Read online
• Sacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “Document Outlining the Pastoral Provision (letter to Abp John R. Quinn, President of the NCCB, 22 July 1980, Prot. N. 66/77)”, Into Full Communion: Pastoral Provision manual (USCCB, Fall 2024), pp. 8-10, 1980.The Holy See's decisions of 1980 that began the Pastoral Provision, printed in the USCCB's manual Read online
• Di Noia, J. Augustine, “Divine Worship and the Liturgical Vitality of the Church”, Antiphon, 2015, 19.2, pp. 109-115.The commission's co-chairman on Divine Worship and the Roman Rite Read online
• Feulner, Hans-Jürgen, “Unity of Faith in Diversity of Liturgical Expression: The Liturgical Provision for the Anglican Ordinariates and the "Anglican Use of the Roman Rite"”, Liturgy, 2015, 30.4, pp. 10-19.A liturgist's account of the Anglican patrimony within the Roman Rite

Sources

1. Magisterial / canonicalCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Complementary Norms for the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, 2019, art. 15 §§1–2; art. 15 §2; art. 15; art. 15 §1; art. 15 §§2–3. LinkVerified 2026-09-14 · read in the Holy See Press Office bulletin of 9 Apr 2019: art. 15, 'the liturgical form approved by the Holy See for use in the Ordinariate'; public celebration 'restricted to the Personal Ordinariates'; re-read 2026-09-17: 1 in full, the patrimony 'understood as that which has nourished the Catholic faith throughout the history of the Anglican tradition and prompted aspirations towards ecclesial unity'; 2 a priest of an Ordinariate may celebrate outside its parishes 'when celebrating Mass without a congregation, or publicly with the permission of the rector/pastor'; 3 'In cases of pastoral necessity or in the absence of a priest incardinated in an Ordinariate, any priest incardinated in a Diocese or in an Institute of Consecrated Life or Society of Apostolic Life may celebrate'
2. ReferenceUSCCB Committee on Divine Worship, “Holy See Confirms Divine Worship: The Missal for Ordinariates”, Committee on Divine Worship Newsletter, October 2015, 2015, pp. 37-39, p. 37; p. 39; pp. 38–39; p. 38. LinkVerified 2026-09-14 · PDF read: the three Ordinariates named (Walsingham; Chair of St Peter; Our Lady of the Southern Cross); 'seems to deliberately avoid the use of terms like "Anglican Use"'; the General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM) printed in the Missal's front matter; re-read 2026-09-17: p. 37 'In May 2015, the Holy See subsequently approved the second book, Divine Worship: The Missal', its use 'beginning on the First Sunday of Advent', the 2014 Divine Worship: Occasional Services 'containing rituals for baptisms, weddings, and funerals', and 'according to the usual stipulations, may receive Holy Communion'; p. 38 'several traditional Anglican elements', 'the placement of the Penitential Rite after the Liturgy of the Word', and The English Missal and The Anglican Missal as 'essentially translations of the traditional Roman Missal', prepared by Anglicans for use in 'high Anglican' services; p. 39 'Prayer Book English' and the Prayer of Humble Access 'said by the priest and congregation just after the Agnus Dei'
3. Magisterial / canonicalSacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “Document Outlining the Pastoral Provision (letter to Abp John R. Quinn, President of the NCCB, 22 July 1980, Prot. N. 66/77)”, Into Full Communion: Pastoral Provision manual (USCCB, Fall 2024), pp. 8-10, 1980, II.2; I.1–2, II.2–3, III.3, V.3. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · PDF read (pdftotext): 'in its Ordinary Session of June 18, 1980'; approved 'in the audience … on June 20, 1980'; I.2 'a statute or "pastoral provision" which provides for a "common identity" for the group'; II.2 'The group may retain certain elements of the Anglican liturgy'; II.3 married priests 'may not become bishops'; III.3 'Reordination … after the examination of each individual case'; IV 'ad tempus non determinatum'. The Holy See's text as printed by the USCCB; no AAS printing searched
4. Magisterial / canonicalCatholic Church, Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2nd ed., Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1997, §1203. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · §§460, 1105–1106, 1353, 1375, 1377 read on vatican.va; §1125 read on vatican.va; §1203 (ENG0015 __P3C) and §1367 (__P41) read on vatican.va 2026-09-15
5. ReferenceLopes, Steven J., Bishop's Appeal letter, Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter (2 February 2026), 2026.Verified 2026-09-16 · read on the page image (PDF linked from ordinariate.net): 'providing crucial administrative support to our nearly 40 parishes and parochial communities'; dated 'February 2, 2026'
6. Magisterial / canonicalCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Decree of Erection of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, 2011. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read on vatican.va: 'ERECTS the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham within the territory of the Episcopal Conference of England and Wales'; dated '15 January 2011'
7. ReferenceHoly See Press Office, Bollettino, 29 April 2024: David Arthur Waller appointed Bishop Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, 2024. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read: 'His Holiness has appointed Reverend David Arthur Waller … as Bishop Ordinary of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham (Great Britain)'
8. Magisterial / canonicalCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Decree of Erection of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, 2012, n. 13. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read on vatican.va: 'ERECTS the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter within the territory of the Episcopal Conference of the United States'; n. 13 'The location of the principal Church … will be the Church of Our Lady of Walsingham in Houston, Texas'; dated 1 January 2012. Canada is not named in the decree
9. Magisterial / canonicalCongregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Decree of Erection of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, 2012. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read on vatican.va: 'ERECTS the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross within the territory of the Episcopal Conference of Australia'; dated '15 June 2012, the Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus' (the file name reads 20120612)
10. ReferencePersonal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, About. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read in the Browser pane (curl 403): 'Based in Houston, Texas, this Ordinariate has more than 40 Roman Catholic parishes and communities across the United States and Canada.' Undated page: used for the territory only, not for the count
11. ReferencePersonal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, Introducing Divine Worship: The Missal. Frequently Asked Questions, 2015, Q7; Q13; Qq. 16–17; Q14; Q8; Q4; Qq. 7, 14; Q10; Q2; Q9; Q12; Qq. 9, 15; Qq. 8–9; Qq. 8, 11; Q15; Q16; Q11; Qq. 12–13; Qq. 2–3; Qq. 9, 12–13, 15–16. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · PDF read: Q2 'Is the liturgical provision for the Ordinariates its own proper Rite? No.', 'this expression or form of the Roman Rite', title page 'In conformity with the Roman Rite'; Q3 name avoids 'Anglican Use'; Q4 'Any Catholic may licitly attend Mass in an Ordinariate parish'; Q7 'an idiom of English best described as "Prayer Book English"'; Q8 chant texts, Coverdale; Q9 introductory rites, Prayers at the Foot of the Altar; Q10 Penitential Rite after the Creed and Prayers of the People; Q11 Lectionary 'in the Revised Standard Version (Second Catholic Edition)'; Q12 two Offertory forms, 'It is not meant to provide variety from Sunday to Sunday'; Q13 'The Roman Canon is the normative Eucharistic Prayer', 'The Alternative Eucharistic Prayer, which corresponds to Eucharistic Prayer II of the Roman Missal'; Q14 three additions from the Anglican tradition; Q15 Last Gospel 'Where it is the custom'; Q16 'does not include a period called Ordinary Time'; Q17 saints
12. Magisterial / canonicalCongregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, General Instruction of the Roman Missal (third typical edition; English translation), United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, §320; §322. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · read on usccb.org: §41 ('Gregorian chant holds pride of place because it is proper to the Roman Liturgy'); §69; §119; §§281-283; §295; §299 ('desirable wherever possible'); §357 ('three readings'); 2026-09-15: §6 ('separated by four centuries, embrace one and the same tradition'), §7 ('only very slight changes'), §157 ('With the people he adds'); 2026-09-16: §§2, 32, 43, 45, 70, 73, 82, 112–113, 160–161, 199, 252–254, 284, 320, 322, 357 and 390 read in the vatican.va English (the same translation), among them §2 ('The sacrificial nature of the Mass, solemnly asserted by the Council of Trent'), §43 ('The faithful should stand from the beginning of the Entrance chant'), §357 ('For Sundays and solemnities, three readings are assigned') and §390 ('It is up to the Conferences of Bishops to decide on the adaptations')
13. ScholarshipLopes, Steven J., “A Missal for the Ordinariates: The Work of the Anglicanae Traditiones Interdicasterial Commission”, Antiphon, 2015, 19.2, pp. 116-131, p. 123; pp. 125–126; p. 125; p. 124; pp. 128–130; p. 118; p. 121; p. 117; pp. 116–118; p. 126; p. 122; pp. 123, 128–130. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · PDF read: pp. 116-118 the commission, its work and the naming of the books, with p. 117 'In May 2015, Divine Worship: The Missal received ecclesiastical approbation'; p. 118 'the Holy See expressly desired to avoid the designations "Anglican use" or "Anglo-Catholic"'; p. 121 the ranking of sources (the Book of Divine Worship; Prayer Books of England, USA, Scotland, South Africa, Canada; The English Missal 1958 and The Anglican Missal 1961); p. 122 'Arcane expressions were modified, and alternatives found for words whose meaning has shifted notably over time'; p. 123 'Two forms of the Offertory are provided, the first being drawn out of the Anglican Missal tradition'; p. 124 the peace 'at the classically Roman position following the Lord's Prayer'; pp. 125-126 minor propers; p. 124 the Collect for Purity, the Comfortable Words and the Prayer of Humble Access among the features of the Prayer Book tradition, the priest's preparatory prayers and the Last Gospel among elements 'found in the 1549 BCP', and the view that the Anglican Missal tradition simply translates the Mass of St Pius V called 'rather misplaced'; p. 125 'For each celebration of Mass, the Divine Worship Missal provides the texts of the minor propers'; p. 126 the commission 'did not intend to enter into the debate on the place of the minor propers in the Roman Rite'; pp. 128-130 the Ember and Rogation Days, with 'the Ember Days have been located in the first week of Advent' (p. 129); p. 131 'served as Coordinating Secretary of the Anglicanae Traditiones Interdicasterial Commission'. The article dates the Book of Divine Worship's approval to 2003, where the Congregation's decree of 13 Feb 1987 approves it
14. Primary textPersonal Ordinariates (Anglicanae Traditiones), Divine Worship: Daily Office (Commonwealth Edition), London: Catholic Truth Society, 2021. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · publisher's catalogue read: ISBN 9781784696092, 'Publication Date 2021-09-15'. A North American edition exists (ordinariate.net); its year is not established. The book itself not read
15. Magisterial / canonicalBenedict XVI, Anglicanorum coetibus (apostolic constitution), 2009, art. III. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read on vatican.va in English and Latin: art. III 'according to the liturgical books proper to the Anglican tradition, which have been approved by the Holy See, so as to maintain the liturgical, spiritual and pastoral traditions of the Anglican Communion within the Catholic Church, as a precious gift nourishing the faith of the members of the Ordinariate and as a treasure to be shared'; 'Given in Rome, at St. Peter's, on November 4, 2009'
16. Magisterial / canonicalCode of Canon Law, Vatican City: Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1983, can. 844 §1. LinkVerified 2026-09-12 · cann. 844, 919, 923 read on vatican.va; cann. 913–914 read 2026-09-12; can. 1248 §1 read on vatican.va 2026-09-14; cann. 6 §1, 912, 924 §§1–2 and 926 read on vatican.va 2026-09-15; can. 916 read 2026-09-16: 'A person who is conscious of grave sin is not to celebrate Mass or receive the body of the Lord without previous sacramental confession unless there is a grave reason and there is no opportunity to confess'
17. Primary textAnonymous (typescript), The Order of Mass for Use by the Ordinariates Established under the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus (typescript, 59 pp., not the printed Missal), 2015, pp. 4, 30; pp. 8, 30, 32; Appendix 1, pp. 37–40; p. 2; pp. 2–3; pp. 3–4; p. 6; pp. 6–7; pp. 8, 45; pp. 8–9; pp. 13, 16; p. 18; p. 29; p. 30; pp. 31–32; pp. 32–33; pp. 34, 57; p. 4. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · PDF read: a Word typescript created 6 Dec 2015, uploaded 2022; its page numbers are its own. Its structure agrees with the Ordinariate FAQ, the USCCB newsletter and Lopes at every point they state. The entry cites it for opening words and for the people's kneeling rubrics, by the typescript's own pages
18. ReferenceGhirlanda, Gianfranco, S.I., “The significance of the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus”, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (illustrative article, not a magisterial act), 2009. LinkVerified 2026-09-17 · read on the CDF site: 'the ordination of ministers coming from Anglicanism will be absolute, on the basis of the Bull Apostolicae curae of Leo XIII of September 13, 1896'; the Personal Ordinariates 'cannot be considered as Particular Ritual Churches since the Anglican liturgical, spiritual and pastoral tradition is a particular reality within the Latin Church'
19. ReferenceUnited States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Into Full Communion: Pastoral Provision manual, Frequently Asked Questions, 2024, pp. 44-46, FAQ 12. LinkVerified 2026-09-17 · PDF read: FAQ 12, 'Priests ordained through the Pastoral Provision are ordained absolutely, not conditionally. This was a personal decision of Pope Saint John Paul II.' The manual's year for Apostolicae curae is 1897; the bull is of 13 September 1896 (Ghirlanda, on the CDF site)
20. Magisterial / canonicalSacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, Declaration on behalf of some clergy and laity of the Episcopal (Anglican) Church in the United States, 1981. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read on vatican.va: 'the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith has appointed the Most Rev. Bernard F. Law, Bishop of Springfield-Cape Girardeau, as ecclesiastical Delegate in this matter'. The text ends '(March 31, 1981)'; vatican.va dates it 1 April 1981
21. ReferenceOur Lady of the Atonement Catholic Church, San Antonio, About Us (parish history). LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read (the parish's own account): 'established by a Decree of Erection, signed by Archbishop Patrick F. Flores, to take effect on 15 August 1983'; 'founded as a Personal Parish, under the terms of the Pastoral Provision'; 'former Anglicans (Episcopalians), eighteen (18) in number, which included minor children'; church 'blessed on 15 August 1987 by Archbishop Patrick Flores'; school 'The Atonement Academy, in 1994'
22. ReferencePersonal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, Becoming One (communiqué, 21 March 2017), 2017. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read in the Browser pane (curl 403): 'have been transferred to the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter, effective March 21. At the direction of the Holy See, all parishes of the Pastoral Provision are to be incorporated into the Ordinariate'
23. ReferenceSly, Randy, “Seeds of the Ordinariate, Part One: Our Lady of the Atonement, San Antonio”, Catholic Online, 2011. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read (an interview with Fr Christopher Phillips): 'an Episcopal priest in Rhode Island'; a small group of Episcopalians in San Antonio asked him to begin a Pastoral Provision parish; 'moved to San Antonio in January, 1982'; 'He was ordained in August of 1983'
24. ReferenceCathedral of Our Lady of Walsingham, Houston, History of the Parish. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read in the Browser pane (curl 403): 'This was the day that Our Lady of Walsingham Catholic Church was erected as a parish of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston' (7 April 1984). The parish's own account
25. ReferenceSt. Mary the Virgin Catholic Church, Arlington, Texas, About St. Mary the Virgin: A Brief History. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read in the Browser pane (curl 403): 'formally erected as a parish of the Catholic Diocese of Fort Worth on June 12, 1994, by the Most Reverend Joseph P. Delaney'; 'On July 1, 2015, St. Mary's became a parish of the Personal Ordinariate of the Chair of Saint Peter.' The parish's own account
26. Magisterial / canonicalCongregation for Divine Worship, “Liturgical Elements of the "Pastoral Provision" (decree, 13 February 1987), with the covering letter of 20 February 1987”, The Book of Divine Worship, Draft: November 1999 (NCCB), Introduction pp. 9-10 (facsimile), 1987. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read on the facsimile page image (p. 10): 'by special mandate of Pope JOHN PAUL II approves and confirms the said BOOK OF DIVINE WORSHIP for interim use only within the Pastoral Provision until such time as other arrangements be made. From the Congregation for Divine Worship 13 February, 1987', signed Paul Augustin Card. Mayer, Prefect, and Virgilio Noè, Secretary; prepared 'under the direction of His Eminence Bernard Cardinal Law, Ecclesiastical Delegate'. Covering letter (p. 9): 'It was in 1983 that this Dicastery was officially informed of the liturgical aspect of the "Pastoral Provision"'
27. Magisterial / canonicalSacred Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, “Explanatory Note on the Book of Divine Worship (13 February 1987, Prot. N. 66/77)”, The Book of Divine Worship, Draft: November 1999 (NCCB), Introduction p. 8 (facsimile), 1987, nn. 1–2; n. 1. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read: n. 1 'The BOOK OF DIVINE WORSHIP, as now approved, in no way constitutes a special Rite'; n. 2 'these texts are for use only in the "Common Identity" parishes of the Pastoral Provision'. No typed signatory is printed on the facsimile
28. Primary textNational Conference of Catholic Bishops (approved); Apostolic See (confirmed), The Book of Divine Worship, Mt. Pocono, PA: Newman House Press, 2003, title page, acknowledgments, imprint; imprint; title page. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · title page and front matter read: 'being elements of the Book of Common Prayer revised and adapted according to the Roman Rite for use by Roman Catholics coming from the Anglican tradition; approved by the National Conference of Catholic Bishops of the United States of America and confirmed by the Apostolic See'; acknowledgments: the Book of Common Prayer 1928 and 1979, and ICEL's 1973 English of the Roman Missal; 'Imprimatur Bernard Cardinal Law, Ecclesiastical Delegate for the Pastoral Provision, August 28, 2003'. The Eucharistic rites were not read
29. ScholarshipDi Noia, J. Augustine, “Divine Worship and the Liturgical Vitality of the Church”, Antiphon, 2015, 19.2, pp. 109-115, p. 109; pp. 112, 114. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · PDF read: p. 109 'In 2011 the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith and the Congregation for Divine Worship established the Anglicanae Traditiones Interdicasterial Commission'; p. 112 'the Holy See's prudent grafting of proven Anglican shoots on the rooted, living trunk of the Roman Rite'; p. 114 liturgical forms 'return' to the Church 'having been purified and transformed in Catholic communion'. Author: co-chairman of the commission
30. ReferenceHoly See Press Office, Explanatory Note on the Complementary Norms for the Apostolic Constitution Anglicanorum coetibus, 2019. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read: 'In the new Complementary Norms, an entire article has been added, number 15, dedicated to the celebration of Divine Worship.' A press-office digest of an article in L'Osservatore Romano, not the CDF's own commentary
31. ReferenceUnited States Conference of Catholic Bishops, Pastoral Provision. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read: the Pastoral Provision's forty-six-year history of assisting Episcopal priests toward priestly ministry in the Catholic Church; signed 'Most Rev. Thomas John Paprocki, Bishop of Springfield in Illinois, Ecclesiastical Delegate for the Pastoral Provision'
32. ReferenceCatholic Truth Society, Divine Worship: The Ordinariate Missal (publisher's catalogue entry), 2015. LinkVerified 2026-09-17 · publisher's page read: the title 'Divine Worship: The Ordinariate Missal', the name under which the Missal is sold
33. ReferenceHoly See Press Office, Bollettino, 11 May 2026: Apostolic Administrator of the Personal Ordinariate of Our Lady of the Southern Cross, 2026. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read: 'Il Santo Padre ha nominato Amministratore Apostolico sede vacante et ad nutum Sanctae Sedis dell'Ordinariato personale di Our Lady of the Southern Cross (Australia) S.E. Mons. Steven Joseph Lopes'. The Ordinariate's own site gives 7 May
34. ReferenceDicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Plenary Meeting of the Bishops of the Personal Ordinariates, 2026. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read: the bishops of the three Ordinariates met the Holy Father and then the Dicastery (2-3 March 2026)
35. ReferenceDicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith, Characteristics of the Anglican Heritage as Lived in the Ordinariates, 2026, nn. 2, 4. LinkVerified 2026-09-16 · read: 'in response to the Prefect's invitation to describe the lived experience of the patrimony, the Bishops identified several traits that they consider to be characteristic of the spiritual and pastoral heritage of the Ordinariates' (seven listed); n. 2 'Evangelization Through Beauty'; n. 4 'a liturgical, almost monastic rhythm drawn from the English spiritual tradition', with 'the communal praying of the Divine Office'
36. ScholarshipFeulner, Hans-Jürgen, “Unity of Faith in Diversity of Liturgical Expression: The Liturgical Provision for the Anglican Ordinariates and the "Anglican Use of the Roman Rite"”, Liturgy, 2015, 30.4, pp. 10-19, p. 15.Verified 2026-09-16 · read in the publisher's PDF (Taylor & Francis, marked 'downloaded by: [Vienna University Library] On: 23 July 2015'), hosted on ordinariateexpats.wordpress.com: p. 15 'justifies an Anglican Use that is informed by specific cultural traditions, yet remains an integral part of the Roman Rite' and 'an additional Anglican liturgical form or use within the framework of the Roman Rite'
37. ReferencePersonal Ordinariate of Our Lady of Walsingham, Our story. LinkVerified 2026-09-17 · read: of the Order of Mass unveiled in London in October 2012, 'The liturgy, known as the Ordinariate Use, is the work of a special commission established by Rome'
38. Primary textSacred Congregation for Divine Worship, Notitiae 5 (1969), no. 46: the new Ordo Missae and General Instruction, 1969, pp. 148–149. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · cultodivino.va PDF: p. 140, Paul VI's consistory address of 28 April 1969, the new altar book and the other liturgical books 'post diligens studium, a Consilio ad exsequendam Constitutionem de Sacra Liturgia recogniti sunt' (re-read 2026-09-18); p. 148, the prayers at the foot of the altar suppressed and the offertory, 'mai toccato nelle precedenti riforme', reordered; p. 149, 'Benedictus es, Domine, Deus universi' and the embolism 'abbreviato e senza i nomi dei Santi'; the Ordo 'il punto di arrivo della riforma della Messa, dopo le tappe intermedie', p. 148; 'in modo da non anticipare la vera offerta del sacrificio', p. 149; re-read 2026-09-16: p. 148 'viene ora riordinato in modo da rispondere meglio al suo vero significato'; p. 149 'che sarà fatta nel Canone', and 'espressioni di benedizione tradizionali nella Bibbia'
39. Magisterial / canonicalSacred Congregation of Rites, Inter oecumenici (first instruction on the Constitution on the liturgy, 26 September 1964), 1964, §48j. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · English text on adoremus.org (AAS 56 (1964) 877-900): §48 e ('recited aloud') and j ('The last gospel is omitted; the Leonine Prayers are suppressed'); §56; §91 ('preferably be freestanding'); in force from the first Sunday of Lent, 7 March 1965 (closing formula)
40. Magisterial / canonicalPaul VI, “Mysterii paschalis (motu proprio approving the General Roman Calendar, 14 February 1969)”, Acta Apostolicae Sedis 61 (1969), 1969, pp. 222-226. LinkVerified 2026-09-15 · read in Latin on vatican.va: 'nonnullorum Sanctorum nomina a Calendario generali sublata sunt'; in force 'a die I mensis Ianuarii … MCMLXX'