How to Follow Along with a Hand Missal

The hand missal is the Traditional Latin Mass worshipper’s essential companion — a book containing the complete text of the Mass in Latin and English, with rubric guides, propers for every Sunday and feast, and often the Divine Office as well. Using one well transforms the experience of the traditional Mass from an overwhelming foreign ceremony into a prayer you can enter fully. This guide shows you exactly how to do it.

What Is a Hand Missal?

A hand missal (also called a “pew missal” or “lay missal”) is a personal edition of the Roman Missal adapted for use by the faithful in the pew. It typically contains:

The Ordinary of the Mass — the parts that are the same at every Mass (Kyrie, Gloria, Credo, Sanctus, Agnus Dei, the fixed prayers of the Canon). This is the spine of the book and the section you will use most.

The Propers — the parts that change with each Sunday and feast day (Introit, Collect, Epistle, Gradual, Alleluia or Tract, Gospel, Offertory, Secret, Communion, Postcommunion). These are organized by the liturgical calendar.

The Temporal and Sanctoral Cycles — the Temporal cycle follows the year of Christ (Advent, Christmas, Epiphany, Septuagesima, Lent, Holy Week, Easter, Pentecost, Ordinary Time after Pentecost). The Sanctoral cycle follows the feasts of the saints throughout the year.

Common prayers and devotions — many missals include the Rosary, Benediction, prayers before and after Mass, and other devotional material.

Which Missal Should You Get?

The most widely used hand missals for the 1962 Tridentine Mass are:

The Roman Missal by Baronius Press — the gold standard, a heavy and beautiful book containing the complete 1962 Missal with ribbon markers, rubric guides, and extensive devotional material. This is the missal most serious traditional Catholics use. It is expensive but worth it.

The Daily Missal by Angelus Press — a slightly more compact edition, widely used in SSPX communities and among traditionalists generally. Excellent quality.

My Daily Bread Missal — a simpler, more affordable entry-level option.

For beginners, Angelus Press also publishes a standalone Ordinary of the Mass booklet — just the fixed parts, in Latin and English, for a few dollars. This is the simplest possible starting point: you follow only the Ordinary, ignore the Propers entirely at first, and learn the fixed structure of the Mass before tackling the variable parts.

The Structure of the Missal: How to Navigate It

Most hand missals use a ribbon system — typically five or six ribbons of different colors — to allow you to hold your place in multiple sections simultaneously. You will typically need ribbons in:

The Ordinary of the Mass — keep one ribbon here permanently. This is where the Kyrie, Gloria, Canon, Pater Noster, Agnus Dei, and other fixed texts live.

The Proper for the day — find the Sunday or feast in the Temporal or Sanctoral cycle before Mass begins, and place a ribbon there. You will flip between this and the Ordinary throughout Mass.

The Preface — Prefaces vary by season and feast (there are about fifteen in the 1962 Missal). Find the correct Preface before Mass and mark it with a third ribbon.

Step by Step: Following the Low Mass

Before Mass begins: Find the proper for the day. Open your missal’s index or calendar section, identify the Sunday or feast, and turn to that page. Note the Introit, Collect, Epistle, Gradual, Gospel, Offertory antiphon, Secret, Communion antiphon, and Postcommunion. Place your ribbon here. Then find the Ordinary and place your primary ribbon at its beginning. Find the correct Preface and mark it.

Prayers at the Foot of the Altar: Open to the Ordinary. Follow the Psalm 42 dialogue and the Confiteor. Do not worry if you lose your place — the priest moves at his own pace and will not wait for you.

Introit: Flip to your Proper ribbon. Read the Introit in English while the priest reads it in Latin at the altar.

Kyrie, Gloria: Flip back to the Ordinary. Follow the Kyrie (nine invocations). If it is a Sunday or feast, follow the Gloria.

Collect: Flip to the Proper. Read the Collect.

Epistle and Gradual: Remain in the Proper. Read the Epistle, then the Gradual (and Alleluia or Tract).

Gospel: Remain in the Proper. Read the Gospel while the priest proclaims it at the altar. Stand for the Gospel (the missal will note this).

Credo: If Sunday or major feast, flip to the Ordinary for the Nicene Creed. Kneel at Et incarnatus est.

Offertory: Flip to the Proper for the Offertory antiphon. The Offertory prayers themselves are in the Ordinary — you may follow those too, or simply pray quietly while the priest offers the sacrifice.

Preface and Sanctus: Flip to your Preface ribbon for the Preface, then to the Ordinary for the Sanctus and Benedictus. Kneel at the bell after the Benedictus.

The Canon: Remain in the Ordinary. The Canon is the longest fixed section. Follow it in your missal — reading the consecration prayers in English as the priest says them in Latin is one of the most powerful forms of lay participation in the traditional rite. Kneel when the bell rings at the elevations and look up at the Host and Chalice.

Pater Noster through Agnus Dei: Remain in the Ordinary.

Communion: If you are receiving, close the missal and approach the rail. If not, remain in the Ordinary and follow the priest’s communion prayers, or pray privately.

Postcommunion: Flip to the Proper for the Postcommunion prayer.

Last Gospel: Flip to the Ordinary for St. John’s Prologue. Kneel at Et Verbum caro factum est.

Practical Tips

Do not worry about losing your place. Every experienced traditional Mass attendee has spent time utterly lost in the missal, watching the priest and waiting for a recognizable landmark. It gets easier with practice. Within a few months, the Ordinary will be largely memorized and you will only need to flip for the Propers.

Use the rubric headings. Good missals include rubric notes in red (hence “rubric” — from the Latin ruber, red) explaining what the priest is doing and what posture the faithful should take. These are your navigational aids.

At a sung Mass, follow the chant. At a High or Solemn High Mass, the schola or choir sings the Propers and Ordinary parts. Your missal will help you follow what is being sung — a deeply enriching experience once you have the basics in hand.

The goal is prayer, not performance. The missal is a tool for entering the Mass more deeply — not a test to be passed. If you spend part of a Mass simply kneeling in quiet adoration because you have lost your place, you have not failed. You are participating in the most important sense.