Friday, July 30, 2010

So Many Catholic Prayer Books!

Sometimes I get overwhelmed and confused by the quantity of Catholic prayer books that are out there!

But recently, I've managed to understand some of them.

Now I shall explain them to you, dear reader.  If you find an error, please let me know immediately!

The Christian Prayer Book is a prayer book (that can be used time and time again) for those who wish to pray on a daily basis the Divine Office (also known as the Liturgy of the Hours) which contains following series of prayers:
  • Morning Prayer
  • Day Prayer
  • Evening Prayer
  • Night Prayer
The Magnificant is a disposable, monthly publication for those whose daily routines desire the readings and prayers for:
  • Morning Prayer
  • Daily Mass
  • Evening Prayer
The Sunday Missal is a dated, disposable, year-long book which contains all the prayers and readings for those who attend:
  • Mass on Sundays
  • Mass on Holy Days of Obligation
But I am terribly confused by what the St. Joseph Daily Missal is, even though I have a copy sitting in my lap right now.  It appears to be an antiquated, strangely-organized, no-longer-published book which attempted to provided people with daily Mass readings, although I can't seem to navigate it at all.  Please, can somebody help me figure this last one out?  There's a ton of pages devoted to saints' feast days, but there are so many abbreviations in this book that I am not sure how to understand it!  Please help!

Update as of August 7, 2010: Well, somebody must have agreed with me that the St. Joseph Daily Missal was hard to navigate.  They have since reworked the book and have now published what is called The New St. Joseph Daily Missal, and it is MUCH easier to understand.  I purchased a new copy, and I can now explain to you, dear Reader, that it is indeed for those who attend daily mass.  It is published in two volumes, and I purchased only the volume which takes me through the Summertime, since I cannot attend daily Mass during the school year.

Thank you!