I recently received a lightly-used Saint Paul Daily Missal in a black “leatherflex” as a gift (here’s a link to the product page on the Pauline Books website). This is a single-volume missal with the entire set of 3-year Sunday readings and 2-year daily readings. It also contains brief reflections on the readings for each day and the antiphons and prayers for Mass. The reflections bear an imprimatur from Cardinal Sean O’Malley of Boston.
Overall, this is a nice edition. It’s impressive to fit the entire lectionary for Sunday and weekday masses into a single small volume with a readable text size. The convenience of having one book is attractive to me. Many years ago, I looked at the missals published by Catholic Book Publishing company, but they offer three separate volumes: one for Sundays, and two for weekdays.
The pages are thin in this St. Paul missal, but the paper doesn’t feel fragile. Ghosting of text from nearby pages is noticeable, and in some cases, it’s just at the edge of what I would consider acceptable. The text is still readable for me, though, and the convenience of a single volume is a reasonable trade-off for the level of ghosting it exhibits.
The imitation leather cover is average, and the gold-gilded page edges are reasonably good quality. There are four basic ribbons which appear glued to the binding at the top. The binding is sewn, so it should hold up to frequent use. Overall, this is a nice edition with comprehensive contents. I have never seen the similar edition published by Our Sunday Visitor, so I can’t comment on how the two compare. I can recommend this edition for anyone interested in a single-volume missal, however. The materials and overall finish are not premium, but it should serve you well and be very functional.
I have been using mine for about five years. Mine too was a gift–one of the best I’ve ever received.
I go to daily mass (an advantage of living in a city) and just keep it in my car, unless it gets really, really hot.
The binding has held up well, though the cover is nothing to write home about. If I had the money for rebinding, I’d rebind a missal for sure.
At my parish, many of the daily mass folks have Magnificat subscriptions. (The price of a new daily missal is about the same as a year of Magnificat, by the way.) I find that the entrance and communion antiphons aren’t always the ones I expect from the missal. I think this is because in certain cases there is a choice between several, and our parish has just outsourced the decision of which antiphon to use to the Magnificat people.
I have a friend who had a Roman Missal, and who ended up switching to a St Paul Missal because he said the binding was better.
Thanks Bob! It’s great to hear a real-world report about how this missal holds up to long-term use.
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Could you compare this one to the one put out by Midwest Theological Forum? Does this one have any of the commons of the Mass in Latin
I haven’t seen the Midwest Theological Forum missal in-person, so I can’t comment on how the quality compares. The St. Paul missal only includes the Mass commons in English.
I have been using my St. Paul Daily Missal for just over two years now. The only complaint I have is that the Liturgical Calendar in the front appears to be wrong (there is a possibility that I am not reading this correctly). For example it has 2019 as cycle A/II (page xxiv of the missal) when according to UCCB we are reading C/I. Have you seen this discrepancy? Perhaps there is a simple explanation that I don’t understand….
My copy of the St. Paul Daily Missal has the same error. It’s a mistake on their part. Hopefully, they’ll fix it in the next printing of their missal.
I have had a St. Paul Daily Missal for several years (actually it’s my second one – first one got rained on) and I am very happy with it. If the pages were thicker, the book would become cumbersome. I’ve only had one page tear, and it was my fault! There is no “ghosting” in my copy. I would like 2 or 3 more ribbons, but that’s what I use my saints cards for. There is nothing fancy about the cover, but I bought it for serviceability, not looks, and it has held up well.
My 15-year-old grandson asked me to get him one just like mine!!
That’s awesome to hear! I am thinking of buying for my teenage daughter as well so glad to know he like it. Thank you.
I’m looking for an updated liturgical calendar with corresponding page reference
I love this missal but my calendar ended in 2017
God Bless
I have the St. Paul Daily Missal 2017-2022 edition. Now i need a new one that includes prayers proper to new canonized saints celebrated for the feasts/ memorials. Do you have the new edition available?
To all, this is by far the best Missal I have ever had. I went for years with the St. Joseph Missal by Catholic Publishing. Those are good, but as mentioned, its 3 books, and if your rush to church without picking up the right book (Liturgical Calendar Year), then your just S.O.L. I too want more ribbons because my St. Prayer Cards keep falling out. Lol.. Its a very practical tool. Your not going to get pages and pages of ‘stuff’. Readings, your Saints, a Treasury of Prayers, etc. It gets the job done and its all in one book, which for me is the best part. And its very well made. The cover is sturdy and feels durable, on the St. Joseph Missal, the feel was ‘cheap plastic’. I still have my St. Joseph Missals (as far back as the 1975 edition when I was in High School. This St. Paul Daily Missal is just that, a daily missal. For example, after Saturday reading, i flip it over and awaiting for me is Sundays reading. if you had the St Joseph Missal, you would have to remember to get the Sunday Missal Volume (remember they have three volumes). I love it and I only wish I would have change to this one years ago, but Im on board now!! Hope this review helped. You will not go wrong…no fancy colored pictures or elementary information it has what every craddle Catholic is needing!!