UR brand new 2022 edition of the Saint Edmund Campion Missal arrived today. Thank you SOPHIA INSTITUTE PRESS for your work! I’m just a mom. Yes, I homeschool. And yes, I am in a great choir at a great parish … but at the heart of who I am, I am just a mother raising her children. Our youngest has just left diapers, and it may be time for us to start seeing our parenting at Mass transform from Cheerios and trips outside to manage tantrums, to actually sitting through the entire Mass. Well, actually, now that he’s out of diapers, bathroom visits are sure to interrupt. So with that disclaimer, here are some thoughts from me (my son and his sisters!) about the new Third Edition of the Campion Missal.
To start, its size. We don’t object to large Missals; Catholic booklovers gladly haul their Missals and Libers to and from Church. But a smaller size is much easier. It will fit better in the purse, or the diaper bag!
It is inevitable to compare this 2022 Third Edition to the earlier 2013 edition. (Has it really been almost a decade! Deo Gratias!) The earlier edition was much bulkier, and had a strange texture on the cover. The 2022 edition feels better to the touch and . . . has a gorgeous cover. The Lamb in the middle alludes to so many similar images, including the Ghent Altarpiece, a personal favorite.
But in our family, the person best suited to offer a review of the new Missal is my son. Our 2013 Campion has fallen apart and been repaired twice. It not only accompanied us on our first pilgrimages in the Traditional Latin Mass, but it is the Missal that my 11-year-old uses to “play Mass”. It is a frequent occurrence in our home to see that boy lugging his tote and that heavy Missal to his room, where he sets up and plays Mass.
So I asked him and his sisters to record some initial thoughts. I won’t transcribe his entire 11 minute recording, but here’s what they said about the size and texture and their initial reaction of the Third Edition.
- It’s smaller! Smaller than I thought it would be. And lighter.
- It’s kind of a bit darker than the Issac Jogues, a darker blue.
- My first reaction was, “Are the familiar faces in this one?” That’s the first thing I looked for! (They searched for the pictures they had seen for years.)
- I also liked the bubble wrap it came in.
- It has a lot more picture on the front. It’s definitely fancier. And you can feel the texture. It’s a nice texture.
- The bookmark is golden and the words are golden.
- And you can feel the texture. It’s a nice texture.
- There’s a little bit of information on the back about Father Edmund Campion and it has a picture of him.
(they proceeded to try to figure out the Latin)
We have so much more to say about this exciting book. My husband is proud to know his kids were genuinely excited to open the new Missal we ordered. And I’m grateful to know our weekly lives at Mass matter to them as the approach adolescence.
Our family Missals are the foundation of our faith journey. As we carry them week by week, month by month, and now nearing decade by decade, they become a part of our family. Campion joins our other hand missals on our weekly pilgrimage.
Welcome to the Moreno brood Third Edition.
