HILE IT’S TRUE Bugnini’s CONSILIUM was given the task of inventing the Novus Ordo, the Congregation of Rites was the ultimate authority (inasmuch as it was given the task of confirming or rejecting all CONSILIUM items). A year after Sacrosanctum Concilium, the Congregation of Rites protested against those who would overpower Latin by too much vernacular at Mass. Specifically, they said (on 23 July 1964) this would create an undesirable “paradox,” lamenting that if such were to occur: “Latin imposed as a basis would become an exception, and the vernacular, which must be given a secondary place, would occupy the main position.” Those familiar with the documents of Vatican II know Latin was supposed to be primary and the vernacular (if the local bishop allowed it) was supposed to be secondary.
Contrary to the explicit mandates of Vatican II, the Latin language was largely outlawed. This must be corrected. We must create more books like the ISAAC JOGUES MISSAL, which contains the Latin alongside the vernacular. Indeed, the Vatican issued three (3) documents in the 1960s “for the right application of the Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy of the Second Vatican Council.” The first of these (Inter Oecumenici, dated 26 September 1964) stated clearly: “Missals to be used in the liturgy, however, shall contain besides the vernacular version the Latin text as well.”
Advice Sought • I was recently approached by several priests and seminarians who are creating a missal for the Ordinary Form (a.k.a. Novus Ordo or “MISSALE RECENS”) containing both Latin and English. They asked me to critique their draft document, and I’m happy to help. Towards the end of my article—see below—I provide what they requested, but let me begin by listing a few items competent typographers eschew:
* PDF Download • UGLY WHITE SPACE
* PDF Download • One Word That “Hangs”
* PDF Download • EPISCOPALIAN MISSAL (“Abomination”)
* PDF Download • Single Words That “Hang”
A Serious Matter • In today’s world, “artificial intelligence” is readily available to anyone with internet access. But AI will never be able to replace the adroit typographer. And this vocation isn’t new; as this gorgeous page from the Campion Missal shows, creators of liturgical books always cultivated ‘even’ spacing of letters. They avoided ugly and ‘uneven’ white space.
Those who carefully examine the CAMPION MISSAL will notice that each page was a meticulous—almost obsessive—pursuit of “evenness.” This undoubtably required an immense amount of work, but the results speak for themselves:
Looking Beyond • What I’m describing isn’t something the “casual observer” would notice or be able to articulate—but it makes all the difference in the world. Here’s another page from the resplendent CAMPION MISSAL, which includes an English translation by Father Lasance as well as a breathtaking translation of the MASS ORDINARY (1951) by Monsignor Ronald Knox:
Jeff’s Analysis:
As I mentioned, several priests and seminarians have undertaken a project to create an Altar Missal for the Novus Ordo containing both Latin and English. They are not yet releasing details to the public about their forthcoming book. They wrote to me, seeking advice on typesetting. I offer several suggestions below. As Father Valentine would say: “Take ’em or leave ’em.”
I also hope their project can avoid the quagmire of companies trying to charge people to print the sacred texts. In America, there are 6-7 shell companies that claim ownership over all the texts of the Mass. For instance, one company claims to the own the refrains for each Responsorial Psalm, while two different companies claim to own the psalm verses of each Responsorial Psalm. Aside from the fact that Canon Law forbids the selling of indulgenced texts, many assertions of ownership by these various companies are false. Suffice it to say: all this must be sorted out someday. (Moreover, those organizations guilty of selling the sacred texts—which they claim to “own”—will need to make restitution by giving all that money back.)
Addendum • For the last 1,200 years, manuscripts and printed books have chosen to abbreviate certain words—especially wide letters like “m”—in an effort to create beautiful spacing, as I’ve tried to describe above. In the books of Abbat Pothier, he usually wrote “&” (instead of the word “and”) if that made the formatting nicer. Literally millions of examples could be cited. Here are two:
