Meaning & use
missal
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Meanings
nouncountablereligion
A book that contains all the prayers, readings, and directions a priest needs to lead Mass during the year.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a missal, the missal, or two missals.
Patterns
- a missal for Mass
- the Roman Missal
- follow the missal
The priest opened the missal to find the prayers for that Sunday.
She bought a small missal so she could follow the words of the Mass.
New editions of the missal were printed after the prayers were revised.
nouncountablereligion
A prayer book for personal use that has the order of Mass and prayers for the church's seasons.
Grammar: Often used for a layperson's book, not only the large altar book.
Patterns
- a daily missal
- carry a missal
- read from a missal
My grandmother kept her worn missal next to her bed.
He followed the service in a hand-sized missal.
The missal includes the readings for every day of the year.
Word forms
| plural | missals |
|---|
Common combinations
- the Roman Missal
- The Roman Missal sets out the standard texts for Mass in the Latin Church.
- open the missal
- The priest opened the missal and began the opening prayer.
- a daily missal
- A daily missal helps you pray along with the readings each morning.
- an illustrated missal
- The old illustrated missal was kept in a glass case.
- follow the missal
- The congregation followed the missal as the responses were said.
Synonyms and how they differ
- prayer book
- A general term for any book of prayers; a missal is specifically for the Mass.
- breviary
- A breviary holds the daily office prayed by clergy, not the texts of Mass.
Word family
- Missal proper noun
- Capitalized, it names an official liturgical book, as in the Roman Missal.
Commonly confused: missal or missive?
missal vs missive
A missive is a formal or long letter; a missal is a book of prayers for Mass. They sound alike but mean very different things.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'missal' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A missal is the book of prayers and texts for Mass, so it belongs on the altar. The other sentences describe a letter, which is a 'missive,' a word that sounds similar.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “missal”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.