Server Haul October 2014!

Hello Everyone,

No sooner have I reported on my last Latin Mass I was serving in, with St. Patrick's Gregorian Choir, than I have another fine post to share with you: My latest EF altar server haul! And this one is making me sing with choruses of angels on high!

First, a present from my lovely wife-to-be. She knows of my admiration and love of the Latin Mass, and loves me so much, she purchased a special liturgical item for me for my birthday ... A LACY OR PATTERNED SURPLICE! This lovely lace surplice was ordered from DiCarlo religious accessories and goods, which operates out of the west end of Ontario, with its primary store in Mississauga. You could say that they get a lot of business from the Archdiocese of Toronto.

The Surplice was Beau Viste brand, like my regular surplice. Also pictured here is the contact information for DiCarlo, in case you want a purchase for yourself or maybe are thinking of a gift for clergy. 

Here is my surplice laid out flat. Notice that the hem, and the sleeves, are all laced up. 

Here's a close up of the surplice's lace portions. This is excellent, and contains little flowers and even crosses, with the JHS signs in the center of each oval. 

But wait ... there's more. Quite more. See, some of the difficulty of doing the Latin Mass is gaining access to the Missale Romanum 1962. If your local seminary or "catholic" college doesn't have a copy you can borrow IF they didn't burn it or throw it in the garbage way back when, (which of course, pends on you having access .... that's a no for ordinary laity), or the Latin Mass church nearby only has one copy in the sacristy, and cannot lend it out to you for Mass that day ... or your priest doesn't have his own copy, then what does one do? 

Well you buy one of course! They aren't cheap though, ranging likely anywhere from ~$150 to ~$475 post taxes an shipping. Still, beautiful, high quality reprints of the 1962 missal are being printed by a select number of companies. I could have bought one straight from the FSSP, or Canons of St. John Regular (because I do not want to support the non-Canonical SSPX,) but in an odd stroke of luck I was searching on Ebay ... and found a really interesting gem .... 

BOOYA! Really I couldn't believe it! For $200 CDN after all was said and done, This is an: "... exclusive stunning official Vatican edition of the Roman Missal, the liturgical book entirely in Latin, 1096 pages, with the words “Missale Romanum - Editio Typica 1962” embossed in gold lettering on the cover. Excellent condition, new, never used, as approved by Pope John XXIII in 1962 and allowed by Pope Benedict XVI for wider use. It contains all the texts, rubrics and chants for the celebration of the Holy Mass in the Roman Rite, for example the preparation of the celebrating priest, the procession of the priest to the altar, the mass, the blessing at the end of mass and gospel, the vesting prayers of the celebrant, the rite of blessing and sprinkling Holy Water on Sundays, the calendar. Hardcover, 6.7x9.5 inches size, 17x24 cm. A rare, elegant and unique book ... limited edition accurately reproduced, high quality black and red text, available only to Vatican, reprinted in 2007 by “Tipografia Vaticana” (the Vatican Press) from the original edition. Enclosed an elegant Vatican bookmark." Considering brand new that a Benzinger Brothers reprint was anywhere from $395 USD to over $400 USD on the EF printing house sites, this was an awesome steal! ....

with some minor exceptions .... the introduction, reference pages in the back, and a couple of other things are all in Italian. But I won't be reading those parts anytime soon. The rest of the Missal with the rubrics and the necessary Mass parts in Latin are what it's for! Best of all, this came straight from the motherland, the Vatican!!!!

Yep, those are beautiful Vatican stamps. There's even one of the Holy Father on there. The right picture shows the close up of a seal stamp that goes on the package to indicate it's from the Vatican Post Office. Now as for the Missal itself ....

Here is just an example of how the writings and interior look like. On major feast days/solemnities, this 1/2 page artwork is present. The beginning of the readings of the liturgy, as well as each reading/proper, has either a major or a minor drop cap letter to start it off. What else the missal contains is in the description above. 

Here, is "THE PAGE", the one that is the major prominent image page in every EF missal, that of the crucifixion of our Lord, Jesus Christ, at the beginning of the Mass of the Canons (Liturgy of the Eucharist). Gotta say I kind of love the tones and colours of the picture: Red, black, and grey. Appropriate colours for blood, death, and really brings forth the moment where Christ died for our salvation. If this is a replication of a major work of art, do let me know whom and when it was made.


Well there you have it. Two fine pieces to the serving haul. This will likely be it for a long while, as I think by now I've shelled out quite a bit for EF serving and liturgy needs. Regardless ... I am so elated and filled with glee at having these pieces. They will definitely be put to good, and even more specific uses in future. Hope you enjoyed this as much as I have!

Pax Tibi Christi, Julian Barkin.