What is the GIRM (General Instruction of the Roman Missal)? The GIRM includes 399 paragraphs or sections which give instruction on how to use the Roman Missal, which is the guide for the Mass.

The purpose of this packet is to break down these 399 sections in a simple way. The lessons are focused on the role of the priest, servers, choir and people. There are also lessons on the order of the Mass. If the priest, servers and choir do their parts correctly and reverently, the people will follow their lead. The people see and hear what the priests, servers and choir do and therefore the priest, servers and choir are the example.

When orders and rules are not followed what occurs? We can also think of the GIRM as a rule book or script for the Mass. All sports have rules. In the sport of basketball the rules of basketball have to be followed or you cannot call the game basketball. For example if you decide to not follow or even change 5 major rules within the game of basketball, you probably wouldn’t be able to call the game basketball. The same is true of a script for a play. If the words are altered, deleted or taken out, even if whole scenes are deleted, you probably would not be able to recognize or call the play by its name. The same is true of the Mass. There is a correct order, words and actions necessary for Mass, if this order, words are actions are altered, taking away etc., it would not be recognized as Mass. In the Roman Missal there are black sections and red sections, the black indicates what should be said, the red indicates what should be done. “Say the black, do the red” is a phrase thought in the seminary.

Why should we care about the order, rules and words of the Mass? The Gospel says, “Zeal for your house will consume me.” We should have a zeal and passion for the Mass and we should desire that the Mass be said and heard in a worthy manner. Jesus says, "Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up." “The church is the house of God, the temple of the King of kings, where public worship is celebrated and the faithful meet to dedicate their praise and prayers to God. It is generally pointed with the high altar eastwards, towards the Holy Land, where Christ was born, where He lived, where He suffered, where He died, and from whence He shall come again. Generally the church is in the form of a cross. The sanctuary, containing the high altar and the choir [for religious and clergy praying Liturgy of Hours, not the music choir], represents the Head of the our Divine Redeemer. The transept, His arms. The central nave, His holy Body. Above the steeple points the cross as a token of our salvation. In the steeple hand the bells, which call us to the divine office and the spiritual solemnities.”[i] To not care for the Church building itself or what takes place within it (liturgy) is to destroy the temple of Christ. The Liturgy is eternal because it is the very words and actions of Christ, and it is Christ himself that will “raise it up.”

The role of the Priest, servers, choir and people are to raise liturgy up and it is the GIRM and other liturgical documents of the Church that help us to “raise it up”.

The Ordinary Form of Mass has been around since 1969 and there have been three English translations or revisions of the Roman Missal since 1969. Before 1969 there was only the Extraordinary Form of the Mass (Latin Mass). The Council of Vatican II allowed for much more flexibly in the Mass giving many options. In many places the GIRM will use “loose” language like “may be used” and in other places very “strict” language like “must be said”. We should study and know the GIRM so that we know what the order, words and action of the Mass are. If we play basketball we need to know the rules, if we are Catholic we need to know the rules of the Mass. Knowing the rules helps us to better appreciate all that goes into a single Mass. It also help us to not only know our part but how to participate to the full.

VIDEO - “Change”
Many people will say that Vatican II allowed this or that, or that Vatican II forbade this or that. Once again it is not good to just listen to hearsay, but rather to go straight to the source, the Roman Missal itself and the instruction that goes with it. This video explains a few common misconceptions of people saying “Vatican II did away with that”

[i] Roman Catholic Daily Missal (1962)