A Commentary on the General Instruction of the Roman Missal

Nathan D. Mitchell, PhD, (1943-2024), was Associate Director for Research at the Center for Pastoral Liturgy, University of Notre Dame. Six times a year, he wrote "The Amen Corner" for Worship. In 1998, the North American Academy of Liturgy presented him with its Berakah Award. Other books by Mitchell that have been published by Liturgical Press include Cult and Controversy, Mission and Ministry, and Rule of Prayer, Rule of Faith. He also contributed to The Collegeville Pastoral Dictionary of Biblical Theology.

Contents

Foreword by the Most Reverend Donald W. Trautman    vii
Introduction    ix
Abbreviations and Acronyms    xiii

Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani and the Class of Liturgical Documents to Which It Belongs    1
     Nathan D. Mitchell and John F. Baldovin
Liturgy and Ecclesiastical Law    28
     R. Kevin Seasoltz
Theological and Pastoral Reflections    46
     David N. Power and Catherine Vincie
Preamble    73
     Margaret Mary Kelleher

Chapter I: Importance and Dignity of the Eucharistic Celebration    99
     Keith F. Pecklers
Chapter II: The Structure of the Mass, Its Elements and Its Parts    113
     Edward Foley
Chapter III: The Duties and Ministries in the Mass    199
     Bruce T. Morrill and Susan K. Roll
Chapter IV.I: The Different Forms of Celebrating Mass    224
     Martin Connell and Sharon McMillan
Chapter IV.II: Concelebrated Mass    279
     Gilbert Ostdiek and Andrew Ciferni
Chapter IV.III: Mass at Which Only One Minister Participates    310
     Mary Schaefer and Joanne M. Pierce 
Chapter IV.IV: Some General Norms for All Forms of Mass    325
     Mary Schaefer and Joanne M. Pierce
Chapter V: The Arrangement and Furnishings of Churches for the Celebration of the Eucharist    351
     Mark E. Wedig and Richard S. Vosko
Chapter VI: Requisites for the Celebration of Mass    383
     Richard E. McCarron and Anne C. McGuire
Chapter VII: The Choice of the Mass and Its Parts    405
     Joyce Ann Zimmerman
Chapter VIII: Masses and Prayers for Various Circumstances and Masses for the Dead    423
     Joanne M. Pierce and Richard Rutherford
Chapter IX: Adaptations Within the Competence of Bishops and Bishops’ Conferences    447
     Mark Francis and Gary Neville

List of Contributors    468
Index    471