[Download PDF Version] use for email and print distribution
To: Priests, Deacons and Liturgy Directors
From: Patricia DeJarnett, Liturgical Coordinator, Office for Divine Worship
Why have the United States Bishops produced a Supplement to the Lectionary for Mass?
As long as the Church has been assigning Biblical texts for use in its liturgical celebrations, she has striven to complement the facet of the Paschal Mystery with the appropriate reading. This was greatly expanded after the Second Vatican Council, when the post-conciliar scholars heeded the call to “open up the treasures of Sacred Scripture more lavishly so that a richer fare may be provided to the faithful at the table of God’s word” (Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy, 51).
As new liturgical celebrations were added over the years, both universally and in the Proper Calendar for the Dioceses of the USA, more readings were required. The publication of the current four-volume Lectionary (1998-2002) included all the Saints and Blessed of the time.
In December 2001, after the promulgation of the Latin, third typical edition of the Missale Romanum, the Vatican officially inscribed additional saints, provided Mass formularies, added Lectionary citations, and prescribed new texts for the Liturgy of the Hours. More additions quickly followed. In other words, the liturgical calendar continued to evolve and the Church’s official liturgical books strove to keep up with the changes.
By 2015, the USCCB’s Secretariat for Divine Worship began to compile all the updated additions and corrections. The Bishops’ Committee for Divine Worship then formally approved the publication of a Supplement to the Lectionary for Mass.
What’s changed? Why would a parish want to buy a Supplement to the Lectionary for Mass?
1. Those who prepare liturgies in parishes will always want to have the most recent liturgical texts.
2. While in most cases, the readings can be found elsewhere in the four volumes of the Lectionary for Mass, some have been slightly altered (twelve out of 1,026). You will want to read the proper (and most complete) pericope.
3. Citations from the supplement will be appropriately incorporated into ordos and participation aids over the course of the next year. Having a ritual edition of the supplement for the ambo will assure that the reading being proclaimed will be compatible.
4. New readings have been suggested by the Holy See. Those who prepare parish liturgies will want to have the full range of readings, which have been assigned or suggested for the day.
5. With the addition of many new saints, one will want to have the proper readings for these obligatory and optional memorials.
6. Likewise, among the new saints (or their new titles), some dates have been transferred. The Supplement will make preparation more seamless.
7. Readings have been consolidated for ease of use, e.g., for the Extended Vigil Mass of Pentecost and the “Mass for Giving Thanks to God for the Gift of Human Life” (USA, January 22).
Where can I purchase this supplement?
Three publishers have produced the Supplement to the Lectionary for Mass — The Liturgical Press (Collegeville), Catholic Book Publishing (New Jersey), and Liturgy Training Publications (Chicago).
For more details about the contents of the Supplement and the liturgical days which are effected, please see the BCDW Newsletter, Volume 52, September 2016, pages 29-31 by clicking here.
For more information, please contact the Office for Divine Worship at pdejarnett@archatl.com or call 404-920-7339.