What’s In It
The Missal for Young Catholics contains the entire Ordinary of the Mass, Latin on one side, English on the other, as one would find in a regular missal. The font is relatively big and has a wide spacing, so it is very easy to read. Most pages contain works of art, both Western masters and Byzantine icons, high quality reproductions in vivid colour. They enrich the text by visually relating to the sections of the Mass, and show the young owner the artistic beauty of the church that goes beyond mere decoration.
Why the Art Helps
I find this feature of the missal to be very important since visual art (like music) enriches the soul and has the ability to lift us up from the ordinary to something sublime and holy. In this way the missal accompanies the Mass in that lifting of the soul to something higher, and possibly plants the seed for future interest in exploring sacred art, for both artistic and spiritual purposes.
On the Latin
By being regularly present at Mass children get used to hearing Latin and become familiar with it. The missal helps the young Catholic to see Latin in the written form, side by side with the English text, which makes the language more real. Since many families who attend the Old Rite teach their children Latin, the missal can be a useful source for Latin lessons. In this way Latin is not something abstract, but a language that is regularly heard and read
every Sunday.
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