I mentioned earlier the distinctive translations such as: "Raise your hearts."-"They are raised to the Lord."įor myself, the most interesting part of the book is the translation used for the Pange Lingua of Fortunatus (Good Friday). In general, the book seems like an effort to make a significant contribution to Catholics' liturgical life.
The unified, lovely images (such as the Divine Pelican, often preached on by Sheen) appear to have been created specifically for this layout. This book must have been in production for many years. Furthermore, it's nice that this book contains most of the changes of the 1962 Missal, such as the Holy Week of Pius XII and optional dialogue Masses. The date of publication (1961) is fascinating, considering what would come a year later! The pages use a single numbering system for matching Latin/English pages. Similar to the Campion Missal, the editors made judicious use of drop caps and went out of their way to print all the "extra" post-Pentecost Masses in addition to every feast that could ever occur on a Sunday-a tremendous help to Catholics in the pews.
Finally, certain translations employed are noteworthy, especially poetic texts like the sequences and Pange Lingua. That choice meant printing the "Kyrie Eleison," for example, close to eighty times. It also includes the entire "Fore-Mass" (as Fortescue called it) alongside the readings for every feast. The descriptions of priestly vestments are excellent. In addition to the aforementioned Introduction, Sheen's Missal has several other remarkable features.