What's the difference between missals?

[3Sanctus]

I want to get a missal, but have seen so many different ones that I don't know which one to get (and I may, on occasion, be less than spectacular when it comes to make decisions, lol).  What's the difference between them?  The FSSP chapel in my neck of the woods just got in some Angelus Press Latin/English Missals and I looked through one and it looked good to me.  Are there others I should consider?  For what reasons?  Are there ones that have particular advantages or things that suit certain people/types of people?

[glgas]

I got my missal in a Church bazaar about 10 years ago for 50 cents. I redid the ribbons, fixed some pages, and it serve me well. The propers are only in English. That is 1942 Kennedy and Sons.

[Schmendrick]

It is interesting that your FSSP chapel should sell the Angelus Press missal, since the missal published by Baronius Press was made in association with the FSSP itself.  These two, I think, are the only newly published 1962 daily missals.  There are reprints of older missals as well.  (See a comparison here.)  A reprint by the Neumann Press of My Sunday Missal, which was popular before the Council, is also available.

The daily missals have the ordinary of the mass and the propers for every day of the year.  The Sunday missal has the ordinary of the mass and the propers for every Sunday and holy day.  The former have the advantage of being thorough, but you may not make use of much of the missal if you only assist at mass on Sundays and holy days.  The latter has the advantage of being smaller and less costly.

Father Zuhlsdorf posted useful reviews (with photos) of the Baronius and Angelus missals on his blog some time ago.  The Angelus seems to use a larger font and, overall, a nicer typesetting, and is taller and thinner than the Baronius.

[3Sanctus]

Schmendrick, thanks for the information.

I didn't know the Baronius Press missal was made in association with the FSSP, though when checking out the links you provided that was so and also that the imprimatur was granted by Bishop Burkewitz, who insisted on the inclusion of the Luminous Mysteries and the Divine Mercy devotion.  Interesting.

I'm leaning towards the Angelus Press Daily Missal, I reckon.  I work 1pm to 9pm Tuesday through Saturday, which makes daily mass possible for me (though it takes about a quarter of a tank per day...) and the little red booklet missal gets old real quick - I want the Propers!

What about all the old Saint Joseph's and Saint Andrew's and Saint Mary's, etc. missals?  Based on something I saw it seems like some of these are direction towards children.  I just didn't know if some of the ones named for Saints had particular features I might find useful.  If not, I think I'm going with the Angelus Press version, especially since that's what my chapel's pastor apparently decided was best to stock, despite having an FSSP-related publication available.

I'm still open to people's thoughts until I purchase, though.  That might be soon, though...I want a new toy, lol.

Modification: Spelling corrected.

[Schmendrick]

I’ve never actually perused the old missals, but, from what I’ve read and heard, I understand that the Saint Joseph is English-only and that the Marian is only partly in Latin (maybe only the ordinary?).  The Saint Andrew missal was more like the current Baronius and Angelus, with full Latin and English texts.  Some of the old missals for children likely included illustrations showing the gestures at the altar to keep them from getting lost.  I also know of some editions of the Saint Joseph, called continuous, that reprinted the ordinary and grouped the propers together for every mass to avoid having to flip from the ordinary to the various propers.

I don’t think the new missals are lacking anything in the old ones, and the only significant feature of the Baronius over the Angelus is the former’s supplement of masses celebrated in British dioceses.  The Baronius missal used to have the advantage of being bound in morocco leather, but the company switched to bonded leather some years ago.  So, unless you need the British masses (or the luminous mysteries), I’d recommend the Angelus.

[Adam Wayne]

I have many Missals. I own the Angelus Press version, but not the Baronius. Although, I bought the Baronius for a friend. If I had to choose between those two, I think I would go for the Baronius now as I think I like the layout better.

My favorite Missal of all time is the 1936 St. Andrew with Vespers. I own one in very good condition, but I only use it at home. Unreal writing in there on the Daily Mass and the Proper of Saints is stellar. I also have a 1962 St. Andrew with Vespers that is only half as thick as the Angleus Press. The binding is much tighter and they must have used thinner paper then. It is also Belgian made.

My favorite for Mass is a 1947 St. Andrew set that is in four small volumes. The daily Propers are all right there with no page flipping. Unfortunately, they are in English only, but small concession. And the Mass is in the front and the book is easily held in my left hand.

Funny story with these volumes though. During Lent there were some long Gospels in which I could not keep up with the priest. This one particular priest talks fast to begin with, but one time it was just ridiculous. I actually started to accuse him in my mind of reading the wrong Gospel, or just editing on his own. I had studied it hard the night before. Either way, when I got home, I checked one of my '62 Missals and found that they had edited that Gospel in half.  

[3Sanctus]

The Latin is a must-have for me (I love Latin!) so that rules out a lot of them right there, and basically brings it back to the Baronius and the Angelus Press missals.  Apparently the Baronius missal has the Little Office, but I already pray the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary (I got the Baronius one and it's great) so I don't really need another Little Office to pray (based on what I read I don't think it's the one I pray, but not sure).

They actually have one (used to have a bunch more) used missal for sale at the chapel I attend right now - it's a Sunday Saint Joseph continual, I if I'm going to get anything I'd like the Daily Masses...though I might buy that used Saint Joseph one just for fun...didn't have a price tag on it, though...

[Avus]

The Latin is a must-have for me (I love Latin!) so that rules out a lot of them right there, and basically brings it back to the Baronius and the Angelus Press missals.  Apparently the Baronius missal has the Little Office, but I already pray the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary (I got the Baronius one and it's great) so I don't really need another Little Office to pray (based on what I read I don't think it's the one I pray, but not sure).

They actually have one (used to have a bunch more) used missal for sale at the chapel I attend right now - it's a Sunday Saint Joseph continual, I if I'm going to get anything I'd like the Daily Masses...though I might buy that used Saint Joseph one just for fun...didn't have a price tag on it, though...

The Baronius Missal does not have the LOBVM. It has Sunday Vespers.

[Schmendrick]

My favorite Missal of all time is the 1936 St. Andrew with Vespers. I own one in very good condition, but I only use it at home. Unreal writing in there on the Daily Mass and the Proper of Saints is stellar. I also have a 1962 St. Andrew with Vespers that is only half as thick as the Angleus Press. The binding is much tighter and they must have used thinner paper then. It is also Belgian made.

My favorite for Mass is a 1947 St. Andrew set that is in four small volumes. The daily Propers are all right there with no page flipping. Unfortunately, they are in English only, but small concession. And the Mass is in the front and the book is easily held in my left hand.

Funny story with these volumes though. During Lent there were some long Gospels in which I could not keep up with the priest. This one particular priest talks fast to begin with, but one time it was just ridiculous. I actually started to accuse him in my mind of reading the wrong Gospel, or just editing on his own. I had studied it hard the night before. Either way, when I got home, I checked one of my '62 Missals and found that they had edited that Gospel in half.  

Some older missals (& Bibles) were indeed much better constructed than the best of our current options.  Interesting story about the Gospels.  I didn't know that the readings had been changed.

The Latin is a must-have for me (I love Latin!) so that rules out a lot of them right there, and basically brings it back to the Baronius and the Angelus Press missals.  Apparently the Baronius missal has the Little Office, but I already pray the Little Office of the Blessed Virgin Mary (I got the Baronius one and it's great) so I don't really need another Little Office to pray (based on what I read I don't think it's the one I pray, but not sure).

Latin is important to me too.  I love to read and pray the Latin of the mass.  In fact, my only real grievance with my Baronius missal is the printing of the Latin propers – small and pressed to the margin (See an example from Baronius’s website here.)  Otherwise, it is quite nice.

[Filipino Catholic]

the sspx chapel where i attend the TLM sells Baronius Press missals and bibles.

Any thoughts?