You can tell a lot about a woman by the contents of her missal . . .

(Fans of The Incredibles will obligingly smile at my misquote and now proceed to read this post.)

On this fine autumnal Tuesday morning, having already missed my weekly opportunity to add another brilliant installment to my 7 Rambling Monday Takes series, and having been completely absent from the blogging sphere due for the past six days due to things like snuggling a newborn baby, helping decorate for a fantastic western dance at our parish, poring through Whole30 cookbooks and getting ready to flex some culinary muscles, laundering, and the hundred other things that make up my current process of living . . . I sat down this morning and realized I really did need to show you all what my missal looks like on the inside.

You see, a missal can be a whole lot more than a beautiful book of the Ordinary and Propers of the Mass. Overtime, it has the potential to become a chapel, of sorts, for its owner to bury her head in, to pray in. If you’re an enthusiastic female like me, it eventually becomes peppered with all sorts of holy cards, notes, and special ribbon placements.

So I thought I would pull out my camera, choose the worst tungsten lighting possible (that is, my desk and its glaring lamp, due to its inarguably convenient location), and give you a visual tour of my little chapel.

The picture above depicts what I first see upon unzipping my missal cover: a reminder of the lovely woman who crafted my cover! And the photo below reveals the first holy card belonging inside my missal: that of the Madonna and Child from Portraits of Saints.

My beautiful St. Joseph missal cover proclaims, Virginum Custos et Pater – Guardian of Virgins and Father, and so it seemed appropriate to me to tuck in an image of the Virgin and Child whom good St. Joseph guarded throughout his earthly life.

Next, on the inside of the  very first page of my missal, I have hand-copied several Latin ejaculations that are particularly inspiring and helpful to me and my spiritual life.

The first comes from the blessing of the bride in the traditional Nuptial Mass:

Nihil in ea ex actibus suis ille auctor praevaricationis usurpet.
Let not the author of deceit work any of his evil deeds in her.

The second comes from the Epistle for the Feast of St. Anne (Proverbs 31):

Mulierem fortem quis inveniet?
Who shall find a valiant woman?

And the third comes from the Gospel of St. Luke (as well as, by proxy, the Angelus):

Ecce ancilla Domini.
Behold the handmaid of the Lord.

And now I get to show you how I use my ribbons!

My missal has five ribbons: violet, white, red, black and green. I am perhaps nonsensically particular as to how I use them. The violet ribbon currently marks the prayers before Communion (found on page 82), which I’m trying to form the habit of praying while I am in our parish’s long and slow-moving Communion line, in an attempt to ward off my propensity to distraction. My favorite of these prayers is the Act of Hope:

Since Thou vouchsafest to come and dwell within me, O my Redeemer, what may I not expect from Thy bounty! I therefore present myself before Thee with that lively confidence which Thine infinite goodness inspires. Thou not only knowest all my wants, by Thou art also willing and able to relieve them. Thou hast not only invited me, but also promised me Thy gracious assistance: “Come to Me all ye that labor and are burdened, and I will refresh you.” Behold, then, O Lord, I accept Thy gracious invitation; I lay before Thee all my wants, my misery, and my blindness, and confidently hope, without the fear of being disappointed, that Thou wilt enable me to persevere, unto the end of my life, in Thy service. “In Thee, O Lord, have I hoped: I shall not be confounded forever.”

And directly opposite my purple ribbon is a holy card from the FSSP which recently arrived in the mail. I . . . sort of stole it. Although it’s available in my missal for anyone in the family who might desire it. I just didn’t want it to go to waste.

It’s a beautiful depiction of the Church Triumphant, Militant, and Suffering, gathered in adoration and supplication around the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. On the back is a prayer for the dying, which to me seemed wholly appropriate for after Communion:

O most merciful Jesus, Lover of souls, I pray Thee by the agony of Thy most Sacred Heart, and by the sorrows of Thine Immaculate Mother, wash in Thy Blood the sinners of the whole world who are now in their last agony, and are to die this day. Amen.

And now we proceed to my white ribbon! In my little world, it always marks the Propers for the current or upcoming Sunday or Feast included in the section before the section dedicated to the Ordinary of the Mass.

The only time I move it is if there is a weekday feast or commemoration whose Propers are so scattered in different places throughout the missal that I run out of holy cards to mark the places I need and absolutely have to use the white ribbon. But that hardly ever happens . . . in fact, it may have only happened once . . . or maybe that was the green ribbon I moved . . . can’t remember . . .

My red ribbon, without any exception ever, marks the Ordinary of the Mass. It is my sacrosanct ribbon 🙂

Directly after the Ordinary of the Mass, I have a beautiful holy card of Our Lady, Queen of Martyrs, made for me by an ingenious friend. I use it to mark my prayers for after Communion.

My green ribbon always marks the Propers for weekday feasts and commemorations throughout the liturgical year. Today, along with being the Feast of the North American Martyrs (in the very, very back of the missal on page 1812), is also the Commemoration of Ss. Cyprian and Justina, so that’s where my green ribbon currently lies.

My black ribbon is the most versatile, and so I used it to mark the Propers for the North American Martyrs this morning. However, if I don’t have a pressing need for it, I keep it tucked in the Marriage Service and Nuptial Mass, for occasional (by which I mean every day or every other day) reading and reflection. Cough. It’s probably something that only unmarried traditional Catholic girls who have discerned this vocation do . . .

And now we have arrived at the back of my missal, with my little holy card stash! They serve as an armory for, Looks like this commemoration has its Propers scattered all over the place. Holy cards to the rescue!

First, a Christ the King holy card (identical to the one I mentioned in this post), commemorating our diocese’s upcoming celebration of Summorum Pontificum this Saturday.

Secondly, a holy card depicting Our Lady succoring the Holy Souls in Purgatory.

Thirdly, a tri-folded meditation before the Blessed Sacrament. It’s a beautiful meditation, but it also is my handiest inclusion in my stash. Because it’s folded, I can use it to mark two separate places in my missal at once (as long as they’re not too far apart), which makes flipping back and forth between various Propers an absolute breeze.

See below how I’ve got several pages tucked into my folded-up meditation?

And finally, a holy card of the Sorrowful Heart of Mary. As it’s rather large, I don’t use it for marking very often, but I always keep it in my missal since Lena and I pray the devotions together every evening, and thus I always know where it is.

And so we conclude this tour of my missal! Needless to say, it’s one of my most precious possessions and is the first material thing I’d snatch from a house fire 😉 Have a blessed Tuesday!