General Instruction of the Roman Missal

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal —in the Latin original, Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani —is the detailed document governing the celebration of Mass of the Roman Rite in what since 1969 is its normal form. Originally published in 1969 as a separate document, it is printed at the start of editions of the Roman Missal since 1970.

Background

The 1960 Code of Rubrics replaced the Rubricae Generales Missalis, which had been in the Tridentine Roman Missal since its first edition in 1570 and had been amplified and revised by Pope Clement VIII in 1604. This had been supplemented, since the 1920 edition, by the Additiones et Variationes in Rubricis Missalis ad normam Bullae "Divino afflatu" et subsequentium S.R.C. decretorum, which indicated the changes in the Roman Missal that followed from the reform of the Roman Breviary by Pope Pius X.
In the 1962 missal, Pope John XXIII had made some changes to the document at the beginning of the Roman Missal called Ritus servandus in celebratione Missarum.

Editions

There are three editions of the GIRM:

The first edition, called in Latin editio typica 1970
The second edition, called in Latin editio typica altera 1975
The third edition, called in Latin editio typica tertia 2002. This last edition is the one currently in force throughout the world for the celebration of Mass according to the ordinary form of the Roman Rite. The first and second editions of the GIRM contain 341 articles, while the third edition contains 399.

Status

In his apostolic exhortation Sacramentum caritatis, Pope Benedict XVI stressed the importance of proper knowledge of the General Instruction not only for priests but also for the laity:

Regulations for masses not using the GIRM

In the circumstances indicated in the motu proprio Traditionis Custodes of 2021, the Catholic Church permits celebrations of Mass in accordance with the 1962 edition of the Roman Missal. Such celebrations are governed not by the General Instruction but by the 1960 Code of Rubrics, particularly its section Rubricae generales Missalis Romani, and by the Ritus servandus in celebratione Missae.

Structure

The General Instruction is arranged in nine chapters, preceded by a preamble. The chapter headings are:

The Importance and Dignity of the Eucharistic Celebration
The Structure of the Mass, Its Elements and Its Parts
The Duties and Ministries in the Mass
The Different Forms of Celebrating Mass
The Arrangement and Furnishing of Churches for the Celebration of the Eucharist
The Requisites for the Celebration of Mass
The Choice of the Mass and Its Parts
Masses and Prayers for Various Circumstances and Masses for the Dead
Adaptations within the Competence of Bishops and Bishops' Conferences