Book Bearer

Responsibilities

Attend to books and related items needed for the liturgy.

• Carry Missal from place to place.
• Move the Missal and its Stand to and from the Altar, or to different parts of the Altar.
• Hold the Missal, and occasionally other books, binders, leaflets, etc., for a Minister to read from¹.

Manner of carrying the Missal

We carry the Missal, and any other ceremonial books, according to the #dominican Custom:

• Spine against the crook of the left arm.
• Front face of Missal against the heart.
• Ribbons pointing down.
• Right hand on top of the Missal.

Manner of holding the Missal to be read

• Missal open.
• Top of binding against chest.
  • Try to hold at a height easy for the Celebrant to see. This will depend on both the height of the Celebrant and the Server.
• Bottom of binding held with two hands.
  • Care should be taken not to block words with fingers or ribbon.
• Book held at about a 45 degree angle.
• Stand facing the Celebrant, slightly to his right, so that he can read the book while facing different directions.

Manner of opening the Missal

• Approach the Celebrant, keeping the book closed, place the tip of the spine against the chest with the covers and pages protruding the to Celebrant, and the bottom of the spine held with two hands.
• Allow the Celebrant to open the book and turn to the correct page. Allow him to adjust your position or the book's position on your chest.
  • If a Deacon (other than Deacon Powers) is present, approach the Deacon instead of the Celebrant to open to the correct page, then move in front of the Celebrant.

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1. See: GIRM > par. 189. ↩