Phase 3 Complete

After more than a year of solid work by a team of a dozen volunteers, the third and final phase of data entry for The Lutheran Missal is finished. Previously, we had cataloged the incipits for the Temporal and Sanctoral calendars (Phases 1 & 2). Now the remaining sections of our source missals—the Common, Votives, and Ordinary—have been entered as well.

This was a monumental effort. Thirty-six missals (one from every diocese of pre-Reformation Germany) have been cataloged in their entirety. In addition, we have included four post-Reformation Lutheran sources: Spangenberg 1545, Germanicum 1568, Ludecus 1589, and the Magdeburg 1613 cathedral book.

The volunteers, with the number of entries recorded by each, are listed below:

Over 1/5 of a million records is impressive by any count, but what does it mean? It means that, as we begin the task of actually editing The Lutheran Missal, our decisions will be informed by the last liturgical publications of the unified Western church, tempered, of course, by the evangelical corrections of the Lutheran reformers.

In our attempt to be faithful to the pattern of sound words used by our fathers in the faith, we have amassed what may well be the largest collection of data in the history of liturgical research (at least for the production of a missal), but now the real work of sifting through the occasions, saints, lections, psalm verses, and prayers begins. May God continue to bless our efforts.

For those who enjoy the nitty-gritty, here is the full list of sources and volunteers: