The casual listener might think that this term refers to some liturgical launching device - that would, of course, be the "missile stand."

While both terms sound alike, their functions, thankfully, follow quite different trajectories.

Owing to the bellicose age in which we live, the term "missile" certainly needs no introduction, neither is it the true aim of this article.

However, the term "missal" is the target one needs to acquire in order to understand the stand under which it, sits.

Hailing from the Latin "missa" meaning to be dismissed, the term missal was propelled into popularity because it was the last words that one would hear at the end of a Eucharistic celebration.

Similar to the dismissals of our day, the priest would launch the laity into their service in the world with the words "Ite missa est" meaning "Go, the dismissal is made." (Given how brusque is sounds in English, it's no wonder that the Roman Catholic Church stuck with Latin until the late 1960's)

In any event, as Latin was the principal language of the church from the early 4th century, the term Eucharist (Greek for "thanksgiving") was soon supplanted by the Latin term "missa" - the worship that sends us in to the world - and became known in English as the "mass."

It is from the term mass that we begin to see the meaning of "missal" hurtling toward us; for the missal is nothing more than the book which contains the mass - i.e., the series of prayers, collects, and all the other parts of the service that are said or sung by the priest.

In other words, for those who are still missing the point of the missal, it is the "big red book" that sits on a brass stand right beside the sacred vessels when we celebrate communion.

The stand itself, is always of some natural substance (wood, or semi-precious metal) or can be a simple, albeit decorous, cushion. The reason that a cushion is acceptable, and sometimes preferred, is that it ensures that the focus of attention remains on the sacred vessels and elements themselves, rather than on a "book stand."

Now it is important to note, for those who eschew all non-Anglican terminology, that "missal" is still the appropriate term, even though we do not call the Eucharist the Mass.   Some pious liturgical mavens would tell you that the proper Anglican term for the "altar book" and its stand is "Sacramentary."

This is not strictly correct since a Missal, like our altar book, containst the text and music for the whole service, whereas a sacramentary, strictly speaking, only contains the sacred text, i.e., the Eucharistic Prayer.

By coincidence, today happens to be one of those days when the aforementioned mavens would be correct; today (May 23, 2004) there is no missal on the missal stand, but a sacramentary.

This is due to the fact that, when faced with the threat of excessive page-turning, I sometimes prepare a binder which contains only the text and music for the Eucharistic Prayer.

Thus, at least for today, it is not the missal that is locked and loaded on its accustomed platform; rather, it is the sacramentary that takes its stand.