PARISH RESOURCE MATERIALS 

FOR THE GENERAL INSTRUCTION 

OF THE ROMAN MISSAL

The Parish Resource Materials for implementing the
revised GIRM provide catechetical materials that we used during the remote preparation phase of the implementation of the new English Translation of the Roman Missal in the Archdiocese of Chicago. The materials posted below include:

• Eight Bulletin Inserts or articles on different aspects of the Mass
• A Spanish and Polish Translation of all the preceding items
• A compilation of the "Key Points" of the GIRM
• An article on the History of GIRM
• A set of Homily outlines for preaching on GIRM
• Information how to obtain a copy of GIRM

Please note the files at the bottom of the page are
posted in two formats:

• One complete document file which contains all 9 bulletin inserts and the compilation of "Key Points" of the GIRM.
• If the one big document file is too large for your computer to download, each of the pieces of material in English are posted to be downloaded seperately.
• In order to download these files you must have a copy of Adobe Reader on your computer. If you do not have a copy of Adobe Reader on your computer, then you can obtain a free copy by clicking on the button in the next line:

Insert 1: Sunday Eucharist	English	Polish	Spanish
Insert 2: Ministries and Roles	English	Polish	Spanish
Insert 3: Posture and Gestures	English	Polish	Spanish
Insert 4: Hearing the Word of God	English	Polish	Spanish
Insert 5: Eucharistic Prayer	English	Polish	Spanish
Insert 6: The Reception of Holy Communion	English	Polish	Spanish
Insert 7: Music in the Liturgy:                Let All God's People Sing	English	Polish	Spanish
Insert 8: Baptism, Penance, Eucharist: Sacraments             of New Life, Repentance, & Communion	English	Polish	Spanish
All of the above, one file	English		Spanish

The Revised General Instruction
of the Roman Missal (GIRM)

On Holy Thursday, 2000, Pope John Paul II approved 

the revised General Instruction of the Roman Missal. 

This is the document which gives the norms and 

directives for the celebration of the Eucharist and is 

found at the front of the Sacramentary. The U.S. 

Revision of this document was approved by Rome 

in 2003 and has been been implemented in all the Dioceses 

of the United States.

The revision of this document gave us some important 

catechetical opportunities in the Archdiocese of Chicago. It 

gave us an opportunity to take a good, hard look at the 

life of worship in our parish communities. It gave us an 

opportunity to ask ourselves: “Is it obvious that what we 

do in our parish on Sunday morning is the most important 

thing we will do all week?”  The most exciting opportunity 

was that this revised document gave us the chance to renew 

and deepen our understanding and celebration of the liturgy! 

We believe that we could benefit again by conducting a similar catechetical effort prior to beginning the use of the new English translation of the Roman Missal. 

In July of 2003, a mailing went out to all Archdiocesan priests 

and deacons, from ODW, with suggestions for homilies on the 

Sundays of July 27 - August 24, 2003.  These suggested 

homilies contain ideas that highlight the importance and 

centrality of the Eucharist, providing the larger context for our 

efforts to implement GIRM in the Archdiocese. 

To view of copy of this mailing, in English or Spanish, please 

click on one of the following links:  English or Spanish.  A copy 

of this mailing is also available in Polish.  Please call our Office (312-534-5153) and we would be happy to fax a copy to you in 

Polish.

If you need a translation of GIRM in Vietnamese, as well as 

inserts or articles in Vietnamese, please consult the Worship 

Office of the Diocese of Orange, California, which has these 

available for downloading from their website:

www.ltruxaw@rcbo.org.

Where can you obtain a copy of the revised GIRM?  You can also view the text of the General Instruction at the USCCB website:

www.usccb.org/liturgy.  Click on the icon “Roman Missal”.

In addition, you can purchase a copy of the General 

Instruction of the Roman Missal from USCCB Publishing, 

United States Conference of Catholic Bishops, 3211 4th St., N.E., Washington DC, 20017-1194. Phone toll free: 

1-800-235-8722.  

Ask for "Liturgy Documentary Series 2: General Instruction of the Roman Missal", publication No. 5-543, 140 pages.  Cost: 1-9 copies at $12.95.  Resource Members price: $7.77.  You can also order on line at: www.usccb.org. Click on "Departments" and then click 

"Publishing". 

You can also view the text of the "Norms for the Celebration 

and Distribution of Holy Communion in the Dioceses of 

the United States": www.usccb.org/liturgy.. Click on the icon 

“Documents”.