Treasure/1697 Missal

by the Rev. Andrew Ciferni, O.Praem., ’64

Every issue, we invite one member of the college community to share their delight in an object found on campus. Here, Rev. Andrew Ciferni, O.Praem., '64, director of the Center for Norbertine Studies and vicar of SNC Parish, speaks to the 1697 missal of the Norbertine order published in Paris, which he once wrote his dissertation on. It gives him a strong sense of his place in the order and his ability to carry its message forward.

This missal of the Norbertine order was published in Paris while Michel Colbert was the abbot general.

The canons are always flashy! The canon missae is always the fanciest page. This is the rule of Eucharistic prayer.

After the Council of Trent, the Roman Missal was made obligatory on the entire church – except for those cathedrals and religious orders that could show they had had their own usages for at least 200 years. The Norbertine order was among five orders that decided to take advantage of that privilege. (The other four were the Carthusians, the Cistercians, the Dominicans and the Carmelites.)

This is an important book. We are very fortunate as a college in what we have. For our age, we have a really great collection. This sense of rootedness … . For me to think, well, I know this book was in Paris; I presume it was at Prémontré or at some Norbertine abbey … and to think that I’m a part of this and I carry it forward … . I think I am just so blessed and so very lucky. The material that I once wrote about in my dissertation, I can put my hands on here. That’s a really thrilling thing.


June 27, 2016