General Instruction of the Roman Missal

The General Instruction of the Roman Missal (GIRM)—in the Latin original, Institutio Generalis Missalis Romani (IGMR)—is the detailed document governing the celebration of Mass of the ordinary form of the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church since 1969. It is printed at the start of recent editions of the Roman Missal.
This document unified and replaced a number of documents that were printed in earlier editions:
* Rubricae Generales Missalis (General Rubrics of the Missal), amplified and revised by Pope Clement VIII in 1604 and completely rewritten by Pope John XXIII in 1960Compare the text in the 1962 Missal with that in the 1920 typical edition of the Missal
* Additiones et Variationes in Rubricis Missalis ad normam Bullae "Divino afflatu" et subsequentium S. R. C. decretorum (Additions and Variations to the Rubrics of the Missal in accordance with the Bull Divino afflatu and subsequent decrees of the Sacred Congregation of Rites), which existed in Missals printed only between 1920 and 1962
* Ritus servandus in celebratione Missae (Rite to be observed in celebrating Mass), revised by Pope Clement VIII in 1604 and Pope John XXIII in 1962.
==Structure==
The General Instruction is arranged in nine chapters, preceded by a preamble. The chapter headings are:
# The Importance and Dignity of the Eucharistic Celebration
# The Structure of the Mass, Its Elements and Its Parts
# The Duties and Ministries in the Mass
# The Different Forms of Celebrating Mass
# The Arrangement and Furnishing of Churches for the Celebration of the Eucharist
# The Requisites for the Celebration of Mass
# The Choice of the Mass and Its Parts
# Masses and Prayers for Various Circumstances and Masses for the Dead
# Adaptations within the Competence of Bishops and Bishops' Conferences
==Importance==
In his apostolic exhortation Sacramentum caritatis, Pope Benedict XVI stressed the importance of proper knowledge of the General Instruction not only for priests but also for the laity: 
==Text==
The Latin original may be consulted at a number of sites. The most easily legible on a computer screen is perhaps that of the Salesians of Don Bosco (German Salesians).
An English translation, but with adaptations for the United States of America, can be consulted at the appropriate web page of the United States Catholic Bishops' Committee on the Liturgy. The same translation, but with adaptations instead for England and Wales, may be found at the web site of the England & Wales Liturgy Office. The Australian edition is given on the Australian Catholic Bishops' Conference's web site.
==References==
==See also==
*Mass
*Roman Missal
*Mass of Paul VI
==External links==
*A commentary on the general instruction of the Roman Missal: developed under the auspices of the Catholic Academy of Liturgy and cosponsored by the Federation of Diocesan Liturgical Commissions
Category:Catholic liturgy
Category:Documents of the Catholic Church