One of the official books of the Roman Rite Ritual.—The Ritual
(Rituale Romanum) is one of the official books of the Roman
Rite. It contains all the services performed by a priest that
are not in the Missal and Breviary and has also, for
convenience, some that are in those books. It is the latest and
still the least uniform book of our rite. When first ritual
functions were written in books, the Sacramentary in the West,
the Euchologion in the East contained all the priest's (and
bishop's) part of whatever functions they performed, not only
the holy Liturgy in the strict sense, but all other sacraments,
blessings, sacramentals, and rites of every kind as well. The
contents of our Ritual and Pontifical were in the
Sacramentaries. In the Eastern Churches this state of things
still to a great extent remains. In the West a further
development led to the distinction of books, not according to
the persons who use them, but according to the services for
which they are used. The Missal, containing the whole Mass, suc